I read somewhere that everybody should have three careers in their lives.

Well, I think I have had three so far and am about to embark on a fourth so I’m doing pretty well!  I trained as a dancer and danced professionally until my first child was born.  I really believed that I would just carry on dancing after she was born but we just didn’t like being away from each other.  Being a dancer requires hours and hours of training, rehearsing and performing so I segued out of dancing and into aromatherapy where I created and consulted on many brands.  I even made a bespoke perfume for royalty!  Both aromatherapy and dance are still very much in my life.  I go to ballet class regularly and I have a beautiful range of five facial serums called Angelico. I have written two and one third books!  One on aromatherapy and a three way collaboration on massage for babies, both published by Ryland Peters and Small.

I have been part of the toiletries business for many years with expertise in holistic therapies and have advised multinational companies on all aspects of brand development from the basic ingredient listing and analysis through to the design and packaging.  Companies I have consulted for include: Floracolgie, Little me baby organics, Lil-ets as well as creating lines for Dickens and Jones, Lexus and Tigi.

“From a young age, I loved fragrances”

 My mother was a dressmaker; she trained in Italy but wanted to be an opera singer so music was always a feature of my early years. I remember that vividly, along with the amazing fragrances from the lemon tree outside my bedroom window. I was obsessed with smelling things. Like many children, I would experiment with flower petals and water and then sell them at the garden gate.

I taught Pilates classes in the London studio centre, which led to natural therapy, massage, and reflexology. In this process I discovered a hunger for learning new techniques involving essential oils, blending, fragrance, and nutrition.

With my husband, we founded Cariad Aromatherapy

Cariad began life on our kitchen table and made it into a household name with a huge range of products and a thriving ITEC accredited massage school in Richmond upon Thames with shave oils in Tesco and also had parts of the range sold in Boots & Sainsbury stores nationwide.

After selling Cariad I focused on fragrance consultancy work for other brands –eventually leading to the production of bespoke perfumes. Clients have been many and varied, including the Royal Family of Leichenstein who wanted bespoke presents for their Christmas guests.

The next company I created was Balm Balm.  A pure 100% certified organic skincare company which we sold and now our focus is firmly on Angelico which is ONLY available online.