Oh the weather outside is frightful…but l’Hôtel is so delightful. It’s true – there’s no better spot in this wintery weather than l’Hôtel, rue des Beaux Arts, my favorite Left Bank refuge. Jessica and Peter Frankopan, the husband and wife duo behind A Curious Group of Hotels including this famed spot and Cowley Manor in the British countryside, have launched their own skincare line, Green & Spring and are bringing it to Paris. The all-natural products, already sold throughout the UK including in Harvey Nichols stores, will be sold at the Bon Marché as of March 8th. Oscar Wilde would be thrilled. (Indeed, while I do claim to have discovered the wonderful spot that is l’Hôtel, it’s in fact been a favorite of many before me, including Oscar Wilde, Johnny Depp, Mick Jagger - and Isabelle Huppert who I just ran into there the other day - among others.)
It’s not easy being Green & Spring... Actually, it is. The products are made with only wholesome, natural ingredients and smell and feel like they are fresh from the British countryside (in fact, they are.) The line features three main categories : relaxing, indulgent and revitalizing. The “Green” refers to their philosophy to use only natural ingredients, and the “Spring” to the fact that the products feature Cowley Manor’s own spring water.
COWLEY MANOR
The “relaxing” collection features aromatic scents and oils like lavender and rosemary, the “indulgent” collection combines sinful ingredients such as rose and jasmine, while the “revitalizing” collection will wake up your senses with peppermint and fennel. It’s like a green field in the middle of Springtime in the British countryside … only in a bottle.
Their “Indulging Exfoliating Body Balm” protects the skin with rosehip while sugar and beeswax leave the skin totally smooth - yes, even in winter. The Shower and Bath foams span every product category from a relaxing blend of chamomile, lavender and comfrey (careful – don’t fall asleep in the shower!) to indulging with jasmine and rose or revitalizing complete with vitamin A to tone the skin and aniseed to help relieve muscle and joint pain (after a day of Paris shopping?). Shampoos, conditioners, light bath oils, hand creams and washes, lip balm, candles and body lotions complete the Green & Spring package, not to mention a travel pack feature mini versions of the basic products, perfect for jet-setters (or traveling journalists ! wink wink). The travel pack bottles are perfectly sized to pass in your carry-on luggage through airport security … or in your overnight bag for a weekend getaway to Cowley Manor!
The prices are reasonable - 12€ for the lip balm, shower gel for 24€, hand wash for 18€ or cream for 20€ or body lotion for 28€ for example.
Can’t distinguish between all of the different products? Thankfully, there are British birds to do that for us. I don’t mean a fancy posh British way to say English women, I mean – literally – our winged, flying, feathered friends. The birds represent the British countryside and feature birds from the British Isles. Each kind of bird represents a different product and the colors of the birds refer to the range the product hails from, whether it be relaxing, revitalizing or indulging.
All of the ingredients are natural, most hailing from the UK, and the products are never tested on animals – British or otherwise.
On Tuesday, the Green & Spring team hosted a British-themed launch event for their skincare collection at – where else? – l’Hôtel, complete with cucumber and marmite sandwiches (they're British, forgive their culinary habits please), Victoria sponge cake (a royally delicious treat) and tea and champagne. Green (& Spring) with envy are you ? Don't worry, the products will all be available soon at le Bon Marché. In the meantime, I’m going to take a bath with some relaxing Green & Spring bath gel. Cheerio, mates !!
Take an insider look at the collection with the founder herself, Jessica Frankopan.
For more on Green & Spring:
http://greenandspring.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment