Sea Salt

What is it?

A mineral-rich salt (primarily sodium chloride, with magnesium and other trace minerals depending on source) used as a physical exfoliant in soaps and scrubs, and separately studied in balneotherapy for its skin barrier and anti-inflammatory effects; most of the available clinical evidence concerns magnesium-rich Dead Sea salt specifically rather than generic table or sea salt, a distinction worth keeping in mind.

What does it do?

According to PubMed, a 2005 controlled clinical trial found bathing in a 5% magnesium-rich Dead Sea salt solution significantly improved skin barrier function, enhanced stratum corneum hydration and reduced skin roughness and redness in subjects with atopic dry skin, compared to a tap-water control (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-4632.2005.02079.x). A 2019 systematic review of bathing additives for atopic dermatitis found Dead Sea salt has anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidative and skin-barrier-repair properties (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/DER.0000000000000459). These studies specifically concern Dead Sea salt bathing/soaking rather than a brief scrub-and-rinse exposure to generic sea salt granules, so the strength of the evidence for a quick-contact exfoliating use (as in a bar soap) is more limited than for the balneotherapy use it was actually studied for.

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