All about Salt

From the rose-hued lamps that cast a relaxing glow at hip cafes, to the rocky blue pebbles that melt ice on our walkways, salt is a wonder substance with seemingly endless uses. Though most commonly thought of as a food flavor enhancer, salt is also a superstar cosmetic ingredient that we put in many of our products.

Salt’s origins

Salt is a natural mineral made up of sodium and chlorine. It’s been harvested by humans for thousands of years, and has played an important role in the preservation of perishable foods—ancient Greeks and Romans packed their meat and fish in salt to keep it edible for months after it was caught.

Nowadays, salt is commercially produced in three different ways. Deep-shaft mining extracts salt from underground deposits, and mostly produces rock salt for deicing roads and walkways. Most table salts are produced using solution mining, where fresh water is injected over salt beds to create a brine, which is then pumped out and sent to a facility for evaporation. Lastly, salt can be harvested from the sea. Naturally salty sea water is put into shallow pools, where wind and sun evaporate the water and leave the salt behind.

Soothing, softening, scrubby

We primarily use sea salt in our handmade cosmetics. It’s rich in sodium, magnesium and other minerals that soften the skin and hair. When used in shampoos like Big and Seanik, sea salt deep-cleanses the scalp and lifts the hair’s cuticle, leaving fine or flat locks feeling soft, clean and full of volume.

Salt makes for the perfect exfoliant in scrubby treats like Ocean Salt Face And Body Scrub, Salted Coconut Hand Scrub and Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub. It gently buffs away dry skin to leave complexions bright and refreshed. And because it’s naturally occurring, salt disintegrates in water and won’t negatively impact our waterways—bonus!

When used in the bath, sea salt softens the water and soothes skin. Big Blue’s blend of fine and coarse sea salt paired with moisturizing seaweed and calming lavender oil create a skin-softening oceanic oasis. Fine sea salt in Sakura Bath Bomb blends with a delicate jasmine-lemon perfume to create a tranquil and calming haven with seriously softening results.

Naturally balancing

In addition to its benefits for the skin and hair, salt is also a natural preservative and plays a key role in our self-preserving formulas. Using salt in a cosmetic recipe helps keep it fresh because salt attracts water molecules away from microorganisms. This prevents them from reproducing, which in turn keeps the recipe from spoiling. In products like our Wasabi Shan Kui Shampoo and Ocean Salt Self-preserving Face And Body Scrub, salt cleanses and softens hair, scrubs skin and keeps the formula naturally balanced without the use of synthetic preservatives.