FERMENT 21™

What Is FERMENT 21?
FERMENT 21 is SEACRET's patented, bio-fermented Dead Sea mineral complex and its signature face-care technology. It is built on three pillars: Dunaliella salina extract (a Dead Sea microalga), a yeast ferment, and Dead Sea mineral salt.
Each pillar plays a defined role. Dunaliella salina is a halophilic green microalga and the richest known natural source of beta-carotene, an antioxidant-rich ingredient (FAO, 2004). Dead Sea mineral salt supplies a magnesium and calcium-chloride brine that is unlike ordinary sodium-heavy sea salt. The yeast ferment drives the bio-fermentation step, an established cosmetic process that breaks larger constituents into smaller, more skin-available molecules and generates beneficial by-products such as amino acids and peptides.
Together these pillars help reinforce the skin's moisture barrier and reduce water loss, so skin feels more hydrated, smoother, and more supple.

FERMENT 21 draws on Dead Sea mineral salt, a rare magnesium and calcium-chloride brine carrying roughly 280 grams of dissolved salts per kilogram of water, about eight to ten times the salinity of ordinary ocean water at 35 grams per kilogram (peer-reviewed Dead Sea chemistry).
This concentration sets it apart from common sea salt.

The Dead Sea Origin: Where FERMENT 21 Begins
The Dead Sea holds about 280 grams of dissolved salts per kilogram of water, roughly 8 to 10 times the salinity of ordinary ocean water (peer-reviewed Dead Sea chemistry). This mineral-dense, hypersaline lake is the source where FERMENT 21 begins.
What makes this water distinct is its chemistry. Unlike sodium-heavy ordinary sea salt, the Dead Sea is a magnesium and calcium-chloride brine, with magnesium chloride dominant at about 190 g/L, far above sodium chloride at about 92 g/L (Ma'or 2006; Momani 2009). In the concentration SEACRET works with, magnesium is concentrated about 40x, calcium about 43x, potassium about 20x, and bromide about 80x their ordinary ocean levels. The result is a complex of 26 Dead Sea minerals.
Almost nothing can live in water this salty. The rare exception is Dunaliella salina, a halophilic single-celled green microalga that has been cultivated for cosmetics since 1966 (FAO, 2004). It survives extreme salt by producing glycerol for osmotic protection and antioxidant-rich beta-carotene for light protection, turning a hostile environment into a thriving one.

״Dunaliella salina is a salt-loving green microalga that tolerates salinity from about 3% up to roughly 31%, near saturation, and is the richest known natural source of beta-carotene at up to 14% of its dry weight (FAO, 2004). This resilience makes Dunaliella salina a compelling botanical for skincare״.

That resilience is the reason SEACRET builds FERMENT 21 on this organism. An alga shaped by its own environment to defend itself against salt and light offers a hardy, antioxidant-rich botanical, which SEACRET pairs with Dead Sea mineral salt and a yeast ferment as the foundation of its signature face-care technology.

What Makes Dead Sea Minerals Different Dead Sea minerals are a magnesium and calcium-chloride brine, a mineral profile chemically distinct from the sodium-heavy salt of ordinary oceans. Where common sea salt is dominated by sodium chloride, the Dead Sea is led by magnesium chloride (about 190 g/L), well ahead of sodium chloride (about 92 g/L) and followed by calcium chloride (about 52 g/L), potassium chloride (about 16 g/L) and bromide (about 5 g/L) (Ma'or, 2006; Momani, 2009).
The difference starts with concentration. The Dead Sea holds about 280 grams of dissolved salts per kilogram of water, compared with about 35 g/kg in ordinary ocean water, making it roughly 8 to 10 times saltier (peer-reviewed Dead Sea chemistry).

״The Dead Sea carries about 280 grams of dissolved salts per kilogram of water, versus about 35 grams per kilogram in ordinary ocean water (peer-reviewed Dead Sea chemistry). That makes the Dead Sea roughly 8 to 10 times saltier than the ocean, and its brine is led by magnesium chloride, not common sodium salt.״

Just as telling is which minerals are amplified. magnesium is concentrated about 40 times, calcium about 43 times, potassium about 20 times, and bromide about 80 times their ordinary ocean concentrations. This is not simply more salt; it is a different balance of minerals, weighted toward magnesium, calcium and bromide instead of sodium.
That same hypersaline brine is the environment where Dunaliella salina, a salt-loving Dead Sea microalga, thrives (FAO, 2004), and it is the mineral base SEACRET draws on for FERMENT 21. The Dead Sea carries 26 Dead Sea minerals, giving its brine a signature that ordinary sea salt cannot reproduce. FERMENT 21 pairs this mineral salt with Dunaliella salina extract and a yeast ferment, then uses bio-fermentation to make the complex more readily skin-available.


How Bio-Fermentation Works Bio-fermentation is a controlled microbial process that transforms skincare ingredients, breaking their larger constituents into smaller, more skin-available molecules while generating beneficial by-products such as amino acids, peptides and postbiotic metabolites (established cosmetic science). It is the engine at the heart of FERMENT 21, SEACRET's signature face-care technology.
SEACRET applies this controlled fermentation to the three pillars of FERMENT 21: Dunaliella salina extract, a yeast ferment, and Dead Sea mineral salt. Think of it as a form of pre-digestion, where a yeast culture works on the raw inputs and reorganizes them into a lighter, more refined form that skin can more readily use.

״Bio-fermentation is a controlled yeast process that breaks the larger constituents of FERMENT 21's Dead Sea inputs into smaller, more skin-available molecules, yielding amino acids, peptides and postbiotic metabolites. SEACRET applies this fermentation to Dunaliella salina, the richest known natural source of beta-carotene at up to 14% of its dry weight (FAO, 2004).״

Two things improve as a result. First, skin-availability rises, because smaller molecules and freshly generated amino acids and peptides are easier for the skin surface to accept. Second, stability improves, so the transformed actives stay effective in the finished formula.
For the reader, this is what turns Dead Sea minerals into face care that performs. FERMENT 21 helps reinforce the skin's moisture barrier and reduce water loss, so skin feels more hydrated, smoother, and more supple, and it supports a luminous, radiant-looking complexion. The complex uses no animal-derived ingredients, making it vegan-friendly, and SEACRET is cruelty-free.
What FERMENT 21 Does for Skin
FERMENT 21 is SEACRET's bio-fermented Dead Sea mineral complex formulated to help reinforce the skin's moisture barrier and reduce water loss, so skin feels more hydrated, smoother, and more supple. It is a face-care technology built on three pillars: Dunaliella salina extract, a yeast ferment, and Dead Sea mineral salt.

The moisture story starts with the minerals behind the barrier. The Dead Sea mineral salt in FERMENT 21 is a magnesium and calcium-rich brine that also carries potassium and bromide, unlike ordinary sodium-heavy sea salt (Ma'or, 2006). When the skin's outer layer holds water more effectively, the surface looks and feels different: less tight, more cushioned, more comfortable through the day.
Bio-fermentation is what makes the actives more skin-ready. This controlled yeast process transforms the complex's ingredients, breaking larger constituents into smaller, more readily skin-available molecules and generating beneficial by-products such as amino acids and peptides. The result is a mineral complex your skin can more easily draw on.

The botanical layer adds glow. Dunaliella salina is the richest known natural source of beta-carotene, an antioxidant-rich pigment that can reach up to 14% of the microalga's dry weight (FAO, 2004). In FERMENT 21, this antioxidant-rich botanical helps support a luminous, radiant-looking complexion.

״FERMENT 21 is SEACRET's bio-fermented Dead Sea mineral complex that helps reinforce the skin's moisture barrier and reduce water loss. FERMENT 21 pairs Dunaliella salina, the richest known natural source of beta-carotene at up to 14% of dry weight (FAO, 2004), with magnesium and calcium-rich Dead Sea minerals to support a luminous, radiant-looking complexion.״

FERMENT 21 in the SEACRET Skincare Range
FERMENT 21 is SEACRET's patented, bio-fermented Dead Sea mineral complex, and it is used exclusively across the brand's face-care line. You will find it in the Bio Skin Hydration family, the Bio Skin Glow family, and the peptide eye cream. It is a face-care technology, so it is not used in SEACRET's body or hair care.
The complex is built on three pillars: Dunaliella salina extract, a Dead Sea microalga; a yeast ferment; and Dead Sea mineral salt. Bio-fermentation breaks larger constituents into smaller, more skin-available molecules and generates beneficial by-products such as amino acids and peptides. Formulated this way, FERMENT 21 helps reinforce the skin's moisture barrier and reduce water loss, so skin feels more hydrated, smoother, and more supple.

״FERMENT 21 draws on Dunaliella salina, a Dead Sea microalga that is the richest known natural source of beta-carotene, storing up to 14 percent of dry weight as antioxidant-rich beta-carotene (FAO, 2004). SEACRET combines Dunaliella salina with a yeast ferment and Dead Sea mineral salt across the brand's face-care line.״

The complex uses no animal-derived ingredients, making it vegan-friendly, and SEACRET is cruelty-free. To see where FERMENT 21 fits your routine, explore the SEACRET face-care collection.

Updated 11 October 2026. This section lists the studies behind FERMENT 21 the way a journal would: model, dose, duration, sample size and what was measured.

How FERMENT 21 is made

The process runs over two days.

1. Medium. Yeast extract, glucose and Dead Sea salt are dissolved in purified water.
2. Inoculation. Live Dunaliella salina is added and the pH is set.
3. Fermentation. At least 12 hours in a controlled, dark environment. The alga metabolises the glucose and amino acids and takes up minerals from the Dead Sea salt, so the broth that comes out is a different substance from the salt water that went in.
4. Lysis. On day two the cell walls are opened mechanically to release the contents, and the alga is removed by centrifugation.
5. Deodorising and filtration. Charcoal treatment, clarification and in-depth filtration.
6. Finishing. A natural preservative, a final pH adjustment, then sterilising filtration and packaging.

The studies

Ingredient studies tested the broth itself at a stated concentration. Where a study used a dose higher than the amount in a SEACRET face-care product, the row says so and no product claim is drawn from it. Percentages from the laboratory reports are not printed here, because ex vivo models do not translate one to one into results on your face.

Study	Model	Dose and duration	Sample	Measured	Reading
Skin barrier protein (Claudin-1)	Human skin explants, ex vivo, immunofluorescence	0.5% and 1% broth, twice a day, 48 hours	2 donors, n=8, 2 independent experiments (an earlier run at 5% on 2 donors, confirmed on 3 more)	Claudin-1 expression against placebo	Dose matches product use
Skin renewal in use	Double-blind, placebo-controlled, split-side, on the thigh; fading of a DHA skin stain measured by colorimeter (L* and ITA)	1% and 5% broth in a cream, twice a day at 2 mg per square cm, 8 days	5 volunteers, ages 28 to 40, phototypes III to IV	Rate of stain fading on the treated side against the placebo side at days 2, 6 and 8	Dose matches product use
Epidermal calcium gradient	Human skin samples, ex vivo, X-ray fluorescence of the detached epidermis and gene expression by RT-PCR, Stony Brook University, IRB 2020-00371	Undiluted broth, 18 to 24 hours	7 samples analysed, donors aged 28 to 61	Calcium concentration in the epidermis against a water control; LCE2A and SPRR2F gene expression	Research model, undiluted
Longevity and collagen proteins (Klotho, Collagen 3)	Human skin explants, ex vivo, immunofluorescence	Klotho at 10%; Collagen 3 at 5% and 10%; twice a day, 72 hours	2 donors, n=8, 2 independent experiments	Klotho and Collagen 3 expression against placebo	Dose above product use
Skin microbiome	S. aureus and S. epidermidis growth, in vitro, with and without UVB stress	1% and 5% broth	2 experiments	Bacterial growth	No effect observed; listed for completeness

The ingredient studies were run by the ingredient's research laboratory (2018 to 2019) and by Stony Brook University (2020 to 2021). The reports are on file with SEACRET.

Where FERMENT 21 is

In the face-care formulas, at the level the ingredient studies used. Body care and hair care are built on Dead Sea minerals without the ferment.

• Bio Skin Glow: Triple Hyaluronic Acid Glow, Renewal Multi Acid Night Serum, Peptide Eye Cream.
• Bio Skin Hydration: Moisturizing Day Cream, Rich Hydrating Night Cream, Rich Nourishing Serum, Dual Phase Booster, Refreshing & Balancing Skin Toner.

What we do not claim

FERMENT 21 is a cosmetic ingredient and SEACRET products are cosmetics: they support the look and feel of skin and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or condition. Ex vivo and in vitro results describe what was measured on skin samples in a laboratory; they are not promises about results on your face.

Questions

What is FERMENT 21?

SEACRET's patented, bio-fermented Dead Sea mineral complex: Dead Sea salt and the micro-alga Dunaliella salina, fermented with a yeast culture over two days into a filtered broth that goes into the face-care formulas.

Which products contain it?

The Bio Skin Glow and Bio Skin Hydration serums, creams, toner, booster and eye cream. Body care and hair care do not.

Has it been tested on skin?

Yes. On human skin explants at the dose used in the products, and in a double-blind, placebo-controlled in-use study on volunteers. The table above lists each study with its model, dose, duration and sample size.

Is it the same as Dead Sea water?

No. Dead Sea salt is the starting point. The fermentation changes the broth: glucose and amino acids are consumed, new compounds are made, and minerals are taken up by the alga.