Introducing Lucy Bradshaw: The Founder of Tulita Natural Fragrance
Lucy Bradshaw’s career has always been in luxury beauty. As the International Product Manager for YVES SAINT LAURENT makeup at L'Oréal Luxury Cosmetics, Lucy has incredible experience in innovating and launching beauty products. Her day-to-day while at L'Oréal involved the captivating task of breathing life into a product concept and guiding it through the entire development journey – from a spark of an idea to landing in the hands of discerning consumers. This involved working closely with talented lab technicians on innovative formulas and textures, crafting extensive shade ranges, designing packaging with meticulous detail, coordinating visually stunning photoshoots, briefing our dedicated support teams, addressing country-specific legal considerations, all the way to presenting the final product on esteemed platforms like Vogue.
Today, Lucy’s decades of experience is now being directed to her own consciously created wellness fragrance – Tulita.
It’s an elevated and evolutionary offering. Naturally derived fragrances that balance and harmonise energy for your highest self. Tulita natural perfume is a conduit for connection with nature's vibrational life force. Each scent opens the portal to one of the seven chakras, unlocking your capacity to feel present, grounded and in a state of reverie for the everyday. Harnessing the highest vibrational powers of Mother Nature in activated crystals and botanical extracts, and woven with a deep thread of infinite wisdom from Ayurvedic practices, Tulita reawakens you to embodied living.
We are thrilled to have Tulita as part of the Sensoriam Collective.
And what a privilege to interview Lucy Bradshaw as part of our Founder.I.Am series.
How did you become interested in natural perfumery?
Like so many women I was drawn to natural fragrances during pregnancy when I became aware of the endocrine disruptors in many of my favourite traditional fragrances. During my yoga teaching I was drawn to essential oils and their healing benefits that seemed amplified when enveloped into my meditation practice.
What or who inspires your work in creating fragrances? What inspired you to launch Tulita?
Im inspired by nature, the incredible power that the closer we are to her, the more centred, recharged and in flow state mentality we become. I was inspired to harness the full abundance of nature into a bottle that was not diluted with harmful synthetics and to bring the healing powers of nature into an easy gesture of daily life via a luxury plant based fragrance.
I was also inspired by my two young children and see that we have a great responsibility to do better for them and mother earth. I believe brands and companies absolutely must be doing better for the planet. I was inspired to create a brand that could push the boundaries of modern sustainability and blue beauty which goes well beyond clean and green. I wanted Tulita to be “Evolutionary” not just in energy but in what it means for the fragrance category as a whole – I like to think of it as a gentle revolution.
How have your life experiences lead to you becoming an entrepreneur and launching your own business?
I have been fortunate to have had a rich and full career in the beauty industry over the last 16 years that has gifted me incredible experiences in working all around the world for some of the most respected brands in the luxury fragrance market. I started working in Paris in product development and spent 7 years living in Paris before coming home to Australia and holding senior management positions. Every role has taught me so much but Im still learning everyday and I think this love of possibility is a great attribute for an entrepreneur.
What was your previous experience in the world of perfume?
I have worked across skincare, makeup and perfume in both product development and strategy for over 16 years, so it is extensive but I believe my experience with natural essential oils in my yoga teaching practice has been just as influential as my corporate experience.
What is Tulita all about?
Tulita offers chakra balancing fragrances, crafted from 100% natural botanicals to elevate and enhance your mood and energy. We encompass the ayurvedic botanicals known to heal chakra energy, affirmations and a hand carved crystals on every Tulita bottle. So Tulita uniquely fuses all of the properties together to create a mindful wellness fragrance to bring you to your highest vibration or your flow state, through the simple and beautiful daily gesture of fragrance.
Our Chakra energies are easily imbalanced due to modern life and stressors and if they remain out of balance can lead to numerous emotional & physical side affects. Balanced Chakras allow a free flow of energy which is what creates the flow state or high vibrational state that bring us to our highest potential, the best version of ourselves that we all deserve to be.
What makes your products unique?
There is simply nothing else like Tulita on the market today. The luxury fragrance market is saturated with traditional synthetic fragrances and I saw an opportunity to offer a modern, luxurious, yet mindful wellness fragrance that encompassed the enduring wisdom of Ayurveda. The world is seeking greater connection and this is what Tulita offers.
Tulita is also the first of its kind to ever offer a beautiful 40mm crystal spere into the cap of the fragrance bottle, we carefully hand carve and activate every crystal with the full moon to capture the maximum positive energy to serve our customers.
Tulita is also the first Australian perfume to be certified as plastic neutral and have actually gone further to double our commitment to be certified plastic negative – a first in the entire beauty category in Australia.
How do you choose and source your natural ingredients?
The selection of natural ingredients is highly considered, we pay homage to the Ayurvedic wisdom of the healing benefits of botanicals for certain chakra energies. Each chakra calls on the potency of different botanicals, which fortunately for us, most of these botanicals are incredibly beautiful in a fragrance, so it felt very natural to be able to craft in this unique way.
The sourcing of our ingredients is also highly considered. We work closely with the Givaudan Foundation to ensure that our ingredients are ethically and sustainably sourced and work closely with many of the communities that grow and harvest the Tulita ingredients.
Are there specific regions or suppliers you prefer for certain materials?
Yes, our Dutjahn Sandalwood essential oil from Western Australia is a real standout for Tulita. As an Australian brand I really wanted to hero Australian Sandalwood which is highly respected globally in the perfume sector as one of the luxurious ingredients to work with, but also highly regarded in Ayurveda for it calming, grounding and meditative properties.
Dutjahn Sandalwood is a 50% Indigenous owned business who fuse renewable, cultivated wood with tress managed by traditional custodians, they help regenerate lands, prevent biodiversity loss and deliver fair returns to Aboriginal people.
Guy Vincent, CEO of Dutjahn has also been a generous fragrance mentor throughout the development process and this collaboration between brand and supplier is very special and I think one of the secrets behind what makes our fragrances so exceptional.
Can you walk us through your process of creating a new fragrance from concept to final product?
Approaching the creative process through the lens of chakra energy has been inspiring for the entire team behind the creation of Tulita. We start with what energy we want the olfactive notes to portray, should it make us feel calm or joyful? We then fuse the Ayurvedic botanicals to the process. From there it is very intuitive in ensuring that both notions are balanced and respected.
One of the goals we set in the development process was bringing one of the most sophisticated collection of fragrances to the market that was all natural, we really wanted to break the myth that highly complex and sophisticated fragrances need sythentics. This was also really inspiring for our perfumer and I think we have achieved that.
How do you balance the different notes in a perfume to create a harmonious blend?
The balance is always the play between most potent chakra botanicals and the energy the fragrance evokes. When balancing and re-iterating we often come back to the sense of “how does this make us feel, what changes energetically”.
How would you describe the character or personality of your fragrances?
Each is unique depending on the chakra energy they have been curated to balance.
Agati is a deep earthy quality of strength, calm and grounding, I think of Agati like a comforting embrace to help us feel strong when the world is pulling us in all directions and we need to call on strength. This is the root balancing chakra.
PURCHASE TULITA AGATI AT SENSORIAM
Vikasa is light and playful, it is sheer, joyful, evoking love, empathy and connection and beautiful on a summers day. This is the heart balancing chakra.
PURCHASE TULITA VIKASA AT SENSORIAM
Divya is serene, a northern light guiding us to our purpose, our wisdom and shifts our perspective, allowing us to see the beauty in all things around us. This is the crown balancing chakra.
PURCHASE TULITA DIVYA AT SENSORIAM
What aspects of your work bring you the most satisfaction or joy?
Collaborating and working with passionate people that want to be part of a change, that are not afraid to push boundaries. Working with amazing designers, perfumers, stockists and hearing the customer feedback is deeply rewarding.
Do you have a story or a moment / memory in business so far that you cherish deeply?
I recently had a customer reach out, they had given up hope on fragrances as they either disappointed, gave them a headaches or didn’t last. They were also experiencing some anxiety and depression and were in a vulnerable state. They were wearing Agati during the day to give some strength and courage and Vikasa in their personal time to re-awaken the connection and love for themselves. Hearing them share their experience of Tulita was a huge moment as a founder, and understanding that the intention and conscious creation was truly translating and impacting so authentically, it was very powerful and will inspire me for a long time to come.
What change do you want to see in the world?
It’s a bit of a list to be honest and I hope Tulita can help address much of my list over the coming years but the top of the list would be for us to all be in greater harmony and connection with ourselves, connection to each other and connection to nature.
What challenges do you face in the world of natural perfumery?
The lack of transparency in perfumery is a real challenge and I think consumers deserve to know exactly what ingredients are in their perfume bottle just like their skincare cream or shampoo. It is also why the highly toxic chemicals contained in some synthetic fragrances have little awareness as they remain hidden.
Sustainability conversations can also be challenging as some are moving in the opposite direction replacing all plants with synthetics and claiming it to be more sustainable, all whilst offering it in a plastic, unrecycled packaging. I really stand in opposition to this idea, a fully synthetic world of lab made ingredients will deplete communities from income and will deplete the world of biodiverse plants essential to protecting our fragile ecosystems. Distancing ourselves from nature also goes against our entire essence of humanity and connection.
Sustainability to me means honouring, respecting and harvesting better and doing our absolute best in packaging, even if it cost x10 more but means it can be recycled and re-used.
Talk me through Blue Beauty. What does this mean and how are you pioneering the space?
Blue Beauty is the next frontier beyond Clean and Green Beauty. These are wonderful progressions in the beauty industry but they remain relatively undefined, subjective, and unregulated which is leading to the surge in green washing we are experiencing today.
Blue Beauty has a clearly defined agenda as to what it encompasses under the guiding principles of Jeannie Jarnot, a Blue Beauty brand upholds it products to be: natural, non-genetically modified, organic, biodegradable, ethically sourced, recycled, re-used, plastic neutral, carbon neutral, give back, work closely with farmers and suppliers and likely B-Corp certified.
So Blue Beauty is the future for its clear guidelines and consideration for both land and oceans. It is why one of the organisations we are proud to support The Ocean CleanUp – an incredible organisation that is successfully removing millions of tonnes of plastic from our oceans.
What’s your dream for the future?
Greater connection and harmony. More respect for the planet.
Finally when do you where each of your three scents?
That’s the beauty of Tulita, I wear them depending on what my mood and energy guides me to. If Im feeling a bit anxious or jittery, Agati grounds and stabilises. If Im seeking connection and joy, its Vikasa and if its serene calm and wisdom its Divya.
