The Beauty of Tradition

Words Zan Mor­ley 

In the ever-evolv­ing world of beau­ty and skin­care, there is a cer­tain lev­el of com­fort to be gained from reach­ing for those time­less prod­ucts, the ones that have with­stood the test of time. The hum­ble cot­ton flan­nel for exam­ple; a uni­ver­sal­ly rec­og­nized tool usu­al­ly lath­ered with soap, to pol­ish, clean, and scrub. Lotions and talcs laced with the nos­tal­gic pow­dery notes of jas­mine and rose. Mir­a­cle balms and oint­ments with the allure of a one ‘pea-sized amount’ fix-all. These have become our old faith­fuls, they are the stal­wart cham­pi­ons, passed on through generations.

It is there­fore unsur­pris­ing that endur­ing prod­ucts often pride them­selves on craft, tra­di­tion and care. Their abil­i­ty to pre­vail is reflect­ed in their fab­ri­ca­tion. From the arti­sanal skill of horn carv­ing to the ancient cold process method found in soap mak­ing, they are root­ed in his­to­ry and car­ry tales of resilience and evo­lu­tion. San­ta Maria Novel­la prides itself on its ‘Acqua di Rose’ elixir being traced back to 1381, which in its ear­ly days was used for both per­son­al and san­i­tary rea­sons dur­ing the decades of the Black Death. These are prod­ucts to be cham­pi­oned and relied upon, again and again.

The care­ful bal­ance of botan­i­cal, nat­ur­al ingre­di­ents, and these time-hon­oured tech­niques often results in a remark­ably ver­sa­tile prod­uct. Leonor Greyl’s ’Huile De Mag­no­lia’ stands as a prime exam­ple, adept at not only enhanc­ing body and face, but also enhanc­ing tanned skin and sooth­ing sun dam­age. Guy Morgan’s phi­los­o­phy echoes this sen­ti­ment, advo­cat­ing for a gen­der-neu­tral and mul­ti-pur­pose approach. Their Dag­ger Rose Regen­er­a­tive Treat­ment Balm is a note­wor­thy result.

There is an unde­ni­able util­i­tar­i­an qual­i­ty to these fool­proof meth­ods and tools, which have been honed and estab­lished through­out the years. Their exis­tence today pays homage to age-old recipes, offer­ing a reas­sur­ing and reli­able anchor in the some­times fran­tic land­scape of beau­ty and skincare.

Styl­ist Zan Mor­ley
Pho­tog­ra­ph­er Gabriel­la Jackson

Prod­ucts
SEA AND SHORE Soap
DAGGER ROSE TREATMENT BALM
ACQUA DI ROSE
TEINT DE NEIGE Scent­ed Body Pow­der
MONO WASHCLOTH
HUILE DE MAGNOLIA
GLYCERINE SOAP BLOCK SET
PIAVE ATHENS TOOTHBRUSH
4” POCKET COMB & 3” FINE HAIR COMB