If you’re sick of dealing with the dry, intensely itchy skin that comes along with eczema, you may be ready to try just about anything to alleviate your symptoms. But would you try a lobster-derived ingredient if it promised to take the itch away?
That’s exactly what you’ll find in the Soothing Hydration Cream by Marin Skin Care, a Maine skin care brand founded by Patrick Breeding and Amber Boutiette.
Both Patrick and Amber have Master’s in Biomedical Engineering, which allowed them to connect with some of Maine’s most experienced marine resource industry experts. Eventually, this led them to discover marine glycoproteins and their incredible use to soothe and calm aggravated, dry skin.
Amber can tell you that marine glycoproteins work from her own experience; she lived with eczema for years, trying product after product to find something that worked for her skin, with no success — until she formulated a product with the newly discovered marine glycoproteins.
After a few days she noticed her eczema had finally calmed down, with an impressive visible improvement in her skin. This rapid improvement inspired Amber and Patrick to build the Marin
brand so they could share this unique ingredient and help others with eczema, psoriasis, and dry skin.
At the time of writing this review, the brand offers just one product: Soothing Hydration Cream. This face and body cream is said to visibly soothe dry, stressed skin with naturally abundant marine glycoproteins, deliver deep hydration with hyaluronic acid and squalane, and provide a gentle barrier to help skin retain moisture with no greasy residue.
But is Marin Skin Care Soothing Hydration Cream right for you? To help you decide, we’ll give you all the details on the key ingredients in this formula, as well as the research that supports (or doesn’t support) their use in skin care. We’ll also share some Marin Skin Care reviews so that you can get an idea of what customers really think of this product.
Before we get into the details, here’s the TL;DR if you just want to know whether or not Marin Skin Care Soothing Hydration Cream is right for you.
In order to determine how well Marin Skin Care Soothing Hydration Cream performs, we’ll have to evaluate the key ingredients in this formula. Let’s get started.
Hemocyanin (Marine Glycoprotein)
Glycoproteins are small molecules that consist of a protein surrounded by sugars, which dissolve easily in water. This allows them to bind and lock-in moisture, while delivering oxygen to your skin, promoting skin barrier strength, elasticity, and smoothness.
Marin Skin Care sustainably and ethically sources their marine glycoproteins from lobsters, creating a product with a novel ingredient that visibly calms and soothes dry, aggravated skin patches, while helping lock in moisture.
However, we have to point out that there aren’t any clinical studies with marine glycoproteins, just anecdotal evidence from Amber and the few Marin Skin Care reviews on the internet.
Emollients
Marin Skin Care Soothing Hydration Cream includes a blend of skin-softening emollients, including shea butter, caprylic/capric triglyceride, coconut oil, and squalane. An emollient is an oily substance that fills in the spaces between dead skin cells, thus creating a smooth skin surface. These ingredients not only soften skin, but also help to lock in moisture, thereby alleviating dry skin.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is included in the Marin Skin Care Soothing Hydration Cream because it’s a
fat-soluble antioxidant that’s essential for the maintenance of healthy skin.
Specifically, vitamin E is a “chain-breaking” antioxidant because it can hinder the chain reaction induced by free radicals, according to a publication by Dermatology News. This is important because free radicals contribute to signs of aging, such as fine lines, wrinkles, sagging skin, and age spots.
Another function of vitamin E is to help the skin retain moisture by strengthening the skin’s barrier function. When vitamin E is delivered to your skin through the sebaceous (oil) glands, it improves water-binding capacity and hydrates the stratum corneum (the uppermost layer of skin).
Vitamin E may also have related anti-inflammatory roles in the skin, which is particularly helpful for those with inflammatory skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis.
Hyaluronic Acid
The final key ingredient in Marin Skin Care Soothing Hydration Cream is hyaluronic acid, a type of glycosaminoglycan (sugar molecule) that attracts moisture from the environment and draws that moisture into the skin’s upper layers.
Marin Skin Care Soothing Hydration Cream is suitable for use on your face, hands, and body.
To apply, rub a dime-sized amount into your skin in the morning, throughout the day as-needed to spot-treat, and at night after exfoliating or simply before bed. For extra-irritated skin patches, use the Soothing Hydration Cream to keep it as moist as possible throughout the day.
When applying to areas of your face, as a relatively thick, rich cream, we recommend starting with a pea-sized drop and increasing the amount applied if necessary.
Marin Skin Care Soothing Hydration Cream is sold exclusively on the brand’s website (marinskincare.com).
Marin Skin Care Soothing Hydration Cream costs $34.99 USD for a 4 ounce tube.
9 comments
1,000 Thank Yous! I had a wicked eczema flare up on my face over the holiday break. Each morning I woke up with puffy red irritated eyelids and random patches of inflamed scaly areas on my face. I tried all the old creams I had laying around but of course none of them worked. I even tried dunking my face in cold sea water, which did help a tiny bit, but wasn’t enough. A friend of mine had been using your cream & shared some with me. Within 24 hours I noticed a significant improvement & I quickly ordered some Marin for myself. I’ve been using my friend’s cream for 3 days and my skin looks better and better each day. I’m so grateful to know about you now! This is definitely my new everyday moisturizer cream for my face! Thank you! & here’s to a wonderful new year!
I bought the lip balm. I have 2 people I was hoing to gift it. They are allergic to shell fish. Can they use it?
I was not able to reply to email inviting a review and I’m on the MARIN site and don’t see where to provide a review. I would appreciate the opportunity to extend sincere thanks for this wonderful product. Thank you.
My son has had eczema since he was born he was constantly struggling with it. 2020 hit, covid hit and of course a MAJOR break out happened, I brought him to the doctors almost every week and saw a allergist. Fast forward to the last 2 years his lip got it so bad completely chapped, broken skin. We started Marin 2 weeks ago and his lip is completely healed! After years of steriod creams, antibiotics and every OTC cream that you can buy and BAM Marin came into our lives! Its a miracle cream!
Have issue with scalp flareups…might this work? Hoping to find something that helps. Thanks