Wave of sea-inspired beauty
PREMIUM beauty brands, it seems, are casting their nets out to the sea for inspiration.
With their proven nutritional and medicinal properties, precious finds from the ocean floor have plenty to offer the beauty community in its eternal quest for youth.
In honour of World Oceans Week, we look at some top marine beauty picks.
Sea kelp, sea salt, seaweed, ocean mud, minerals, caviar, algae... there is no end to the botanicals cosmetics companies have readily sampled to offer consumers the healing powers of the sea. French luxury brand Thalgo’s widely instagrammed Prodige des oceans skin-perfecting range uses 61 marine nutrients.
The sea is luxe beauty brand La Mer’s biggest muse. Ever since its launch in the 90s, a wave of marine-based skincare has ensued, flooding beauty counters across the globe.
La Mer was one of the first skincare firms to reap the rejuvenating benefits of rare finds such as pearl powder, white algae fibres or amino acid-rich ascophyllum nodosom.
Its hero product, Creme de la Mer (US$170-US$310) (RM730-RM1,330) — which, as its chic French name suggests, was born from the sea — claims to offer even the driest complexions “virtually ageless-looking skin.”
Firmness, less visible lines, wrinkles and smaller pores are some of the claims that have maintained its cult following among celebrities and kept consumers coming back for more.
La Mer’s website (www.cremedelamer. com/how-to-videos) carries a series of how-to tutorials for applying its high-performance skincare and make-up products.
France’s leading spa network Thalgo’s history with algae-based treatments and beauty products started in 1964.
The brand’s latest skincare offerings include Prodige des Oceans (US$120US$180), a widely followed skin-perfecting range containing 61 marine nutrients. Thalgo’s Defi Fermete firming cream uses a silicium-based formula, combined with a new-generation plankton complex (US$78).
Other marine-based products include Daniel Jouvance’s Concentre Marin detoxifying night care, which combines salt water Surfing on its success, cult skincare brand La Mer has grown to include cosmetics, like its Reparative SkinTint SPF 30, formulated with potent marine ferments.
and go-to additive microalgae and claims to revive skin while you sleep.
British ocean-conscious firm Haeckels is also shaking up the sea-derived skincare industry.
International beauty expert Wendy Rowe is a fan of the brand’s natural products that pack a potent antioxidant punch with locally harvested marine botanicals. Haeckels’ Seaweed / Seabuckthorn low-foaming gel cleanser is one of Rowe’s favourites.