Ocean Bloom is a Seaweed Skincare Company from West Cork specialising in harnessing the healing effects of Irish seaweeds. To make their products they combine rich organic plant oils from all around the world with their own seaweed serum from hand harvested seaweed. Leila Sidley runs the day to day business.

Where did the idea come from?
Ocean Bloom was created by our founder Cheryl when a baby relative was born with infant eczema. After trying what felt like every product, his skin was no better. A local lady suggested seaweed, going back generations seafolk have been using it for all manner of ailments. The results were great and with a little knowledge and research our bestselling Oil No.9 was created, the first Ocean Bloom product.

Did you train professionally, did it direct you into a particular area?
Cheryl our founder ( and my aunt ) is a qualified aromatherapist with a vast knowledge of seaweed which she garnered during an in-depth course on Seaweed Growing and Health Properties with the BIM. I initially joined the team as a content provider when the business began to grow. Now I look after all the day to day running of the company.

How is your work influenced by your surroundings?
Beara is such an amazing place to live and work. I doubt Ocean Bloom would have been created had we lived anywhere else. I am never far from the sea and can often be found down by the shore taking photos. All of the local people are so supportive of our products which drives us on further to keep creating .

Has the current pandemic impacted your work and business?
The current pandemic has had a massive effect on our business in the way that most of the shops that sell our skincare had sadly closed. However, I want to say a massive Thank You to all of our customers that purchased from our website during this time. It really kept us going. I like to think that some good has come out of this and perhaps it has given people more time to think about what ingredients go into skincare and how supporting Irish small business is so important.

What are you currently working on?
Right now we are creating a new website which I am thrilled about. Our new website will work better across all devices and will be more interactive for all of our customers. Also we will be announcing our new brand ambassadors in the coming weeks. These people are a mixture of beauticians, natural beauty influencers and of course customers who love our products. They will be able to give real and honest feedback on our products to everyone.

Ocean Bloom features in our Box of Smiles – Keep Cork Smiling gift box, take a look here

www.oceanbloom.ie