Meet Ellea: The Visionary Behind 100 Acres

Meet Ellea: The visionary behind 100 Acres

This month, TROY London co-founder Rosie sits down with Ellea, co-founder of British botanical bath & body brand 100 Acres, to explore the roots of a company inspired by the magic of the British countryside. With a deep love for nature, Ellea shares how she and her team strive to capture the sensory essence of wild meadows, hidden lakes, and ancient orchards in each 100 Acres creation. From her early days of learning to identify herbs and flowers to her commitment to crafting scents that transport, Ellea offers a thoughtful perspective on why connecting with nature — even if only through fragrance — is more important than ever.

Tell us more about the founding idea of your brand and running naked in your 100 Acres ofthe British Countryside.

100 Acres is inspired by the idea of having our own ‘hundred acres’ of heavenly English countryside to run around naked in - we’d run through the rolling fields, ancient orchards and plant bountiful gardens full of herbs, flowers and fruits!

But, sadly, we don’t have our own hundred acres (and we probably couldn’t run around naked inthem even if we did..) - so we created 100 Acres.

Every product is made with natural ingredients and is bursting with freshly distilled botanicaloils, so each one really is like a hundred acres of heavenly English countryside, bottled.

We use an average of 4x more oils (at 4x higher concentrations!) than other brands so our fragrances practically burst out the second you open the cap. If you’re yet to try any, try our Body Wash and you’ll instantly see what we mean!

How did you learn how to identify and blend your herb, flower and fruit oils for your products?

It’s a combination of constant practise to train your nose, but the most important thing is having an incredibly clear vision.

When we blend or create a brief for a fragrance, we’re always thinking about the scents you’d find in an abundant English garden - rose, lavender, chamomile, geranium, the like - so we add, layer, tinker and tweak until we have a fragrance that is truly an escape in a bottle.

A fragrance isn’t completed until we can close our eyes, smell it and be *instantly* transported. That’s how we know it’s good enough to become a final product. We’re incredibly fussy because of course there are so many products out there, so that’s what makes a 100 Acres product special and so different to everything else on the market.

Our products are more than just nice smells-they take you somewhere.

Have you always been a nature lover? What is your favourite spot in the British Isles?

Always! I grew up in the Cotswolds running feral through fields, swimming in lakes and spending every possible minute outside. I love the city too though and have lived in London part-time for the past 5 years - for me, a balance of the two is perfection. It means the novelty never wears off for either of them!

I know it’s totally cliched but my favourite spot in the countryside would have to be the Cotswolds. While I love the typical Chipping Norton/Burford area, my favourite part is actually the slightly more western area of the Cotswolds-Stroud, Painswick, etc. A walk through the Slad Valley finishing up at either The Painswick or The Woolpack is heaven.

Having said that, I also adore Northumberland, Cornwall, Norfolk, the Scottish Highlands-all of them fulfil our wildest 100 Acres dreams and I’d be thrilled to call any of them home, but the Cotswolds will always have a special place in my heart.

Tell us how you manage the highs and lows of building your beautiful brand, and any lifehacks for keeping your balance and calm.

Growing a business is such a rollercoaster. The good days are *incredible* and the bad days are crushing, so for me it’s really important to have some mechanisms for staying calm and focused. I could not get through it without being able to escape outside. It’s what 100 Acres is all about-the calming joy of a countryside escape (whether that’s in real life, or through a bottleof 100 Acres!).

I could not get through the day without a walk outside. It’s a type of therapy for me. When everthing gets overwhelming (which is fairly often!) I just head outside, walk, and within 30 minutes I feel instantly calm and clear.

I’m super passionate about this and believe everyone should have access to green space, hence my recent volunteering at Lancaster West Gardens in London through Earnt and also our regular 100 Acres donations to Rewilding Britain. If you’re feeling stressed, down, overwhelmed-get outside!

Describe your perfect weekend country escape.

While I love a weekend in a cosy cottage with pub walks, ultimately, my perfect escape would always be a long weekend in a gorgeous countryside hotel. Hampton Manor is one of my personal favourites - it has such a gorgeous feel to it, the bedrooms are all heavenly and the food is just to die for. It’s also set within 45 acres of greenfields so you can explore the surrounding area all day, come back for a bath or massage (ideally both!) and head down for supper in one of their two incredible restaurants. It is such a special place.

What are your 'must have' items for your weekend bag?

Always my Le Chameau wellies

Always my Troy London Parka

I always have my 100 Acres Relax Bath & Body Oil with me-it is so multi-functional (you can use it in the bath, in the shower, on dry skin and I also love to have one next to my bed to put on my neck and hands before bed - the scent is instantly calming. It’s like having a beautiful garden oasis in your pocket.

Your products are stocked in many beautiful hotels, manor houses and country estates across the UK - Hampton Manor being one of them! What do you think it is about the British countryside that so many people from all over the world long to experience?

This is such a good question. I think it’s a perfect combination of...

- Green! We’re blessed with so much beautiful greenery here in the English countryside which has been proven to be calming, grounding and, for me, it’s a type of therapy-whenever things get a bit overwhelming (which is fairly often building a business!) - I just go back to my roots, getoutside and within 30 minutes I feel instantly calm and clear again.

-And beyond this (because lots of countries have gorgeous green countryside), I think it’s the fact that we’ve really capitalised on this green beauty and made a lifestyle out of it. We’ve got cosy cottages, log fires, pubs, countryside hotels - it’s this perfect storm that I think makes the English countryside so utterly irresistible.

Enter for your chance to win the ultimate countryside retreat with an indulgent overnight stay for two at the 5-star Hampton Manor in Warwickshire, complete with supper and breakfast. Elevate your countryside escape with a £300 TROY London voucher and a £300 100 Acres voucher.

ENTER TO WIN

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