Interview with Bridgette Gale

Elacia is the brainchild of Bridgette Gale who transformed her lifelong love of the sun and sea into a skincare-led self-tanning brand. After years of sun-soaked summers and the realisation of cumulative skin damage, she sought a safer, nourishing way to glow. 

Rooted in her Western Australian coastal upbringing, Elacia blends ocean botanicals with clean, non-toxic ingredients to create products that hydrate, restore, and enhance a natural radiance. From Sea Foam Self Tan to Marine Body Scrub, each item is designed to turn everyday routines into moments of intentional self-care, with a focus on efficacy, sensory delight, and environmental mindfulness. In this interview, she shares the philosophy, challenges, and joyful anticipation behind launching Elacia, a brand redefining what it means to tan with care.

For this special launch, Elacia is offering the Naturel Haus community an exclusive 15% off for a limited time with code NATURELHAUS15. I am so excited for you all to experience the love, care and intentionality that Bridgette has poured into every elacia product. 

When did you realise your relationship with the sun - and swim - needed a safer ritual, and how did that park Elacia Ritual? 

Honestly, it crept up on me. I spent my teens and twenties baking myself and living in swimwear. Then in my thirties, after two kids, all my sun damage started appearing. Pigmentation, dehydration, skin that just felt tired. When I finally turned to self-tan, it felt functional but joyless, plastic bottles, harsh formulas, nothing that felt like skincare. Elacia came from wanting a safer way to glow, while nourishing my skin and felt like a ritual, not compromise. 

You are moments from launch at time of sending this, what are those final moments like for a founder before the brand goes live?

A mix of excitement, nerves, and total surrender. At some point you realise there’s nothing left to tweak you’ve done the work, made the decisions, trusted your gut. It feels a bit like holding your breath and jumping. Equal parts proud and nervous, but mostly grateful to finally share something that’s lived in your head for so long.

What elements from your WA coastal upbringing still show up in Elacia's product philosophy?

The ocean is everything. Growing up in WA, the sea wasn’t a destination, it was just life. That shows up in how I think about skincare, simple, grounding, and restorative. Nothing overcomplicated. Products that work with your body, not against it. I use ocean botanicals in my products because they’re naturally rich in minerals and deeply hydrating, helping to support the skin barrier and overall skin health. But it also always comes back to ritual, my daily ritual by the ocean and my skincare ritual in the bathroom. It’s about slowing down and nurturing yourself, in a way that feels intentional. 

Tell us about the products you are launching? 

We’re launching with our Sea Foam Self Tan, Facial Tanning Drops, and Marine Body Scrub, all designed to work together as a complete, skincare-led ritual. When I looked at the market, so many tanning products felt harsh, drying, or purely functional. I wanted to create products that treated tanning as an extension of skincare, hydrating, barrier-supportive, and genuinely enjoyable to use.

What I love most about the range is how it feels on the skin. Our self tan is fragrance-free, gentle, and designed to layer seamlessly into your existing routine. The focus isn’t on chasing colour at any cost, but on even results, a natural fade, and skin that feels nourished and cared for long after application.

You have always been entrepreneurial with your highly successful swimwear label Amore & Sorvete, how long did you have that brand for and what has now pulled you toward efficacy-first skincare and tanning?

I ran Amore & Sorvete for 14 years. It was such a huge chapter of my life. Skincare felt like a natural evolution, I still care about confidence, skin, and how women feel in their bodies, but now it’s less about what you’re wearing and more about how you care for yourself. Especially after kids, it’s so easy to put yourself last and forget about yourself. I wanted to create something that brings women back to a moment just for them, both in the bathroom as part of a daily ritual, and in feeling confident in their skin.

'Clean' can mean so many things, how do you define your ingredients for Elacia and what ingredients were hard no's?

For elacia, non-toxic means formulas that are safe, considered, and respectful of the body's natural rhythms. We avoid known disruptors, harsh alcohols, synthetic fragrances, parabens, phthalates, and anything that feels aggressive or inflammatory. Everything needs to earn its place in the formula. 

What is involved in testing products with skincare activities for leave-on tans?

A lot of patience. You’re balancing efficacy, stability, skin tolerance, and colour development all at once. Actives like hyaluronic acid or vitamin C need to stay effective without interfering with DHA or causing irritation. It’s months of reformulating, testing on different skin types, and watching how the tan develops and fades over time.

What results were you not willing to compromise on before launch?

Even colour, no orange undertones, hydration, and a healthy fade. I didn’t want anything that clung to dry patches, disrupted the skin barrier, or left that tight, thirsty feeling. If it didn’t look natural in daylight and feel good days later, it wasn’t good enough.

Sensitivity, pregnancy, diverse skin tones - were these things important to you?

So important. As a mum myself, we tested across different skin tones and sensitivities, kept formulas fragrance-free. While we always recommend patch testing, the goal was to make products that feel reassuring, not risky.

Many self-tans dehydrate - what’s your moisture-retention strategy?

Hydration is at the core of elacia. We focus on deeply hydrating ingredients like Tasmanian sea kelp, hyaluronic acid, coconut, aloe, and barrier-supporting actives, so the skin actually feels nourished after tanning, not worse like a lot of other tanners out there. When skin is properly hydrated, the results are better too, the tan lasts longer, fades more evenly, and never looks flaky or dry.

What are “ocean botanicals” and why are they important?

Ocean botanicals are mineral rich extracts sourced from the sea, like our Tasmanian sea kelp. They’re incredibly nourishing, naturally hydrating, and rich in trace minerals. For me, they tie back to the idea of the ocean as a source of restoration, not just inspiration.

You use glass in your product design, how important is sustainability to elacia?

Glass feels timeless, refillable, and worthy of living on your shelf. We’ve paired it with refill pouches to reduce waste long term and kept the overall packaging minimal. The bottle is designed to be kept, you purchase it once and then refill using our aluminium free, recyclable pouches. It’s about balance, beauty, functionality, and responsibility.

We all watched along as you built the brand in public, what did you learn from clearing and filing trademarks for a beauty brand? 

That it's a lot more complex than people realise. Naming is emotional, but trademarks are a must when it comes to building a company. I learned to separate the two quickly, get expert advice early, and stay flexible. It’s not always smooth, but it’s worth doing properly to avoid long term rebranding.

Naturel Haus champions slow, sensory routines - what’s your elacia ritual
from shower to sheet time? 

A warm shower, the Marine Body Scrub, slow exfoliation. After drying off, Sea Foam Tan
applied like skincare, not rushed. Fresh sheets, clean skin, no phone. And because our foam is clear, you can slip straight into bed without any colour transfer. That’s the ritual simple, calming, and intentional.

TO SHOP use code NATURELHAUS15 for 15% off elacia for a limited time. See Bridgette's edit below x