Meet TARAMAR – An Award Winning Brand Of Premium Handcrafted Skincare Based On Marine Compounds

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Below is our recent interview with Gudrun Marteinsdottir, the Founder at TARAMAR:

Q: Could you provide our readers with a brief introduction to Taramar?

A: TARAMAR is an Icelandic biotechnology company that has created an award winning brand of premium handcrafted skincare based on marine compounds isolated from organic seaweed, kelp, herbs and vegetables harvested from the pristine nature of Iceland. To achieve 100% purity, the founders, professors at Univ. of Iceland, designed a new patented technology, NoTox, that boycotts all harmful chemicals and synthetic preservatives. Using slow extraction technology, skin healing compounds were extracted to create the ArcticComplex® that forms the backbone of all formulae. TARAMAR is a company that is constantly pushing the boundaries of innovation and development. By using state-of-the-art science and biotechnology, TARAMAR’s science team creates new solutions to existing problems and develop products that will help improve people’s lives. Many of the discoveries are published in open-source peer reviewed scientific journals.

Q: Who is your ideal client and why?

A: TARAMAR brand was initiated to solve skin problems of the founder, Prof. Gudrun Marteinsdottir, who at the age of 55 was experiencing skin problems. Due to Gudrun’s professional experience in marine biology, her focus was on ocean plants and compounds that had evolved over eons of time to ensure survival of kelp, seaweed and plankton in the harsh environment of the Arctic.  This work soon escalated as research by her husband, Prof. Kristberg Kristbergsson and his collaborators at universities in the United States and Germany demonstrated that bioactive material in super foods and deliverance supported by ingenious systems such as liposomes and lipid particles, were well suited in the development of skincare products. This was the beginning of a large endeavor where the two professors moved 30 years of research outputs of food and nutrition into the development of skincare.

For this reason, the initial target clients were people with skin problems and appearance of aging skin. However, it soon became apparent that the toxic free natural solution that fitted for aging skin were also perfect for younger skin and all sexes. This resulted in a new brand for children, the TARAKIDS and for men, MEN’s Natural Skincare.

Q: Can you tell us more about your services?

A: TARAMAR’s Flagship store is located at a prominent location, next to the Edition Hotel downtown Reykjavik in Iceland.

TARAMAR’s production facility is located in a small fishing village inside the GeoPark on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland. The facility is designed for NoTox Technology and no toxic or compromising chemicals are allowed inside the factory. Indeed, the runoff could technically be ingested, although it is not recommended.

At University of Iceland in Reykjavík, TARAMAR has researched the properties of Icelandic natural sources using both conventional and high technology methods. Most of these have been published in peer reviewed scientific journals. Technologies include evaluation of anti-oxidant properties of phenols, flavonoids and carbohydrates, enzyme inhibiting activity against collagenase, elastase, tyrosinase and hyaluronidase and evaluation of immune modulating properties using live cell models fed by seaweed extracts.

Efficacy evaluation of finished formula have been confirmed by independent laboratories. TARAMAR operates also a large data collecting program from users from the Icelandic population using state-of-the-art skin measuring equipment.

All TARAMAR’s conduct is 100% sustainable and safe for humans and the Environment. All the seaweed used in the TARAMAR products is cultivated in the wild. The Icelandic company “Bláskel” collects seaweed by hands from mussel lines that are deployed in the clear ocean areas of the West Coast of Iceland. What is collected is new growth from supplies that are quite ample as seaweed in Iceland is underutilized.

All herbs and vegetables are organically certified and grown by organic farmers on East and South coasts of Iceland.  These locations ensure high quality supply, even in summers when weather conditions are favorable at either coast, as the weather from East to South does generally contrast, with good conditions in the South when they are worse in the East and vice versa.

TARAMAR benefits from the rich fertile volcanic soil where the minerals are absorbed by the plants and fed into the final products with careful slow extraction technology.

Q: What can we expect from Taramar in next 6 months? What are your plans?

A: TARAMAR’s products are available at several locations in Iceland, including their Flagship store downtown Reykjavík. TARAMAR’s products can also be purchased at TARAMAR’s website form anywhere in the world. Shipping is free for orders > $200 and it takes only 4 days to ship to USA or Europe.  TARAMAR is also available in Hong Kong at Biosignature and will be soon available in Dubai and the nearby regions.

The TARAMAR brand line is expanding, and new products are being developed and tested in Iceland every month. These include, bioactive mists, body scrubs, shampoo and other hair products, natural sunscreens and products focusing on the body such as cellulites and disfunction of the skin. All of these are created with the NoTox technology and are free of any toxic, irritating or hormone disrupting chemicals. Indeed, a large effort is maintained to keep all ingredients as well free of pesticides, fungicides and weed killers, as these chemicals are transported with the natural compounds into the formula and are not listed on any ingredient list.  It is highly unlikely that many skincare products on the market can be listed at this purity level.

Q: What is the best thing about Taramar that people might not know about?

A: One of the most remarkable results of the joint venture of the two professors from the professional fields of marine biology and food science is that the TARAMAR products are in some ways more like food than actual skincare products. This contrasts with most products on the market today that derive from the world of pharmaceuticals and chemistry.  It can be maintained that the TARAMAR 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 distributed through the whole body via the circulatory system.

At the same time, the TARAMAR products have powerful and highly improving effects on the skin. This is confirmed by independent evaluations as well as by the thousands of grateful customers that have found solutions to many skin disturbances by switching to TARAMAR.

As a result, it can be said that TARAMAR bridges the two worlds in the skincare industry, the green organic world of pure and safe skincare and the technical world of active and functionally effective skincare.