A couple who live in Long Bennington officially launched their natural skincare brand based on their shared love for nature.

Samantha Eakin, 36, and her husband Brendan, 37, established BotaniVie in October, offering natural skincare in plastic-free packaging.

The brand was first conceived whilst the couple was living in the French Alps and Samantha’s skin, which was dehydrated throughout her life, became worse as they lived in a cold and dry climate.

After trying to search for a plastic-free skincare remedy, Samantha discovered there was a lack of options available, and BotaniVie was born.

Samantha said: “BotaniVie stems from our natural botanical products, which is Botani part, and the French word for life (Vie) as a homage to our time living in France.

“Our objective for skincare is a sustainable, botanical, natural life.

“My background has been in teaching English to foreign language students, but I was veering towards a more meaningful, natural way of life whilst helping people feel good about themselves in their own skin.

“On the other hand, Brendan has had an almost 20-year career working as an officer on ships at sea, giving him a perspective of our global ocean from the high seas.

“He witnessed first-hand the amount of plastic pollution found in the ocean far away from civilisation, which was shocking to see, and so has been working for an avenue of change towards sustainability.”

The brand offers an extensive range of products including moisturising face and body creams, body scrubs, bath salts, massage candles, SPF cream, hand creams and balms, and facial cleansers and also toners.

It tailors different skin types including dry, sensitive, oily, combination, acne-prone or mature skin, alongside their vegan and fragrance-free options.

Samantha added: “Our focus is to offer skincare that’s nourishing for the skin and healthy for the planet.

“With this in mind, we have built our online store to bring together these products in one convenient place so you can shop with confidence.

“Our mission is to use nature’s ingredients as inspiration for our products and, in parallel, reduce the amount of plastic that often ends up in our rivers and oceans.”

In the future, the couple hopes to grow its natural skincare range to cater to all types of skin, and also develop relationships with sustainable and earth-friendly initiatives.

To view the BotaniVie skincare product line, you can see it at www.botanivie.co.uk