Sourced from UK, Europe, Africa and our own back garden
We do our best to source great quality ingredients from UK grown crops and further afield to make our finished creations the very best.
Here’s some of our favourite key ingredients...
Lunaria (Honesty) Seed Oil
A beautiful purple flowering plant which, when completed its floral show, forms beautiful green seed heads that turn silver then translucent with age, hence the common name “honesty.” These moon-like pods are also indicative of the botanical plant name Lunaria, and when likened to money often called the silver dollar plant.
Camelina Seed Oil
Archaeological evidence suggests the presence of Camelina crops grown during the late bronze age, and it’s still going strong, keeping bees happy and us, as the oil pressed from the golden orange seeds is rich, justifying the plants alternative name, Gold of Pleasure.
Chia Seed Oil
Chia is believed to have originated in Central America and used by the Aztecs for food, medicines, and religious ceremonies. In the Mayan language Chia means strength and the seed was believed to provide supernatural powers. Now popular in the UK the seed oil is used in cosmetics to enrich and protect the skin.
Arvensis Seed Oil
One of the most potent natural sources of two fatty acids that are wonderful for skin preparations, GLA and SDA help reduce skin inflammation whilst increase elasticity and skin hydration.
Arnica Infused Oil
North American Arnica montana, with its large yellow flowers is also know as wolfs bane, mountain tobacco and leopard’s bane but while it doesn’t, as once believed, make your hair grow it is now recognised as being beneficial in alleviating aching joints and muscles. We buy ours infused in sunflower seed oil.
White Poppy Seed Oil
Grown in Lincolnshire with its ideal soil and climate for the crop the seeds, after the beautiful blooms have finished, are cold pressed to yield a fresh, high in vitamin e, quality oil that specifically good for cosmetic application. A white poppy has been used to symbolise a commitment to peace since 1933.
Calendula
Calendula petals are dried and then infused in sunflower seed oil until the oil turns a beautiful burnt orange colour ready to use for its regenerative and anti-inflammatory properties in our Warm balm.
Rosemary
We use fresh rosemary to make a stimulating infusion for our foot cream. The essential oil from Spain has a fresh head clearing aroma which works a treat in our scalp cream and is a joy to use. Here’s another attribute according to Blanckes’ Herbal 1525, “Make thee a box of the wood and smell to it and it shall preserve thy youthe.” If only! Rosemary is derived from the Latin ros marinus, meaning “sea dew.”
Bilberry
This wild perennial native shrub grows abundantly in the hills of north Wales so there’s plenty to forage for leaf extracts and infusions. Full of anti-oxidants, bilberry speedily aids skin health and maintenance.
Borage
According to old wives’ tales borage was sometimes smuggled into the drink of prospective husbands to give them courage to propose marriage. We use borage oil from UK bee friendly crop grown flowers for its skin rejuvenating and anti-wrinkle properties. It’s also a fantastic forage crop for bees.
Mint & Peppermint
The Romans grew mint and peppermint as a ground cover, especially between stepping stone pathways. It would take over our herb garden if allowed so we don’t feel guilty about stealing its leaves to make infusions for our foot cream, and us. Our peppermint essential oil comes from India and is lovely and cooling for the skin.
Roses
Our rose water and oil is sourced from Bulgaria. Since the 17th century Rosa Damascena has so impacted the livelihood, culture, and traditions of Bulgarians living in the southern sub-mountain region of the Balkan Mountains that the valley is now known across the globe as The Valley of Roses. Its wonderful aroma is unforgettable and it’s the most extravagant ingredient we use.
Elderberries
Elderberries are not just used by the WI to make jam or cough syrup; elderberry oil has a rich silky feel and is readily absorbed into the skin to increase elasticity and smoothness.
Lavender
Our fragrant lavender water is proudly distilled by Nancy and Bill of Welsh Lavender Ltd and our oil is from Provence, famous for its dusky blue fields of lavender and essential oil production.
Rosehip
Rosehips have been used for generations by Egyptians, Mayans and native Americans because of their healing properties. Rosehip oil comes from the “hips”, the small fruits found behind the flowers, which are left once the wild roses have bloomed and lost their petals. It is one of the most effective oils for skin care with vital nutrients to promote a radiant, healthy looking complexion.
Shea
Shea butter has been used for centuries in African beauty care to maintain soft glowing skin. It comes from the fruits of the Karite trees that grow in the savannah region of west Africa. Our raw grade A supply comes from a soil association certified organic cooperative and is always a delight to use.
Cocoa
A cacao tree yields brown pods with up to fifty seeds each. The seeds are fermented to remove their bitterness, then cleaned, roasted and cracked to produce a cocoa liquor. This liquor is then pressed leaving a solid mass called cocoa press cake, the cocoa butter. Our cocoa butter from the Dominican Republic has excellent emollient properties and we use it as the perfect cohort to organic unrefined shea butter in many of our creams.
Macadamia
Macadamia is a fabulously rich and thick semi opaque oil pressed from the nuts of the macadamia trees of east Africa. We love to use it in our products for its capacity to moisturise and leave our skin feeling peachy smooth.
Baobab
Some people believe that if you pick a flower from a baobab tree you will be eaten by a lion, but if you drink water in which baobab seeds have been soaked, you will be safe from a crocodile attack. We believe if you use the oil pressed from the seed of the baobab fruit you’ll have great looking healthy skin, so we’ve eagerly added it to our face cream formula.
Olives
Homer, the Greek poet, called olive oil ‘liquid gold’ and it was thought to represent wealth in ancient Minoan society. There is even a museum dedicated to the olive and to olive oil in Sparta, capital of Lakonia which is the heart of Greece’s olive oil growing region. We use cold pressed olive oil for its exceptional excellence in skin care just as the Greeks have always recommended.
Sunflowers
“I am working with the enthusiasm of a man from Marseilles eating bouillabaisse, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to you because I am busy painting huge sunflowers.” ― Vincent van Gogh
Rich in linoleic acid and so light and easily absorbed, sunflower oil makes the perfect base oil for all our other favourites.
Lemons
A brief history of lemons:
Lemons originate from Assam? China? Burma? Himalayan foothills?
A faraway place. (still being debated.)
Kings gave lemons as gifts.
Californian Gold Rush miners paid a fortune for a lemon to avoid scurvy.
Renaissance ladies used lemon juice to redden their lips.
Lemons were homed by wealthy Victorians as a sign of prestige.
And they are a British Navy staple for keeping our sailors in ship-shape.
Lemon oil became a valued ingredient of Laughing Bird Hand Cream.
Honey & Beeswax
“The bee collects honey from flowers in such a way as to do the least damage or destruction to them, and he leaves them whole, undamaged and fresh, just as he found them.” – Saint Francis de Sales
The beeswax for our luscious lip balms comes from local beekeeping enthusiasts.
Rapeseed
Beautiful yellow rapeseed, skin friendly, bee friendly and a RHS noted plant for pollinators. It’s rich in oleic acid, light and easily absorbed, the perfect base oil for our products.
Blackcurrant
Whilst the deep purple juice makes for great sorbet, drinks and flu remedies the seeds of the blackcurrant, cold pressed in the UK, exude a rich oil that’s full of all the necessary constituents to help with dry and damaged skin … which is why it’s such a boon oil for our geranium & lemon hand cream