LEAFOLOGY comes from a vested interest in beauty that is pure, plant sourced and full of natural abundance.
About Yvonne Ella & the LEAFOLOGY range…
Long before I started concocting natural, plant-based skincare products in my parents’ kitchen, I travelled all around the world working as a fine art model, or ‘photographic muse’.
(I know, it surprised me too to find that this is an actual job.)
Earning some pocket money alongside my Masters degree, by posing 3 times a week for a painter, turned into 15 years or so of gallivanting all around the world, appearing in countless coffee table books, art galleries and exhibitions, magazines, events, being sculpted in bronze (multiple times) and even having my images tattood on strangers. It’s been a huge honour, very surreal and a wonderful use of the dance classes I took from the age of 3.
I became so at ease with (essentially) stripping off in nature – I got booked over and over again for ‘natural’ styles, in ‘natural’ locations (think forests, fields, deserts, rocks and flowers) – that I once described my imaginary CV as having the line:
‘One of my most prized professional skills involves getting hideously tangled in flora and styling it out by looking vaguely sultry about it’.
Over the years, I have been complimented repeatedly by make up artists and other industry professionals on the condition of my skin and hair and, on both a psychological and physical level, I know I feel at my best when 
using the purest products I can find; the clever, natural, there-all-along ingredients available to us through digging around a bit in mother nature.
As part of this wider interest in health, nutrition, nature and the earth, I have had a lot of fun privately creating my own signature recipes and scents, studying and researching the benefits and health-promoting aspects of herbs and plants, all while minimising my use of plastic and avoiding bothering animals in the process (read about our Ethics, ingredients & packaging).
This has been a very personal endeavour; I am fussy about ingredients and scents and primarily seek to create things I myself enjoy using. It makes me extremely happy that so many others love them too!
Ultimately, all the products I sell on this website are ones which I have made lovingly and whimfully for my own benefit
(with special requests here and there from those around me). Alongside myself, my friends and family remain my most important guinea pigs, and the products have been fine-tuned along the way until I could not imagine going back to mainstream products laden with mysterious chemicals*.
(*A pedantic note for those interested: It doesn’t make sense to call my products ‘chemical free’, so you won’t find me using this particular phrase, which is often quoted by other skincare brands; actually, even the very water we drink is classed as a ‘chemical’ – H2O! Rest assured: I’m strictly avoiding the undesirable ones and am very fussy about this kind of thing!)
Natural botanicals are powerful (they are the source of both ancient and modern medicine, after all).
After giving away my blends and infusions as gifts, I decided to study further and get some of my products tested and approved for sale. I’ve been so excited about this happy obsession, and so proud of the beautiful things I’ve created, that I want others to enjoy these natural products too. In 2017, I essentially ‘opened up my boudoir’ and invited you to take a look around and join in the natural beauty movement with me.
A bit about beauty…
My job has taught me a lot about body confidence (and I am writing a book about this, because I believe being comfortable & happy in ourselves is something I have a lot to say about, hence some of the little affirming messages hidden in the product labels and sent out with orders!).
I truly believe everyone is beautiful; my work has brought me ever closer to this truth. It is our job to recognise beauty all around us, and let it bloom, not cover it up with unpronouncable ingredients and questionable chemicals (which often also come over-packaged without thought or awareness). I started selling my own products after realising that others, too, value this positive, alternative approach and love treating their skin to simple but beautiful creations that can heal, soothe and nurture their skin and body the way good food does (we absorb into our bloodstream much of what we put on our skin; so the food analogy is a good one!). Showing our bodies that we care about them, and seeing beauty in others as well as in ourselves; this is what beauty is. Plus a bit of natural goodness and creative know-how…
How to care for your Leafology products…
Each product is freshly made and hand-poured as part of a small batch (far smaller than any mass-produced item). In accordance with regulations, we mark them with the ‘period after opening’ symbol, indicating that they’re safe to enjoy within 12 months of your first use, and for the freshest experience of our natural plant aromas, we recommend indulging fully within that first year. That said, our stable, water-free formulations often actually remain effective and joyful far longer than our official labels indicate.
To make sure your product is kept in as pure as possible a state (thereby prolonging its potential shelf life), it’s best to:
- Store it somewhere cool and dark (or at least not in direct sunlight). Natural plant oils and essential oils are delicate and volatile, and will be happier in cool, dry places (this is why so many of Leafology’s bottles are made of amber glass and opaque metal; they’re light-blocking as well as beautifully eco-friendly!). Warm weather can cause natural plant butters to melt and become more liquid, while colder weather can cause them to harden; these changes are nothing to worry about and don’t affect the power of the product.
- Avoid getting any water inside the container. Important! The presence of water means that bacteria and other undesirables can grow in preservative-free formulations. Use clean, dry fingers when dipping directly into jars/pots, and either use spoons or tap the product into the palm of your hand when using dry/powder products. Keep screw lids completely closed in showers/baths, to avoid the infiltration of steam.
- Whisper sweet nothings to it daily. It is made of plants, after all! 💗