After applying plenty of cosmetic on her face, my friend seems to want my confirmation and consolation while asking me with a sympathetic look, “don’t you think all my bruises disappeared?”

The cosmetic she has diligently applied on her skin after receiving the quick plastic surgery and laser treatments is the recently trending ‘bruise cream.’

CARD 1. Vitamin K cosmetic = ‘Bruise Cream’ cosmetic?

When you search up bruise cream, you are told that it is made of vitamin K. However, vitamin K can be generally divided into vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) and vitamin K2 (menaquinone).

Bruises (purpura: a rash of purple or red spots on the skin caused by internal bleeding) appear when red blood cells in blood vessels converge on the surrounding tissues once vascular damages are caused by external forces.

Bruises appear easily especially on faces, where the skin is the thinnest. As a result, people can frequently experience bruises on their faces after a simple beauty or laser treatment.

CARD 2. A representative effect of vitamin K: ‘hemostatic function’

The representative function of vitamin K, a type of fat-soluble vitamin, is its hemostatic function.

Thus, vitamin K is an essential substance for the formation of ‘prothrombin’ (an enzyme that is involved with blood coagulation) which coagulates the blood.

Furthermore, vitamin K also prevents internal bleeding and reduces excessive bleeding during menstruation.

In addition, vitamin K is pervasively used to prevent and treat osteoporosis as well as senile diabetes. When applied on the skin, vitamin K is also known to be effective in reducing bruises after beauty treatments or injections and dark circles around the eyes.

CARD 3. Vitamin K which shortens the bruising process

How does vitamin K get rid of bruises on the skin? The representative substance that causes bruises is hemosiderin, a type of hemoglobin.

Vitamin K restrains the production and expansion of this hemosiderin and thereby shortens the bruising process due to laser or beauty treatments.

CARD 4. Vitamin K which is effective after laser treatments

Below are experimental reports regarding vitamin K’s effects on the skin.

▲ Effects of topical vitamin K and retinol on laser-induced purpura on nonlesional skin

▲ The effects of topical vitamin K on bruising after laser treatment

▲ The role of topical vitamin K oxide gel in the resolution of post-procedural purpura

According to these reports, diligently applying cosmetics containing more than 1% of vitamin K after laser treatments reduces skin redness.

Therefore, it has been reported that vitamin K reduces erythema created by vascular damages and has positive effects on burns and sunburns (temporary erythema due to excessive ultraviolet rays).

CARD 5. Vitamin K which mitigates dark circles

In addition, according to the report titled, ‘The Effects of Topical Application of Phytonadione, Retinol and Vitamins C and E on Infraorbital Dark Circles and Wrinkles of the Lower Eyelids,’ a cosmetic cream which contains 2% of vitamin K, 0.1% of retinol, and 0.1% of vitamin C&E has been revealed to mitigate dark circles.

As a result, vitamin K has become known to mitigate skin problems by aiding the rapid improvement of vascular problems.

CARD 6 . Vitamin K is effective but it is important to check the amount contained

Then, would the bruise cream products easily found in the internet or the market also provide satisfactory effects?

Although the efficacy of vitamin K has certainly been proven through multiple research papers, this efficacy is limited to products which contain at least more than 1% of vitamin K.

This is the reason why you must always check the amount of vitamin K contained when purchasing bruise cream products from now on.

CARD 7. Bruise cream is not a basic cosmetic… You should apply the appropriate amount

The problem is that, although consumers can check the ingredients on the cosmetic ingredient labels, they cannot exactly know how much percentage of the cosmetic is composed of vitamin K.

Furthermore, even if there is an enough amount, since vitamin K is a product that deals with blood coagulation, it can be dangerous to apply the product on a wide area for a long time.

This is because such products are sold in the market not only as ‘bruise cream’ but also as ‘cream for facial blushing’ and ‘erythema mitigating cream.’ Hence, consumers can mistakenly think of these products as everyday basic cosmetics and use them excessively.

Card 8. The safest way to get rid of bruises is dietary therapy

However, it is hard to disregard the fact that vitamin K can become harmful to healthy blood vessels since it is absorbed by the skin to have an effect on blood cells.

As a result, our future assignment is to make constant effort to figure out the appropriate amount of vitamin K to apply on the skin and thus secure our safety.

Furthermore, since a human body cannot produce enough vitamin K, vitamin K must be consumed through an adequate diet.

If you want to solve the discomfort due to bruises after beauty treatments, you must remember that it is safer to consume foods with plenty of vitamin K such as green vegetables and tofu rather than to apply vitamin K cosmetics.