MicroalgaMicrobiome activeIn every formula

Chlorella Vulgaris Extract

Chlorella Vulgaris · INCI Chlorella Vulgaris Extract

Chlorella is a single-celled green microalga, and the version in our formulas is a particular one: an active built from compounds in the algal cell wall, made in Barcelona from algae grown in sealed tanks. There is very little of it in the bottle. That deserves an explanation rather than a shrug, so here is one.

There is very little of it in the bottle, and that is exactly the amount the studies used. We would rather explain that than let you assume either way.

Chlorella vulgaris, the green microalga grown for the microbiome active in every formula.

What it is

The chlorella is grown in closed photobioreactors, sealed vessels rather than open ponds, then the cell walls are opened in water and the useful compounds are separated out and purified. What results is a concentrate: not ground-up algae, but a standardised set of active molecules, held at a fixed strength.

Here is the part worth being straight about. That concentrate is only a small fraction of the liquid it is supplied in, and we use that liquid at one percent. Do the arithmetic and the chlorella extract in your jar works out at roughly eight thousandths of one percent. Written down, that sounds like nothing.

The reason it is not nothing is that this is exactly the strength every study used. The maker tested the material at between a third of a percent and one percent, and we use it at one percent, the top of that range. So the chlorella concentration in our jar is the same as the chlorella concentration in the studies. The number that means something is the one percent, not the eight thousandths, and any brand telling you otherwise is either confused or hoping you are.

What it does in our formulas

Two things, and we will be precise about the mechanism, because the usual word for it does not quite fit.

It leans on the microbiome, selectively

In its maker's laboratory work, this active leaves the skin's main beneficial resident, S. epidermidis, untouched while holding back species that tend to cause trouble: P. acnes, M. furfur and S. aureus. Note the shape of that. It is not feeding the good microbes, it is restraining the difficult ones. A useful thing, and a different thing.

Emerging evidence

It appears to calm

Also in the maker's laboratory work, skin cells provoked into an inflammatory response produced far less of the signal that drives it when this active was present. That is a result in cell culture, not on skin, and we hold it that lightly.

Emerging evidence

What the research does not show

Now the honest part, and here we part company a little with the people who make this ingredient.

Marketed as A prebiotic that feeds your good bacteria

Worth reading twice. A prebiotic feeds beneficial microbes. The maker's own data describes a neutral influence on S. epidermidis, the main beneficial one, while suppressing the problem species. That is selective restraint, not feeding, and the two are not the same thing. The actual prebiotic in our formulas is the inulin.

Marketed as Clinically proven to clear skin and reduce oil

The study is real, well designed and small: ten volunteers, aged eighteen to twenty-five, with oily, blemish-prone facial skin. It was run by the ingredient's maker, and it has not been published or repeated by anyone else. We think it is worth something. We do not think it is proof, and we would not stretch a result from young oily facial skin across a whole range.

Marketed as It outperforms human growth factor

That comes from a scratch test on cells in a dish. Cells in a dish are not a face. We leave it out.

What is left is an interesting, carefully made active with real but limited evidence, used at the strength it was tested at. That is a fair description. It is the one we will stand by until somebody outside the company that sells it does the work.

On the label and in the range

Chlorella appears in every one of our formulations, near the end of the ingredient list. It arrives inside a one percent active, and the rest of that active is water, propanediol to carry it and a trace of lactic acid to hold it at the right acidity. All of them are on the label, which is why propanediol sits higher up the list than the chlorella it brought with it. Each has its own page here, because we would rather show you how the parts fit together than leave you wondering.

Is it suitable for me?

This is one of the few ingredients in our range with human safety data behind it at the exact strength we use. The maker patch tested it on fifty volunteers at one percent: not irritating, not sensitising. It is certified vegan by the Vegan Society, approved under the COSMOS and NATRUE organic standards, and free of nuts, gluten and other common allergens. The algae are grown in sealed tanks rather than gathered, so nothing is taken from the wild. It is a freshwater microalga with no connection at all to our coast, which we mention only because it would be easy to imply otherwise.

Vegan-friendlySensitive-skin suitableNo known safety concerns

This active was patch tested on fifty volunteers at the strength we use it, and was neither irritating nor sensitising. As with anything new, if your skin reacts easily it is still worth patch testing first.

The research behind this page

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

ALGAKTIV S.L. (Barcelona). ALGAKTIV BioSKN Product Information Dossier, v2024.0, and technical efficacy dossier. Manufacturer data, unpublished. Sponsor-generated. →
Yu J, et al. The Skin Microbiome Revolution: The Science and Challenges of Prebiotics, Probiotics, and Postbiotics in Skincare. Cosmetics 2026;13(1):43. →
Morone J, Alfeus A, Vasconcelos V, Martins R. Revealing the potential of cyanobacteria and microalgae in cosmetics and cosmeceuticals. Algal Res 2019;41:101541. →

Found in every Biotaderm formulation Shop the range