Innerlather
Nicci Trudgeon, founder/owner of Innerlather, has always loved smells. As a child walking around Boots with her mum she would have to take the tops off bottles to smell what was inside. It’s no surprise, therefore, that she trained as an aromatherapist twenty years ago and is now making her own heavenly-scented soaps and beauty products.
It’s that transforming moment, that little ritual, that first few seconds when you smell an essential oil that Nicci wants to recreate for her customers. Sometimes a soap will speak to you, she believes, offering you something you may need, because essential oils also have a therapeutic effect. Take Neroli, for example, currently the aroma that is most popular; it’s made from orange blossom and is a positive, optimistic scent, signifying new beginnings. Don’t people really need that positive, optimistic energy in their lives right now?
Nicci offers a full range of beauty and aromatherapy treatments: massage, facials, manicures and pedicures, using her own complementary products. She makes bespoke blends for people as well, combining core essential oils including lemongrass, lavender and rose geranium which are good for most skin types, and Nicci wants to be inclusive. She also makes a bespoke soap using moulds created by the Norfolk artist Annie Tempest. Nicci says it’s like making the most exciting cake.
Working with other local businesses and artisans makes Nicci happy. She creates foot lotions and balms for a chiropodist in the next village, and handwash for the guest bedrooms and restrooms of local pubs. This is local businesses supporting each other, and that’s important to her.
The other thing that makes her happy is her customers. She loves having her own business that allows her to really get to know them; it’s personal, she says, one-to-one. They tell Nicci what concerns they have about their skin and how they’re feeling, and she creates a bespoke package for them, and that helps them (and her) to feel good … better … best.