Let me ask you a question – would you go to any dentist in any town for your routine check-up? Are you happy to go to any hairdresser who has an appointment? The answer will be no! – we do business with those we like, know, and trust!
As customers we want to know if we can ‘like, know, and trust’ the companies we buy from, so in this series we ask the person behind some of my favourite natural and organic companies to step out into the spotlight.
It’s the turn of Michelle Margaret Marques from Elise Marques London
Tell us about yourself and your company…
Elise Marques London the premium British natural skincare and lifestyle brand that puts you first and makes You Matter. It’s The place for Natural Beauty lovers.
Our products are botanical, free from chemicals, Parabens, SLS, MI, MCI, Mineral Oils, Microbeads, ethically sourced and of course never tested on animals. We blend efficacy, desirability, transparency and social conscience, which resonate highly with today’s ethically minded consumer. We use botanically sourced ingredients derived from nature mainly plants, flowers and herbs and avoid as many nasties as possible.
I am Michelle Margaret Marques, Founder and Creator, I want to share my story with you.
I am a single mum of four, three beautiful grown-up sons, my stunning daughter who is seven and I also have a gorgeous granddaughter. I’ve been a mum for 28 years now and it’s been the most rewarding yet challenging journey of my life. I lost my mum to heart failure just before my 19th birthday she was just 37, I was devastated. My family pretty much fell apart from that moment on and I had to rely on myself. I was taking care of everyone, I already had a son who was two by that time, my sister was 14, my brother 18, and my father became an alcoholic. I guess that’s part of the reason I care so much about people, but really I learned it from my mum, she cared deeply about people.
I didn’t know then that routine was going to change my life. Every single moment of that routine was going to matter deeply to me as I developed and my life went through different stages. I didn’t realise how important the silence was going to become I just had the need for a little quiet after dealing with three noisy boys, little did I know that it was what would keep me sane. I couldn’t know back then how important those scents would become, oh boy I love amazing scents, I came to learn what effect different scents have on us and how they help our well-being. I couldn’t even begin to imagine just how significant taking 10 to 20 minutes to yourself at the end of a long day, to pamper and take care of yourself would be. This made me feel loved, important, I mattered to me. I slept better, I felt better, I was able to cope with stress better, heck I even felt happier and more positive. I developed a love of skincare and lifestyle products and began to notice a huge difference in not just the look and feel of my skin, also how I felt inside.
This is why I developed Elise Marques, I learned I matter and I want you to remember that You Matter.
How did you get started?
My personal journey has brought me here, it’s my purpose I have to do it, I believe everyone matters, everyone should have self care, everyone should feel loved and I believe we can make a difference. This has, inspired me to take responsibility and actually do something. I founded Elise Marques London, to provide much more than skincare and lifestyle products. I knew it was time for something different, something more than a product brand. I decided it was time to combine my knowledge of products and treatments, my crazy passion and experience, pour it into my own brand and bring you something inspiring. I decided to develop a brand that not only concentrates on the finest ingredients that the world has to offer and putting them together in unrivalled combinations with beautifully natural scents, of course it is paramount to me that our products give you outstanding results. However, it is time for a brand who’s focus is to bring you knowledge and help you discover new ways to bring You back to You. It’s so important to me to give you the right knowledge and information, not just sell you a product. I want to bring a personal touch to your buying experience.
What were you doing in a previous life?
I studied law at university and then decided it just wasn’t for me, I realised I wanted to make a difference to the world in a different way, a much more loving and nurturing way. I discovered a love of making people feel good and I knew I wanted to help people take care of themselves properly, value themselves and love themselves. I have now been in the beauty and spa industry for almost 15 years, and I started out with a salon in a three story Victorian building which took a lot of love and tender care to get up and running. Since then I’ve owned salons in a health club, a shopping mall and a day spa in a beautiful 17th century converted barn. I also trained in Beijing for massage and I’ve worked alongside some of the worlds biggest natural product brands, I get so much satisfaction from making even the smallest difference to how someone looks and feels, I just love it and I intend on doing a whole lot more of it.
Why natural/organic/sustainable?
Natural products is the only choice for me and I want to help make a difference in this world by advocating the use of natural products and helping my customers understand why choosing a natural product is a choice for a healthier body on the inside and a healthier planet. I believe that we should all be striving to produce any product from ethically sourced and sustainable ingredients, this is paramount to the survival of our planet and the environment we live in.
What’s your USP? What sets you apart from your competitors?
At Elise Marques London, we believe you should love yourself more, self-care is for everyone. Feeling well, sleeping better, looking better, being more optimistic and stress free should be for everyone…meaning your mother, your father, your children, your friends, your siblings, your cousins, your aunties and uncles, and of course, you!
Creating iconic natural products with an emphasis on Britishness, combining this with our You Matter events, Self Love workshops, Specialist Retreats, and a rich Entrepreneurial spirit will stake our place in the worldwide market. I believe that by sticking true to our values and principles, our uniqueness will seamlessly shine through our brand and our products.
” You Matter, isn’t a great sounding strap line, it really means something to me!
How we look after ourselves truly matters to me, you matter to me. I believe if you take care of your body as if it belongs to someone you love, you can change how you look, how you feel and how you relate to the world around you. You deserve to feel good inside, look good on the outside, feel loved, feel important, take care of your well-being and live in a less stressed more positive and enjoyable way. I want to share my knowledge, passion and expertise with you to ensure you receive the very best for your needs”
Why the name Elise Marques London?
Well, as cliché as it might sound, it just felt right, but of course there’s more to it than that. Elise is my daughters middle name, after my Grandmother Elizabeth, and Marques is part of my surname, London was our first home. I want the brand to feel personal to you and I believe that begins with it being personal to me, a part of me if you like. I can tell you the brand and everything we stand for is very personal to me, beginning with the name and I don’t think it could get more personal. I’ve developed our core values, our brand style, our beliefs are my beliefs and anyone we work with has to have aligned beliefs and believe in what we do. It’s a brand I’ve put myself into entirely and I’ve developed it from scratch. I believe we are an inspirational brand and we will inspire you to look at your self care and your environment very differently.
What kind of feedback you have received from clients?
I have been both honoured and overwhelmed at the feedback I have received from clients who use our products and or have had treatments. Some have said I have changed their life, that they have had fantastic results, the products feel luxurious, they smell amazing, they love the brand and my passion for the brand.
Feedback from clients who have adopted our Evening Miracle and who value it’s benefits have told me many times it has changed their lives. Some of the many changes reported to me have included, feeling happier within themselves, more restful sleep, more energy, sense of well being, less stressed, more positive, more confidence, improvements in their appearance, an improvement in self worth and self esteem, feeling more important to themselves, feelings of self love and nurture, improvements in their relationships and their sex lives’.
These are just some of the more common results I get reported to me, some say it has given them a whole new outlook on their well being, how they take care of themselves and how they feel about themselves and their life entirely.
What’s the next big launch / project coming up for you?
Something FANTASTIC is happening that I am bursting at the seams about! It’s really quite huge … and I am smiling ear to ear about it all!
Elise Marques London is making an appearance in New York this October for five full days on Madison Avenue one of the most iconic streets in Manhattan and I cannot wait.
This is a goal that’s been in the planning for over a year now and it’s a dream come true for me. There’s no other place like New York, it’s a city I know and absolutely love . I also completely adore New Yorkers, they are some of the most interesting people on the planet and there’s even more reason to celebrate as it’s my birthday while I’m there. I’m feeling very validated for all I have done, and it’s a great feeling!
There’s also a lot of other things happening with us, we are getting ready to launch our new hand crafted, hand batched, Healthy Ageing range later this year, which I just can’t wait for, I believe this new range will be a game changer for us and for our clients and will become our most iconic range. A range that consists of five, skin loving multi performing high end futuristic cosmeceuticals.
2019 will also see the launch of Elise Marques Men, our unique futuristic range, developed with quality raw ingredients, naturally packed with high levels of native Bio actives and botanical’s. I believe this will also be one of our most iconic ranges.
When I’ve done all of that, I will start working on Elise which will be our Natural Kids brand and our Home and Lifestyle brand, phew it’s a lot, but it doesn’t end there!
What’s your big dream?
My biggest dream is to make a difference while I walk on this beautiful planet, help my customers look after themselves in a healthy and loving way whilst delivering the best results. To leave a lasting legacy in my Mum’s honour for my three sons and my daughter, my grandchildren and the generations of my family still to come. To develop a world renown leading Natural Skincare and Lifestyle brand. Have a chain of Salons and Spas throughout the UK and some throughout the world, Expand into Hotel and Spas, Weekend Retreats and Health Clubs.
Where can we find your products?
You can currently only buy our products through our website, at one of our exclusive You Matter events or at one of our weekend retreats.
Website address:
www.elisemarqueslondon.com