Meet Estée, the face behind lifestyle brand, mirror water; a body care brand with self-reflection, sustainability and community at its heart. Having only recently celebrated their first birthday, mirror water is redefining self care.
We got the chance to chat with Estée to find out more about her dreamy brand — so sit back, relax and enjoy.
For those that don’t know you, please can you tell us a bit about yourself and the story behind MIRROR WATER?
My name is Estée Lalonde, I’m a Canadian who has lived in London for over 10 years now and I’ve been online for about the same amount of time! I’m a huge beauty lover so I started off sharing my favourite products on my blog and then YouTube which then turned into Vlogging etc—I am definitely an OG blogger and it’s wild that I've been doing this for so long now. I feel old!
Sharing online is natural to me, and I’ve suffered with anxiety and depression for many years so sharing that with my community felt normal. Bathing and any kind of self-care is so crucial to my daily life, I’ve not had a bath that hasn’t cured me even if only a little bit. The idea for MIRROR WATER was always an idea I had, but really came to life in Lockdown, when things were at their heaviest. I’d wanted to find body care that wasn’t too girly, or too floral for such a long time and thought “well, maybe I’ll just make it myself…!” This brand is my baby and we just celebrated our 1 year birthday plus launched in Space NK late last year—2023, you’ve got a lot to live up to.
What would you say is the ethos of the brand?
MIRROR WATER is really a brand for people who like ‘wellness’ but are tired of being told how to be well—because everybody is different, and you really need to look within to find those answers. Water is nature’s mirror, and we’re all about self-reflection and looking inwards to go outward. Our body care encourages realistic relaxation, and they’re products I just wasn’t seeing in the current market—they’re not lavender, they’re not overly feminine, they’re not fussy. Our formulas are super high-quality, palm oil free, we use naturally-derived ingredients and have a grounding scent inspired by nature and the forests I grew up around. Our oil isn’t greasy, our scrub isn’t rough…this brand really is the brand I never had when I needed it the most.
When did your interest in the beauty and wellness industry start?
Since I was tiny! Although I grew up a bit of a tomboy, I was always into really cool products—like what is the latest gloss you can use, which blush looks great. I loved how the ritual of doing your make-up made me feel, especially during my darkest moments of depression where it was so hard to even get out of bed or take care of myself properly. I’m not saying everything is fixed by a bit of lipstick or body oil, but those small moments of joy and self-care connect you back to yourself, even if only for a moment.
We love that there is a real sense of community behind MIRROR WATER, why is this so important to you?
Loneliness is a real thing, and I think ironically especially when you live in a big city. When I moved to London, I knew nobody and finding my people was really hard. At MIRROR WATER we have a FB group called Homebodies, and people share recipes, swap numbers when they move to a new city to go get a coffee, and we chat about our favourite movies or self-care moments—it makes my heart so full. We also did a meet up recently at the Horniman Museum in London and I know some of the MIRROR WATER team still keep in touch with some of the people who came.
You’ve recently launched exclusively with SPACE NK (huge congrats!) what do you see next for the brand in terms of aims and ambitions?
We definitely want to do more face-to-face events, and really build on this idea of community and connection. We see ourselves expanding maybe stateside at one stage soon hopefully, and bringing out a new product perhaps. More TikTok too!
What does a day in the life at MIRROR WATER HQ look like?
Our office is full of things like palo santo and candles, so we get in and light those ASAP to create a zen vibe. We have a team meeting to chat about an upcoming project and what the week ahead looks like—things can be stressful when there’s a lot going on, but we use Notion to keep on top of things and there’s quite a few Zoom meetings with team members that aren’t in London. Lunch is often homecooked that someone’s brought in (sometimes we test out recipes shared in the Homebodies group) or there’s a food pop-up stall nearby—we’ve all collectively decided our fave is the Korean fried chicken. As we’ve just launched in Space NK we’ve just hosted a pop-up with them so that’s taken up a lot of our time this month, and then we just got back from hosting our first ever MIRROR WATER retreat with some friends of the brand. We’ll also usually do an IG live or a Q&A throughout the day—and our social media queen is normally making us all do a TikTok. Go give us a follow, we make ourselves laugh so maybe we’ll make you laugh too…?! No guarantee on that though…
Why do you think it is so important to encourage self care and self-reflection?
Life is so full on, especially in this day and age. I think it’s really easy to end up looking after everybody else and thinking about their needs, and then neglecting your own. You know that thing on the plane where they say put your oxygen mask on yourself before helping others? It’s like that.
What is your biggest piece of advice for female business owners and those wanting to start their own business?
Prepare to have a breakdown. Or many. But seriously, make sure you have a team around you that you can count on, and get comfortable with delegating—this was hard for me, as I’ve counted on and worked for myself for so many years. It has also been crucial for me to surround myself with other female founders and create a network where we can share suppliers, advice and wisdom. Oh, and get a dog. Having a pet to come home to seriously makes it all better.
What’s your favourite way to wind down?
I’m a natural Homebody, being home is my favourite place in the world. Every bath I take, solves one of my problems. For me the bath has to be pretty hot, I sprinkle in some of our SOAK Bath Salts that have magnesium inside, and pour SMOOTH Body Oil in the bath too (a little tip!). When I come out I put on fresh PJs or something cosy and cuddle my rescue dog Effie. I’m also obsessed with reading my Kindle at the moment! Yes, I’ve been converted!
Discover MIRROR WATER below:
Instagram - mirrorwater.earth
Website - mirrorwater.earth