Gloss Find: Neal’s Yard Remedy

I had planned for my first port of call when I got to England would be to visit the nearest Neal’s Yard Remedy store to find some herbs and tinctures that will magically lift my jet lag lethargy. So I rose rather too early my first morning in the U.K. (1am Los Angeles time!), had a cup of strong Matcha green tea and got ready to drive on what seemed like the wrong side of the road to the nearest town– Guildford — which resides in the rolling green hills of Surrey. The original Neal’s Yard store opened its doors nearly 30 years ago in the heart of London’s Covent Garden. It’s founders wanted to fashion their shop after a seventeenth century British apothecary, where all the potions and tinctures were sold in cobalt blue bottles.

I started visiting this store in my teens, as I was drawn to the bohemian yard, which is tucked behind Neal St., Covent Garden. I used to spend hours chattering to the wise women who worked there about everything imaginable, and buying the tiniest amount of herbs and oils that I could afford, as I loved to make my own beauty potions and remedies. I remember the shop feeling cozy and safe, with it’s sawdust covered floors and jars of every herb imaginable lining the walls. The scent of honey yellow beeswax, bowls of dried rose petals, and floral waters wafted into the courtyard outside and mingled with incense from the psychic store opposite.

When I finally made it as an actress, performing many times in the West End, I used to spend much of my hard-earned pay packet in my beloved apothecary, buying those legendary cobalt blue bottles full of everything from shampoo base (in which you mix your own essential oils for scent) and cough medicines to keep me going for eight shows a week.

So, it was extremely nostalgic to find myself back there – not in the Covent Garden store, but in its tiny cousin, tucked away off the cobbled streets of Guildford. Owned by the lovely Suze, this mini version of the original had everything I needed and some!

Neal’s Yard products were non-toxic and organic way before these concepts had ever really been thought about. If you can’t jet off to the U.K. to indulge in their magical potions, you can now buy Neal’s Yard Remedies for everything health and beauty related, from their U.S. site.

Neal’s Yard Remedies – available at NYRorganic.com

About the Author

Sophie Uliano is a passionate environmentalist who has developed an earth-friendly lifestyle that appeals to women who don’t want to compromise their glamour and style. She is the New York Times Best Selling author of “Gorgeously Green”, “The Gorgeously Green Diet,” and the newly released “Do It Gorgeously.”

Read more amazing tips from Sophie at GorgeouslyGreen.com