A trip to the Essence + Alchemy garden lab
“I didn’t sleep well, because of the moon I think”, was the first thing Lesley said to me when I visited her garden lab. A bitterly cold day, the lawn leading up to the tucked-away headquarters of Essence + Alchemy, was still dashed with frost and Jack, Lesley’s sheepdog, seemed pleased to see me, providing more energy than Lesley or I could muster.
The moon last night had been a particularly beautiful one, my five year old and I went out to see it and admired its marshmallow pink hues. I am pleased about the place the moon holds in Arthur’s imagination and I had never heard about the correlation between the full moon and a bad night’s sleep. My night was terrible too, but that is because I have a toddler who does not like to sleep - quite a separate spell.
We walk up to Lesley’s lab and I take in the serenity of the workspace she has created, the aroma of the essential oils, warmth of the wooded interior and clear, practical organisation of the workspace is an immediate balm to my befuddled and tired brain. “How nice it is to be here” I comment, and Lesley is quick to tell me how she spent the day before tidying and cleaning.
I am here to take some photographs as we are working together on a project - ‘‘Ora’ - the word is taken from Latin, meaning ‘edge, rim, border, boundary / coast, coast-line’. Lesley selected the name for the scent, inspired by the glaze on the tea bowls. A batch of tea bowls glazed in our nori glaze had emerged from the kiln particularly vivid blue and varied - a nostalgic sepia tone with a mottled blue speckle and blocks of pale grey blue. I had put them to the side, we knew we wanted to do something a little different with them than originally intended, so we approached Lesley to see if she wanted to collaborate. Luckily she said yes and she set out to create a fresh scent that reflected the blue and green almost marine-like tones of the nori glaze.
The scent is a blend of seven essential oils - bergamot, grapefruit, clary sage, lavender, vetiver, spruce and black pepper. When we burned the sample candle in the studio we found it at once uplifting and somehow nostalgic. Lesley tells me that a new batch of vetiver has caused the final candles to be a little stronger with hints of coconut, I close my eyes and breathe in the complex scent - yes the slightest hint of coconut. ‘That’s the trouble with natural materials’ she says and I give a knowing laugh - I too know how it can be to work with natural materials, varying from batch to batch. But it is such a beautiful aroma.
Lesley previously wrote to me about the blend for ‘Ora’ that
‘Bergamot and grapefruit are both obtained from the skin and the rind of their fruits. Grapefruit is very uplifting and can instantly elevate the mood. Bergamot has similar properties, but is also relaxing and can help calm an overworked and anxious mind. Clary sage is calming but very good for creativity, helping to unblock and clear energy. Lavender is well known for its relaxing properties. Vetiver is known as the "oil of tranquility" and has a profoundly relaxing effect and spruce and pepper although energetic oils are very warming and comforting. I feel the combination of these oils creates a beautiful uplifting yet mellowing atmosphere and the colours of the botanicals from which the oils are derived also reflect the visual tones you have created in the vessel and glaze.’
Lesley founded Essence + Alchemy in 2015 with an overriding ambition to create the most natural and sustainable scented candles. Our paths crossed early on when both Essence + Alchemy and Pottery West took part in a market at the Showroom in Sheffield, and since then we realised we were neighbours, both walking our dogs in the same park.
Lesley is a very calm and careful person, and it doesn’t surprise me to learn that her background is in science, specifically environmental science. We often muse over the trials and tribulations of running a small business, comparing notes, successes and failures, but on a more creative level I enjoy the parallels of our work. For instance we are both immersed and excited by the natural environment and its materials. Lesley tells me about the research she is working on at the moment, trying to source the most local and sustainable sources for her candles, how the extraction and filtration processes is impacting the colour of the wax. She shows me a couple of samples, neatly displayed, and I cast my eyes over the bookshelves, observing encyclopedia of plants, ‘The Witches Almanac’ and a book on the moon cycles.
Lesley demonstrates the pouring of a candle in one of the tea bowls and I am quite surprised by the time involved. “I am never sure if I am just a slow worker compared to other candle makers” Lesley says and I laugh because I constantly remonstrate myself in the studio for being so slow at everything. “It’s good!” I reply with a fresh conviction, possibly brought on by chronic sleeplessness, but I am just a bit fed up of everything needing to be quick and efficient at the moment. I tell Lesley how, because of being so tired, i’m taking each day as it comes, not sweating the small stuff, trying hard not to feel guilty when deadlines aren’t met, and so on. Instead of seeing my slowness as a negative, I am celebrating it. I am taking pleasure in the methodical, repetitive nature of my work in the studio and try not to worry about how long it takes me, I would rather do things well and enjoy the process along the way. We both agree that this is a good mantra for 2022.
I’m really pleased with the scent and the craftsmanship of the candles Lesley has created for us, and it’s wonderful to see the tea bowls in this new dimension. When I get to the studio that lunchtime with the finished candles Matt and Luna come and inspect them excitedly and I tell them both just how dreamy the garden lab is - a morning well spent.
‘Ora’ is a limited edition of 30 and will be available to buy from our website on Friday 4th February at 11am GMT, and will be £65 plus P+P.
