Last week I was kindly invited along to the launch party of the first European flagship store for Jurlique. Located on bustling Oxford Street, Jurlique is a welcome bubble of tranquility, offering their natural skincare collections alongside a mini-spa for lunchtime treats or full on pamper sessions.
So as some of you may know, I work full-time in the city and dedicate my evenings to little outings to cover on the blog. It’s not ideal, but it works for me. Visiting Jurlique was actually more of a treat than anything – it definitely didn’t feel like work, despite the Central Line being closed and my poor sense of direction taking me ten minutes in the wrong direction before I realised! I arrived a little windswept and fatigued, but was greeted with a spritz of Rosewater Balancing Mist and some very happy assistants. It was the first time they had seen the store, and it was a vision of premium glass bottles, honeyed brickwork, and shelves modelled on the rose petal drying racks of the Jurlique farm in Australia.
The brand hails from the lush green South Australian region of Adelaide, and comes with quite the fairytale backstory – husband and wife, biochemist and botanist, teaming up to bring the healing power of nature to skincare and now, the international masses. Despite the products lacking British or European certification, they are Biodynamic Certified by the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Australia (NASAA). This means that their farm goes one step further than being organic – they ensure that the soil their plants are grown in is nutrient-rich, and their plants are hand-picked to prevent any pollution from harvesting vehicles.
And it’s no surprise – Jurlique massively cares about the environment of their farm, conserving water, reducing their carbon footprint, employing solar panels and eliminating waste. The beauty of their products continues all the way back to their roots, which I love. The sweetest story of them all is the one of their David Austin roses. The enigmatic Athena Duncan from Rebel Rebel florist took us through the history of these beautiful roses, having been cultivated from two species of wild rose to create a dreamy spectrum of soft pinks, deep purples, pastel yellows, and all with a distinctly sweet perfume. On the Jurlique farm, these roses are handpicked by a small team by their thousands, and set in a barn to dry before being used in their distinct range. Did you know it takes over 8,000 rose petals to create one bottle of Rosewater Mist?!
During the launch party I was lucky enough to snag a hand massage in the softly-lit back room (trust me, I’ll be heading back there soon for a full treatment) and also picked up a full skincare set, covering their Rosewater Balancing Mist*, Activating Water Essence*, Herbal Recovery Advanced Serum* and a tube of Rose Hand Cream*. I’ll be honest, I’ve always associated a rose scent with my grandma, but perhaps in all her beauty and wisdom she’s right in choosing such a bold and feminine scent. Since the party I’ve been using all the products in a routine before bed, alongside a twice-weekly face mask and my skin has been loving it. I’ll have to update you after a longer trial period, but what I can say is that it’s a real pleasure to set aside 10 minutes per night to go through this routine. Thank you Jurlique for having me over to your store!
EDIT: Despite my usual checks with brands that I work with, it seems I’ve been deceived by Jurlique and I’m really sad to be posting this. During my visit to their store, I specifically asked one of the staff members if the brand is cruelty-free and would become certified, to which I was told that yes, they are looking into doing so, and that they are cruelty-free. It’s now come to my attention that Jurlique was cruelty-free but has since started selling their products in China. If you didn’t know, Chinese law states that all cosmetics sold in stores within China must be tested on animals (online sales are not governed by this). This means Jurlique is NOT cruelty-free.
