Botanical Beauty: Island-Based Clean Skincare Brands To Know

Recent years have seen the skincare world – from brands to influencers and beauty buffs – focus a lot of attention on the topic of “clean beauty” and the value of ingredients from Mother Nature to help nourish and protect our skin. Within this universe, one finds emerging brands who look to pristine landscapes right in their own backyard to create formulations that are not only effective, but also sustainable.

After all, looking young is big business, but so is taking care of the environment. By 2025, forecasts see the bustling clean skincare market rising to a worth of USD25 billion, as consumers increasingly move away from creams made with lab-developed chemical components and toward natural alternatives. An added plus is that some of the hottest names today in clean beauty hail from seductive faraway locations, notably postcard-perfect islands where enterprising locals have turned to the land for their ingredients.

Azores: Ignae

Take Portuguese brand Ignae. Founded by Miguel Pombo in 2016, the company is based in the Azores, harnessing the natural bounty of this North Atlantic archipelago which was borne from volcanic eruptions dating back 6 million years.

From their headquarters on the island of São Miguel, Pombo and his staff have sought out local plant life ranging from algae to Japanese camellia. One prized element in their lineup is the mineral-infused thermal water from Furnas Valley, home to more than 30 hot springs; the waters are said to provide anti-inflammatory benefits and balance the skin’s microbiome. Travellers to Furnas can enjoy spa treatments developed by the brand at the Art Deco-style Terra Nostra Garden Hotel, which offers guests access to its curative volcanic thermal waters set amid lush vegetation.

Ignae also has an innovative side, as CEO Claire Chung explains: “We employ biotechnology to use less of the natural resources around us and make them highly effective. Our patent-pending EPC Factor uses plant-based liposomes to act as a delivery vehicle, allowing the penetration and absorption of active ingredients that go deep into the skin’s dermis.”

With Chung’s entrepreneurial vision and Pombo’s research prowess, the pair have seen the brand arrive on the shelves of leading retailers such as New York’s Bergdorf Goodman and Harvey Nichols in London. Ignae spa treatments are also now offered at top luxury hotels, from the Four Seasons in Hong Kong to Reid’s Palace, a Belmond property in Madeira.

Sardinia: In Aéras

Another clean beauty brand rooted in the rhythms of island life is In Aéras from Sardinia. Owner Alice Ziccheddu, who in her day job is a designer of luxury accessories for a major Italian fashion house, grew up in a small village in the middle of Sardinia, a region recognised as a Blue Zone where longevity among residents is one of the highest in the world.

Ziccheddu’s paternal grandmother was a healer and had extensive knowledge of the medicinal plants used to relieve villagers’ ailments. Today, she has translated the traditional practices of Sardinian folk medicine into a modern collection of creams, serums and oils. These products rely on island botanicals, from myrtle and juniper to the mastic shrub, that have been harvested by hand from fields cared for by the farmers with whom she has developed a rapport. Ziccheddu also distils ingredients locally and packages them on-site to minimise her brand’s carbon footprint.

“With In Aéras, I prefer to focus on wellness and drawing on the healthy Mediterranean traditions of this island,” she says. “Unfortunately, the beauty industry today is too fixated on finding quick fixes and obsessing about anti-ageing. I believe it is better to think about ageing well.”

Perhaps the most impressive, and precious, ingredient she uses is the Sardinian helichrysum, a plant possessing five times more antioxidants than the average variety and which requires around 100kg of fresh flowers to produce just 80ml of essential oil. Today, she is also busy launching a line of day spa products, which will debut this summer at the Romazzino Hotel in Sardinia’s sun-kissed resort area of Costa Smeralda.

Iceland: Angan & BIOEFFECT

Cooler climates, too, have been a source of inspiration for proponents of clean beauty. In Iceland, a nation filled with mineral-rich volcanic soils, a number of companies are working with nature’s unique bounty. 

Angan, for one, is a sustainable skincare company started by Iris Laxdal, a former architect who moved into the wellness realm in 2016. Located in Kópavogur, directly south of Reykjavik, the brand draws from a wide selection of Arctic plant life, including Icelandic moss, along with other locally sourced ingredients like sea salt and volcanic ash. Not to be beat, fellow Kópavogur-based company BIOEFFECT taps into pure Icelandic spring water along with the barley plants that the company grows in a greenhouse on an old lava field.

Given skincare enthusiasts’ unabated desire to turn back the clock, clean beauty brands look well placed to succeed – and island-based companies appear especially appealing nowadays, relying on remote, exotic ingredients that many believe may just be the key to the fountain of youth.

[Photo at top: Viktoriya Kraynyuk/iStock]