Talking to…Eay Taylor

I t would be fair to say that Eve Taylor is a force to be reckoned with. In the short time I got to speak to her I learned that this woman has an incredible understanding of aromatherapy and skin, a love for the beauty industry that runs deep and a firm view of what needs to change to keep the sector viable for future generations. Her humour is pretty infectious, too. As founder of the eponymous range of aromatherapy oils, Taylor is one of the industry’s greatest success stories.

The business has grown from Taylor developing five essential oils in her London council flat in 1963 to now having a full line that includes skincare, stocked by 5,000 customers in the UK, including salons, spas and mobile therapists. The company also has a single purpose-built site in England which manufactures the products and exports more than 60% of them, to 40 countries around the world.

Taylor has cemented her reputation as a household name in aromatherapy. When I ask what her greatest accomplishment is, the answer is surprising: “Survival. To still be in this business and thriving when it keeps changing.

Our turnover has gone up this year, which will make the tax man happy,”she adds. “I did also receive an OBE for my work in aromatherapy, which was a wonderful experience, and I pierced the Princess of Wales’s ears in my salon in Sevenoaks back when she was Lady Diana Spencer. Does that one count?”

The education issue

Taylor is an advocate for consistently learning and upskilling, having held roles such as co-chief examiner for City & Guilds and chair of Babtac. In recent years, she’s been outspoken on raising education standards and the need for more regulation around short courses.

Her issue is with the growing number of academies claiming to teach people facials in as little as three days – a huge contrast to the years of training needed to master the technique in college.

“When I talk to someone who has done this training, I think ‘good God, how are you being let loose on the public?’, truly. Some of these beauty courses you can do in just a day or two but how can they learn about anatomy, physiology and allergies in such a short time? They are not taught the risks at all,”she says.

Clockwise from top: Eye Taylor with her OBE, the brand’s five essential oils, Taylor in her early days of teaching

Taylor believes that anybody allowed to work on the public’s skin should be licensed, as a way to safeguard customers. “We need a legal minimum standard of training in this country,”she says. “If anybody with this online academy-style training comes to me wanting to use Eve Taylor products I say no.

“As a result, I’ve had these academies on my back saying, ‘are you telling me my people are not qualified?’I say, ‘No, it’s just they are not at the standard of knowledge or skills that we require’, and that’s all I can say. If I say they’re not qualified then the academy will sue me.”

We need a legal minimum standard of training… when I talk to someone who has done [a short course] I think ‘good God, how are you being let loose on the public’?”

Thriving in a saturated market

Despite the business doing well, it’s not immune to the issues plaguing the wider industry, such as market saturation and grey-market sales. “Launching products is so easy now. Every day it seems people go on a course, launch a brand and then sell these things on eBay. It’s like a car boot sale all of the time,”explains Taylor. “Yet, many don’t have a philosophy. It’s not enough to just put products out, there has to be a reason why you’re making them.”

However, Taylor says many newcomers come unstuck when having to deal with the complexities of getting their ranges into new countries. “Everything has to be registered with the EU and it’s costly and sometimes a bit of a nightmare to navigate,”she says.

“Registering one product can cost about £400, so your formulations need to be right and you must have all the scientific evidence to back them up. For the Philippines, we had to go and swear affidavits and all sorts to get our products out there.”The brand is also trying to deal with the trade of its products via unauthorised distribution channels. “Grey market sales are still a big issue,”explains Taylor. “We tried to stop people selling our stuff on eBay, especially used products, and we couldn’t. Trading Standards warned us that these people can do what they like with the product once they’ve bought it.”

Taylor receiving the Outstanding Contribution Award at the Women Leaders Awards; below: an early picture of Taylor teaching

A definitive solution may be unclear, but Taylor’s company is being tough with professionals who sell products via unsolicited channels. “If we see any of our salons doing it, we’re not happy about it and we make it known.”

When I broach the question of an impending Brexit and what this could mean for the beauty industry, especially on importing and exporting goods, Taylor is matter of fact about the issue.

“I’m not worried about Brexit and let me tell you why: I’m one of the people who originally voted to go into a common market in 1973, but I never voted to be taken over with the rules, regulations and laws that we have now, so I want out,”she explains. “All I can say sitting here at this moment in time is that our business has picked up since Brexit and in the UK we’re selling more, so I have no fears.”With the UK Government cracking down on single-use plastic waste – cotton buds and straws will be banned as of 2020 and many feel wet wipes could be next – the beauty industry is under scrutiny to make changes to help reduce the impact on the environment.

Taking sustainability seriously

As a company, Eve Taylor is one step ahead on the sustainability front, pledging to plant one tree for every skincare product sold as part of its new environmental campaign Give Back to Nature. Launched in partnership with non-profit organisation Trees for the Future, the brand is committed to planting a minimum of 100,000 trees a year. “Sustainability is a very important factor for our growth strategy as we use so many of nature’s finest essential oils.

At the moment, we’re revising some of the oils we use due to sustainability issues and are taking the responsible step to cease stocking and using them to ensure we are doing our bit for nature as well as maintaining our own credibility,”says Taylor. “We will always continue to develop and produce world-class aromatherapy products.”