Dawn Marie Lake, Founder & Formulator

Dawn Marie began stocking the shelves of her grandmother’s Dallas health food store at the age of five. She is a throwback with an innate gift for healing. Discovering early on that she had a passion and a knack for the family business into which she was born, her path led her to purchase her own store in Boerne, TX when she was just 23 years old. Throughout the last two and a half decades, Dawn Marie has counseled and accompanied countless people along their journey to better health and well-being, always continuing to expand and refine her knowledge of the natural remedies and techniques that have the power to transform our health and our lives.

While representing a line of European organic essential oils, she became educated and certified in French Medical Aromatherapy and learned to create her own formulas. In applying the same holistic approach that has been fundamental to her work as a healer, her skincare philosophy has been guided by a simple principle; that the ingredients that we put on our body are as important as the ones we put in it. By combining only clean, organic botanicals that are easily absorbed by the body she began creating formulas that leave us feeling as good on the inside as we we aim to appear on the outside. The result is Seashine Labs, a radically clean method for boosting and maintaining skin health while deepening confidence and improving well-being.

Story

In 2017, Dawn Marie and her husband Colin decided to shake things up in a big way. She sold her store, then they sold their home in New Orleans and purchased a sailboat, which they named Wavelength. It was a leap of faith, but their intuition had been a reliable guide up to that point and now it was telling them to go. Early the following year the pair began a voyage that would last over two years and stretch from the Bahamas to Cuba and throughout the beautiful reef-lined waters of Mexico, Belize and the western Caribbean. Before shoving off, Dawn Marie had cleverly stowed away an assortment of organic essential oils and between passages she began formulating potions that would eventually become Seashine’s first products.

By the time the couple arrived on the island of Roatan for the first time in the summer of 2019, a shipment of ingredients and blue bottles was already on its way. Colin and Dawn Marie had heard good things about the island and bet that it was a good place to begin making and marketing their new line. They rented a small cabin on the east end of the island, tied the boat up to a dock and set up a pop-up laboratory. It was a crash course in small scale manufacturing and almost nothing went to plan. That summer was marked by shipment delays and a handful of meltdowns but they remained determined and within a few months, the Seashine Essentials Collection could be found at a handful of stores and hotels on the island. While Seashine 1.0 was a success, it quickly became apparent to the couple that they — and their new business — would need a mainland home base from which to grow.

In late 2019, they guided Wavelength into the fresh water of Guatemala’s Rio Dulce. The beautiful, jungle-lined river is a known hurricane hole and a place where the two, along with their little dog Cypress, could safely leave the boat and go stretch their legs. It was their second time exploring this beautiful country by land and they were in love. They continued to let their instincts guide them and before long, had set up shop in the outskirts of the picturesque colonial town of Antigua Guatemala.

2020 and the pandemic brought uncertainty and reflection. It also gave the couple a chance to get to get to know their new community. Seashine products were now for sale at a few more shops around town and the workload necessitated hiring help. These early hires confirmed what Colin and Dawn Marie had been feeling since arriving in Guatemala; that there was no shortage of talented people eager for opportunity. It became clear that Dawn Marie’s commitment to producing their products by hand and the couple’s goal to provide meaningful employment to young Guatemalans would be harmonious.

The growth continued and in early 2023 they launched their new brand, Seashine Labs Organic Skincare. Dawn Marie spent over two years creating and testing the formulas that comprise the new line and its launch has been met with an overwhelmingly positive response and has changed the trajectory of their journey.

Mission

Our mission is defined by three core commitments:

To your health:

For over two decades, our founder has been committed to improving people’s lives by guiding and accompanying them on their journey to better health and well-being. In creating her own skincare line, she applied the same holistic approach to your skin’s health that has been foundational to her work as a healer.  As a brand, we are committed to putting your health and well-being above all else.

Empowered Employment:

Seashine is hand-made with love in beautiful Antigua Guatemala.  We are committed to providing meaningful, gainful employment and mentorship to young women and to raising the quality of life for them and their families.  We believe strongly that by teaching and empowering these young women, our business and others can be catalysts for prosperity and positive change in the community and economic growth in the region.

To the planet and its oceans:

The ocean is Earth’s largest ecosystem and it is under unprecedented threat.  Harmful run-off from fertilizers used on farms around the world is the cause of so-called “dead zones” in our seas.  Chemicals found in sunscreen and other skincare products have been proven to bleach, harden and even kill vitally important coral reefs.

Our love for the ocean and our understanding of its importance to the overall health of the planet demands that we make a change.  As such, we are committed to using organically grown and sustainably farmed ingredients and ensuring that our products are reef-safe and as healthy for the planet as they are for your skin.