Enjoy Sea Kelp Bioferment, great for your skin and for the environment

But first, what is it?

With a hint of poetry, I would say that SAS sea kelp bioferment brings you the beauty of algae of all colors, from the gigantic sea kelp that makes up the sea kelp forests to the microscopic unicellular algae, from the brown of the fucoxanthin to the coral of the astaxanthin, polysaccharides, and carotenoids.

What will you find in our sea kelp bioferment Coral?

Seakelp (Lactobacillus/Kelp Ferment Filtrate) Bioferment, Porphyridium Polysaccharide, Fucoxanthin, Astaxanthin.

How to use it

• Sea Kelp Coral by itself will help with an itchy scalp.
• Sea Kelp Coral can be used as a hair conditioner, it will make your hair feel “softer” and will also provide nutrition to the scalp.
• As a serum base for any water-soluble active
• To soothe after being in the sun
• To soothe mosquito bites

Why is it so good?

For the environment

The algae we use for our bioferment is Laminaria digitata grown in the sublittoral zone of the northern Atlantic Ocean. It is harvested in the State of Maine following regulations for sustainable harvesting, and is designated as USDA Organic. As you can see in the New York Times article, by using our sea kelp bioferment you will be helping the environment because kelp is a great sink for carbon dioxide. It is also a good nest for cute otters that thrive in sea kelp “forests”.

Why is it good for your skin?

Fermentation makes the cell contents of these algae readily available to our skin and scalp, maximizes its moisturizing properties, and makes nutrients available that are required by the skin. The ferment also has a calming, anti-itch activity. The ferment is rich in fucoidan, carrageenan, algin, minerals, and many active chemicals. It also provides minerals like iodine, copper, molybdate, magnesium, and others required as cofactors in enzymatic reactions of lipid metabolism and energy conversion. Fucoidans are sulfated polysaccharides with structures that depend on the plant source and growing conditions. When you apply fucoidan to the skin,  it will increase the density of collagen bundles, decrease protease activity, increase scavenging of free radicals, and increase cell proliferation. These effects would be mediated through increased expression of ß1-integrin and may also help with wound healing. In addition to assisting in collagen synthesis, fucoidan inhibits the replication of many viruses, including herpes, human cytomegalovirus, HIV-1, and others.

Astaxanthin gives our sea kelp coral its color; it is similar to some pigments that give coral exoskeletons their color. The similarity between astaxanthin and corals is not just in color but also in chemistry. Most corals obtain the majority of their energy and nutrients from unicellular photosynthetic algae, called zooxanthellae. In this mutually convenient living arrangement, the algae live a protected life within the coral and produce pigments that protect the coral from the sun. Because of its particular molecular structure, astaxanthin serves as a potent antioxidant. It has a beneficial quenching effect against singlet oxygen, a powerful scavenging ability for lipid and free radicals, and breaks effectively peroxide chain reactions. Carotenoids are effective at low oxygen concentrations, complementing vitamin E activity, which is effective at higher oxygen concentrations. Astaxanthin also enhances and modulates the human immune system. Astaxanthin and other antioxidants decrease the acute inflammation reaction in the skin that follows excessive UV radiation exposure, acting as a sunscreen. After all, a definition of sunscreen is a chemical that delays skin burning by UV.

Porphyridium Polysaccharide, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, lifting, anti-wrinkle.   The extracellular polysaccharide produced by this red (Rhodophyceae) microalga has sulfate groups attached to the backbone are also non-reducing terminal D-xylopyranosyl and galactopyranosyl residues. This polysaccharide has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and the xylitol residues may be responsible in part for the anti-inflammatory properties (we use xylitol in our anti-inflammatory cream). Other properties:

Fucoxanthin. Brown algae contain fucoxanthin, a pigment that enhances light absorption at the sea depth where these algae grow, increasing photosynthesis. This pigment is unique to brown algae, i.e. it is not present in green algae or in terrestrial plants. Fucoxanthin is a xanthophyll, found as an accessory pigment in the chloroplasts of brown algae and others (like diatoms) giving them a brown or olive-green color. Like other carotenoids, it has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antiangiogenic activities. Fucoxanthin suppressed the degranulation of mast cells, acting as an antiallergic and significantly decreased intracellular reactive oxygen species generated by exposure to ultraviolet B radiation in human fibroblast. Fucoxanthin improves cell survival rate and inhibits cell damage for pre-treated cells, indicating that fucoxanthin could protect skin against photodamage induced by ultraviolet B irradiation from sunlight. Fucoxanthin inhibits tyrosinase activity and melanogenesis in melanoma, and ultraviolet B-induced skin pigmentation. Topical treatment with fucoxanthin may prevent skin photoaging and wrinkle formation in ultraviolet B-irradiated hairless mice, possibly through antioxidant and antiangiogenic activity.

Read more about sea kelp broth here:  https://hannahsivak.com/blog/the-miracle-in-sea-kelp-broth/

Note: bioferment is not a scientific name, but it is the INCI name for this ingredient.

Kim, HM, Lee, EH, Cho, MM, Moon, YH. (1998) Inhibitory effect of mast cell-mediated immediate-type allergic reactions in rats by Spirulina. Pharmacology, 55: 1071-1076.

Matsui, S.M.; Muizzudin, N.; Arad, S.; Marenus, K. Sulfated polysaccharides from red microalgae anti-inflammatory properties in vitro and in vivo. Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 2003, 104, 13-22. Remirez, D., Ledon, N., Gonzalez, R. (2002) Role of histamine in the inhibitory effects of phycocyanin in experimental models of allergic inflammatory response. Inflammation, 11: 81-85.

Naunyn-Schmiedebergs (2000) Inhibition of croton oil-induced oedema in mice ear skin by capsular polysaccharides from Cyanobacteria. Archines of Pharmacology, 361: 460-464

Robert, L.; Fodil-Bourahla, I.; Bizbiz, L.; Robert, A. M. (2004) Effects of L-fucose and fucose-rich oligo- and polysaccharides (FROP-s) on collagen biosynthesis by human skin fibroblasts. Modulation of the effect of retinol, ascorbate and alpha-tocopherol (Vitamin E) Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 58 : 65-70.

Tannin-Spitz, T.; Bergman, M.; van-Moppes, D.; Grossman, S.; Arad, M.S. Antioxidant activity of the polysaccharide of the red microalga Porphyridium sp. J. Appl. Phycol. 2005, 17, 215-222.

Urikura I., Sugawara T., Hirata T. (2011) Protective effect of fucoxanthin against UVB-induced skin photoaging in hairless mice. Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem., 75:757–760.

DISCLAIMER: These claims have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent any disease.