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Bath House – where sustainability and quality go hand in hand

An exclusive brand of fragrance, body care and skin care, the company’s focus is around sustainability, quality and simplicity.

Written by High Life North
Published 16.10.2020

In partnership with Bath House

Established more than 20 years ago, Bath House is the brainchild of two families of artists and designers based in the Lake District. An exclusive brand of fragrance, body care and skin care, the company’s focus is around sustainability, quality and simplicity.

High Life North sat down with Abigail Brooks, one of the founders of Bath House, to talk about the company and their pathway to sustainability.

Hi Abigail, tell us how Bath House came about.

Bath House was set up 22 years ago by two families. The Brooks, my family, and the Marshalls. We all met at art college and went into partnership together to form Bath House. We have been building up our brand of fragrance, body care, and skincare ever since and we make all our own products in our making rooms in Cumbria. As artists and designers, we’re passionate about creating, designing, making and packaging all our own products.

Our focus has always been on developing our products to use natural ingredients. We use the best that nature has to offer, learning from its simplicity and working with skincare experts to create uncomplicated formulas. Texture, scent and performance are of equal importance to us and our goal is always to create fragrances and skincare that offer uncomplicated luxury for the modern, design-conscious individual.

Your industry has historically suffered from excess packaging and waste – how are you working to combat that trend?

‘Less is more’ is the core of our business ethos so we’re working hard to reduce our impact on the environment. We’ve always used the ingredients that deliver maximum benefits and we’re designing our packaging to reduce waste.

We are moving all our bottles, lids and tubes to glass and aluminium and offer refillable options where possible. We never test on animals and are always striving towards a more sustainable formulation and packaging practices.

You have some beautiful shops in the region but how can customers buy your products if they don’t live near one of them?

That’s right, we have six unique shops throughout Cumbria and the North of England. The locations were all chosen in small market towns or historical cities. They’re all destinations for shopping, walking, eating out and they fit in with our business ethos perfectly. We’re in Ambleside, Kirkby Lonsdale, Bowness, Ilkley, York and Knutsford.

We sell all our own, exclusive products and our team of staff members are all fully trained across the whole range. Our aim is to make every shopping trip with Bath House like a complete personal shopping experience. In the current climate we’re working hard to make the shopping experience as safe as possible – we have a one-in-one-out system with very safe new ways to test our samples in store. We’ve also produced sample packs for customers to take home, whether they buy or not. In addition, the products our customers buy are all kept behind the counter to avoid cross-contamination. We’re working hard to make sure our customers have a very safe and fun shopping experience.

We already have a large and dedicated following from the North East – our customers love to visit the Lake District and all it has to offer and make a shopping trip at Bath House part of their day out. So many of our North East customers tell us they drop in to pick up bathing essentials, a favourite perfume or a special gift to take home.

For those who can’t get to our stores, our online shopping experience is just as comprehensive as our in-person offering. Our website has our full range of skin care, luxury fragrances and home scents and we’ve made sure all the information a customer could need is included on there too. And if there’s any doubt or questions, we’re available at the end of the phone or an email away.

It all sounds amazing. In a crazy world, what products would you recommend to people to help stay calm and relaxed throughout lockdown?

While we’re all at home so much it’s a lovely idea to introduce some quality fragrances into the home. We have some amazing scented candles and diffusers in our home range that will make your home cosy, inviting and a pleasure to relax in.

I especially enjoy lighting a fragranced candle early in the evening. A living flame in a dark corner of the room, or as a centrepiece on a table, brings such a feeling of optimism. And as the evening wears on the presence of a lovely aroma fills a room with layers of atmosphere and positive wellbeing.

If candles aren’t your thing, diffusers are an ideal alternative. Try a different scent in each room to create changing atmospheres and moods around the home.

Our signature perfume, Patchouli and Black-Pepper is an incredibly popular product in our home diffuser oil and candle. A lovely warm romantic scent to fill a room with – perfect for long winter nights in, cosy by the fire.

In terms of skincare, long winter nights are the perfect time to devote to looking after your skin. Allowing time to set up a regular routine will help you relax and feel looked after. We have a range of skincare to suit every face and body.

Pampering yourself with a new fragrance is always blissful. We have fragrances to suit everyone, whether you like woody, rich and warm (Slate), feminine floral with notes of tuberose, red flowers and sweet plumb (Hide and Seek) or fresh notes of neroli, bergamot and cedarwood (Storyteller).

We have incredible gift sets, available in store and online, to treat fragrance lovers to a touch of luxury – they’re an ideal gift to send during lockdown to remind a loved one you’re thinking of them. Or simply to treat yourself to a little slice of luxury.

We’d recommend anyone who loves quality skincare, fragrances and home scents to visit our shops or our online shop and discover our products for themselves. We’re passionate about quality, sustainability and customer service and want those elements of our business to shine through in everything we do.

How can customers find you online?

By visiting thebathhouseshop.co.uk. We’re available at the end of the phone by calling 015396 21992 and we’re on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter too.

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