License plates proclaim it “Canada’s Ocean Playground,” but for anyone who’s braved Nova Scotia’s cold, windswept winters, the climate can be anything but playful. Winter temperatures rarely warm up past freezing and annual rainfall ranges from 40 inches (101cm) to nearly 60 inches (152cm)—and that’s just conditions on the mainland. Imagine how weather wreaks havoc on one’s skin a mile or two off shore!

 
Executives of Nova Scotia Fisherman Extreme Skin Care have more than imagined it, they’ve lived through it and now they say they’ve solved the inherent skin problems that go hand-in-hand with wet, cold weather, with a variety of balms, lotions and ointments to help protect skin no matter what the condition.

 
Nova Scotia Fisherman founders Perley Beairsto and Les Falconer are childhood friends with Bob MacLeod who, along with his partner Steve Byckiewicz, started the natural body care company Kiss My Face Cosmetics. Partnering with Beairsto and Falconer in 2000, the long-time friends opened a manufacturing plant in New Minus, Nova Scotia and started making all-natural soy based candles for Kiss My Face.
 

“The manufacturing plant provided many quality jobs in rural Nova Scotia and was producing a quality product,” explained Tassi Sewell, who handles sales and marketing in Ontario. “As the company continued to grow, they all saw an opportunity to continue to provide quality jobs and produce natural products and that is how the product line Nova Scotia Fisherman was born!”

 
The company’s first product was the Rescue Balm and it continues to be a best seller, according to Sewell.
 

“We have a serious following due of this magical product,” she explained. “The extreme power this balm actually stimulates your skin’s natural ability to heal and is what makes it such a versatile and awesome product!”
 

The balm’s potency made company executives realize how powerful kelp can be; once the decision was made to expand product offerings, formulators put kelp in everything. The Nova Scotia Fisherman line includes items such as skin care lotion, hand cream, bar soap, body scrubs and lip balms.

 
According to Sewell, sea kelp is an incredibly powerful, sustainable and natural ingredient. It restores moisture levels, oxygenates, detoxifies, revitalizes and firms skin. Sea kelp also has the ability to improve skin texture and tone, and protect it from environmental elements. Finally, it contains antioxidants and Beta-carotene and stimulates the skin’s ability to heal.
 

“There is plenty scientific research to support sea kelp’s ability to help with anti-aging,” added Sewell.

 
Nova Scotia Fisherman products contain more than kelp. The Apple Cider Soap includes real apple cider obtained from an orchard down the street from company headquarters. Other products contain sea buckthorn, which is a local bush berry indigenous to Nova Scotia and a good source of vitamin C. Another bush berry native to Nova Scotia is bayberry, which can be found in the brand’s Sea Fennel & Bayberry Lotion.

 
“Our carefully selected ingredients is what makes our product line so unique,” explained Sewell. “Our inspiration has always been our environment, so when growing the product line we wanted to incorporate local ingredients. We use all plant based natural ingredients that help to make our product help your skin naturally.”

 
All of those local natural ingredients remain right in Nova Scotia as the company produces 98% of its products at its manufacturing plant in New Minas, Nova Scotia.
 

“We are proud to provide quality jobs for people in rural Nova Scotia this way,” explained Sewell. “We pride ourselves on our hand-made methods such as the cold-pressed method for our soap or our hand poured lip balms.”
 

Due to health and safety standards, Nova Scotia Fisherman’s lotion is made in a controlled environment off site—it is the only thing not made directly at the company’s manufacturing plant.

 
From Nova Scotia, products are stocked in health food stores, Sobeys, Whole Foods, Loblaws, Home Hardwares and many independent retailers. Nova Scotia Fisherman products are also sold in retailers in Japan, Europe and New Zealand. Prices range from $6.95 for lip balm to $17.95 for 360ml pump dispenser of lotion.

 
In addition to its sales staff, the company relies on tradeshows, social media, subscription boxes, magazines and bloggers to get the word out about the benefits of its balms, lotions and sticks.

 
Giving Back
 

The weather can get rough, but the Nova Scotia Fisherman staff couldn’t imagine living or working anywhere else.
 

“As a small business, of course we want to be financially successful,” noted Sewell. “First and foremost, however, we want to ensure we can continue to provide quality jobs for people in rural Nova Scotia and we want to continue to financially support the incredible work of the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC).”
 

The NCC protects areas of natural diversity for their intrinsic value and for the benefit of future generations. The group secures important natural areas through their purchase, donation or other mechanism and then manages these properties for the long-term.
 

“As we grow, our ability to provide more jobs and more financial support to the NCC grows,” explained Sewell.“We also are proud that as our company continues to grow month to month, we are able to provide consumers with access to a product with integrity, which should be the new standard for all health care products. If we are able to grow our natural company, consumers will expect this kind of transparency and integrity in their products and will no longer support the corporations who are not philanthropic.”
 

Strong words? Maybe. But the staff of Nova Scotia Fisherman has had its mettle tested by the elements. Certainly they can handle pressure from a multinational or three.