We are so pleased to introduce our partnership with Wildsmith Skin, a natural skincare company based in Hampshire, whose ethos and brand not only align with ours but whose commitment to sustainability has been a catalyst for our own efforts.
When looking for new products to use at 100 Barrington, our Founder & Director, Pippa, spent countless hours searching for the right product as it turned out there were quite a few boxes that needed ticking.
Their beautiful products now adorn our bathrooms here at Barrington, adding that bit of luxury without compromising on sustainability.
In this next blog post of our “Partner Stories” series, we had the pleasure of chatting with Vicky, the Head of Marketing at Wildsmith, and also sat down with our very own Pippa, to bring you a glimpse into the origin of Wildsmith, their sustainability commitment, and the beautiful products we are proudly using at 100 Barrington.
Amongst the meadows and lakes of Hampshire lies the haven that is Heckfield Place, an Edwardian estate that has been restored and turned into a luxury hotel, and its surrounding land that has become a biodynamic farm and beautiful gardens.
This is home to Wildsmith Skin and the place where it all began.
The Wildsmith Chamomile & Linden hand wash and lotion can be found in all our bathrooms, and these products not only smell and feel divine, but also come in sustainable packaging (more on that later!). We chatted with Vicky at Wildsmith to find out more about the inspiration behind this beautiful product…
“The fragrance is inspired by the plants and botanicals found in the arboretum and grounds at Heckfield Place, the original home and inspiration for Wildsmith Skin.
The gardens were planted in the 19th Century by our namesake, William Walker Wildsmith, a Horticulturalist famed for his progressive approach to cultivation.
For the past two years, we have worked with the Heckfield Estate Biodynamic farming team and have started to grow ingredients under biodynamic principles that observe the rhythms and cycles of the earth, sun, moon, stars, and planets.
This year we have harvested Calendula, Roman Chamomile, Rose, Lemon Verbena, and Cucumber to make into Hydrolats, extractions and macerations which in time we hope to include these in our Hand Wash and Hand Lotion”
A key factor and one of the main tick boxes when searching for our new hand care supplier was sustainability. We are very much aware of how wasteful the events industry is and as a busy venue, it is important to us that we build sustainable practices.
Our previous hand care supplier provided us with natural products, but frustratingly the bottles weren’t refillable, and as you can imagine we go through a lot of hand soap and lotion! There is a vast amount of hand care companies out there, but Pippa had a lot of boxes to tick and didn’t want to compromise on sustainability or the quality and feel of a product. Here is Pippa telling us more about how she came across Wildsmith, and why they ticked all the boxes.
Wildsmith not only offer refillable bottles, but they also offer fully biodegradable and recyclable packaging for their products. Their biodegradable packaging is made from mycelium - a farm-grown material using the roots of a mushroom that composts fully in around 90 days.
Their commitment to sustainability is inspiring and can be seen in many different aspects of the making of their beautiful products, from biodynamic farming to compostable packaging. We asked Vicky why sustainability is so important to Wildsmith:
“The simple answer to this is how for any brand (or person) can sustainable business practices not be important. Now more than ever brands are rightly being held to account by their customers regarding both what they stand for and how they do business.
We work hard to ensure that our impact on the natural world is minimal, and as a team we talk a lot about responsibility without compromising on efficacy; focusing our energies on building a business that is founded on sound, ethical and sustainable business practices that reflect the shared values of our team, customers, and retailers.”
One of the joys of being a small independent company is being able to choose your partners/suppliers, and partnering with Wildsmith not only means that our hand care products are now sustainable but was actually a catalyst for us to further our own efforts. As Pippa mentions...
“I was very aware when I was thinking about what we were going to do with the refurbishment of the arches that I wanted to try to be as sustainable as possible.”
From using reclaimed timber and second-hand furniture to adding live plants to the space, find out more about some of the ways we have reduced waste here at 100 Barrington:
Something that is very essential to us is that all the suppliers we use and recommend to our clients are all genuine partnerships, and also companies that share the same values as us. After Octavia from the Wildsmith team came to visit us, we knew that the relationship would be more than just an online order of products, but a genuine partnership.
Last but not least, we noticed the term ‘Radical Botany’ on their beautiful packaging, and were intrigued by the meaning behind it… We asked Vicky about it and thought it was the perfect note to leave you on:
“As we mentioned above Wildsmith Skin is for those who demand responsible skincare, without compromising on efficacy.
We can trace this back to the brand’s origins as the skin and body care line developed for The Bothy Spa at Heckfield Place in Hampshire when unable to find an existing brand that met the spa’s exacting brief, we decided to create our own, with the concept for Wildsmith Skin inspired by a walk in the woodlands that surround the Heckfield Estate and which were planted by William Wildsmith, a progressive 19th Century Horticulturalist.
His trees and their ability to self-support and renew are the guiding principle in our development of products and focus on offering, targeted solutions, for specific concerns, using ingredients at their optimum dosage to transform skin health.
To achieve this our scientists, employ the latest skincare technology to formulate products that reinforce the function of synthesised and engineered actives by combining them with botanical ingredients to create highly effective, sustainable formulations.
It is this expert marrying of the natural and human worlds that we term Radical Botany.”
We hope that this glimpse into the origins of Wildsmith has inspired you as much as it has us, and whether you come across their products when visiting 100 Barrington, Heckfield Place, The Bothy (their new dreamy spa), or another location, you will be in for a treat!
- The 100 Barrington team xxx
