Daniela Simoes is the designer and visionary storyteller behind Lapis and The Red Thread (Lapis). Drawn to the unseen threads that connect us to the world, she works with metal and tapestries of the imagination as her medium, handcrafting adornments that hold a storytelling essence. Daniela describes her practice as “ancient and alchemical”. Her first encounter with metal unfolded in a street market in the south of Portugal: “I came across a man selling pieces he had made, and something about his work drew me in.” An inquiry into lessons led to a three-month foundational learning experience where she met the complexities of the making process. Equally challenging as intriguing, Daniela came to appreciate the patience and precision that this...
Fynbos sits in the soul of our perfumery. We live surrounded by untamed gardens of it: dense bushes, tangled shrubs and extraordinary florals that speak to the spirit of these biodiverse plains. Fynbos absolutes are essential to creating our fragrances, each containing at least one indigenous note, shaping scent profiles with depth that is unparalleled. Fynbos is a mystical and lush plant biome dominating the vast natural landscapes of the Western Cape in South Africa. It is the core of the Cape Floral Region: the smallest yet richest one of six floral kingdoms in the world, renowned for its incredible biodiversity and impressive number of endemic species. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, The Cape Floral Kingdom is home...
Our Healing Balm (ÅPIS) is a salve, made to repair and nourish - straight from source. It is inspired by the ancient wisdom of the people of the Mesopotamian plains and their medicinal uses of plant-based ointments for treating wounds and skin conditions. Mesopotamian people worked closely with various plant mixtures and pastes alongside alternative rituals to heal all kinds of ailments. This pine oleoresin salve is made of pure golden pine resin tears, hand harvested from our local pine trees for small-batch production cycles. The fragrant, amber-toned sticky sap of these earthly guardians is a powerful natural antiseptic and anti-inflammatory that pulls out impurities. It is known for being a close companion in the wild for its qualities that...
When we focus our awareness on our senses, we instantly connect back to the present moment. This practice reflects how powerful our bodies are in shaping our perceptions and day-to-day experiences of the world around us. Our senses define our depth of connection to our environments and the art of presence: they are active tethers to reality and cognitive well-being, enhancing how we resonate with life. In particular, our ability to smell is often the most undervalued sense, yet it is a direct neural pathway to the brain’s memory and emotion centres. In the womb, the sense of smell is the first to develop, and is fully functional before birth - an evolutionary nod to the importance of our intricate...
This society echoes the impacts of a system that is built upon wanting more, at the detriment of Earth and our values of quality. Oftentimes this false desire for excess confuses what truly matters and reflects the symptoms of capitalism. During the festive season, we can often observe exorbitance in our world’s patterns of consumerism - it feels like a lack of mindfulness for the purpose and quality of products and engagements. As with most things, however, there is a way forward that redefines what it means to be a consumer: there is a noticeable shift in the collective towards conscious consumerism, not just during the festive season but year-round. Conscious consumerism can be seen as a value and a...
