Dom Bridges started picking seaweed off Margate beach because he was bored and broke. Now his weird little obsession is a full-blown skincare lab — and it might be the most original brand story in beauty right now.
The kicker? He had zero skincare experience. He was a furniture maker who just got obsessed with what the ocean kept washing up. That lack of polish is exactly why Haeckels feels different — no focus groups, no lab coats, just a guy testing seaweed on his own face.
It’s a £52 face oil that smells like the bottom of a fishing boat — in the best way. I tried it because the brand claims they harvest the seaweed within hours of it hitting shore, and I’m a sucker for that kind of specific lunacy.
Cold-pressed base
A blend of seabuckthorn, rosehip, and jojoba that doesn’t feel like cooking oil on your face.
Live seaweed extract
Not dried, not powdered — actually processed fresh. This is the weird part that makes it work.
Zero fragrance added
It smells like iodine and salt because that’s what it is. Perfume would ruin it.
Photo: Alexandra Tran / Unsplash
Honestly, the ingredient list reads like a tide pool. It’s not trying to be a 40-step Korean routine — it’s just a few things that do real work, harvested from their own coastal plots.
- Bladderwrack seaweed: Anti-inflammatory and packed with minerals that calm redness
- Seabuckthorn: Omega-7 fatty acids that actually repair the moisture barrier
- Rosehip oil: Vitamin A for cell turnover without the prescription price
- Vitamin E: Stabilizer that keeps the oil from going rancid on your shelf
Photo: kevin laminto / Unsplash
It’s thinner than most face oils — like a dry oil, almost. Absorbs in under a minute, which shocked me. I thought I’d be shiny for hours but it sinks in and leaves a matte, slightly velvet finish.
Week two, my skin got weirdly… calm. I have this persistent redness around my nose that makeup never covers, and it visibly dialed down. Not gone, but quieter. I didn’t expect that from a glorified beach experiment.
Photo: yunona uritsky / Unsplash
My skin is softer — that’s measurable. The redness is calmer, not cured. The glow is real but subtle, like you slept well rather than getting a facial. What stayed the same? My occasional breakouts. This isn’t an acne treatment.
Photo: Rosa Rafael / Unsplash
It’s not a miracle in a bottle — it’s a really good oil made by a man who genuinely loves the ocean. If that sounds like your vibe, you’ll love it. If you need clinical results, look elsewhere.