Where Peace Begins: My Story of Scent, Memory, and Home

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As Cleaver Baye begins its next chapter

I've found myself thinking about how strange it feels to have grown up alongside it. I'm Laila, Natalie's daughter, and although Cleaver Baye is my mum's creation, I've had a front-row seat to watching it slowly become what it is today. People often imagine brands beginning with one big idea or one exciting moment. But that wasn't the case here. It grew quietly.

Looking back, I don't think Cleaver Baye really started with candles or soap. I think it started years before that, with muddy boots, countryside walks, and a mum who always felt most at home

surrounded by nature.

Growing Up In The Countryside

Some of my favourite childhood memories aren't from busy days or big occasions they're from simple walks. We'd leave London behind and head into the countryside in Kent. There was never much of a plan. We'd wander through woodland paths, across open fields, and along quiet trails while our dogs disappeared into the trees, always somehow finding their way back to us.

My mum has always loved places like that. She notices things most people walk straight past the smell after it rains, the sound of birds in the distance, wildflowers growing at the edge of a path. She'd stop to point things out that I probably wouldn't have noticed on my own. Back then, it just felt like a normal day out. Now I realise those moments taught me something I didn't even know I was learning that slowing down can be just as valuable as constantly rushing towards the next thing.

Watching An Idea Grow

Cleaver Baye didn't suddenly appear. For years it existed in little moments around the house. I remember spending time with my mum experimenting with soaps at the kitchen table. We'd try different fragrances, colours and ingredients, seeing how each one turned out and learning as we went. There were notebooks filled with ideas, sketches of labels, and conversations about scents inspired by places we'd visited or walks we'd been on.

Looking back, none of it felt like we were building a business. It just felt like we were creating things together because we enjoyed it. Only now do I realise those small moments were laying the foundations for what Cleaver Baye would eventually become. It was never about following trends or creating products for the sake of it. It was about capturing the feeling of nature, peace, simplicity and comfort and bringing a little of that into people's homes.

More Than Candles

When people look at Cleaver Baye, they'll probably see candles, soaps and home fragrance.

I see years of memories. I see countryside walks, afternoons spent experimenting with soaps, conversations about fragrance, and ideas slowly taking shape over time.

What I love most is that Cleaver Baye has never felt rushed.

It has grown naturally, evolving little by little, just as so many good things do.

What It's Taught Me

Growing up around Cleaver Baye has changed how I notice everyday life. I pay more attention to scent than I ever used to. I notice how a room feels the moment I walk into it. I notice how lighting, fragrance and even the smallest details can completely change the atmosphere of an enviroment.

They're things I probably would've overlooked before. Now I understand why they matter. Because sometimes the smallest things can make home feel that little bit more comforting.

A Quiet Beginning

As Cleaver Baye gets ready for this new chapter, it doesn't feel like the beginning of a business to me. It feels like the continuation of something that has been growing for years. A love of nature. A slower way of living. A belief that home should be somewhere you can truly relax.

I'm incredibly proud of what my mum has created not because it's perfect, but because it's genuine. And after watching the journey from the very beginning, I know every product carries a little piece of the story that started long before the first flame was ever lit. With love,

from a story still unfolding quietly,

Laila