With more than 320,000 different species of plants in the world, we round up the ones you need-to-know from the Scandi region
With so many different plants out there, it's no wonder that many of us are turning our attention to their potential use. Enter green chemistry, the sourcing of raw materials and utilising traditional knowledge and heritage plant wisdom. Creating scalable solutions which could potentially help the beauty industry with the problem of monocultures when cultivating plants. These relatively unknown ingredients explore the symbiosis between technology and nature.
But sourcing natural components is not always the best for the planet, though one possible way forward is to create unconventional partnerships. For example, Stella McCartney's Stella Skin partners with CODIF, a biotechnological company who have developed innovative ingredients to offer active materials from the sea, plants and biotechnology.
Let's look at the up-and-coming botanicals that will inspire the industry to transition natural skincare from niche to mainstream – the journey from nature to lab.
Wild harvested dulse extract
Rich in polysaccharides, this extract helps to reduce the appearance of dark circles and improve skin radiance. It contains four key minerals: calcium, potassium, magnesium and phosphorus, which act to support a more regenerated look. The wild red algae, which tend to grow in the waters near Iceland but are manually harvested in France from May to September, with a limited impact on the environment.
Bio-technical lingonberry extract
Rich in antioxidants, lingonberry extract helps to even skin tone and texture, minimising dark spots and redness. Using a biotechnological process – where a single fruit sample is collected for fermentation to produce stem cells. The stem cells from the sample of fruit (which is imported from Finland) are then cultivated.
Organic safari rock/sea fennel
It offers a retinol-like action and is rich in unsaturated and saturated fatty acids and phytosterols which help to replenish and restore ageing and visibly smooth fine lines and wrinkles. The plants from wild and cultivated sources are manually harvested, supporting a limited environmental impact.
Birch
No other brand has taken birch to heart as the Swedish fragrance house Björk and Berries. They branched into skincare half a decade ago with the now iconic C-serum and Birch Recovery Face Oil. Recovery leads to skin regeneration, which is how this face oil is best defined. Using the extract from the birch leaf, which is hydrating, nourishing, calming and purifying which helps to support skin health over the winter months.
The Tears of Chios
This is a key ingredient in Golden Nectar, an antioxidant pro collagen oil by Kate Moss's new beauty brand Cosmoss. The resin is extracted from the bark of the Pistacia Lentiscus, aka the Mastic tree from Greece. The resin is named after the sap that falls like droplets when the bark is cut. Benefits include stimulating natural collagen production – reactivating cells and detoxifying the skin.
Moss extract
Staying true to her name the supermodel has designed a Cosmoss formula combining three wild Icelandic plants – lichen, moss, and fern – acting as hydrating and nourishing agents. Lichen helps fight skin impurities, while sea moss can help the skin produce collagen and keratin. The fern protects the skin against light-induced ageing and prevents the reduction of existing collagen and elastin.
Another Swedish brand that just launched is Plantheque, offering professional skincare powered by nature using what they call 'next generation natureceuticals'. Here we find a lab-grown stem cell extract from turmeric and with clinically proven effects on stimulating fibroblasts to synthesise collagen. Both Plantheque and Stella Skin offer traceable supply chain disclosure, from the lab-grown ingredients to the harvested birch.
The tech world might seem far removed from nature, but it could be an essential tool for helping businesses build a better, more regenerative trade.