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Fucus Vesiculosus (Bladderwrack) Extract

Fucus vesiculosus · INCI Fucus Vesiculosus Extract

Bladderwrack is the brown seaweed you have stepped over on every rocky beach along the north Devon coast, the same species that grows on the rocks below Welcombe. It is our signature ingredient, and the one that gives the whole range its coastal character.

We use it as a cold infusion in sunflower oil, and that form carries less than the seaweed's reputation suggests.

Bladderwrack, the Atlantic brown seaweed that gives the range its coastal character.
Bladderwrack, the Atlantic brown seaweed that gives the range its coastal character.

What it is

Bladderwrack, Fucus vesiculosus, is a brown seaweed of the north Atlantic. The research on the seaweed itself is interesting: it is rich in fucoidans, the sulphated polysaccharides unique to brown algae, in phlorotannins, a family of marine polyphenols, and in fucoxanthin, a golden pigment. Most of the antioxidant and soothing activity credited to bladderwrack in the literature belongs to the first two, and both are water-soluble.

That last point matters, because we use bladderwrack as a cold, solvent-free infusion in sunflower oil, made in the UK by O&3, and the studies test water-based extracts. The water-soluble fucoidans stay behind, and most of the phlorotannins with them, though the smaller phlorotannins may carry a little way into the oil. What crosses over most reliably is the lipophilic fucoxanthin, and that, with the coastal kinship, is why it is here.

What it does in our formulas

Fucoxanthin gives it a modest antioxidant note, and the species links the range to our coast.

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A modest antioxidant note

Fucoxanthin, the seaweed's golden pigment, is the part that carries most readily into an oil. Research on bladderwrack extracts suggests a modest antioxidant effect, measured on the stability of the product rather than on skin. The tocopherol in the infusion belongs to the sunflower oil carrier.

Emerging evidence
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A link to our coast

Bladderwrack is the same species as the seaweed on the rocks below Welcombe, and it is in every formula we make. It earns its place through that kinship as much as through its chemistry.

What the research does not show

Bladderwrack is among the most oversold ingredients in skincare, and much of what you will read about it does not survive contact with the form we use, or with the evidence behind it.

Marketed as A firming, anti-ageing active
The firming and age-spot results trace to a single sponsor-funded study on a fucoidan-rich water extract. Those fucoidans are water-soluble and do not carry into our oil infusion, so the claim is not ours to make.
Marketed as A hydrating active
The hydration figure that circulates comes from a marine serum spray built on humectants such as glycerin, propanediol and ectoin, alongside the seaweed, so the seaweed cannot be credited with the result. What hydration our formulas offer comes from glycerin and barley ferment, with the oils slowing its escape.
Marketed as A microbiome ingredient
The antibacterial and biofilm signals are from laboratory studies only, with no evidence in human skin. We leave the claim out.

On the label and in the range

Bladderwrack appears in every one of our formulations, near the end of the list, at a fraction of a percent. On the label it reads by its INCI name, shown with its common name. The exact percentage is published on each product page, as it is for everything we use.

Is it suitable for me?

Bladderwrack, carried in sunflower oil, is gentle and well tolerated, with a long record of safe cosmetic use and no restrictions under UK or EU cosmetic law. It suits a vegan routine and sits comfortably on sensitive skin.

Vegan-friendlySensitive-skin suitableWell tolerated

As with anything new, if your skin reacts easily it is worth patch testing first.

Naturally derived
Naturally derived
Made to be gentle on skin
Made to be gentle on skin
Every formulation published
Every formulation published

The research behind this page

We review the published literature. We do not conduct the studies below.

  1. Muñoz-Quintana M, Padrón-Sanz C, Dolbeth M, Arenas F, Vasconcelos V, Lopes G. Revealing the Potential of Fucus vesiculosus Linnaeus for Cosmetic Purposes: Chemical Profile and Biological Activities of Commercial and Wild Samples. Mar Drugs 2024;22(12):548. →
  2. Poyato C, Thomsen BR, Hermund DB, et al. Antioxidant effect of water and acetone extracts of Fucus vesiculosus on oxidative stability of skin care emulsions. Eur J Lipid Sci Technol 2016;118. →
  3. Lin TK, Zhong L, Santiago JL. Anti-Inflammatory and Skin Barrier Repair Effects of Topical Application of Some Plant Oils. Int J Mol Sci 2018;19(1):70. →
  4. Fitton JH, Dell'Acqua G, Gardiner V-A, Karpiniec SS, Stringer DN, Davis E. Topical Benefits of Two Fucoidan-Rich Extracts from Marine Macroalgae. Cosmetics 2015;2(2):66-81. →
  5. Janssens-Böcker C, Wiesweg K, Doberenz C. The Tolerability and Effectiveness of Marine-Based Ingredients in Cosmetics: A Split-Face Clinical Study of a Serum Spray Containing Fucus vesiculosus Extract, Ulva lactuca Extract, and Ectoin. Cosmetics 2023;10(3):93. →
Found in every Biotaderm formulation Shop the range