Fucoidan is the component of brown seaweed that has been making our skin healthier and smoother since… well… forever.
That slippery, gel-like film on brown seaweeds is called fucoidan and happens to be a highly coveted and expensive ingredient in the marine skincare and cosmeceuticals industry.
Fucoidan is a complex polysaccharide (sugar) that is essential for cellular communication between glycoproteins and glycolipids. And let me tell you – it’s crucial to have really good communication between these parties because they are responsible for things like producing more collagen, repairing injured cells and acting as a cellular bouncer that kicks out toxic waste.
You can literally go to the beach at low tide, pick some healthy bladderwrack and squeeze the inflated bulbs (bladders). You now have yourself some fresh fucoidan. Put it on your face, under your eyes on your lips, pimples, cuts, stings, sunburns… you will notice a difference when you wake up the next day.
Want to harvest some seaweed? Read this first.
Skincare suppliers will extract this polysaccharide from various local seaweeds including laminaria japonica (kelp), fucus laminaria (bladderwrack), fucus vesiculous (serrated wrack) and undaria pinnatifida (alaria – wakame). Then they stabilize it with preservatives.
A lot of money has been spent researching this one component of seaweed. Aside from the research papers on anti-aging (there are many), studies have shown that cosmetic formulations containing fucoidon help to fight cellulite by increasing circulation and bringing oxygen to repair damaged cells, stimulating the metabolism and ridding the body of waste.
8 key skin care benefits of fucoidan:
- Its concentration of antioxidants prevents damage by free-radicals
- It speeds up cellular and collagen production
- Supports a stronger metabolism helping to repair damaged skin
- Improves skin’s moisture level and protects against dryness.
- It detoxes the buildup around your elastin giving your skin more elasticity
- It has been recognised that its moisturising power is superior to hyaluronic acid effects.
- It protects the skin from harmful UV rays and inhibits the production of melanin, reducing the appearance of age spots
- It reduces the appearance of fine lines by plumping up the cells
At Sealuxe most of our Canadian-made skincare products include fucoidan sourced from the coast of British Columbia- one of the world’s richest ocean environments. The protected and clean waters off the coast of the Great Bear Rainforest have an abundance of fucoidan-rich bladderwrack that help us to produce our potent and superior products.
The cold temperatures, the mineral rich mountain run-off and the pristine environment create the perfect conditions to support healthy growing seaweed. Our seaweed is wild harvested, cut by hand by committed people once a year at the seaweed’s perfect growth cycle for maximum potency. The harvesting practices and growing conditions make seaweed the most sustainable ingredient in the world!
Sealuxe processes the seaweed from our suppliers through a slow process of maceration ensuring our ingredients’ efficacy. Our combination of nature and science results in a line of luxurious skincare products that will keep your face looking and feeling fresh and healthy.