I’ve been struggling with skin issues since we moved to Canada in 2001. First came eczema triggered by the dry cold Canadian Winters and next came acne as I went through puberty. Strangely enough, every time I was  back home in Albania, specifically the beach, everything always cleared up. When we would hurt ourselves as children, our parents would tell us that seawater would heal us. Many scrapes and bruises later, I still associate the sea with its healing properties. When I returned in 2021, my diasporic family gathered on the Albanian Riviera for a reunion. It was there seeing Silky Water beside the horizon of the Ionian Sea that struck me with awe. Being away for two years from the sea due to Covid was devastating for me and my skin, so I decided to capture it in a bottle.

Fast forward a few weeks back in Toronto, I reached out to all of our suppliers seeking out research and raw ingredients. I came across Mineralys, an active from my favourite supplier, Barent. Sourced from Noirmoutier Island on the West Coast of France, this deep seawater was beyond special. Referred to as the Island of Mimosas, it is a small preserved island approximately 25 kilometres long. Mineralys is deep sea water which penetrates through the earth's crust travelling through different geological layers and absorbing a large number of minerals making it even more mineral rich than just seawater. These minerals are essential for many functions such as cellular respiration and preservation, oxygen transport, and metabolism of amino acids. High in purity it provides the skin with all the minerals it needs including magnesium, calcium, potassium, zinc, chromium, selenium, and vanadium.

The use of deep sea water has led to the improvement of symptoms such as inflammation (edema), redness (erythema), dryness, itchiness, and transepidermal water loss of the skin. Additionally, deep sea water has been beneficial in improving symptoms of other skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis, reducing lichenification (hardening of the skin in rough patches) and skin cracking.

By restoring essential minerals, deep sea water can also help reduce allergic skin responses. The application of deep sea water can reduce the expression of interleukins (IL), which are immune signalling molecules. When your bodies encounter a pathogen or a foreign molecule, your immune cells detect it and secrete molecules to signal your body to respond appropriately to eliminate it. In the case of allergies, your body incorrectly identifies a molecule as “harmful”, and initiates the immune response, resulting in the traditional allergy symptoms (swelling, redness, etc). Deep sea water helps reduce this immune response to an allergen by reducing the expression of IL-4 and IL-2 from immune cells.