At the studio in summer, our work pace slows down. We take the opportunity to go on vacation, spend time with family, and see friends. It is also the season when we indulge in one of our favorite work tasks: gardening.

The studio is located in Martine's little house, and it is in her small courtyard that we grow our flowers. You would surely be surprised to see everything that grows there, despite the rather limited space. Calendula, wild chamomile, sulfur cosmos, lavender, cornflower, and other little wonders!

Every day, once the dew has evaporated, she makes her rounds with her wicker basket and snips here and there the flowers that are ready. It's important to be vigilant. For example, a lavender flower that is too closed lacks color, but a flower that is too open risks taking on a brownish hue when drying.

Afterwards, the plants are dried according to the method best suited to how we will use them. Some varieties are prettier pressed between the pages of an old book—this is often the case for the flowers we use to decorate bath bombs. Others are simply laid out to dry on a wire rack, like the calendula flowers that will then be macerated in oil. By growing the plants ourselves, we ensure not only their freshness, but also having on hand a wide variety of diverse plants that best retain their beautiful colors.

Taking the time to connect with nature is an immense privilege that we grant ourselves at the soap shop. We could tell ourselves that it adds quite a bit of work for "frills" and that we could settle for the plants available from our suppliers. But in a world that celebrates speed and optimization, we treat ourselves to the luxury of choosing the slow path, which allows us to play outside for a good part of the year and makes us proud of the uniqueness of our products.

Photos by Catherine @fantomedepoche