Sharing the Seaweed Love & It’s Uses

I am keen to share with you the many benefits and some uses of seaweed – bladderwrack in particular – to be used on your everyday life.

If you live in Scotland, chances are you don’t live far from the sea, and you might be aware of the increasing popularity of the use of seaweed in beauty, skin and other health promoting products for it’s many benefits. Truth is, we should all be consuming more seaweed for it’s manifold goodness. Spring is a perfect time to gather your greens off the shores!

Bladderwrack looks like this when you find it on the beach:

Whereas you should only forage seaweed for consumption from the actual growth, using it for skincare or other uses means that you can pick up washed up seaweed, as long as it looks fresh to you. Take some home in a plastic bag – There are so many exciting things you can do with it!

How to cut it (for consumption): With scissors, cut the top of the plant (top 3rd of the growth) – Do not rip the weed off the rock, otherwise it cannot re-grow). Be careful to not over harvest in one spot.

Once you are home, there are various ways how to use seaweed:

• You can run yourself a bath with it straight in the water, for its many skin benefits, as it helps with skin irritations, it is anti-inflammatory, but most interestingly, Bladderwrack contains carotene, selenium, zinc, and small amounts of antioxidant Vitamins A, C, and E, and therefore  it is anti-aging as well as having many healing qualities.
• Make a DIY facemask. Using Bladderwrack in your DIY skin product, it will nourish dehydrated and mature skin, leaving it well-moisturized. visibly plumper, and more youthful-looking. It will improve skin tone, texture, and elasticity as well as help detoxify the skin. The following recipe will nourish, hydrate, reduce redness, promote firmness and soften your skin:

Enjoy your smooth, younger looking skin!

Bladderwrack and other seaweed can also be used in gardening. Find out more here.

If you’d like to learn more about seaweed for food purposes, join one of the WanderWomen collaborations with Edinburgh Forage & Eat.

Personally, I am keen to explore how to use the seaweed goodness and harness it in a tea blend. Watch this space.