There is something so delightful about collaboration, it's the opportunity to step into a completely different landscape and create something completely magical for someone else. Over the years we have worked with some brilliant people with the vision to see what might we might be able to create to elevate their offering, to pin it to a particular place and set of plants.
We don't accept many commissions but when the right one comes along, they are delightful. When we lived in Sussex, amongst others, I worked with Glyndebourne Opera House to create a small selection of products from their own Roses, particularly Rosa Glyndebourne which was a beautifully scented but rather floppy Rose (I love the official term 'of lax habit' it sounds like me) - I was only allowed to pick when there were no performances, clearly the Glyndebourne glitterati's experience of opera and picnic was not to be interrupted by a woman chopping the heads of the Roses in the garden. The first time I visited the head gardener followed me around wincing every time i snapped a head off, for later visits I suggested that I could manage on my own. The products were really beautiful and picking in that wonderful garden with the sound of opera rehearsals drifting across the lawn was quite magical. The other perk was to have breakfast in the company cafe, delicious caramelised sausages and crispy edged fried eggs eaten at tables with extra wide benches to accommodate capacious bottoms. Brilliant.
Later I began working with Beaverbrook House's Coach House Spa and still do now, all these years later. The Coach House Spa in Surrey is magnificent, the treatments are a considered blend of therapy and skincare. Under the management of Rene in the Spa, and Greg offering guidance in the background, the ethos of real care shone through. The A.S Apothecary Meadow Facial was created for them in collaboration with Fiona Harlowe who is an outstanding facialist, using our products that work so well in that setting. Every movement, action and product designed to support both mind and body, to instil a deep sense of peace and protection. When we moved to Harris they incorporated the Harris Edition seamlessly into their treatments. In the last few months I've created something really groundbreaking for them - more on that when It's ready to launch.
Whilst still in Sussex I took on a project with the Isle of Harris Distillery, although I grew up in Edinburgh, I had only come to the Western Isles once when I was 16. It hadn't gone well. Misreading the ferry timetable meant that I only had about an hour in Stornoway in Lewis before getting back on the ferry to return to the mainland. It was a horrible day, the wind and rain lashing down, the boat pitching and rolling. I remember lying spreadeagled on the deck crying, with a crew member looking on telling me that this was nothing. I decided in that moment never to return. 35 years later I flew up, and so began an utter enchantment with this landscape. As I created their products, the Sugar Kelp Aromatic Water for their Gin, the skincare products for their shop, I realised that this place had something so special it was worth moving myself and my business 800 miles north to live here. I still don't like the ferry but try to manage the crossings on days when I'm likely to be ok. Alexander, who works with me and is the son of a fisherman, advised heading straight to the restaurant and eating the greasiest breakfast on the menu to avoid seasickness. It's counterintuitive but it works.
Since living in Harris I have accepted a commission from Crossbasket Castle near Glasgow. That has been such an interesting project, over several years, to create all the products for the Spa using Scottish botanicals and particularly plants growing at the Castle and in their other properties. I was delighted to find that the owners kept bees and used all things bee as the starting point. Beeswax, honey, propolis are all lovely to work with - the wax is perfect for balms and creams, the propolis is a powerhouse of an ingredient and the honey with its emollient and protective qualities is a welcome addition to virtually anything. The product range takes in the Sea, the Forest, the Meadow and the Wilderness. The Spa itself is still under construction but hopefully within the next year it will be up and running and those gorgeous products will begin their life in the treatment rooms.
Most recently I've been working with the Carlowrie Group on a project on the Isle of Ronay just off the coast of Uist. Although this is just one island down from Harris, getting there requires 2 boat trips - it's easier to get to Glasgow! This is a tiny island with Heather clad moorland and a rich selection of seaweeds to work with. I'm looking forward to getting properly started on this when I can find the right weather window to visit...
Over all these years, there has only been one that didn't go to plan. It was overseas and depended on a large number of plants arriving in good condition to augment the local plants we were using, for some reason, even though all the paperwork was in order, customs decided to hold all the plants without water in a dark warehouse for a month. By the time they arrived they were well past resurrecting. It was heartbreaking and required super quick thinking and a change of direction to get the project back on track. Now when I do a project overseas I prefer to advise on planting rather than undertake it, it's a level of stress I can definitely live without.
This year, I'm working on a project in the Peloponnese which is very exciting - it's a return to Mediterranean plants that I know so well. I travelled there by train last year which was a proper adventure, this year I may need a slightly faster mode of transport. I'll be creating a whole range of products, really capturing the landscape. The resins and olive oil, beeswax and flowers will make the most gorgeous products.
I think one of the things that makes us so different as a business is our total lack of compromise. If I'm going to take on a project, I need to feel that it is something I would do for myself and feel proud of. It has to respect the environment and have purpose, it needs to have therapeutic value and offer the people that use it (clients and therapists alike) a sense of wellbeing. We also need to work out if it's something we have capacity to do which is why we are so choosy about commissioned work. Getting from Harris to anywhere takes several days - if it's by ferry I always allow an extra day in case of cancellations or breakdowns. If it's by plane I also allow for an extra day just to be sure of making a connection. Once I do decide to go for it, we have such a brilliantly well motivated and committed team here, I know we'll do a really good job.