November 21, 2019

Meet Vivien Leung: Founder of Verdant Alchemy Female Founders

VIVIEN LEUNG

Verdant Alchemy was established in 2018 by founder Vivien Leung to provide a natural and non-toxic alternative to mass-marketed bath and skincare. The brand focuses on creating products that aren’t simply relaxing, but also beneficial to the body. Inspired by Vivien's strong values in natural sustainability, Verdant Alchemy has created a well researched and natural organic brand in this category; a brand that proudly brings you luxurious bath and skincare that does not compromise in ingredients, ethics or design.
Tell us about your brand and how you came about?
Verdant Alchemy was the result of my busy life as a full time and very stressed out advertising strategist. Where I travelled a lot, worked late nights and was mentally and physically burnt out. My only saviour was my nightly bath, where I had time to switch off and have the essential time to breathe and refocus. I realised that if I didn’t slow down, rest and reflect, I wouldn’t be able to thrive in whatever I was doing. And that wasn’t helpful to anyone, me, my family or my work.

The reason the baths helped me wasn’t just because I wasn’t allowed to have my phone near water, haha. It was also because the minerals in the bath were full of essential things like magnesium which the body needed to function. By having my nightly baths, I was replenishing the minerals and magnesium lost and optimising my physical and mental state to take on my next day. I wanted to share this with the world, so created Verdant Alchemy where there’s a bath salt for every pain point in modern life; struggling to sleep, want to recover after yoga, we have something for everyone.

What’s your biggest challenge as a brand?

Owning and leading a brand is super rewarding, but it can also have its challenges. I activate most things at Verdant Alchemy, from hand-making and packing the products to the marketing and social media, but you know, I love it all. The biggest challenge is trying to find the time to do it all. There is never enough time in the day or night to do everything.

Tell us your favourite quote, mantra or best piece of advice.

The ones I currently use are:

  • You can do this
  • It's ok to be slow
  • I am at peace

What's been your proudest moment?

Getting my first piece of press and getting into Liberty London was my proudest moments.

What could you not live without?

Coffee, baths and pasta!

What time does your day start & how do you start it?

When you go from a corporate job to working for yourself you do lose some structure in your life, this did involve some mid week lie ins. But the last few months I have developed a proper routine where I wake up at 7.30am, make a coffee and write my daily gratitude list (from the day before) and then I work on my daily to do list in a notebook- this routine positively sets me up for the day. I then go to the gym for a 30 minute workout and start work at 8.45-9amish.

Now, let’s have a quickfire round...

  • Bubble bath or hot shower? - Mineral baths
  • Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter? - Summer!
  • Cinema or theatre? Theatre
  • Paperback or Kindle? Kindle
  • Yoga or Run? Yoga
  • Pressed Juice or Cocktail? Cocktail
  • Serums or Oils? Serums

Shop the Verdant Alchemy range at THE FIND.

Written by Kat Trenouth

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