Chatting with Kerry Moore + Elisa Smallpeice, founders of AMLY Botanicals
Amly Botanicals is a British skincare line steeped in tradition while welcoming innovation backed by scientific research. Their products are a result of blending old and new, employing traditional methods to extract essential oils and hydrolates from plants and flowers that have been around for centuries and combining these with advanced bio-actives. This translates into skincare that is brimming with potency, bringing life, well-being and clarity to our skin and senses.
Amly is the Old English name of their organic wildflower meadow in East Sussex where their mineral-rich water is sourced from and found in their range of face mists. Intent on creating a line which brings the wonders of the natural world to us, each Amly Botanical product is immersed in plant medicine and ancestral knowledge that has been carefully formulated together with the latest in scientific research.
To be honest we are not big fans of these labels as they can be misleading and in many cases distorted.
We are passionate about creating products that have a positive effect on both skin & enhance our wellbeing. We are also mindful not to include ingredients we know to have a link with possible negative impacts on our bodies or our environment.
Many of our ingredients are organic or wildcrafted, all are from producers we deem to produce the highest quality, some are from small cooperatives who may not have been able to afford organic certification but may well be organic. The whole organic/green/clean market is one that is being misused in many ways.
Both Elisa and I have been involved in health, well-being and sustainability for many years and we carried these principles through into everything we do with AMLY, from ingredients and their provenance, sustainable packaging, preservation of endangered plants and ancient meadows and harnessing the incredible properties of natural botanicals to enhance our well-being.
Your self care ritual – an indulgent weekly event or finding moments whenever you can get them?
Kerry: We are all busy people, myself included so for me it is pretty simple.
I would say it is a combination of simple routines with an occasional Sunday morning where I get to put on a face mask, spend a little more time massaging in a face oil etc.
The mists have been my savior, always there to give a helping hand & revive.
Elisa: I multitask with the farm, the children, dogs andAMLY so I seize my moments. I adore my oils and balms so always happy to replenish. My more pampering times come when we escape on AMLY business when I get a bathroom to myself to indulge.
Kerry: Gosh so hard, I don’t want to be without any of them! I guess it would have to be my Digital Detox mist to refresh and hydrate. I have it on my desk whilst working, in my bag ready to revive and clarify so use it all day long. The marine actives and mineral salts would be perfectly fitting for the island and although I would be blissfully computer and pollution free the essential oil blend would help to focus my mind on survival.
Elisa: It would absolutely be the Day Light, I adore the super light texture, it will singlehandedly keep my skin protected and the Prickly Pear & pomegranate are photo protective helping repair any UV damage.
Kerry: I’m at home in my P.J’s, no makeup, relaxing with family and dog.
Elisa: Swimming in the ocean.
What’s the #1 piece of advice you would you tell your past self just getting started?
We both agree that it would be to allow yourselves to make the mistakes and use them as learning opportunities, nothing is perfect. Don’t set unrealistic expectations for yourself.
What’s up next?
We are constantly working on new products/ideas. We spend a lot of time hidden away in our little room of treasured ingredients working with our alchemist. It takes a long time to refine and tweak and we don’t sign off until we are 100% happy it is what we set out to achieve. We can tell you that there will be new products released early 2019 and we are very excited about them.
