When Lisa Smallpiece moved to Hawthbush Farm in rural East Sussex in 2009, she realised quickly that she was a guardian of something special. With its harmonious ecosystem and a wildflower meadow with a pure mineral-rich spring water flowing underneath, she talked to old friend Kerry Moore about the possibilities it could bring. With Kerry’s long-standing background in homeopathy, it triggered the inspiration to launch an organic beauty line.
The result is AMLY – named after the ancient flower meadow – and co-owned by both women. All the products are packed with natural ingredients, combined with new-generation plant-based bioactives. Making up three different collections to appeal to modern day problems – Radiance, Detox and Sleep – AMLY is clean, sustainable and cruelty-free.
I’ve loved trialling these hero products – one from each of the three collections. The Sleep Tight Face Balm, from the Sleep range, is the definition of beauty sleep in a jar. The soft balm melts into the skin and goes to work while you go slumber away. Propolis extract (bee glue) replenishes the skin, erasing fine lines and wrinkles. It feels like a velvety nectar and smells wholesome and comforting. It also contains a range of vitamins and nourishing fatty acids found in a cocktail of soothing oils: kukui, borage, evening primrose, rosehip, sea buckthorn and argan.
The water running below AMLY’s wildflower meadows is naturally rich in antimicrobial silver, which is packed with benefits for skin. This forms the basis for brand’s gorgeous face mists. The Radiance Boost Silver Rich Face Mist, from the Radiance range, relieves tired and stressed skin and is an all-round pep-me-up. I’ve been spritzing it on after applying the night balm, as my first step on clean skin in the morning and as a boost through the day (it can be used over make-up). in short, I can’t get enough of it.
The spring water is blended with organic flowers, hedgerow fruit, native British herbs and exquisite essential oils – the result is a glorious uplifting skin that is deeply nostalgic of English meadows and the long-days of summer. Deeply hydrating – it is strengthened with moisture-boosting hyaluronic acid and skin-perfecting copper peptides and nourishing plant probiotics, it means that skin looks fully awakened.
Shake it well before use (due to high concentration of essential oils) and liberally spray on to the face and neck. It will become your new beauty essential.
I’ve also been using the City Screen Protective Face Serum, from the Detox range, which uses echinacea to prolong skin cells, to help you looking young, and to also heighten the skin’s resilience to environmental pollution. The luxury texture contains anti-oxidants gotu kola and green tea, which work with collagen-boosting marine compounds and hydration-enhancing squalane. Purifying niaouli and reviving white willow detox the skin of impurities and leaves skin looking clear and dewy.
“AMLY is the name of the wildflower meadow that flourishes on our organic farm in the heart of the English countryside,” say the founders. “We moved here in search of a closer relationship to nature and to ourselves. On discovering a source of pure mineral-rich spring water flowing beneath the meadow, enriching the plant life that grows on it, we knew we had the perfect beginnings for our, now award-winning, beauty products. In homage to the meadow we called our line AMLY.
“AMLY is also a modern expression of effective holistic skincare. Devoted to harnessing the health and beauty giving properties of nature, many of the plants we use thrive in our green and fertile fields, abundant hedgerows and flower-filled meadows. These natural ingredients, combined with new generation plant-based bioactives deliver outstanding results for skin health.”
