Journal
The Journal is where we follow the questions that interest us, from aromatherapy, herbalism and botanical ingredients to skincare, formulation, movement and everyday wellbeing. Along the way, we explore history and tradition, look closely at the science, consider how ingredients are grown and sourced, and share what we are learning as Botanicals & Company develops.
Thoughtful, evidence-led writing about the things we use, the practices we follow and the ideas worth understanding more deeply.
I don’t towel-dry properly any more. A plain white cotton robe, worn while still damp, and five minutes given to nothing in particular. What actually makes a good robe, why white specifically, and how it connects to the rest of an after-bath or after-shower ritual.
Read the articleThe first design in our new Spoonflower collection is now live: a Lavender pattern drawn from our own Botanical Library research, with 10% of proceeds supporting Florence Ellen Research.
Read the articleFrom this quarter onwards, 10% of Botanicals & Company’s proceeds will go to Florence Ellen Research, an independent grant-making initiative supporting research into burns and wound healing, named after a nurse who spent twenty years caring for children with burns.
Read the articleMoisturiser goes on twice a day for most of us, rubbed in without much thought. A few minutes of proper technique, different for morning and night, turns the same product into something worth doing properly, with an honest look at what facial massage can and cannot actually achieve.
Read the articleA genuine South Asian staple: fresh grated coconut blended with chilli, ginger and lime, finished with a hot tempering of mustard seeds and curry leaves. Ready in ten minutes, built to eat alongside our White Fish Coconut Curry.
Read the articleA gentle, fragrant curry built around coconut oil and coconut milk, with firm white fish simmered just until it flakes. The first genuinely savoury main course in the Botanicals Kitchen, ready in well under an hour.
Read the articleFive minutes, a food processor, and something genuinely worth putting on the table: ricotta whipped smooth with olive oil, lemon and fresh herbs, built to eat alongside warm rosemary focaccia.
Read the articleA slow-fermented focaccia built around good olive oil, flaky salt and fresh rosemary pushed deep into the dimples, where the oven draws out its resinous aroma far more effectively than any garnish could.
Read the articleA carrier oil is not a passive vehicle for essential oils. It is an active ingredient with its own chemistry and its own evidence base. A complete, thoroughly referenced guide to the carrier oils most commonly used in skin and hair care, and what the evidence for each one actually supports.
Read the articleGinger appears in our Warm-Down massage oil for two different reasons: a warming aromatic character, and a genuinely interesting body of research on muscle pain. Only one of those claims holds up when the oil is applied to skin rather than eaten.
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