I just got back from a spa holiday in Iceland! Well, I call it a spa holiday because it was the most relaxing holiday I've had, and the best experience was at the infamous Blue Lagoon Geothermal Spa. I literally spent one whole day at the spa. And best of all, I paid only around £41 for the entrance fee including hotel pickup service. Not bad at all considering the natural mud full of beneficial minerals I slathered all over myself whilst soaking in 38 Celsius Centigrade and 7.5 pH steamy waters.
Blue Lagoon is reputed to help patients suffering from skin diseases such as psoriasis and atomic dermatitis in particular. Extraction of the silica mud and cultivation of the three microalgae species[1] in the mixture of 35% freshwater and 65% seawater are carried out at the Blue Lagoon R&D Center to produce skincare products. There is a research paper that mentions some of the benefits of the silica mud and microalgae such as:[2]* Improving skin barrier function. Silica mud extracts help to stimulate the keratinocyte, which is a key component in determining the quality of the skin barrier. Extracts from the microalgaes help as well, although to a lesser extend. Patients with psoriasis and atomic dermatitis usually have perturbed skin barrier function hence they would benefit from the silica mud.
* Prevent premature skin aging. The microalgaes are shown to be able to significantly upregulate Collagen 1A1 and Collagen 1A2, the two genes that are involved in collagen synthesis and are usually at the risk of being downregulated due to UV radiation exposure.
Well, the ingredients certainly sound good. Unfortunately, the researchers at Blue Lagoon also packed lots of other bad chemicals into the products. It's such a waste really. I would loved to get the Silica Mud Mask but it's full of parabens. The Algae Mask is slightly better but it contains Butylphenyl Methylpropional, which is listed as an alergic substance by the European Cosmetic Directive.[3] The only Blue Lagoon product I bought is the Silica Mud Exfoliator. It is made up of only 6 ingredients - Blue Lagoon sea water, freshwater, Blue Lagoon Silica, Glycerin (natural moisturiser), Benzyl Alcohol (can be too drying for dry skin, has a certain toxic level although not as bad), and Dehydroacetic Acid (for preservation purpose). The funny thing is that, the Silica Mud Exfoliator is advertised on the Blue Lagoon's website as "Free from parabens". If they care enough for one product to be free from parabens, I really wonder why they couldn't do the same for the other products. It's a shame really...
Publications
1. http://www.matis.is/media/algae-network-2012/Halldor-Svavarsson.pdf
2. http://www.bluelagoon.com/files/research-studies/psoriasis-research/152.pdf/
3. http://www.truthinaging.com/ingredients/butylphenyl-methylpropional
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