Lyonsleaf - How it all Began

Lyonsleaf started as a family business run over 10 years from the family farm on top of the idyllic Mendip hills in Somerset England. Vicky Lyons formulated the recipes and ran the company and her husband grew the herbs for many years.

Lyonsleaf started as a food and herb business. We began by selling the vegetables and herb plants we grew on our farm to local restaurants and at small markets.

We had always been interested in using our amazing herbs to create natural skincare products. We thought people might be interested in them too, so we began to sell small numbers at local markets.

At the same time as our skincare business was forming, we were trying for a baby. Like many, we experienced the pain of several failed pregnancies. We wanted to understand why this was happening. We began to investigate the negative impact that certain artificial chemicals can have on the body. We also began to look at the relationship between what we eat and how we feel. 

Whilst we were developing our ideas we had an experience that steered us and gave us confidence in our blossoming ethos. Vicky has sensitive skin and has experienced eczema. After an serious adverse reaction to a prescription steroid cream, she began using our homemade calendula moisturiser to soothe and hydrate her sore swollen eyes, and it didn’t sting on contact with her skin (unlike the steroid cream), they slowly returned to normal.

These experiences and the research we did in response convinced us that 100% natural (not pretend natural, really natural) was the way forward, we soon found out that the only way to be 100% natural was to go water-free.

Our handmade, natural products proved to be an instant success with our customers. At first we were genuinely surprised to hear from people who had found that our products were so useful for customers with skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. Now we realise that it is because we have control of the processing and storage of the herbs we grow. We can ensure they are really potent and of the highest quality. It's also because we don't use the harsh preservatives necessary to stabilise water-based creams.

In 2012 we decided we were really onto something, and we decided it should be affordable. It led us to create our philosophy that helps to guide everything we do. We call it the Republic of Natural Skincare.

It seems we're getting something right - because our customers tell us. We read every review (we are still amazed and delighted), and love to hear about the positive impact our products are having on our customers' lives. We also learn from every email, review and conversation we have. Our amazing customers have steered us, advised us and taught us. We are not trained, we have listened, learned, responded and shared the information we have gleaned.

We are also hugely proud to have since won many awards, nearly all of our base products has at least one award to its name many of them are gold. Several products have multiple awards across different product categories because they are great multi-taskers.

We're on a journey to establish ourselves as the go-to brand for sensitive skin and to bring safe and effective skincare to the masses at an affordable price with a low environmental impact.

Happily we were  joined on the journey by our beautiful daughter Evie in 2013. But sadly, due to divorce, Vicky had to move the business from the farm in 2023. She took with her an amazing team of women who were determined not to let the business fail. We now work with a local herb farm who grow our herbs to our very exact standards. We have learned that having control over the quality of ingredients used has been the key to Lyonsleaf's success. We do not buy herbs off the shelf which may have been open to light and oxygen for many weeks or months as they quickly lose their potency. We also grow our own herbs on a smaller scale for our own formulating and experimental purposes. This helps us communicate the standards required to our partners and allows us to get our hands in the soil and keeps us grounded firmly in the earth where it all began.

Lyonsleaf is now an all female force to be reckoned with. We are becoming a go to brand for those with sensitive skin or problem skin as well as for those who demand the cleanest beauty possible. We have recently added a range of mineral make-up from another trusted partner so we can offer the holy grail of a complete head to toe 100% natural skincare regime and make-up system without a single artificial chemical. 

We firmly believe the future of the industry should be rooted in the past. 

Welcome to the Republic of Natural Skincare.