By Megan Warren-Henderson

In the depths of a dry winter, when my face becomes a raisin in the winter sun, I find myself dreaming of my most luxurious happy place. The quintessential place where my skin feels luscious and radiant. I imagine myself floating in the sea with my face turned toward the sun. The sand is stirring below and the seaweed drifts by, gently lapping against my body and occasionally making me jump with the idea that it’s a jellyfish! There is no doubt that when I spend time in and around the ocean, my skin is smooth, supple, clear, nourished, and hopefully free from stings of the elusive jellyfish!

I have a history of minimalism when it comes to products. I want the sea on my face and body all year long. However, I live in the mountains, at elevation, and it’s as dry as an oven baked potato. I also have sensitive skin. My face would often feel like it was wearing a wet cotton tee shirt after applying lotion or in the least, break out with a rash or pimples in select areas. I began to choose single oils like sesame and jojoba oils. I would add various essential oils. I liked it okay. It was a decent way to hydrate. But still, within hours, the oil would seemingly vanish, leaving behind my dry mountain face again.

Samudra Skin & Sea is different! It is the single best facial cream I have ever tried and I am the pickiest person I know. It goes on like cool silk, sinking in and leaving behind a smooth and delightful texture to my age forty one face. It vanishes to the eye, but it goes where it needs to go, leaving behind no residue or slime, only a fine polish!

The shining sea star behind Samudra, the sanskrit word for ocean, is #girlboss Shilpi Chhotray, an ocean advocate and social entrepreneur. The core ingredient in her line is kombu seaweed which is ethically and harvested from the wild in the clean waters off the coast of Mendocino. She discovered the healing value of seaweed after bathing in it had reduced her eczema and dry skin due to its anti-inflammatory, hydrating and detoxifying benefits. Shilpi decided to create the line in 2014 on a trip to India to research the seaweed supply chain and noted that women were doing most of the harvesting.

As a woman driven company, Samudra is setting the precedent in social responsibility. They are not contributing to the ocean’s growing plastic pollution which may dominate the number of fish by as soon as 2050. Samudra’s lotions come in glass containers and the lather rich soap, which can be used to clean body and hair, comes simply in recyclable or compostable cardboard. That means zero waste from the tip to the tail!

You could technically eat Samudra’s products. This idea of not including fragrances, dyes, synthetics, GMO’s, microbeads, glutens and parabens is based on the ancient life wisdom of Ayurveda, which encourages edible ingredients for skin.

Speaking of longevity, as part of Samudra’s mission they promote ocean awareness campaigns that inspire protection of our blue planet while benefitting people and marine life. One of them is 5 Gyres whose mission is to empower action against the global health crisis of plastic pollution through science, art, education, and adventure. They are also promoting awareness for the Marine Mammal Center whose mission is to advance global ocean conservation through marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation, scientific research, and education.

I tried the face mask too. I spread the dark green paste on my face and went about my business for 20 or so minutes. My children thought it was hilarious that I was wearing such a mask. I washed it off and my face felt like new. It was as if my face was a chalkboard and instead of just erasing it, that left behind lingering dust, the seaweed mask was the person that arrived with a bucket of solution and I was left with a clean slate!

Speaking of clean, another exciting initiative that Samudra is involved with is the Blue Business Council which is a network of business partners who are informed about and actively engaged to protect clean and plentiful water in California. This council will hopefully set the precedence for collective responsibility. We cannot necessarily rely on the powers that be to save our water, our land, our animals and let alone ourselves! Samudra and it’s business model of sustainability and encouraging engagement of the consumer reminds me of my favorite quote:

“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.” -Albert Camus

To learn more about Samudra Skin & Sea visit samudraskinsea.com.