

GWEN
Gwen gets the Soap & Glory word out. She stalks people, she plans events, she devises cunning ways to get us noticed, and she does all of her own stunts. As well as lighting up the office with couture (having accumulated a nice little wardrobe after stints at Chanel and Paul Smith), she keeps the first floor full of delicious home-baked goods, melts our hearts with tales of her little boy IZZY and – pay attention people – was the Handstand Champion of Menlo Park Gymnastics.
FAVOURITE PRODUCT:
BECAUSE…
Who WOULDN’T LOVE the RIGHTEOUS BUTTER?? It’s creamy, super moisturizing goodness that smells like a dream! It’s particularly helpful when my oh so sensitive American skin can’t stand the British dry winter!


Blitzen
Like Santa (and that thoroughly charming tourist village in lower Lapland), Blitzen LIVES Christmas 365 days a year. Now the trusty sidekick of Jasmine, who has filled the shoes of Cool Runnings, who, uh, ran off on us, Blitzen counts among her duties: non-stop comparing and contrasting of the relative convenience of toiletry bags, fabric swatch and colour drawdown rounds, and designer-inspired R&D. For stress relief, she turns to TAP (dance, people, not ‘what’s on). Heel, toe, heel…
FAVOURITE PRODUCT:
BECAUSE…
It smells delicious and leaves my skin feeling amazing! What more could you want?!


Frenchie
A veritable S&G missionary, Frenchie racks up air miles (fuelling the inter-office green-eyed monster) by jetting off at least once a quarter to the world’s most beautiful- and Soap & Glorious locations. And Australia. (Just kidding. Actually we LOVE Australia, we just sometimes have a KIWI at the keyboard). Dedicated, unflappable and high metabolism, she regularly demonstrates an uncanny ability– more literally understood as ‘Les Crepes Nutella – to sabotage her deskmates’ diets.
FAVOURITE PRODUCT:
BECAUSE…
When I am travelling in all these hot and humid countries, I need the lightest moisturizer possible. This one is so cool, I have never seen an equivalent.


General Jade
Office butterfly, MC at team-building events, and most-excellent orderer of birthday cupcakes, Jade runs S&G HQ like a General. She has an uncanny knack for meeting peoples’ needs (which boils down, basically, to topping up the tea inventory) while also exhibiting a somewhat disconcerting tendency to hurl herself off high things (the world’s third-highest bungy jump, the odd airplane.) It’s a bird. It’s a plane…
FAVOURITE PRODUCT:
BECAUSE…
One thing that makes a girl feel better is freshly washed hair.


Big Red
Big Red (perplexingly not carrot-top related) works with the other ‘Ops operatives’ to move Soap & Glory safely around the world so it’s ready and waiting for you to buy. (He’s also Posty’s go-to whenever she needs to reach the English Breakfast from the top shelf in the kitchen.) He’s a qualified hang glider pilot, so if a runway opens anywhere near the office, he might have a novel commute into work.
FAVOURITE PRODUCT:
BECAUSE…
Being a low maintenance sort of chap, I have to admit to a fairly basic skincare routine (Don’t tell Marcia!), but I have it on the authority of my teenage daughter and son that this stuff is the way forward. Word on the street is that it works quickly to reduce redness and swelling and doesn’t dry out your skin.


Lau-Random
When LauRANDOM isn’t overseeing quality issues and making sure that all Soap & Glory goodies get to their assigned destinations with their Is dotted and their Ts crossed, she’s showing off her mad calculator skills. Nicknamed LauRANDOM because of her tendency to make conversations go ‘off piste’, she once auditioned for X Factor on behalf of a children’s hospice (but sadly lost out to a man raising money to buy a prosthetic cart for his 2-legged cat). Ahh showbiz, you fickle mistress.
FAVOURITE PRODUCT:
BECAUSE…
Because great skin starts with deep pore cleansing and this revitalising treatment is invigorating yet soothing. The exfoliation helps minimise fine lines too – bonus!


Go with the Flo
Another of Soap & Glory’s sophisticated European types, it’s no wonder Go With The Flo specialises in making sure our products ‘translate well’ in our much-cherished markets abroad. A calm blue ocean under pressure, she’s gone the extra mile in delivering to impossible timeframes (having given birth to her son in seven minutes), nurses a penchant for ‘fierce’ hair and has become the unofficial muse of our company portrait photographer. Flip your hair!
FAVOURITE PRODUCT:
BECAUSE…
I am completely addicted to it and now can’t imagine life without it! It has a great SPF so it’s perfect for protecting my skin through the harsh British winters and hot summers in Corsica and it smells amazing.


Wolfie
This is Victoria. Our Global Sales & Marketing Director who we secretly refer to as Wolfie, because she’s tough as nails but appears to be very proper and nice.
FAVOURITE PRODUCT:
BECAUSE…
It’s a hero among hand creams. Absorbs super quickly, is very moisturising without being greasy and leaves hands really smooth. PLUS has our signature Original Pink fragrance. Have one deskside, bedside, in handbag and by sink!


SWITZ – HEAD ALCHEMIST
SWITZ is named after Switzerland, as she’s pathologically organised and makes the rest of us look sloppy. She is not, however, boring and will never be found wearing frumpy clothing or a headscarf. (OK, if it was a Hermes headscarf, maybe).
FAVOURITE PRODUCT:
BECAUSE…
I love MYY serum. It leaves my skin looking dewy and bright, and is super moisturising!


RUDEY JUDY – VENERABLE APOTHECARY
Meet RUDEY JUDY who once, legend has it, SWAM THE CHANNEL. We’re trying to convince her to do it again, while we row a bathtub across beside her to pelt any risky looking fish with the oval end of our long-handled backbrushes.
FAVOURITE PRODUCT:
BECAUSE…
It is everything you could wish for from a jar of cream! It smoothes, softens, moisturizes, helps fight wrinkles and brightens my complexion. I know it’s got loads of great actives in as I have seen them mix it in Swiss labs where only the best will do! I also love the natural sweet smell of orange which feels so fresh on the skin and the fact that it’s such a great moisturizer it will help restore & protect my skin after being in the sun.


NAT
Eyeshadow on, eyeshadow off; eyeshadow back on again…Nat’s been recruited into the colour department, which would be fine if she wasn’t a bit forgetful. (She confesses to ‘getting quizzical looks’ on the train home, when the lipstick on her top lip contrasts with that on the bottom. Safe to say she’s looking forward to trialing the new seasonal trend of blue lips and red eyes with some trepidation.)
FAVOURITE PRODUCT:
BECAUSE…
Whenever I use the mascara my lashes are noticeably thicker and fuller, it is by far the best mascara I have ever used and is a firm staple in my makeup bag. One of the things I love most is the fact that it has the NOFLAKE24 technology because nobody wants flakey lashes!


THE FERNINATOR
Develops new cosmetics for Soap & Glory – but it’s not all glitz and glamour. She still cringes at the memory of testing eyeshadow at our factory – one eye natural, one eye full-on smoky – when somebody called ‘LUNCH!’ and she was forced to chow down with twenty-some handsome Italian chemists while looking like Starchild from KISS.
FAVOURITE PRODUCT:
BECAUSE…
I am totally addicted to the gorgeous lip flavours and my lips feel like they are actually getting bigger!


SPIDEY – ‘MARKETING MAVEN’
When she isn’t winning dress-up contests (notably as peacocks or zombies), she multi-tasks on many aspects of UK marketing madness, while keeping a sly eye on ‘the competition’. A real animal lover, we suspect she’s got a higher than average chance of turning into a crazy old cat lady. But we’d never say that to her face.
FAVOURITE PRODUCT:
THE FAB PORE HOT CLOTH CLEANSER™
BECAUSE…
It is everything I need in one tube plus includes a handy cloth! I have really dry sensitive skin so it is perfect for gently removing the grime without upsetting my skin. When I use this product I don’t have to use moisturiser, so it is a real bonus.


MR SHEEN
Clark Kent by day, barefoot runner and unicycle hockey player by night, MR SHEEN (no relation to Charlie) gives all of our artwork that final ‘airbrushed’ polish. He’s also the office’s barometer of indie musical taste, so on slow days we entertain ourselves by imagining that his favorite song is “I Retouch Myself” by the Divinyls (of course this is entirely made up and likely not as thigh-slappingly hilarious as we think it is. Yes it is. No it’s not. Yes it is. No it’s not.)
FAVOURITE PRODUCT:
BECAUSE…
After a hard run it leaves my feet feeling super soft, smooth and pleasant smelling. Marathon training seems like a walk in the park now Hobbit feet are a thing of the past.


Speedy
Tasked with keeping Soap & Glory on the cutting edge of the web, SPEEDY usually has a lot of do and a lot of tight deadlines (which means she tends to go a little ‘high rotate’ when she talks). She eats up ‘coping with the unexpected’, so was impressively unflustered when she found herself locked in Louis Vuitton with Paris Hilton in Hawaii. (More on that another time…)
FAVOURITE PRODUCT:
BUTTER YOURSELF™
BECAUSE…
This is the ultimate stress reliever. Even better is the yummy smell which always turns heads as well as helping to keep me away from the chocolates, now there is a diet plan I like!