Should You Be Using Sea Salt in Your Beauty Routine?
When you think of buzzworthy beauty ingredients, salt probably isn’t high up on the list. Seaweed? Sure. Coffee? Yep. Vitamin C? Absolutely. Salt? It sounds a bit boring, doesn’t it? But even though it’s not the most glamorous of ingredients, salt actually has many surprising benefits for our skin, hair, and body.
It makes sense when you think about it. Epsom salts have been sprinkled into baths for generations to reduce pain and swelling, aid digestion, promote sleep and ease stresses. Sea salt is also a common ingredient in body scrubs, mud masks, and bath soaks. Plus, people have been bathing in the Dead Sea for centuries thanks to its high percentage of salt, magnesium, calcium, potassium and other minerals (all of which are thought to help with everything from psoriasis to allergies).
It’s a common misconception that all salt can really do for our skin is dry it out and leave us feeling sticky like after a long day at the beach. But salt has the unique ability to detoxify, heal, cleanse, exfoliate and even hold in moisture all in one.
“Natural sea salts contain a number of electrolytes that are essential for healthy cell activity,” explains Philip Tanswell, MD, and managing director at The Cornish Sea Salt Company. “These salts are easily absorbed through the cell wall of our skin and stimulate anti-inflammatory reactions and replenish lost minerals lost during our normal daily routines. Cosmetically, this reduces swelling and reduces wrinkles and other signs of ageing.”
When it comes to buying beauty products that really utilise the benefits of sea salt, where do you start? Of course, there are the obvious ones like body scrubs and salt soaks that are perfect for gently but effectively sloughing off dead skin cells and drawing out impurities. But it turns out sea salt is found in the most unlikely beauty products too. From hair sprays to toothpaste, here are 5 salty buys to add to your beauty cabinet.
Salt Scrubs
Containing magnesium and Epsom salts, this REN Exfoliating Body Scrub helps to relieve muscle tension, pain, and inflammation. It also leaves the skin silky smooth and hydrated.
Containing five different types of mineral-rich salts (Himalayan pink salt, Dead Sea salt, Celtic sea salt, New Zealand solar salt, and Epsom salt), Goop’s ultra-detoxifying scrub exfoliates, softens and smoothes the skin—all while smelling absolutely incredible.
Hair Styling
It’s no secret that salt is the key ingredient to getting beachy-looking waves, but Herbivore’s saltwater-based spray is both nourishing and moisturising so your hair won’t be left feeling crispy. It’s also scented with lavender, lime and sage essential oils for a calming aroma, meaning you can use it on both your hair and body.
Enriched with sea salt and 100% plant extracts, Christophe Robin’s Purifying Hair Scrub helps to soothe and deeply clean oily or sensitive scalps. Perfect for removing chemical residues, dry shampoo build up and for relieving itchiness, use before your regular shampoo and massage into the scalp to promote blood flow.
Toothpaste
Sea salt stimulates salivation, which helps to gently flush your whole mouth clean. Plus the gently abrasive particles clean the teeth to prevent plaque and tartar from building up. But don’t worry—there’s added peppermint to help counteract the salty taste.