Quintessentially English - Botanical Alchemy and Beautiful Home Accessories

03/08/2026

So the shampoo bars are back on the shelves and I hadn’t even mentioned it yet.

No announcement, no countdown, no fanfare. I just quietly put them out in our store and they’ve been walking out the door all on their own.

Customers have been asking for them to come back for a while now but I’ve taken my time, I wanted to get them right before I said anything. I have a new recipe, we have carefully tested it and I am so pleased with the results I think it’s even better than our original one. All natural, essential oils, same as everything else we make here. Nearly thirty years of soapmaking and I still get a little thrill when something sells before I’ve even told anyone it exists!

Consider this your official (very late) heads up. They will be going back on the website towards the end of the week.

shampoobars naturalshampoo lacock lacockvillage quintessentiallyenglish lifebehindthecounter

23/07/2026

Me ignoring everyone’s calls because I’m smelling soap for Instagram.
Thirty years in and I still can’t walk past a fresh batch!

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22/07/2026

Little did I know when I took these pictures on Roundway today that if I’d been there yesterday I would have seen a spectacular crop circle! https://youtu.be/juHmZB625i8?is=Ur4EnD9iA6PYPie3

19/07/2026

It was decoration day at the apothecary. 🌿 Today’s ritual: pressing dried flowers and petals into each soap loaf one bar at a time - no two at all the same.

Slow made, gently done.

18/07/2026

A lot of commercial “soap” is actually detergent-based — stripping oils out, glycerin included, and selling that glycerin off separately. That’s often why bars can leave skin feeling tight and dry.

The Cold process we make is a different craft entirely — closer to the apothecary tradition than the factory line:

1. It keeps the glycerin. Naturally moisturising, not just labelled that way.

2. No high heat. Botanical oils and essential oils keep their integrity — real flower oils, steeped and blended.

3. Full ingredient control. No filler — every oil and botanical chosen by hand, the way an apothecary always worked.

4. Cured for 4–6 weeks. Left to develop its own aroma patina, the way good things always should be.

The result for you: gentler on sensitive or dry skin, better value per bar, and an actual wash — not a detergent bar dressed up as one.

Slower to make. Yet better soap.

17/07/2026

12/07/2026

Almost thirty years of aroma patina. That’s what’s in these walls now.

People often ask what this building from 1672 smells like. Honestly? Rose petals, oils, quiet mornings — soaked into the stone over almost three decades of soapmaking.

Funny thing — a few hundred yards from here is Lady Elizabeth’s Rose Garden. Her son Henry Fox Talbot photographed it in June 1840, one of the earliest photographs ever taken. He sent it to a botanist friend in Italy, who wrote back to say it was his favourite.

I like to think Lacock’s always been in the business of capturing roses. His in silver and light. Mine in oil and soap!

I made my first batch of English Rose here over thirty years ago, and somewhere along the way I’ve become part of this building’s history too.

Same slow way, every batch. Still my favourite thing I make. 🥰

01/07/2026

What a wonderful photo this is of our shop, it was taken yesterday evening by our neighbour.

29/06/2026

We’re in a Martin Parr photograph. Last year, Martin Parr came to Lacock to document the life of this village — his final major commission, as it turned out. He visited us here in the shop, and the National Trust property curator Andy Cochrane managed to capture the moment in reverse:
Martin Parr, mid-shot, photographing us.
A photo of a photographer photographing us. Very Parr.

The exhibition — Lacock by Martin Parr - opened this Saturday at the Fox Talbot Museum at Lacock Abbey, and runs for a full year. It’s a portrait of Lacock its people, its flower shows, its scarecrow trails and its everyday rhythms. Made in the place where photography itself began. His last gift to us all.

Come and see it. And look out for us!



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11/06/2026

Every soap begins here. 🌿
This is just a glimpse of some of the botanicals, clays and spices that go into our handmade soaps here in Lacock. Rose buds and crushed lavender for their skin-loving properties and natural scent. Green and pink clays to gently draw out impurities and give each bar its colour. Turmeric and annatto seeds for their warm, golden tones and antioxidant richness. Cinnamon for gentle warmth. Poppy seeds for natural exfoliation. Just the apothecary’s palette, built from nature.
Each batch is a little different.

HandmadeSoap ColdProcessSoap NaturalColourants ClaysSkincare OrganicSkincare SustainableBeauty Wiltshire Lacock