The Power of Seaweed
Icelandic seaweed is a genuine marvel of nature — and we’re still only beginning to understand the full extent of what it can do. These remarkable marine plants carry powerful antioxidant compounds, quietly working to protect skin and body from the damage caused by free radicals.
But antioxidant activity is only part of the story. Icelandic seaweed also contains genuinely impressive enzyme inhibitors — compounds capable of slowing the breakdown of collagen and elastin, the structural proteins responsible for firm, supple, youthful-looking skin.
This isn’t a vague claim. We measured it. In our own published research, Icelandic winged kelp (Alaria esculenta) extract achieved 76.9% collagenase-inhibitory activity and 72.8% elastase-inhibitory activity in vitro — meaning it actively blocks the enzymes responsible for breaking these structural proteins down in the first place. The same extract also showed 93% tyrosinase inhibition, the enzyme responsible for uneven pigmentation, alongside strong antioxidant capacity, the highest of the three Icelandic seaweeds we tested.
Numbers like that are what separate “seaweed is good for skin” as a nice idea from seaweed as a genuinely potent, measurable skincare ingredient.
Where the Research Lives
We published these results properly, not just as marketing copy: Exploring the Potential of Icelandic Seaweeds Extracts Produced by Aqueous Pulsed Electric Fields-Assisted Extraction for Cosmetic Applications, Castejón, N., Þórarinsdóttir, K.A., Einarsdóttir, R., Kristbergsson, K., & Marteinsdóttir, G. (2021), Marine Drugs, 19(12), 662. The project was funded by the Icelandic Research Foundation (Rannís) and the University of Iceland.
As we keep exploring what Icelandic seaweed can offer, it’s genuinely exciting to think about what else might be waiting to be discovered beneath the waves — the research so far suggests we’ve only scratched the surface.
