So there’s this lifeguard on Margate beach who started bottling the seaweed that kept washing up at his feet. That’s it. That’s the whole origin story — no lab coats, no Silicon Valley pitch deck.
Now they run a real lab inside a Victorian clock tower by the sea. Every batch is made within earshot of the waves that sourced it. That’s not marketing fluff — you can literally smell the salt in the packaging.
The Haeckels Seaweed Lab Essentials Kit is basically their greatest hits in a box — £85 gets you four full sizes, not those pathetic deluxe samples brands charge £50 for. The claim that got me: “biologically active” seaweed, harvested by hand, processed within hours of leaving the water.
Marine Extract Cleanser
Gel-to-milk texture that dissolves SPF without that squeaky-clean tightness
Seaweed Moisturiser
Absorbs in 20 seconds flat — no greasy forehead by 11am
Revitalising Toner
Smells like the actual ocean, not synthetic “sea breeze” perfume
Photo: Content Pixie / Unsplash
Bladderwrack and sugar kelp harvested from the Thanet coast — the same stuff that’s been sitting in tidal pools since before humans decided skincare needed 47 steps. They cold-process everything to keep the enzymes alive, which is why the texture feels different from anything you’ve used.
- Bladderwrack: natural source of iodine that calms angry breakouts
- Sugar kelp: humectant that pulls moisture in without sitting heavy
- Hyaluronic acid: the only non-seaweed ingredient, and it’s there to boost absorption
- Vitamin E: stabilises the oils so nothing goes rancid
Photo: Kaeme / Unsplash
The moisturiser has this weird jelly-butter hybrid thing going on — scoop it out and it holds its shape, but the second it hits skin, it melts like it’s apologising for existing. The toner smells like you stuck your face in a rock pool, which took me a full week to decide I loved.
Two weeks in, my skin stopped being dramatic. The random chin breakout that usually shows up before my period just… didn’t. Also, the moisturiser plays shockingly well under makeup — no pilling, no sliding.
Photo: ibnu ihza / Unsplash
My skin looks calmer and more even — not glass-skin instagram perfect, but the kind of quiet “I slept well” clarity that’s actually achievable. The toner is the standout; the cleanser is good but not earth-shattering.
Photo: Element5 Digital / Unsplash
It’s not magic, but it’s the closest thing I’ve found to skincare that feels like it’s actively working with your skin instead of against it. The clock tower origin story is real, and it shows.