l'essence

Today we’re making our West Indian Lime botanical soap. Here is our powdered lime peel which we toast before using. Why? Because after formulating this recipe, I went to source our lime peel for a second time and the beautiful rich brown version was not available forcing me to improvise. And I’ve just been doing it this way ever since.

So right now the studio is filled with a delicious warm sweet fragrance as the dried lime peel transforms from a pale yellow to the colouration I seek. It provides a subtle speckling to the soap and a mild exfoliation. It’s all about the details.

In June of this year, we lost our beloved Phill “Phillby” Mantell after a long period of illness. Not only my partner in life, but an integral part of L’essence. I have written previously about how, when we initially launched L’essence, we also offered beeswax candles as part of our range. We would drive into the country to pick up wax from our bee guy, something we always enjoyed doing together. Working with beeswax became a real passion for Phill, that he even hoped for his own hives one day, something that unfortunately he would never come to realise because of his health.

For the majority of L’essence, Phill was the one packed up our car in the early days to take our products to market. He was the one who cleaned up after soaping in the studio – it’s quite the job! He was the one who packaged each soap for our stockists – I apologise if I haven’t quite reached his standard these past few years. And he was the one who made me endless teas and coffees, and meals, as I worked into the early hours of the morning filling orders. I was also very particular about the soap – I still am lol – and he had to endure my own high standards. That can be stressful in itself, yikes!

Phill also loved sunflowers. He would buy me bunches of these big smiley happy faced flowers, and grew them at times too. Such a perfect companion to the bee, an absolute buffet for them to feast on. Until the day I can fulfil his dream of having a hive, we must always grow sunflowers so our bee friends can come to visit and dine.

I was going through some of Phill’s writings when I came across these words:

Each blossom
I land on
will grow a fruit
Life never stops
said the bee

Forever in our hearts Phillby, we will continue to grow something beautiful.

Louisa 🌻🐝

…………….

A little note about L’essence:

This year has been a fundamentally challenging one, and I will be easing my way back into L’essence. I don’t want to over promise for fear of under-delivering.

I will be offering Christmas ordering to stockists and will be in touch next Monday.

And over these next few months, I want to be curious and explorative, focusing on creativity with soap making rather than mass production with my online retail offering for Christmas. But it will be happening.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who participated in our Limited Christmas Sale. We had missed making for you and loved sending out boxes of our goodies to you in time for the holiday season.

We also wanted to let you know your support helped us raise over $400 for the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, contributing directly to medical care for children who need it most.

I’m deeply grateful for your trust, and the way you chose to give with conscience this season. You can also make additional donations by visiting www.pcrf.net if you were unable to contribute this time or would like to support further with a one time or monthly donations.

In gratitude 🙏✨

Louisa

Sea sponges grow in quiet underwater gardens, filtering the tide. Their softness is carved entirely by nature. And we love them as the perfect companion to our botanical soaps, creating a soft luscious lather.

The art of bathing, the L’essence way 🫧

The art of bathing, the L’essence way 🫧

The art of bathing, the L’essence way.