When The Victorian Garden's founder, Lindsay Glover-Anderson, arrived in South Africa in the early 1980s, the country's wealth was usually described in terms of what lay underground — gold, diamonds, platinum. As a British-trained aromatherapist and herbalist, she saw a different treasure entirely: one growing in the sunlight.

South Africa is home to the Cape Floral Kingdom, the smallest and richest of the world's six floral kingdoms and a UNESCO World Heritage Site — over 9,000 plant species, nearly seventy percent of them found nowhere else on Earth. Lindsay was fond of saying that Table Mountain alone holds more plant species than the entire United Kingdom.

But it is not just the number of plants. It is what this land does to them.

Hard Country, Strong Plants

South African plants grow the hard way: intense sun, seasonal drought, wind, poor soils and temperature swings. To survive, they have evolved unusually powerful protective compounds — antioxidants, rich oils and resilient sugars — in concentrations that plants from gentler climates rarely need to produce. For skincare, this hardship is a gift. The very compounds a plant makes to protect itself are often the ones that protect and restore human skin.

Here are a few of the local treasures you will find in our products.

Marula

The marula tree is woven into Southern African life, and the oil pressed from its kernels has been used for skin and hair care for generations. Light, stable and rich in oleic acid and antioxidants, marula oil absorbs beautifully and leaves skin supple rather than greasy. You will find it alongside macadamia in our Macadamia & Marula Hydrating & Soothing Body Lotion.

Rooibos

Grown only in the Cederberg region of the Western Cape, rooibos is far more than a national tea. It is rich in rare antioxidants, and traditional use has long valued it for calming sensitive, irritated skin. We bring it into hair care in our Basil & Rooibos Shampoo, where its gentle, protective character suits even easily irritated scalps.

A Philosophy, Not Just a Sourcing Choice

Using African botanicals is not a marketing angle for us; it is the founding insight of the company. The best skincare ingredients are not invented in laboratories - they are grown, and some of the finest in the world grow here. By combining this local abundance with the classical European aromatherapy tradition Lindsay trained in, The Victorian Garden makes something that could not quite be made anywhere else.

South Africa's greatest treasure was never underground. It has been blooming above it all along.