Trevarno Boathouse

Totally Gorgeous Trevarno

Lucy Clark, a Skincare Supervisor at Trevarno Organics tells Pecha Kucha about the world of Trevarno.

Here at Trevarno we have a fairly unique situation, as we are a busy manufacturing business based within a historic garden, which is open to the public every day. We have two workshops within the main courtyard where we can meet visitors provide information and give an insight into how and why we make natural soaps and organic skincare preparations.

I live in a small village overlooking the valley in which Trevarno is situated and can walk to work in less than fifteen minutes through beautiful woodland scenery which isn't a bad start to the day.

We are very lucky to have the best of both worlds here as we are only three miles away from the coast and some spectacular beaches which are good to pop down to at the end of the day!

Trevarno Soaps

My day starts at 9.00am with the gardens opening to the public at 10.30am. In the Handmade Soap and Skincare workshops we prepare the areas open to the public for our visitors and the mail order department will begin dealing with orders via our rapidly expanding website and also by now our phones will be ringing with both retail and wholesale orders and enquiries. In the manufacturing department we begin the day by re-supplying our shop and the mail order department then start the days' production. With nineteen different varieties of soap (six of which are certified organic), and twenty-nine skincare products, all of which are certified organic, there is also an enormous amount of documentation to maintain.

Our first range of salves and ointments were launched in 2000 with full organic certification from the Organic Farmers and Growers Association! In 2001 we extended this range to include organic cleansers and cream moisturisers, and by 2004 we had introduced a dedicated baby care range and men's care range. Our most recent research has been focused on organic sun protection products and our latest certification is for Sun Protection Factor 15 moisturising creams, a protection balm stick and lip balm.

A great deal of our time is spent on research and development. Throughout the winter months we were trialling the Elements protection balm stick in places such as Australia when Francis Carter from the Hibiscus Surf School in Cornwall took it with her. She told us that "We took the sunscreen balm to Australia and it was fantastic. It was the only time in my entire life I have not burnt my face. Can you let me know what it was so we can tell everyone!" We are very proud of this accolade!

We recently set up a trial with a new oil, which we have just received as part of a project to provide sustainable employment for an Amerindian tribe in Guyana. We are all very excited, as so much work by so many people has led to this first trial. A member of our staff, Elly Grout, has been in Guyana since February as part of the project team along with two Commonwealth Foresters who are loan for a duration of six to nine months, to help set up training, organisation, and supply of the oil. We all feel this is something very special and rewarding to be involved with and look forward to offering a new 'Rain Forest' range in the not too distant future.

With many thousands of tourists visiting Trevarno Gardens each year we have gone from strength to strength and it is particularly rewarding to see how knowledgeable and informed the public are becoming about organic skincare products and their ingredients. These days I no longer have to explain our reasons for not using parabens, synthetic colours as this is exactly what people are looking for.

We are all very proud to be involved with the project in Guyana and we feel that sending a member of staff to South America is a major achievement. We've even been featured in Vogue this month. What an exciting time to be a member of the Trevarno Skincare team.

To view the Trevarno Collection click here >>