SeaBalance the world’s first seaweedbased cosmetic emulsifier

AUTHOR: Petra Vuksan, Biesterfeld Spezialchemie

Sustainability continues to rise as a top executive suite concern in every industry, driven in part by consumers becoming increasingly alarmed by the rising number of irregular droughts, floods, forest fires, blizzards and hurricanes experienced locally – and the growing consensus from the science community and international organizations that fault the private sector for not doing enough.

Company Carbonwave is spearheading an approach that harnesses the natural regenerative capacity of our oceans to make truly sustainable products. While seaweed has been used in active ingredients for many years, with claims ranging from moisturization to antioxidants and anti-aging, Carbonwave has developed the world’s first seaweed-based emulsifier for personal care, from a seaweed called sargassum, also known as gulfweed. Carbonwave has patented a cascading biorefinery model capable of creating products and biomaterials across different industries, and SeaBalance 2000 is its first product in the Per- sonal care market.

Sargassum is a free-floating macroalgae traditionally found in the Sargasso sea, located in the Atlantic ocean. In recent years, the sargassum has spread due to excess nutrient runoff from the Amazon (yet another problem of deforestation) and heating oceans, leading to belts of sargassum of monstrous proportions, estimated to weigh 20 million tonnes . This belt is carried by ocean currents to Mexico and the Caribbean where it washes up onto beaches. As it makes landfall, it deprives near-shore marine habitats like coral reefs of oxygen and sunlight and starts releasing arsenic and hydrogen sulphide resulting in a smell akin to that of rotting eggs. For an area that relies extensively on tourism to sustain its economy, sargassum presents an immense problem. It is estimated that the direct impact of sargassum is a 35% decline in tourism prior to Covid19. The “solution” up until now has been to dump the stuff on landfills, out of sight and mind. However, as the aerobic decom- position sets in, the sargassum starts releasing methane. Methane is an incredibly powerful greenhouse gas, 28 times more potent at trapping heat inside the atmosphere than CO2 and consequently solves one problem by creating another. www.biesterfeld.com/hr/hr/hrvatska

SeaBalance is a Cosmos Approved oil-in-water emulsifier with remarkable workability and performance, compared to the emulsifier market in general and other natural alternatives. Made through a proprietary green chemistry-based cold extraction that is gentle to keep the valuable characteristics of the seaweed. Our sargassum extract has been registered with PCPC under the INCI name “Sargassum Fluitans/Natans Extract”. As the name alludes to, the sargassum collected is a mix of two distinct, yet inseparable species of sargassum: Fluitans and Natans. SeaBalance is an anionic emulsifier in a viscous, off-white paste form, and it can be used in both hot and cold processes – an important consideration for formulators looking to reduce overall energy consumption.

The emulsions made from SeaBalance are silky white with a great skin-feel at use-levels of between 3-6%. It is an incredibly versatile emulsifier that can hold a wide range of emollients (non-polar and polar), pHs, oil concentrations, as well as salt concentrations (Table 1).

In the many ongoing customer trials, the wide range of use-cases has been noteworthy, allowing the formulator to make anything from a serum to a thick cream. To date, SeaBalance has been tested in many different formulations, ranging from anti-pimple masks to sunscreen. The latter was particularly exciting as the emulsion remained stable despite zinc and titanium oxide which can be challenging, particularly for natural emulsifiers.

All emulsions were subjected to freeze-thaw tests, 12-week on room temperature and on 40 °C test as well as accelerated, 50 °C stability tests for 10 days.

In contrast to land-based plants that compete for space with urban areas and rainforests, often need fresh water and an abundance of sunlight, limiting where a given plant can grow, Carbonwave believes the ocean holds the answer to many challenges and emphasizes the power of seaweed. Sargassum needs no land, no irrigation, and no additional nutrients to grow. Feedstock aside, SeaBalance also outperforms many natural alternatives, such as Cetearyl Olivate and Sorbitan Olivate, which in head-to-head trials both proves harder to work with and does not deliver stable emulsions across the same range of emollient polarities and concentrations as SeaBalance, particularly not when paired with salt content (Table 2).

In conclusion, SeaBalance is an incredibly high performing, natural emulsifier without the downsides of other natural ingredients. It delivers a powerful marketing story which aligns perfectly with the increasing demand for natural and sustainable products, and a growing interest in ocean-based ingredients. As showcased by the interest in sustainable ingredients at InCosmetics Global in Paris, the industry is starting to catch up to the demands of consumers and our planet. By choosing SeaBalance, formulators can make a true impact on sustainability, without compromising on emulsifier performance.

1 https://www.usf.edu/marine-science/news/2021/2021-anotherbanner-year-for-brown-seaweed.aspx

2 https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20190728/sargassum-influx-results-35-dip-regional-tourism-says-bartlett