INCI: Laminaria Digitata Extract
Botanical / marine source: Extract of the brown seaweed Laminaria digitata
Also known as: Oarweed, kelp
Source: Ireland

Laminaria digitata is a large brown seaweed found in cold North Atlantic waters. It grows attached to hard substrates in lower intertidal and subtidal zones, often in exposed coastal areas with strong wave movement — a marine landscape of resilience, movement and mineral richness. European distribution maps describe it as occurring along Atlantic coasts from northern Russia to the Canary Islands, favouring moderately to very exposed areas with strong wave currents.

In cosmetics, Laminaria Digitata Extract is recognised as a skincare ingredient, and COSMILE places it within ingredients for skincare. Brown algae-derived ingredients are commonly used as skin-conditioning agents, and the Cosmetic Ingredient Review notes that brown algae contain alginic acid and fucoidan in their complex cell walls, with composition varying depending on growing conditions, harvest and extraction method.

The value of Laminaria digitata lies in its marine polysaccharides and mineral-rich character. Studies describe this brown macroalga as a carbohydrate-rich biomass containing alginate, fucoidan, laminarin and mannitol, with seasonal variation in composition. These compounds are part of what makes kelp extracts interesting in cosmetic formulations for hydration, texture, comfort and a protective skin feel.

In SKAAI formulas, we choose Laminaria digitata extract for its coastal, mineral-rich character and its quiet skin-conditioning quality. It supports formulas designed for skin that feels dry, tired or exposed to environmental stress, helping the skin feel hydrated, supple and comfortable.

It fits SKAAI’s preservation-based approach beautifully: a resilient seaweed from wave-washed waters, used not to force the skin, but to support its natural comfort and balance.

A mineral-rich brown seaweed extract from cold, wave-washed Atlantic waters, chosen to support hydrated, supple and comfortable-feeling skin.

INCI: Tripleurospermum Maritimum Extract — sometimes listed as Tripleurospermum Maritimum Extract, Aqua/Water, so check your supplier document.
Botanical source: Sea mayweed / coastal scentless mayweed, Tripleurospermum maritimum
Synonym sometimes used by Seppic: Matricaria maritima
Source: Brittany, France. ECOCERT & COSMOS certified.

Sea mayweed, also known as scentless chamomile, grows abundantly along the Wadden Sea and other European coastlines, where its white, daisy-like flowers withstand wind, salt and shifting weather.

At SKAAI, we use Sea Mayweed for its gentle, skin-comforting character. Chosen especially for sensitive and redness-prone skin, it helps the skin feel calmer, softer and less reactive.

Like the coastal plants that inspire us, sea mayweed brings quiet resilience to the formula: not forcing the skin to change, but helping it return to comfort and balance.

INCI: Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Limonium Gerberi Extract
Botanical source: Sea lavender, Limonium gerberi
Source: Brittany, France. ECOCERT & COSMOS certified

INCI: Crithmum Maritimum Extract
Botanical source: Sea fennel / rock samphire, Crithmum maritimum
Source: Greece

Sea fennel, also known as rock samphire, is a resilient coastal plant that grows along sea cliffs, shorelines and saline soils. Around the Wadden Sea, it can be found in sheltered places between the basalt stones of the dike, especially where grazing sheep do not reach. Crithmum maritimum is native across parts of Western Europe, the Mediterranean, Macaronesia and the western Caucasus, including the Netherlands, France, Great Britain and Ireland.

For centuries, sea fennel has been valued as an edible and traditional coastal plant. Modern research describes it as a halophyte — a salt-tolerant plant — rich in bioactive compounds, including phenolics, flavonoids, terpenoids and other plant constituents associated with antioxidant activity.

In SKAAI formulas, we choose sea fennel for its coastal resilience and skin-conditioning character. It brings a refined, protective-feeling quality to formulas designed for dry, mature or sensitive skin. Rather than using it as a strong “anti-ageing” promise, we value it as a botanical active that helps skin feel more comfortable, balanced and resilient.

Sea fennel fits SKAAI’s preservation-based approach beautifully: a plant shaped by salt, wind and exposure, used with restraint to support the skin’s natural comfort and healthy-looking vitality.

A resilient coastal plant extract chosen for its skin-conditioning character, sea fennel helps dry, mature or sensitive skin feel more comfortable, supple and protected.

NCI: Rosa Rubiginosa Seed Oil 
Botanical source: Seeds/hips of wild rose species, often Rosa canina or Rosa rubiginosa
Source: Germany, Bulgaria & Poland

Wild roses can be found across many European landscapes, including coastal hedgerows, dunes and sheltered areas near the sea. After flowering, they form rosehips: small red-orange fruits rich in botanical colour and long associated with traditional care.

Rosehip oil is valued in skincare for its distinctive fatty-acid profile. It is naturally rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid, alongside oleic acid and minor lipid components such as tocopherols, sterols and carotenoids. These components contribute to its nourishing, antioxidant-associated and skin-conditioning character.

In SKAAI formulas, we choose rosehip oil for skin that feels dry, mature, dull or fragile. It helps support a soft, supple and comfortable skin feel, while its naturally colourful botanical compounds bring a quiet vitality to the formula. Rather than promising to “repair” or “regenerate” the skin, we value rosehip oil as a gentle, nutrient-rich oil that supports the skin’s barrier comfort and healthy-looking radiance.

It fits SKAAI’s preservation-based approach beautifully: a familiar wild coastal botanical, used with restraint to nourish the skin and support its natural resilience over time.

Rich in skin-relevant fatty acids and naturally occurring antioxidant-associated compounds, rosehip oil supports soft, supple, comfortable and healthy-looking skin.

INCI: Rubus Fruticosus Seed Oil
Botanical source: Seeds of the blackberry, Rubus fruticosus
Plant family: Rosaceae, the rose family
Source: Poland

Blackberry seed oil is pressed from the tiny seeds of the deep purple-black berries of Rubus fruticosus, a member of the rose family. Blackberries grow across many temperate European landscapes, including hedgerows, woodland edges and coastal areas. Kew lists Rubus fruticosus as native to northern, central and eastern Europe.

The oil is especially valued for its light skin feel and rich fatty-acid profile. It contains high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids, including omega-6 linoleic acid and omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid, alongside oleic acid. Published work on blackberry seed oil also reports valuable minor components such as tocopherols, phenols, sterols and carotenoids, which contribute to its antioxidant-associated character.

In SKAAI formulas, blackberry seed oil brings quiet nourishment without heaviness. We choose it for dry, mature or sensitive skin that benefits from softness, suppleness and barrier comfort. Its naturally occurring fatty acids and antioxidant-associated compounds make it especially interesting in formulas designed to support skin that feels exposed, fragile or in need of gentle care.

Like many berry seed oils, blackberry seed oil can also represent a more circular use of plant materials, because the seeds may be obtained from fruit processing streams that would otherwise have limited value. Research on blackberry pomace describes the seeds as containing around 14–15% oil, making them a useful source of lipids and bioactive compounds.

Light yet nutrient-rich, blackberry seed oil brings omega-rich softness, barrier comfort and antioxidant-associated nourishment to formulas for dry, mature or sensitive skin.

INCI: Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Aster Tripolium Extract
Botanical source: Sea starwort / sea aster, traditionally Aster tripolium
Accepted botanical name: Tripolium pannonicum — Kew lists Aster tripolium as a synonym of Tripolium pannonicum.
Source: Europe

Sea starwort, also known as sea aster, is a salt-tolerant coastal plant associated with salt marshes, estuaries and temperate shorelines. Its older botanical name, Aster tripolium, is still used in the cosmetic INCI name, while the currently accepted botanical name is Tripolium pannonicum.

In cosmetics, Aster Tripolium Extract is recognised as a skin-protecting ingredient. COSMILE describes it as an extract of sea aster / sea starwort that helps protect the skin from external influences.

At SKAAI, we use Sea Starwort Oil for its barrier-supportive and skin-comforting character. This oil-soluble coastal extract for skin barrier reinforcement, soothing efficacy and moisturisation. The supplier data describe effects on hydration and visible redness.

A coastal sea aster extract chosen to support barrier comfort, hydration and resilient-feeling skin.

INCI: Bellis Perennis Flower Extract
Botanical source: Flowers of the common daisy, Bellis perennis
Plant family: Asteraceae
Source: France

Lawn daisy, also known as common daisy, is a small flowering plant found in grassy places across Europe. In May, it dots the Wadden Sea dikes with bright, cheerful flowers that open to the sun. Kew lists Bellis perennis as native from Madeira and Europe to the Mediterranean and Central Asia, and notes its traditional use as a medicinal, food and environmental plant.

In cosmetics, Bellis Perennis Flower Extract is recognised as a skin-conditioning ingredient. The plant is also rich in botanical compounds of interest, including phenolic compounds and flavonoids, and recent reviews describe antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential in Bellis perennis extracts.

In SKAAI formulas, we choose lawn daisy for its gentle, skin-comforting character. It brings a soft botanical quality to formulas designed for sensitive, dry or mature skin, helping the skin feel calmer, cared for and more at ease.

Rather than promising to tighten or “lift” the skin, we would describe lawn daisy as a quiet toning and conditioning botanical: one that supports a soft, fresh and healthy-looking appearance while staying true to SKAAI’s gentle, preservation-based approach.

A gentle daisy flower extract chosen for its skin-conditioning character and soft, toning feel, helping skin look fresh and feel calm, cared for and comfortable.

INCI: Sambucus Nigra Seed extract
Botanical source: Seeds of black elderberry / European elder, Sambucus nigra
Source: Belgium

Elderberry seed oil is pressed from the tiny seeds of the dark berries of Sambucus nigra, the black elder or European elder. Elder is a familiar shrub of European hedgerows and edges, flowering in creamy umbels in spring before producing its deep purple-black berries later in the season.

This light, non-greasy oil is especially valued for its exceptional essential-fatty-acid profile. Recent analysis of cold-pressed elderberry seed oil found it to contain around 93% essential fatty acids, including approximately 41% linoleic acid, 38% alpha-linolenic acid and 13% oleic acid.

In skincare, this makes elderberry seed oil particularly interesting for dry, sensitive, mature or easily unsettled skin. Linoleic acid is closely associated with the skin barrier, while alpha-linolenic acid brings a valuable omega-3 component to the oil’s profile. I would describe it as a light botanical oil that helps support softness, suppleness and barrier comfort.

Elderberry seed oil also contains naturally occurring antioxidant-associated compounds such as tocopherols, phytosterols and carotenoids. In SKAAI formulas, we choose it for its rare balance of lightness and richness: a delicate oil that nourishes without heaviness and supports skin that feels stressed, dry or fragile.

A light, omega-rich seed oil with high levels of linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids, chosen to support soft, supple and comfortable-feeling skin without heaviness.

INCI: usually Oenothera Biennis Oil
Botanical source: Seeds of evening primrose, Oenothera biennis
Source: China, Malaysia

Evening primrose seed oil is pressed from the tiny seeds of Oenothera biennis, a yellow-flowering biennial plant native from Canada to Central Mexico and now naturalised in many temperate regions.

In skincare, evening primrose oil is valued for its distinctive fatty-acid profile, especially its content of gamma-linolenic acid, or GLA, an omega-6 fatty acid associated with sensitive-skin comfort and support of the skin’s protective function. COSMILE lists evening primrose oil as a skin-conditioning emollient and specifically notes its GLA content in relation to sensitive skin and the skin’s protective function.

In SKAAI formulas, we choose evening primrose seed oil for dry, mature, sensitive or easily unsettled skin. It brings a soft, nourishing quality without heaviness and helps the skin feel smoother, calmer and more comfortable.

Rather than presenting it as a treatment oil, we value evening primrose as a gentle botanical support: rich in skin-relevant fatty acids and beautifully aligned with SKAAI’s preservation-based approach to barrier comfort.

Rich in gamma-linolenic acid, evening primrose seed oil brings soft, comforting nourishment to formulas for dry, mature or sensitive skin.