Saturday, April 25, 2009

MAD ET LEN...



There just aren't enough pictures of Mad et Len's gorgeous bath products online so I decided to rectify that with a hasty poladroid or two. At a local shop I fell in love with their packaging and then succumbed to a swooning fit over the Gardenia candle. But it was so expensive - like £27 for a small candle or £47 for a bath oil. The next time I went back the whole display had been removed and I assumed they hadn't been able to sell the range because of the price. Then the next time I was there it was back at half the price, though not on sale. So I think someone must have made a little pricing error initially. I was so elated that I greedily bought both the Gardenia candle, which is amazing, and the bath oil without smelling it first. (There are lots of different fragrances but the Gardenia had me at first waft.)

Unfortunately, though it is made of high quality natural ingredients it smells exactly like the scented disinfectant my mum used to use. Every time I take a whiff of it all I can think of is the loo in the house where I grew up. Oops. Ah well, it's only the most expensive bath oil I've ever bought for myself.

But away from dubious olfactory memories and back to Mad et Len. (The name is a reference to Proust's madeleine.) All the products are in these swish apothecary style black glass bottles with rubber pipettes - they're just about the chicest thing you could ever have in your bathroom. Mad et Len are based in a village in France and make everything by hand to order. They don't seem to have a website, but I managed to glean that they are a husband and wife team. They gave up their jobs as lawyers to get back to the land and make natural products. (Here's hoping my disinfectant remark isn't libelous then!) That aside, I would definitely urge you to have a sniff of all the scents should you see their distinctive packaging on your travels. It just might conjure up a more exotic scent memory than the one I had.

{In London I've also seen it at Bluebird on Kings Road and at Petersham Nurseries.}

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

by far i think you have the best lèche vitrines to buy skills of anyone i know!!!! also that you are able to provide a mini bio of each product...literally blows my mind...:)) and mad et len...is just such a clever play on the name/word.
and i it doesn't smell well you can always keep the bottle! (same logic i use when i get a bad hair-cut...it will grow back...;))

nancy

Bombay Beauty said...

>They gave up their jobs as lawyers to get back to the land and make natural products.

I wonder how one could achieve this if one has never quite been on the land... Must work on this...

BB

July Stars said...

I can't stop laughing! I hope they don't read your blog... Hehehe
The only candles I like are Noel by Annick Goutal or Feu de Bois by Dyptique.
Candles with flower notes are way too strong and make me want to vomit (beurk). Actually, your reference to a toilet disinfectant probably applies.
Bisous

Rose said...

this is a lovely looking line- very nice packaging- thank you for drawing attention to them!

Bianca said...

LOVE THESE POLAS!


XX


THE CURMPET GIRLS
HTTP://CRUMPETSANDT.BLOGSPOT.COM

Grace said...

Your first assumption regarding price was correct - it wasn't a mistake, they have come down.

They are indeed a husband and wife team but only one was/is a lawyer. Both are not from the land as such but decided on a sea change and embarked on courses learning how to make products. I can understand this.

Their bottles are indeed beautiful. Their product is not.

Claire said...

Grace - intrigue!

Sandra&Alex said...

thank you lola is beauty for those gorgeous polas we just love it as well as your quite honnest comments (we do feel bad about the gardenia and can assure you that it is still pure essential oil)but as i was reading one of the comment I thought i should give you info on our product price (because i m quite upset and surprise), sometimes retail merging can go from x2,2 to x3,2 on our product which is sometimes quite pricy once on the market but we have no control on the retailing price but anyway thank you again for those very nice pictures courrier@madetlen.com

Claire said...

hi

thank you, yes I was sure it was the shop that had made a mistake about the price as it was exactly double/half, but maybe I didn't make that clear in the post. Also I LOVE the Gardenia candle and the whole range - just that as with the famous "madeleine" that particular note in the bath oil conjured up that memory! So strange...(should have got the riz de bain!)