MY LIGHT BULB MOMENT

Skincare pioneer Nancy Durham

nancy Durham, 64, worked as a foreign correspondent in areas such as Kosovo and the middle East. In 2011, she launched the Farmers’ range of body care products made from Welsh lavender. She lives on a farm in mid-Wales with her husband, Bill newton-Smith. MY job as a foreign correspondent saw me flying around the world to conflict zones on assignments, but I always loved to retreat to our Welsh bolthole, a farm 1,100ft high in Maesmynis Valley north of the Brecon Beacons.

In the autumn of 2003, I planted a field of lavender on a rainy windswept hillside.

We used more than 2,000 plants and were the first people to open a lavender farm in Wales.

Initially we sold dry bunches, then in 2008, a friend introduced me to her sister, Helen Lowe, who had a business making moisturising creams.

As a foreign correspondent, I had often worked in harsh conditions which made me hyper aware of the need to take care of my skin.

Together, we developed a line of face and body creams. My lightbulb moment came when I was invited to talk to a group of sheep farmers. I was nervous so I brought along my props: jars of body creams we were experimenting with at the time.

It was ladies night and I thought they might like to try them. To my astonishment, so did the men. They plunged their hands into the pots of cream with gusto.

Afterwards they told me about the toll work and weather took on their skin. It was a cold wet January night and as I drove home I thought of the name Farmers’ Hand Cream.

Helen and I developed a cream that combines lavender, rosemary and peppermint, inspired by the farmers at that talk. To our surprise it’s become a cult beauty product — even Helena Christensen is a fan.

Today we sell in 90 shops around the country, including Ace Hotel in London, and worldwide.

After a life reporting on conflict, it’s wonderful to have created a brand with calming and healing properties. n welshlavender.com