Red Algae: The Antioxidant Skin Care Ingredient You Haven’t Tried Yet

The sun’s rays can cause damage to your skin and spark premature visible signs of skin aging including the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. But did you know that there are other environmental stressors that your skin encounters on a daily basis that can also age the look of your skin? Everyday air pollution can negatively impact your skin’s barrier function; one of the top layers of the skin that helps keep moisture in. Not only that, but free radicals and pollutants, like car fumes, can also wear down your skin’s natural integrity, weakening it and leaving it vulnerable to visible wrinkles and creases.

When incorporated into your regular skin care routine, topically applied skin care products that are formulated with antioxidants may be able to help protect your surface skin and defend against the damaging effects of free radicals. Today, many popular antioxidant skin care products are formulated with vitamins C and E and the derivatives of vitamin A, including retinol. However, there is another antioxidant that can deliver similar, worthwhile benefits, but you may not have heard about it yet – or haven’t gotten around to trying it. Enter: Red Algae. Perhaps the sea’s best kept secret when it comes to skin care, this antioxidant-rich plant can help refine the appearance of your skin and keep it looking its best.

The Algae family is comprised of more than 20,000 different known species, each containing chlorophyll as its primary photosynthetic pigment. Given its natural inclination to process sunlight, red algae has been proposed to help provide your skin with potent antioxidant protection.

Commonly referred to in skin care products as rhodophyta seaweed, red algae extract contains high quantities of sulfated polysaccharides (carrageenan), peptides, carotenoids, and fatty acids. Together these components may contribute towards red algae’s antioxidant property. Algae extract is also known to serve as a thickening agent in skin care products, which can provide a more desirable and spreadable texture for lotions and creams. This attribute can also make it great for a face mask designed for mature, rough-looking skin. A clay mask that is creamy-in-texture and formulated with red algae can help your skin’s moisture retention capabilities and refine the appearance of dullness to boot.

Your body has a supply of naturally occurring antioxidants already in place to help protect it against oxidative stress, but you can also do your part by applying skin care products formulated to help skin defend against the negative effects of air pollution too. Products formulated with red algae extract can you're your surface skin neutralize some free radicals that are present in your everyday environment, providing your skin protection on a daily basis.

Help your skin protect itself against the aging elements, apply skin care products formulated with antioxidants, including those with red algae extract. And, remember that it is also important to offer your skin an extra layer of protection with daily broad spectrum SPF protection, regular cleansing and yearly dermatologist check-ins for their recommendations too.