There are so many misconceptions about acne that I have to reeducate my clients on and one of the biggest is that just because it’s natural doesn’t mean it’s good for acne and algae like seaweed and kelp are the perfect example of that. There are so many skincare professionals and products that tout the miracle of algae for skin but those people have not helped hundreds of people get clear because if they have, they would have seen firsthand just how acne-triggering marine plants can be.

Why is algae triggering?
All types of algae can be incredibly triggering for breakouts because they contain high levels of iodine. Iodine is an essential mineral that we all need some amount of in our bodies but in excess it gets excreted through our follicles where acne takes place and can be highly irritating for our pores. The recommended daily value for adults is 150mcg and for pregnant women it’s 220mcg but most of us, especially in the United States, get more than enough through our daily diets because so many foods and beverages in the US are fortified with iodine.

Algae can be triggering if it’s consumed in food or applied topically
Algae can trigger breakouts whether it’s eaten or applied topically because iodine can irritate your pores whether it's coming from the inside out or the outside in.

It can take up to a few months to see an actual breakout
One of the concepts we stress in our e-course The 8 Steps To Clear Skin is that breakouts take time to surface. It can take months for the food you consume to take effect in the body, contribute to the formation of an acne “seed”, then finally travel to the surface of the skin. So next time you eat or apply something that contains algae, don’t think it’s not breaking you out just because you don't see a pimple the next day. You have to wait up to 3 months until you can judge whether or not a potential trigger is actually a trigger for you since everyone’s acne is different.

Algae has a lot of different names in skincare
There are so many different species of algae including seaweed, kelp, and spirulina. But most species of algae that are used in skincare products are easy to miss because they are less commonly known. There are also ingredients that are extracted from algae or byproducts of algae that can be easy to miss. These ingredients are all species of algae derived from our list of pore-clogging ingredients:

Ahnfeltia Concinna
Alaria Esculenta
Algae Extract
Algin
Ascophyllum Nodosum
Black kelp
Bladderwack
Blue Algae
Blue Green Algae
Brown Algae
Carrageenan (okay in food)
Carrageenan Moss
Chlorella
Chondrus Crispus
Corallina Officinalis
Crithmum Maritimum
Dilsea Carnosa
Dulse
Ecklonia
Enteromorpha Compressa
Fucus Vesiculosus
Haslea Ostrearia
Himanthalia Elongata
Hydrolyzed Rhodophycea
Hypnea Musciformis
Irish Moss
Kelp
Laminaria Digitata
Laminaria Longicruris
Laminaria Saccharina/Saccharina Latissima
Lithothamnion Calcareum
Lola Implexa
Marine Algae
Mastocarpus Stellatus
Norwegian Kelp
Padina Pavonica
Palmaria Palmata
Plankton
Porphyra
Porphyridium Cruentum
Red Algae
Rockweed
Sargassum
Seaweed
Sea Whip
Spirulina
Ulva Lactuca
Undaria
Wakame