MY LIGHT BULB MOMENT
Beauty pioneer Denise Leicester
DENISE LEICESTER, 61, launched luxury beauty brand ila in 2007. She is married with three step-daughters. AS A child, I used to pick all the roses from our garden to try to make my own rose oil.
When I was 12, my mother bought me the Vogue Body and Beauty Book, which had hundreds of formulations for home beauty products. I drove her round the bend concocting them.
I knew even then that I wanted to care for people, so I went on to train as a nurse, though I kept my firm belief in the power of natural therapies, particularly massage, aromatherapy and reflexology.
I was keen to learn the chemistry behind aromatherapy, so I enrolled at the Institute for Complementary Medicine in London.
Then, in 1989, I went to India to study Ayurveda and qualify as a yoga teacher.
However, when I arrived back in England I became very sick. Eventually, I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. I was ill for more than eight years and doctors told me I would never work again.
In a strange way, it turned out to be a blessing. I realised that mainstream products gave my skin blisters and artificial aromas and additives left me exhausted and depleted. So I started making my own organic skincare.
I knew I could build an ethical business that could help people. At the beginning, it was a kitchentable enterprise — quite literally — with products hand-blended in our barns.
My husband John and I researched and sourced ingredients from remote parts of the world. It took two years, but we had a clear vision and a passion to produce an absolutely pure product range.
In 2007, ila was born — the name comes from the Hindu goddess of truth and the Sanskrit word for Earth.
Fenwick was our first stockist and the Four Seasons in the Maldives our first spa.
Now, we’re in more than 130 spas worldwide and Gwyneth Paltrow, Cameron Diaz, Donna Karan and Rachel Weisz are fans. So much for doctors telling me I’d never work again — I’ve never been busier!