The big blue holds all manner of hidden treasures – otherworldly creatures, lost bounties and surreal landscapes – but better still – some of the best-kept beauty ingredients in all the world. So, listen close and take notes, terrestrials. From underwater jewels to super-salts, healing plants to slithery, skin-saving friends, we’re about to school you on the ultimate ocean potions for perfect skin.
Seaweed: the broad-spectrum name for those tentacle-like things that catch on your foot when you’re taking a dipping in the ocean. Of course, their roles aren’t limited to scaring you half to death – the gangly, aquatic shrubbery comes in innumerable variants, each with their own healing powers.
The largest form, Kelp, is a cookhouse of Vitamins A, B1, C, D & E, minerals like zinc, iodine, potassium, and more calcium than you’d get from a whole glass of milk. In skin-speak, it banishes wrinkles, breakouts and dullness, while moisturizing and firming.
More common is brown algae, an antioxidant that works to repair cell damage, boost renewal and remove free radicals – making it a go-to ingredient for anti-ageing products.
Brown’s brother, Red Algae is a natural sunscreen, absorbing UVA rays and serving up antioxidants of its own. With this one, you can also say bye-bye to blemishes.
You've heard of collagen, but it's lesser known cousin, Elastin is as important in keeping your skin supple. Fish-derived Elastin Peptides and Marine Collagen work better than a plastic surgeon to regenerate skin, fighting wrinkles and fine lines to restore firmness.
In addition, Fish Oil, packed with Omega 3 Fatty Acids, clears your skin, acts as a natural moisturizer and strengthens your hair follicles for shinier, bouncier locks.
Next time you're at a high-society affair, take the caviar off that cracker and save it for later. Fish eggs are full of amino acids and vitamins, making for luxuriantly nourishing serums, moisturizers and eye creams.
Think we're done? Wrong. Our generous fishy friends also dispense Squalene, a lightweight ingredient that hydrates your skin and maintains its elasticity.
Sure, it might be called the Dead Sea, but there's nothing dead about it at all. All you need do is skim the surface for numerous rare, potent and vital minerals that bring your skin to life. Aside from high concentrations of Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium and Sodium, the Dead Sea is home to 26 miracle minerals that work to heal maladies spanning the spectrum from psoriasis to skin ageing.
Whether you're slathering on a mud pack or scrubbing yourself down with its salt, you'll be treating yourself to a 360-degree skin spa that renews, restores, lends radiance, soothes and moisturizes.
Everyone knows water is the source of life. Seawater, though? The source of good skin! Swimming in its salty embrace are tonnes of natural minerals and trace elements. When these are combined with sunlight, they work to revive and repair your skin, increase the number of WBCs and RBCs, and even reduce anxiety – thanks to its fill of Magnesium.
Seawater also sucks up the skin's toxins, sanitise it from all kinds of bacteria (arrivederci, acne!) and open up pores for intensive cleansing and enhanced microcirculation and drainage.
Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but pearls make her prettier. Just ask China's royal families, or our own Ayurvedic healers, who have used pearl powder as part of their medicinal practices for over 2,000 years.
Smoothening, softening and brightening, the active ingredients in pearl extracts have anti-ageing and anti-acne superpowers as well. That's because the powder is imbued with amino acids, numerous trace minerals and calcium, regenerating collagen and cells for radiant, young skin. With a porcelain complexion like that, the world's your oyster!
