May kelp be the way forward for magnificence? A dialog with GreenWave

We regularly hear seaweed described as a local weather resolution, a regenerative crop, even a superfood – however regardless of the hype, it hasn’t but damaged by into our day by day lives in the best way many predicted. In magnificence, particularly, the potential of kelp is gigantic, but the sector is just simply starting to unlock it.

On this week’s episode of Inexperienced Magnificence Conversations, we discover the fascinating world of regenerative ocean farming with Samantha Garwin, Director of Market Improvement at GreenWave.

Sam shares why kelp provides capabilities we merely can’t get from land-based vegetation, how the sweetness trade can faucet into this ocean-grown powerhouse, and what obstacles nonetheless maintain it again from going mainstream.

Should you’re inquisitive about what’s subsequent for sustainable substances – and why kelp might rework the best way we formulate for pores and skin well being, transparency, and local weather resilience – that is an episode you gained’t wish to miss.

Additionally, in case you’re a magnificence model founder, Sam reveals a once-in-a-lifetime alternative to use to GreenWave’s Kelp Innovation CoLab, which is providing as much as $50,000 in funding to assist pioneering manufacturers convey kelp-powered merchandise to market.

“Kelp offers us a wholly new palette to work with in magnificence – a unique set of compounds, advantages and potentialities that land-based vegetation merely can’t present.” — Samantha Garwin

On this episode with Samantha Garwin, you’ll hear:

• From coaching to markets: How GreenWave went from supporting new kelp farmers with permits and technical know-how to constructing a full regenerative ocean economic system that connects farms to industries.
• The distinctive advantages of kelp: Why kelp provides purposeful compounds like antioxidants and polysaccharides that make it uniquely precious for private care and pores and skin well being.
• From obstacles to adoption: The scientific, regulatory, and cultural hurdles that stand in the best way of seaweed turning into a mainstream magnificence ingredient.
• The Kelp Innovation CoLab: A brand new and distinctive initiative offering funding, formulation assist, and R&D partnerships to assist manufacturers pioneer kelp-powered magnificence.
• Why magnificence might prepared the ground: How magnificence manufacturers may reach making kelp mainstream, the place meals has struggled.

Key takeouts embrace:

• Kelp farming helps restore oceans: Kelp is a regenerative resolution that improves ocean well being whereas providing new earnings streams for coastal communities. Not like wild harvesting, ocean farming supplies a sustainable, scalable provide chain.
• Every species has distinctive powers: Totally different kelps assist hydration, barrier restore, and even potential UV safety, however solely a handful are but permitted by regulators. Increasing the recognised record of species is significant for magnificence.
• Shoppers want training: Consciousness of seaweed in skincare remains to be low. Manufacturers might help shift notion by showcasing kelp as a fascinating, high-performance ingredient quite than a distinct segment “well being meals” development.
• The CoLab is a game-changer: The Kelp Innovation CoLab provides as much as $50,000 in funding per model, direct entry to ingredient suppliers like Macro Oceans, and even a visit to Alaskan kelp farms, creating a singular alternative for innovation.
• Future alternatives for kelp: Over the following decade, kelp might rework magnificence and packaging. Meals has lagged, however magnificence is prepared for disruption, and kelp’s advantages make it an ingredient to observe intently.

Meet our visitor: Samantha Garwin, Director of Market Improvement of GreenWave

Samantha Garwin is the Director of Market Improvement at GreenWave, a nonprofit that builds scalable, equitable markets for regenerative ocean farmers. By training, industrial R&D pilots, and worth chain assist, Sam permits firms to get kelp from sea to sale as substances in meals, magnificence, and past.

Since 2019, Sam has led Seaweed Supply, an app with wraparound enterprise growth assist that connects over 90 seaweed farms throughout eleven U.S. states and Canadian provinces. The brand new Kelp Innovation CoLab, which launched in September 2025, connects magnificence manufacturers with kelp farmers to develop highly effective, ocean-driven formulation which can be higher for folks and the planet.

Sam attracts on greater than 14 years of expertise constructing sustainable provide chains and socially accountable enterprise fashions. Earlier than GreenWave, Sam was the CEO of Fleishers, a pioneer of pasture-raised whole-animal retail butchery, and an early worker of Maya Mountain Cacao, a direct-trade bean-to-bar cocoa provider.

Discover out extra about Samantha and GreenWave:

Restricted-time alternative for magnificence model founders: Purposes for the Kelp Innovation CoLab at the moment are open! Apply now at kelpcolab.org

Associated episodes:

Thanks for becoming a member of us for this episode of the Components Botanica Inexperienced Magnificence Conversations podcast. Should you loved listening, please share, subscribe and assessment this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Youtube in order that extra folks can benefit from the present. Don’t overlook to observe and join with us on Fb and Instagram.

Depart us a remark

Lorraine Dallmeier is a Biologist, Chartered Environmentalist and the CEO of Components Botanica, the award-winning on-line natural beauty science college. Learn extra about Lorraine and the Components Botanica Staff.