Regular readers will be aware of our fondness for Margate. Like many British seaside resorts the town witnessed steady decline over many decades but is now undergoing a regeneration. Large scale projects like the Turner Contemporary are making a difference, as will Dreamland when it reopens next year. Smaller, yet no less important ventures such as Breuer & Dawson and Forts Cafe are contributing to an increasingly vibrant atmosphere.

Haeckels is the latest name to add to the list. Watch out Aesop. Seriously. This unique new brand produces skin care products & fragrances made from seaweed and other natural ingredients foraged from the Margate area.

Seaweed is where Haeckel’s started. Thousands of tonnes wash up on Margate’s coastline annually. Dom Bridges, the brand’s enthusiastic founder began putting some of this to good use making soaps for friends and so Haeckels was born. A lot has happened since then as a visit to the shop-cum-laboratory on Cliff Terrace proves.

Some products are available now including a brilliant beard oil, candles and the Courtesy Flush, a wonderful alternative to air fresheners. Others on the way soon include eight perfumes made from GPS-exact locally sourced ingredients, the fragrances thus reflecting a very specific locale. All of these can be individually blended in the shop to create very personal fragrances.

This wonderful new brand has really struck a chord with us. Although our products and processes are very different we share the idea of taking an abundant, natural material and converting it into a premium product. Haeckels seaweed is our Herdwick fleece. We are weedy, or woolly alchemists, of sorts. You can read much more about the products and story behind the brand on the Haeckels website, better still give yourself an olfactory treat with a visit to the Margate shop.