Seatox is an organic, zero-waste and vegan skincare line using seaweed as the key ingredient. The collection is ocean-inspired from the wild Irish Atlantic shores. It includes a traditional Irish seaweed bath, a seaweed face mask and an invigorating salt and seaweed body scrub.
Tess O’Shea is the founder of Seatox, she is an advocate for non-toxic lifestyle, and sources her ingredients as such. Tess was inspired by her childhood living on the west atlantic coast of Ireland. This is a place were seaweed has been foraged for centuries and serves a plethora of wellbeing purposes from food source to skincare. Seatox products are handmade with love in Bristol and use 100% organic ingredients.
Sustainability is very important to Tess and how the business is run.
Ingredients: The sustainably-sourced seaweed is from Ireland. The seaweed is harvested in a way which is low-impact. The seaweed is cut to encourage regrowth and only done seasonally, working with nature to not exploit the seaweed supply. Tess is currently looking into a second supplier as is really interested in line-grown seaweed as an alternative sustainable supply.
"I make sure my ingredients are all organic and ethically sourced. Organic farming methods are kinder to the environment as they don't use harmful fertilisers and toxic pesticides which ends up in our rivers and oceans".
Packaging: Seatox is a zero-waste and plastic-free (where possible), brand. "This was a decision I made 1 year ago when learning about how little of UK plastic gets recycled". Seatox is also an ocean-friendly brand, so ditching plastic was a natural progression and the right choice. Tess prefers the use of infinitely recyclable materials such as aluminum, glass and kraft brown paper. When posting Seatox products out to stockists, she makes use of cardboard boxes and postal packaging from a local business she shares space with. This means the cardboard boxes get a second lease of life and can be reused before going to recycling. She also uses 'eco-peanuts' to protect glass packaging from breaking when travelling. These are compostable and biodegradable.
Business Operations: The products are hand-made in small batches in Bristol, and pledges to never mass-produce Seatox, should it ever experience big growth. "I walk or get public transport to my co-working space and when I used to sell at markets (pre-covid) I would use a trolley and use public transport. This reduces the carbon emissions of the making and selling of Seatox products. I work in a carbon neutral co-working space, where emissions are offset each year to renewable energy and rainforest restoration schemes".
Seatox seaweed supplier is a family-run small business in Ireland. Tess likes to really know her suppliers well, so has visited them a few times to learn more about their harvesting methods and make sure they are sourcing responsibly.
Seatox has supported a number of ocean conservation initiatives over the years. In 2019 we supported a Seal rehabilitation project in Ireland and in 2020, a Turtle conservation scheme in Mexico.
Seatox has collaborated with Earth Nurse Press to bring out an ocean conservation storybook, aimed at highlighting the issues of plastic pollution, overfishing, oil spills and over consumption. Via the proceeds from the book they are donating to two charities, City to Sea and Surfers against Sewage.
Take a look at the ocean-inspired collection here.
