For my second visit I came to finalise the products with both the suppliers and the hotel. So I was back to crazy Kathmandu with my dear friend Jo (my self-proclaimed international PA), to navigate city streets. I also met with a Nepali spa company in to discuss treatment plans using Pavilion Signature products.

On this trip I also came across paper soap… I was so excited when I first saw these, guest soap has always bothered me from a sustainable point of view, one or two washes with the bar of guest soap and it is thrown away – what a waste.

This paper soap uses sustainable Nepali Lokta paper impregnated with off cuts of retail soaps – available in the Pavilions boutique shop. These small pieces of paper can be used to lather and clean your hands – and all that is left is a tiny ball of biodegradable paper that can be disposed of and will biodegrade easily. These are also ideal to use when trekking to save water, room in your pack and lessen the environmental impact.

I showed this paper soap to the Pavilion’s new General Manager, Rajiv Shrestha, who agreed it would be a fabulous addition to guest room range.

Then Jo and I flew on to the beautiful Pokhara and back to the Pavilions Himalaya Resort.

Insuba and I made up a new batch of guest products onsite ready for their first guests – the hotel was due to open June.

I have also sourced natural and organic shampoo and conditioner which have been imported from the UK from a fabulous local supplier HERB UK (Lymington) using wonderful natural and organic ingredients and no nasties of course.

We finished this wonderful trip with a two day trek into the mountain with my Nepali ‘nephew’ Ashok and his father, my old friend Parshu. It was so inspiring to be up in the mountain air and to see some of the trees and plants used in signature products.

MOUNTAIN RHODODENDRON & JUNIPER

Three weeks later devastating earthquake hit Nepal. Thankfully all of my friends and colleagues were ok and the resort wasn’t damaged but construction stopped as the all the workers, hotel management and Douglas’s charity down tools and their day jobs to help with the relief effort.

At this end, feeling helpless but desperately concerned for the people of Nepal, we raised funds for the charity and encouraged friends, family and customers to donate money to Douglas’s charity, http://right4children.org/ and sister charity, the UK based, http://www.freedommatters.org.uk/

We have been overwhelmed and delighted by everyone’s concern, generosity and donations…. and they are still coming… Jo’s kids’ school – Walhampton recently raised and amazing £1200, which will go towards rebuilding schools and home in the mountain villages around Pokhara.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRWgOEXC5hc

PAVILIONS HIMALAYA OFFICIAL OPENING NOVEMBER 2016
I am pleased to say that Pavilions Himalaya officially opened in November 2015 and has had rave reviews! I has been a very rewarding project to be involved in and I wish them every success.

The Nepal economy relies heavily on tourism – Please spread the word – ‘Nepal is open for business,’ this unique country is well worth a visit!
I hope in the future that we will be able to source everything in Nepal for all of their product ranges – and that I will go back again, have a treatment in the spa and stay in one of their stunning villas, sip a cocktail and look out once again at the stunning views, watch this space…..

https://www.facebook.com/thepavilionshimalayas/videos/1126540124046189/?fref=nf

From Insuba and Douglas Maclagan – Owners of Pavilions Himalaya

“The Pavilions Himalayas is a unique resort nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, just outside Pokhara, the gateway to the Annapurna and Manasalu mountain ranges. The natural beauty and its elements, the calm and peace of the area is something rarely found on earth. For us at the Pavilions, it is a must for our guests to experience this in all we do and come to a state of full refreshment and relaxation. To achieve this, we asked Debbie at New Forest Aromatics to create something special to achieve this and to invigorate the senses and well-being of our guests at The Pavilions.

Debbie made two trips out to Nepal to work with us and to teach us how to select & use local herbs, flowers and plants to create local smells and fragrances for our products. It was an amazing experience to have rhododendron in our essential oils and shower gels for example. A unique smell but all from our neighbourhood and surrounding areas. The hand and body lotions are also produced on site, and our guests love them. Another unique product is the special natural paper soap only produced for our resort in Nepal. One drop of water on the tiny paper soap and it makes a wonderful lather to clean your hands with a beautiful fragrance and softness to your hands.

Working with Debbie was not only fun, but New Forest Aromatics (NFA) really have left something very special behind for us and our guests. The comments of the effort we have put into the detail of our in-room amenities has been superb, and which is another factor that pushes The Pavilions Himalayas amongst the very best destinations to visit in Nepal and Asia. There is no doubt that NFA has helped The Pavilions Himalayas and its architect, Alex Shrestha to be nominated one of four finalists for the AHDA 2016 (Asian Hotel Design Awards: www.asiahoteldesignawards.com/shortlist).

Many thanks Debbie and all at New Forest Aromatics for providing us a superb service and unique products!

All of the essential oils used are from plants grown in Nepal

RHODODENDRON – the national flower of Nepal had to be included in our signature range. Its mountain blooms in Spring are stunning. Its essential oil has a sweet, floral, green, earthy scent and it is known in Nepal for its spiritually balancing and harmonising qualities. For the body it is soothing to tired and achy muscles and joints.

HIMALAYAN FIR – green, woody and fresh, like breathing in that beautiful mountain air

MOUNTAIN JUNIPER – clearing, uplifting and revitalising

MOUNTAIN CEDAR –a calming and fortifying scent

LEMONGRASS – synonymous with both Nepali cuisine and natural medicine. Citrus zing, wonderful natural bug repellent and digestive, I knew it had to go in to various products.

SUGANDHARA KOKILA– a type of cinnamon berry that grows in the mountains, this wonderful oil has a warming, spiciness, which reminded me of the scent of dal baht and Nepali chutneys that complement the food so well. A fabulous analgesic oil to relieve muscle pain, inflammation and to stimulate circulation, great after sports or trekking the mountains.

CORNMINT- Grows abundantly in Nepal – adds a cool minty freshness.

BASIL – Uplifting, refreshing and clearing

PAVILIONS AFTER TREK BLEND
This blend is a wonderful tonic for massage after trekking the Himalayas.

It includes essential oils of mountain eucalyptus and juniper, plus ginger and sugandhara kokila to warm and relieve tired muscles and joints and improve circulation.

Sugandhara Kokila – This mountain berry is a fabulous analgesic oil to relieve muscle pain, inflammation and to stimulate circulation, great after sports or trekking the mountains.

PAVILIONS RELAXING BLEND

A harmonising and meditative blend to soothe both mind and body.

It includes spikenard, palmarosa, chamomile and cedar.

Spikenard – also known as jatamansi is a traditional mountain herb used in Ayurvedic treatments. The essential oil comes from its root and is deeply grounding. meditative and soothes anxieties and stress.

Palmarosa– is a rosy scented grass that relieves anxiety and tension, soothing, healing and regenerating to the skin, body and mind.

BUGS AWAY RELAXING BLEND
I created this scent using known local insect repellent plants to deter mosquitoes including lemongrass, mint, eucalyptus and zanthoxylum.

Zanthoxylum – The essential oil is extracted from the berries of this native shrub, known for its analgesic and bug repelling properties – a great addition to any mosquito repelling blend.

The Bugs Away scent is great in candles and body oil and is especially useful at sundown when mosquitos are most active!

The base oil for the Pavilions spa massage oils is a combination of Apricot and the native Dhatelo oils which come from trees and shrubs that grow throughout Nepal. Dhatelo oil comes from the seeds of a mountain shrub and is regenerating and moisturising for the skin.

Pavilions Himalaya also asked me if I could source natural candles – not paraffin of course! I have only made soya and beeswax candles previously, but was so excited when I discovered that Himalayan Biotrade could source Chiuri butter (from the nut of a native tree) to make candles. They combine this with beeswax and Pavilions Signature and Bugs Away blends to make totally natural, eco candles scented candles.

These candles are made in little terracotta pots – which are also refillable.

My trip to Nepal at the beginning of June 2014 was fantastic. Arriving at Tribhuvan airport in Kathmandu is a bit of a culture shock, At Heathrow I had left behind WIFI, high tech security clearance, modern cars and sealed roads. But, I instantly fell in love with this colourful, chaotic city of modern, unfinished construction and ancient crumbling buildings, seemingly no road signs or street names and warm friendly smiles from the locals.

I hit the ground running and had a busy few days in the crazy streets of Kathmandu meeting suppliers and producers with Pavilions owner Douglas Maclagan. I was so excited to be given samples of some beautiful new essential oils, butters, oils and waxes, plus Nepali paper packaging, which are being used to develop products for the hotel. My nose started twitching with the possibilities!

Next I took a small plane to Pokhara to visit the 5* Eco resort hotel – Pavilions Himalaya which was still under construction. Wow – it is such a stunning location in a lush valley with green hills and the white capped Annapurna Mountains in the distance.
The site is a working organic farm with goats, buffalo, chickens, rice paddies, fruit trees, corn and gourd. I walked the whole site with Douglas and landscape gardener Muni to discuss various fragrant plants that will also be planted onsite to be used in both the kitchens and the spa (and as natural bug repellents). Jasmine, rose, lemongrass, frangipani, palmarosa, marigold, coriander, basil; a great introduction to the resort under construction.

Designing their signature scent whilst in Nepal, was my first challenge – to create a scent that encapsulated the essence of Nepal, the world famous Himalaya Mountains, the lush green countryside, the spicy aromatic aromas of the food and the tropical lower country.
I also showed Insuba how to make up their bespoke shower gel, hand wash and hand lotion, blending in our organic bases with their own pure spring water. ….
Pavilions also asked me to create three blends for their spa treatments and to sell in their hotel boutique shop. I created’ After Trek ‘ and ‘Relaxation Blends’ for weary travellers after trekking in the mountains and a natural bug repellent aroma for guest to use to deter the evening mossies.

I have travelled widely and have been to Nepal several times over the years, trekking the Annapurna mountains, visiting friends and getting to know a little of the special land.

Pavilions Himalaya approached me in 2014 to design their signature range of products for their eco resort, which was still under construction.
Pavilions Himalaya is the brainchild of Douglas and Insuba Maclagan. Their vision was to build a 5 star eco resort on their organic farm in the foothills of the Himalayas, just outside Nepal’s second city of Pokhara. Their intention was to build a eco resort that was truly sustainable, providing guests organic food from the farm and local area, using new technologies to build beautiful insulated villas and a clubhouse that require no air conditioning, capture grey water from the showers and basins to flush the loos and storing waste from the loos and farm animals in underground tanks to make bio-gas for the hotel kitchens Solar panels on the clubhouse roof provide electricity for the resort, meaning that they can be off-grid too.

The hotel also provides employment for local people and the profits from the hotel will help to sustain Douglas’s charity www.right4children.com supporting vulnerable children and women in Nepal to access their rights and improve their lives. What a wonderful project to be involved in…

My brief was to source and design high quality, totally natural, biodegradable toiletries for their guest rooms and the hotel spa that could, if at all possible, come from ingredients grown in Nepal and to be manufactured locally. Well I like a challenge!
Firstly, I researched essential (aromatic) oils, vegetable oils and butters that are grown in Nepal. I discovered that because of the diverse terrain plus variance in altitude and climate from the high mountain forests to the sub-tropical valley terrain in the south in this stunning country, Nepal grows and produces quite a range of both aromatic plants and vegetable ingredients that can be used in spa and guest products.
Next I found a few suppliers in Nepal, particularly the wonderful HBT in Kathmandu that support poor, rural communities to grow, harvest and produce plants, giving them a much needed income and really embodying the Pavilions ethos of sustainability and ethical benefit to Nepal. It was time to go out to Nepal meet with suppliers and to go to Pavilions Himalaya to see for myself how to move this project forward.