5 Ways Mushrooms Are Being Studied for Skin

A mushroom doesn't hand over its secrets all at once.

You find one at the base of a tree, glossy and red-brown. You turn it over, look at the gills or the pores, check the color of the stem, maybe take a spore print overnight. Only then do you start to know what you're holding.

Curiosity first. Then a closer look.

I want to bring that same patience to mushroom research. It's easy to turn an ingredient into a list of benefits. It takes a little longer to ask where each benefit came from. Was an extract tested in a dish? Did researchers put a finished cream on people? What did they actually measure?

If you'd like to meet reishi, tremella, and shiitake first, start with our guide to mushroom skincare. Here, I want to look more closely at the research itself, and at how to read it.

Where the evidence comes from

1. Hydration and moisture retention

The question: can a mushroom ingredient improve how a formula moisturizes skin?

Tremella is the obvious place to start. Dried, it looks like a crumpled gold sponge. In water, it blooms into something translucent and frilled. That talent for holding water is exactly why it's in skincare.

A 2023 study compared a cosmetic cream with and without tremella extract. The hydration measurements involved just five women, ages 29 to 38, with readings taken on the forearm over five hours. Both creams moisturized. The tremella cream showed bigger hydration increases at one and three hours, while the plain base showed a bigger increase at five hours. Read the tremella formulation study.

That's encouraging early evidence, with a small group and a short window. It doesn't show that every tremella product works the same way, or that tremella beats hyaluronic acid on people's faces.

What I love about this study is the design. The researchers tested the ingredient inside a real formula, next to the same formula without it. That's very close to the question you have when you're choosing skincare: what does adding this ingredient actually contribute?

2. Antioxidant activity

The question: how do mushroom compounds behave when skin cells are under oxidative stress?

Sunlight, pollution, and even your skin's own metabolism create unstable molecules called reactive oxygen species. Antioxidants are compounds that help neutralize them.

In a lab experiment, researchers exposed human skin fibroblasts, the cells that make collagen, to UVB light. Cells treated with reishi polysaccharides had lower levels of reactive oxygen species than UVB-exposed cells without the treatment. Read the reishi fibroblast study.

These were cells in a dish, not people wearing a cream outdoors. The findings help explain why scientists are so interested in reishi. They don't show sun protection, skin cancer prevention, or visible anti-aging results from a product. We can be fascinated by an ingredient's chemistry without giving it a job the research hasn't shown it can do.

3. Inflammatory responses

The question: could mushroom compounds influence the processes behind irritated skin?

A 2022 experiment studied tremella polysaccharides in mice with chemically induced dermatitis. The researchers compared giving the compound by mouth with applying it to the skin. Both improved certain measurements, including water loss and swelling, and the oral route had stronger effects on several of them. Read the tremella dermatitis study.

This is early, preclinical research. Dermatitis in mice isn't the same as eczema in people, and swallowing a compound is very different from putting it into skincare. It doesn't justify calling a mushroom toner an eczema treatment.

It does explain why researchers keep asking questions. "Worth investigating" is a real finding, even when it's too early to turn into a promise.

4. Enzymes involved in skin structure

The question: can an extract slow the enzymes that break down skin's support proteins?

Collagen gives skin its structure. Elastin gives it the ability to stretch and spring back. Your skin also makes enzymes, collagenase and elastase, that break those proteins down as part of normal turnover.

In a 2026 lab study, shiitake extract reduced elastase activity by about 52%. At the highest concentrations tested, collagenase activity fell below what the test could detect. The researchers also built the extract into a cream and checked its stability. Read the shiitake study.

Think about that for a second: a mushroom from the grocery store, slowing two of the enzymes most closely tied to skin losing its bounce. That's exciting. It's also an enzyme test. It can point to a possible mechanism, but it can't show whether the ingredient reaches the right place in human skin, at the right concentration, to make a visible difference. No one tested wrinkles in people.

Shiitake is in our Mushroom Face Cream. This research is one reason I keep learning about it. It isn't evidence that our cream has been shown to rebuild collagen or firm skin.

5. Pigmentation-related activity

The question: do certain extracts affect the enzyme behind pigment production?

Tyrosinase is the enzyme your skin uses to start making melanin, so it's a common target in research on dark spots. A 2026 reishi study looked at tyrosinase alongside antioxidant activity and how reishi performed in a cream formula. Read the reishi study.

Here's a detail I find useful: you can't assume this activity across all mushrooms. The shiitake study above found no meaningful tyrosinase inhibition under its test conditions. That's a helpful counterpoint to blanket claims that "mushrooms brighten skin."

I wouldn't turn an enzyme experiment into a promise to fade anyone's dark spots. It's a starting point, and the next step is studying complete formulas on people.

How to read skincare research

When a brand (including us) cites a study, these four questions go a long way:

"Human skin cells" can sound like a human trial. It isn't. And a cream that stays stable on a shelf is a different finding from a cream that improves skin. These distinctions don't make the research less interesting. They make it more useful.

Why mushrooms still belong at the center of Hongo

Hongo is the Spanish word for mushroom, so this was never going to be a passing interest for us.

Mushrooms make me look more closely at the natural world. Underground, mycelium threads through soil and wood, linking a much larger living system than the mushroom you see. That image of connection is part of the feeling I want Hongo to carry. It's a metaphor for the brand, not an explanation of what happens when you use our products.

The formulas themselves are concrete: reishi and shiitake in our Mushroom Face Cream, and reishi and tremella in our Hydrating Mushroom Toner and Botanical Mushroom Cleansing Oil. Those extracts sit alongside other ingredients, and the complete formula matters.

One note, because I think you deserve precision: our finished products haven't been through clinical efficacy trials. The studies here explain our curiosity about the ingredients. They don't certify our products or predict your results.

Go back to that mushroom at the base of the tree. The beauty of it doesn't fade when you take a closer look. If anything, it grows. I want there to be room for both: the wonder of finding something beautiful in nature, and the patience to ask a better question about it.

With warmth,
Krystina

Mushroom research FAQ

What are the benefits of mushrooms for skin?

Researchers are studying mushroom ingredients for hydration, antioxidant activity, inflammatory responses, enzymes linked to collagen and elastin breakdown, and pigmentation. Most of that evidence comes from lab, cell, and animal studies, with a small amount of human research.

Is there clinical evidence for mushroom skincare?

Limited. The strongest human evidence so far is a small moisturizing study on a tremella cream. Most other findings come from cells, enzymes, or animals, which point to possibilities rather than proven results.

Do all mushrooms brighten skin?

No. Reishi extract has been studied for activity against tyrosinase, the enzyme behind pigment production, but a shiitake study found no meaningful effect on that enzyme. Results depend on the species and the extract.

Can mushroom skincare treat eczema?

No skincare product should be treated as an eczema cure without medical guidance. Tremella has been studied in a mouse model of dermatitis, but that's early research. If you have eczema, follow the care plan from your dermatologist.

Are Hongo products clinically tested?

Our finished products haven't been through clinical efficacy trials. The research cited here is on the ingredients. Patch test any new product before using it fully.

References

• Woźniak et al. (2023). Optimization of the composition of a cosmetic formulation containing Tremella fuciformis extract (fungi). Cosmetics, 10(3), 82. doi:10.3390/cosmetics10030082
• Zeng et al. (2017). Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides protect fibroblasts against UVB-induced photoaging. Molecular Medicine Reports, 15(1), 111–116. doi:10.3892/mmr.2016.6026
• Xie et al. (2022). Tremella fuciformis polysaccharides alleviate induced atopic dermatitis in mice by regulating immune response and gut microbiota. Frontiers in Pharmacology. PMC9452665
• Dikmen Kucuk et al. (2026). Cosmeceutical and dermatological potential of shiitake mushroom (Lentinula edodes) extract. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology. PubMed 41656649
• Dikmen Kucuk et al. (2026). Cosmetic potential of Ganoderma lucidum (reishi) extract in a topical cream formulation. International Journal of Cosmetic Science. PubMed 41657122

Originally published September 16, 2024 · Updated October 2026. This article is for educational purposes and discusses emerging cosmetic research. Hongo skincare products are cosmetics and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease.