The weeks, months of the last two years have been sailing past at a quickening pace and I have so many photos saved up from trips, escapes and visiting creatives and makers. The shop and other work take up the majority of my time and my passion, which I never mind – but I am slowly trying to get some sense of order back in my days and share more here. Finally, these photos of the beyond inspiring beautiful studio and workspace of our friend Louisa, the creator of La-Eva beauty have found their way to the blog.
We discovered Louisa magical world a few years back when we were hunting for organic skincare finds for The Future Kept, she was making the most exquisite bar soap and we knew then, we had to meet. A little while longer down the road and Louisa was ready to launch her new skincare adventure La-Eva – the perfect mix of organic ingredients and collaborative artwork blended together to form a collection of beautiful universal face and body products which we loved at first sight.
At last, we made it to Oxford and to this amazing workspace, an ever-evolving open plan room with stunning detail wherever you look. If you hop over to Instagram you can see the many faces of this room as it changes inspired by Louisa’s scent and emotional travels with La-Eva throughout the year and seasons. On our visit, we were enveloped in the realm of ROSĒUM warm, ethereal and uplifting.
This is such a tactile place where things constantly move and change, gatherings take place and collaborations set seed, flourishing into further projects beyond just making and selling a product. This is a tiny universe orbiting around the truely inspiring and delightfully infectious Louisa and what has been created and continues to be created here each day.
Walking in on a sunny day is not essential, but a bonus – curtains billowing, sunlight streaming in, tea on the go and biscuits shared at a huge table made from salvaged wood.
Old meets new in every corner and the local sawmill lends a hand with all things wooden. Our shared passion for rooting around in skips, behind abandoned buildings or local markest was quickly discovered, some of Louisa’s found treasures are amazing, from an enormous wooden egg to a string of dried aubergines in a market square in Athens.
The contemporary glass apothecary bottles are adorned with paint textures by the artist in residence Rose-Marie Caldecott and delicate gold lettering that add a shimmer of luxury to bathroom shelves.
A breeze block bursting with blooms radiates joy from a shadowed corner and orchids hung from the rafters, their roots as beautiful as their blooms.
I love to see an abundance of a beautiful product together like the rows of the bottles on the stock shelves here.
A comfy spot for drinking tea just out of the sun, surrounded by books and travel finds.
We even fell in love with the wobbly view out onto the courtyard below here. Such a magical day etched in my memories even if it has taken an absolute age for me to share it here!
‘LA-EVA stems from a spirit of joie de vivre, builds on artisan roots, and aligns naturally with the organic movement. We ground ourselves in a holistic philosophy that views mind and body as one. We are inspired by the interplay of our senses and their synergy. We look to the arts in expressing beauty with depth. We believe that simplicity is one of the greatest luxuries of our times, that ethical integrity, environmental responsibility and human thoughtfulness are essential in the creation of beauty and that delight can be found in everyday experiences and self-care. We think of our products as units of wellbeing and believe in living life to the full, through our senses.
