The Journal
Exploring the wider world of plants, their histories, cultivation, chemistry, uses and the relationships people have built with them over time.
We talk constantly about moisturising, nourishing, soothing and protecting our skin, yet all of those ideas depend upon an extraordinarily thin structure at its surface. Understanding the skin barrier changes the way we think about skincare.
Read the articleRose oil is one of perfumery’s most celebrated natural materials, yet the beauty of the finished ingredient can obscure the extraordinary agricultural and industrial system required to produce it. From hand-picked flowers and exceptionally low essential-oil yields to distillation energy and changing harvest seasons, understanding rose properly means looking beyond the bottle.
Read the articleLavender may be one of the world’s most recognisable botanical ingredients, but it is also one of the most misunderstood. From skincare and aromatherapy to perfumery and household…
Read the articleAt fifty I have finally let rose into my skincare cabinet properly. I had been resisting it for years, partly on principle (the marketing around rose is some…
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