Awards for cosmetics based on research at the University of Iceland

"Icelandic nature possesses great wealth that we are only just beginning to look at.  Each study reveals new information that point to very interesting factors connected to how the biosphere has adjusted to difficult circumstances here in the Arctic region, especially in the ocean around Iceland, where warm and cold currents meet creating an environment that is both challenging and inconstant for organisms."

This says Guðrún Marteinsdóttir, professor in fisheries biology at the University of Iceland who last week accepted both gold and silver awards for the development of Taramar cosmetics at the Scandinavian Global Makeup Awards. The research is based on decades of study conducted by her and Kristberg Kristbergsson, professor in food science at the University of Iceland; they are married. 

The development began with Guðrún's interest in creating toxic free skincare for herself.  The work soon escalated as research results from Kristbergur and his collaborators at universities in the United States and Germany showed that bioactive material in foods were well suited in the development of skincare products. The couple has thus moved the results from material and food research over a 30 year period over to the development of skincare.  

Skin products you can eat

"One of the most remarkable results of the process is that the skin products are in some ways more like food than actual skincare products, opposed to most products on the market today that derive from the world of pharmaceuticals and chemistry, not food science.  It can be maintained that the TAMARA products are technically edible. The important premise of the product is that it has no irritating, hormone confusing or toxic effects on the skin or inside the body. Many chemicals in skin products are absorbed through the skin metastasise through the whole body via the circulatory system." says Guðrún and smiles. 

The Global Makeup Awards are affiliated with a competition on the best skincare and cosmetics in Scandinavia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. This is the third time the competition is held, and according to Guðrún there are 350 to 400 producers competing for the top places.  The products are evaluated by functionality by professionals in the field. 

The results are published in the magazine Global makup awards.

The Global Makeup Awards have been held annually for the past three years

"This year Taramar competed against hundreds of other products from the Nordic countries," says Guðrún, "and landed in first place for the Best organic beauty brand, for the night treatment and for best design & packaging. Taramar was furthermore the silver winner for the best eye cream and best cleanser," says Guðrún.

Multiple opportunities lie in the collaboration of university and industry

The Strategy of the University of Iceland places unequivocal emphasis on innovation based on research and dynamic affiliation to industry.  It can be asserted that Taramar is a clear example of how research work can breed new solution in Icelandic and international industry for the benefit of consumers and the biosphere. 

"Research affiliated with industry opens new ways to procure funding for research and development. Taramar conducts both basic and applied research in collaboration with the University of Iceland and international research centres that all aim to solve the problems the field of skincare faces today," says Guðrún. She adds that a collaboration of this kind strengthens development of new ways and discoveries that may be novel for science on a global scale.  

Searching for solutions in the ocean around Iceland

"The largest current Taramar projects are on the biological activity of natural compounds from sea weed and medicinal herbs used to protect and prolong the lifetime of the biological compounds transporting them to the places on the skin and in the body they are most useful. All of the Taramar products are thus based on active transfer and 30 years of research in ferries using nano-technology that has proven extremely useful, making the formula more active than other formulas not using ferries.   The outcome is amazing with beneficial and quite rapid improvement of the skin that can be seen with the naked eye." 

According to Guðrún Tamara's biggest research project today at the University of Iceland is the development of safe sun-screen where the undesirable sun protective chemicals such as oxybenzone are replaced with natural compounds from algae.  "To take one example, it is believed that only a few drops of oxybenzone in a 25 m swimming pool leads to a potency that destroys defence mechanisms in corals in a way that makes them bleed. The impact of these chemicals are such that five beaches all over the world have forbidden sunscreen that contain these chemicals as they have a harmful effect on the biosphere." 

Guðrúns says that this Tamara project, called Tarasun (Tarasól), is thus extremely important and it will increase the chemicals used by algae to protect themselves from aggression from both the sun and the environment. 

Extremely practical research

"These studies are pure basic research just like quantum mechanics, and the effect of light on living matter and applied research as the chemicals are evaluated from the absorbance of sun light, as well as the development where the chemicals are  extracted and incorporated into formulas that are tested by acknowledged controlling and research authorities."

 

Guðrún says that the research results have revealed that various interesting compounds can be found in marine creatures that not only protects against sunlight, but also has strong antioxidant effect in addition to reduce inflammation, strengthening plasma membranes and stopping the breakdown of the skins tissues. 

A large part of the results end in applications for patents, and four such are being processed with Taramar and the University of Iceland.

Product development with consumer participation 

Guðrún says that the development of Taramar products has from the beginning been conducted in close connection with the users.  "At first we worked for the most part with Tamara's B shareholders, a large group of owners and product users.  New products were tested in groups of 30 - 40 whilst also listening to the experience and wishes of the testers. Today Taramar has a premium club with thousands of participants. Each day involves communication with the club members and Taramar benefits from their stories, experience and comments. Taramar has thus shed the spotlight on the largest problems in skincare such as irritation and toxic influences of the ingredients used in almost all the products on the market.  Taramar's biggest challenge is replacing all these compounds for safe and clean compounds produced from Icelandic nature."

Guðrún says that with Tamara the research scientists experienced first hand the value of long-term research. "We are overwhelmed when results  from studies that began over 30 to 40 years ago can be used in development of other things than originally planned.  We are, for example, using information on the impact of vitamins on the structure and ionic cohesion of water into new formulas that will have the functional activity and ability to nourish and build up skin on an hitherto unknown scale. These studies were conducted in the seventies of last century and are now used to shed light on communication and properties of natural chemicals in multi dimensional space." 

Further information on the TARAMAR product line can be found here:  taramar.is; taramar.com and taramarseeds.com.