Lady Carole Bamford, OBE is a smart, innovative, passionate woman. As the founder of slow-food empire, Daylesford Organic Farms in the Cotswolds, cult wellness brand Bamford, a just-launched biannual sustainable-living magazine, Seed, and Nila House in Jaipur to name a few, Lady B seems to be an endless source of energy for launching positive, sustainable, eco-chic ventures around the world.
Back to wellness brand Bamford, you've probably seen the beautiful clean products and oasis-like spas in places like eco-chic 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge or aboard Belmond's Royal Scotsman (it was the first train to debut with a spa carriage, of course). Most recently, the brand launched their first bespoke First and Business class in-flight wellness experience on Cathay Pacific featuring a cozy 600-thread-count, 100 percent sustainably sourced cotton mattress and duvet, a soft full-size pillow, and branded male and female amenity kits featuring natural skincare products presented in glass bottles. Dreamy.
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With travel, beauty and wellness in mind, we asked Lady Carole Bamford about her beauty routines in-flight, which products we should be using and how we should be shopping for sustainable beauty products.
What is your routine while traveling and is there anything you can’t travel without?
Lady Bamford: "During the flight I make sure I stay well hydrated. I love reading on a flight; I use it as a good time to catch up on magazines, or get into a good book. And I’ll also read about the place that I’m visiting. Flights can sometimes be cold, so I’ll always travel with cashmere socks and one of Bamford’s big cashmere throws. And I like to have things around me to help me to get to sleep. Bamford created a range of essential oil blends designed with travel in mind and they have now become my remedies, both for when I am on a flight and after I land. Depending on the arrival time I’ll eat a light meal, and I’ll always start the day with yoga—a lifetime daily ritual and one that is so important when traveling."
What’s your favorite Bamford product and is there anywhere else you like to look for natural skincare products?
"I love Bamford’s Nourishing Mask ($115, bamford.com)—I put it on in the evening and the next morning my sensitive skin is soft, visibly hydrated, brighter, and glowing. I am a big admirer of Neal’s Yard and its initiatives to use natural and organic ingredients and make beauty products sustainable. REN also constantly challenge the conventions of formulations and lead the way in producing sustainable packaging."
What should people look out for when shopping for beauty or skincare products sustainably?
"Many factors come into play when defining what makes something sustainable but a good place to start is to look to brands that consider the product’s whole lifecycle: its ingredients and their provenance but also how the packaging will affect our environment after the consumer has finished with its contents. Sourcing is another big question: whether the ingredients are natural and organic, but also where and how they were obtained. Some brands are very careful to source locally, which is an admirable and strong claim to make in producing sustainably. Creating sustainable packaging is another very complex endeavor but there are brands doing some fantastic work in this area: refillable packaging is a brilliant initiative for example."
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What are you most excited about for Christmas and the holidays, and for 2020?
"At Christmas I always look forward to spending time with my family—my children and grandchildren, and of just having time to switch off over the festive period to enjoy long wintry walks, crackling log fires, Christmas leftovers, and cozying up with books, blankets, and board games."
