Astaxanthin
INCI name: Haematococcus Pluvialis (Astaxanthin) Extract
Purposes: Antioxidant, Skin-Conditioning Agent
A carotenoid from microalgae and one of the most potent antioxidants available. Protects against oxidative stress and the visible effects of sun exposure.
Astaxanthin is the carotenoid that makes salmon, shrimp and flamingos pink. Ours comes from Haematococcus pluvialis, a freshwater microalgae that produces it as a survival response to stress: when the water dries up or the light gets too intense, the cell floods itself with astaxanthin to survive.
That survival function is why it is such an effective antioxidant. Unlike most antioxidants, which sit either in the watery part of a cell or the fatty part, astaxanthin spans the whole cell membrane. It can neutralise free radicals on both sides at once.
In measured comparisons of singlet oxygen quenching, astaxanthin substantially outperforms beta-carotene, vitamin E and vitamin C.
For skin, that matters because a large share of visible ageing is oxidative. UV exposure and pollution generate free radicals, those radicals damage collagen and elastin, and the damage accumulates. An antioxidant that sits in the membrane is well placed to interrupt that.
It is also why the BioGlo serum is deep orange. That colour is the astaxanthin itself, not a dye. If a product claims astaxanthin and is colourless, there is very little of it in there.
