History of The Victorian Garden

In 1972, when the founder of the Victorian Garden brand, British registered aromatherapist and herbalist Lindsay Salthouse's mother, was handling her mother's estate, she discovered two gold-edged diaries. The owner of these diaries was Lindsay's great-great-grandmother, Frances Jane Glover-Anderson, a botanist born into an aristocratic family. 

Her great-great-grandfather Stephen was a partner in the British East India Company and frequently travelled to East Asia. Many times, Jane resided alone in her Scottish countryside castle, which she inherited, boasting 42 grand bedrooms. She led her servants to cultivate a herbal garden used for cooking, skincare, decoration, and personal uses, documenting many recipes and details in her diaries.

For instance, "Today, I want to create my new product—honeysuckle day cream, pink mineral clay and geranium mask. My cooks are watching the double boiler, with the fragrance of beeswax and fresh petals constantly emanating from the steamer..." According to Lindsay's grandmother, her mother’s products were widely used by royalties and aristocrats, with several creams even gifted by the Glover-Anderson family to their most distinguished friend—Queen Victoria.

Creating creams and lotions required considerable time and patience, involving the harvesting of dozens of different ingredients—fresh herbs and flowers, distilled to obtain essential oils. Stephen also brought back rare plants and essential oils from the East. 

These products did not utilize preservatives, as the essential oils naturally served that purpose. Jane's creations stemmed from her love for natural scents and textures. Her products were very popular, proving a good business opportunity if needed but she wasn't fond of business. Her wealthy family and husband provided her the freedom to perfect each formula with passion and meticulous documentation.

In 1991, Lindsay operated the first organic skincare salon and aromatherapy clinic in South Africa. Besides blending various body oils for healing, she began replicating and passing on her great-great-grandmother's numerous classic Victorian formulas a century later in her studio. These formulas were promptly bought by Lindsay’s cousins in London, who hosted grand parties introducing the products, which sold out quickly and were described by fashion magazines as “old-fashioned.” Lindsay named them the "Victorian Garden Collection"—high-quality, extraordinary products unlike any available commercially. This collection carried forward ingredients frequently used in the Victorian era: lavender, rose, chamomile, rosemary, neroli, jasmine, rosehip, and geranium.

Our first product was from a recipe dating to 1870 and we named it "Rose and Chamomile Day Moisturizer Cream"; this was followed by Rose and Chamomile Flower Water (later to be named "Toning Freshener", followed by Rosemary and Lavender Cleansing Milk and Avocado and Geranium Night Cream (later to be named Avocado and Pelargonium Night Cream).  These products were used in the Phytotherapy Facial treatment from Lindsay's Organic Skincare
Salon bouquet of treatments.

Africa's plant diversity is vast, with plant usage ingrained in daily, medicinal, and beauty traditions, particularly in South Africa, known for its rich biodiversity, with over half of its species endemic! Lindsay and lab team spent significant time exploring nature reserves, national parks, and tribes to learn about these unique trees, shrubs, herbs, and flowers, gathering precious formulas passed down for centuries. In 2000, The Victorian Garden began producing the “African Indigenous Collection” using ingredients unique to the continent, such as kalahari melon, cape aloe, sausage tree fruit, marula fruit, baobab fruit, olive, natal redwood, wild mint, and wild basil.

In 2005, our The Victorian Garden team toured Queen Anne Boleyn’s castle in Norfolk. With family history and interest, Lindsay and team extensively researched the Tudor dynasty, inspiring the creation of the third series, the Royal Tutor Collection. This collection incorporated plant ingredients specially used by 16th which is rare now royals in their baths and skincare, such as eyebright, elderflower, honeysuckle, quince, pomegranate, rose, sandalwood, and valerian.