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IMAGE©GETTY Previous page: Lady Serena Linley in the garden. Right: with husband David, Viscount Linley, who takes a keen interest in the lavender harvest soap suited to the softened water you fi nd on yachts (Tara Getty has chosen the soap for her yacht, Blue Bird), where you fi nd you can never rinse off the lather. Linley has also created a soap which works perfectly with the specifi c qualities of the water on a private jet, as well as products that complement the diff erent waters of diff erent countries. For example, Skibo Castle in Scotland commissioned her to create an exclusive soap that matched their needs. Linley can even personalise products with initials or a motto. In fact, she had just been to stay at Skibo with friends, who made her laugh when they asked her if she’d mind if they took her complimentary soaps and lotions from the hotel bathrooms. ‘Please do!’ she enthused. Th e bespoke soap and perfumery idea came about after a long lunch (and possibly a few glasses of rosé) at the Linleys’ French home, Château d’Autet in the Luberon part of Provence, with their neighbours, Sally Aga Khan and Philippe Lizop. Th e Linleys had been trying to decide what to do with their land; the soil was poor quality and the only good thing there was the lavender. Th e house was bought after a chance conversation with A Year in Provence author Peter Mayle, and is what they describe as ‘the smallest château in France’, but it suits them perfectly for being far away from everywhere, and it is here that they go to relax, have guests, and farm the ingredient for all their products. It took several years to bring to life the plan they made that day; three were solely spent summoning life from the ‘I love the small things about Provence, like cracking open a pine cone and smelling the scent’ lavender beds. ‘It was a rational use of everything there, and growing the lavender is the most wonderful process. You sit on a mini-tractor and feed the baby plants in upside down, then it puts soil on top. I love it – the excitement of seeing the lines come up – then there’s an artisan factory where the oil is distilled…’ Linley has a palpable passion for her project. She was also lucky enough to fi nd an experienced chemist, and then more time was spent having the creams she makes tested around the world. ‘I’m now very proud of these products,’ she says. Th e brand has investment from sleeping partners. ‘It’s a great responsibility, but I’ve found it thrilling.’ A particular high point was ‘spending hours in laboratories in Grasse [the scent capital of France]’. Th ere her nine-year old daughter, Margarita, chose the ingredients for the perfume that was then named after her, which has gone on Fifty-Three to become the shop’s bestseller. Margarita’s enthusiasm for the project doesn’t stop there: she often steps behind the counter at the shop when she isn’t at school, while her brother, Charlie, who’s 12, spent his holidays exploring new packaging options. ‘It is one of the biggest surprises to me, that all the family has been so involved and so enthusiastic about it.’ She remembers fi nding notes on her desk saying ‘come on mummy, you can do it’. Margarita is a tomboy – ‘I struggle to get her out of her combat trousers,’ smiles her mother – but a sweet-smelling one. On a personal note, Linley adds that she is ‘pushing myself quite a bit, which is fun, and pushing my nose (I don’t have a trained nose) to great lengths’. Th e most challenging part, she says, has been learning how to give an interview; her low-key persona means she has never interacted with the press if she could