Welcome.
“For the seasons did not hinder them, only told them of what they were to do next. And they created light to see by, for moments to be shared of stories from faraway lands and the adventures yet to be had.
Every moment was captured by the Alchemist’s Daughter, from the sweetness of Summer’s rain, to Autumn’s leaves falling, and the warmth of wood burning from the Winter hearth, to the first bursts of Spring’s abundant offerings.”
Inside, there’s a stirring for the Mediterranean Sea. The azure tiles in our bathroom, the colour of the mystery and beauty it holds, soothe me at times when I’ve needed it. I am taken to a rocky coastline, where in loose sandy soil, rosemary grows in abundance. Also known as rosmarinus, it means dew of the sea. I work with it now, its essence held within an amber bottle, and perhaps most well-known for its connection to memory. It seems appropriate then to recall the words above, from when l’essence first launched 10 years ago.
Along with our botanical bath and body range, we sourced wax from local hives, and hand poured beeswax candles. They are companions to the human experience, lighting a meal shared with good company, laughter caught dancing in their flickering folds or the shadows that skip and fall between the murmurs of the dedicated in prayer and meditation, warmed by the hope of days to come, basking in a golden crown. Although we no longer include the beeswax candles as part of our range, what hasn’t changed is our emphasis on sourcing beautiful, quality ingredients from nature that hold secrets within their molecules.
In the prose above, I am the Alchemist’s daughter, and while gaining knowledge throughout the years, there’s still much I’m to learn. With gratitude, I’m forever the apprentice with multiple lifetime’s worth left to uncover, that I couldn’t possibly know it all in this one. And that’s okay by me, I am hungry to always learn new things.
Breathing in the aroma of the clear liquid from the bottle, rosemary’s scent is somewhat reminiscent of eucalyptus. It shares similar components, but the woodsy, herbaceous nuances that differentiate it, are also there. Not only is it recommended for memory, to cleanse, revitalise, maintain youth, but also to enhance libido. It was Aphrodite after all, the goddess of beauty, love and desire, born from sea foam, who rose draped in rosemary. With this on my mind, the essential oil lingering in the air, and my inspiration spindrift, I make changes to the formulation I’m working on.
It’s said where rosemary bushes flourish, you will find the women rule. I am fortunate to have a strong mama who has always been interested in holistic health and encouraged me along this path. As a child, I would pour over her collection of well-being journals for hours, absorbing as much information as possible. We would visit a multitude of natural health practitioners and I came to understand very early on the connection between nutrition and wellness, not just internally but for skin vitality. I was drawn to bathing and beauty rituals and honey, egg and avocado were not just kitchen ingredients but used to nourish the epidermis.
After a challenging day at school, experiencing hormonal changes or for the simple delicious pleasure of it, indulging with these homemade treatments was my escape, the bathroom my sacred space. To this very day, that remains.
The Christmas holidays of ’99, the last summer of my childhood, mama and I visited my grandmother. There are memories of picking boysenberries, devouring those plump jewels still warm from the sun, bursting on our tongues. And a road trip of three generations of women pulling over on the side of the road for an unplanned visit to a deserted beach. We walked moody shores for treasure, not realising then my memories would be far more valuable than any flotsam and jetsam washed up.
Years earlier on another visit, I had sent letters home of glimpsing the Romany people with their colourful caravans. We saw them again this time, and they left as equal an impression on me as we wandered between caravans and tents, a teenage boy painting a van, a man playing his guitar and in the absence of a human fortune teller, a machine ready to reveal your fortune for a dollar.
In the evening, coming home to my grandmother’s small apartment with an old radio playing in the background, a warm bath would always be drawn. I would sink into it and wash away the day, but if there was a scent to put to that period of my life, it would be the humble bar of soap my grandmother used. Scent is intrinsic to connecting us to, or forming new memories. It has the power to take us back in time or visit far off destinations without ever requiring a time machine or passport. It comforted me then as it does now, my grandmother having traversed the ether, the nostalgia cocooning me.
At l’essence, our focus is on you, and your own experience. It’s about celebration of the self and the sensuality of our own bodies. It’s about connecting with ingredients that have their own stories that have been used since time immemorial but also about your place in the world in this moment. Our formulations reach back to a past, where soap as we recognise it today came out of the Middle East – not unlike the origins of Aphrodite and her connection with the Babylonian Ishtar - and intersect it with the present to stir within you something you recognise, becoming part of your daily ritual
I work putting the finishing touches on this new formula – to be released in late April as we celebrate our 10 years – and just as the sea spray embraces the rosemary bushes lining the Mediterranean coast, the thought of star dust found in these briny waters makes me think we are indeed bathing with goddesses – and connecting us to something greater.