Certified by the Soil Association, award-winning Odylique by Essential Care is a range of accessibly priced natural products designed to care for even the most sensitive skin. Here we find out more about Odylique from Margaret and Abi, the dream mother and daughter team behind the brand.
Tell us about the history of Odylique and Essential Care. What inspired you to create natural beauty products?
Margaret began making skin care from natural ingredients in the early 1980s – conventional cosmetics didn’t suit her sensitive skin and she was keen to find a remedy for her family’s eczema problems. She knew there must be a healthier, more effective way to make skin care excluding petroleum and artificial additives, and used her qualifications in herbal medicine and aromatherapy to create natural formulations compatible with sensitive skin.
You’ve recently rebranded some of your products from Essential Care to Odylique – can you tell us why?
Since its launch in 2003, Essential Care has been a great success among organic consumers. With Odylique we are reaching out beyond the most eco-conscious, to all women with sensitive skin. Odylique retains our high organic standards, but through beautiful new packaging and product design, we can introduce even more consumers to the ‘genius of nature’. Our new packaging highlights the main actives and explains what they do - we also list ingredients in plain English.
What do you think sets Odylique apart from traditional beauty products?
Thanks to the latest in ‘naturals’ technology and 30 years of feedback from real users, Odylique products ‘feel’ like ‘conventional’ skincare, and we deliver the high performance and sophisticated textures that meet the demands of today's consumer.
Most of our users have sensitive skin, so we only use the best of nature, leaving aside even natural ingredients like wheat, common allergen tree nut oils, soy or dairy derivatives. We don’t believe any other brand is as hypoallergenic.
We are also unusual because we manufacture all products from our own production facility in Suffolk. This means our formulations are unique and we have complete control over product quality and freshness.
What are your hero products?
Abi: My favourite is Superfruit Concentrate – it gives an instant transformation of moisture and radiance anytime you need a healthy pick me-up (every morning if you like!).
Margaret: It’s difficult to pick one as so much love has gone into each, but The Repair Lotion and the Gentle Herb Shampoo have helped many over the years.
Which of your products is particularly good for those with dry skin, or skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis?
For dry skin we would recommend cleansing with Creamy Coconut Cleanser or Silk Touch Cleanser to leave your skin clean, comfortable and hydrated. Most dry skin will benefit from a little Calming Rose Super Tonic applied with damp cotton pads.
For skin prone to inflammation: Use Timeless Rose Moisturiser by day – this is good for dry skin and fine lines around the eyes, follow it with a couple of drops of Superfruit Concentrate for an antioxidant radiance boost and to further nurture dry areas.
For dehydrated skin: Apply Avocado 24hr Replenishing Cream by day, fortified with a couple of drops of Superfruit Concentrate and repeat sparingly at night until your dry skin condition improves. Whichever moisturiser you choose, apply just enough so it’s fully absorbed in around 15 minutes and be prepared to reduce the ‘richness’ of application as your skin improves.
For eczema-type symptoms: Many of our customers have found relief using Repair Lotion, which is the original cream Margaret created for her family’s eczema-prone skin. This time-honoured favourite can be used to calm and aid the repair of distressed and itchy skin on your face or body. It can be 
followed by the Ultra Rich Balm which supports your skin’s natural barrier function.
Psoriasis: While not a treatment as such, it is believed that psoriasis responds well to a topical application of a cream rich in beta carotene. Our customers have reported an improvement in symptoms by using our Calendula Balm.
For those who suffer with the distressing symptoms of psoriasis on their scalp, the unique and natural Gentle Herb Shampoo may be suitable.
Tell us about a typical day
Abi: Up at 7.30am, then to the laptop with cup of tea where I go through emails. I’m lucky enough to be able to work from home in London most of the time, spending one day per week at our production facility in Suffolk. I can’t say I have a typical day, but I write a lot of emails and spend a lot of time on the phone... I come into contact with customers, packaging suppliers, designers, journalists and importantly, the rest of my ‘mums-working from-home’ team. The days in Suffolk are full, catching up with Margaret, the rest of the team and ironing out logistics questions.
Margaret: Up at 6 to 6.30am, I make the most of the early morning peace to focus on technical issues, new ideas or projects as well as catching up on e-mails. Though still overseeing production, I’m now able to devote more time to product research and development, but a typical day can suddenly turn into helping create new packaging design or meeting a journalist deadline. Lunch is as long as it takes to consume a light snack, but I try to stop working at around 6pm and enjoy a small glass of wine. After dinner, I may do a little more work or simply prepare an optimistic 'to do' list for tomorrow!
What’s your biggest professional goal of the future?
To continue breaking the boundaries and creating unsurpassed quality organic, ethical health and beauty products, so even more people can enjoy their benefits.