Somerset Life talks to Angela Langford about her thriving skincare range

When Angela Langford was a little girl, she loved to sneak into her parents’ restaurant kitchen when all was quiet and concoct her own recipes.

She still loves cooking but another passion has seen Angela convert a room in her Victorian cottage in Merriot, near Crewkerne, into a 21st Century laboratory where she creates high performing natural and organic beauty ingredients.

Skincare is often shrouded in mystery – just the list of ingredients on a cleanser makes you feel you need a science degree. Angela gets back to basics to ensure the customer understands what goes into a product and how to use it for wonderful, natural new skin.

She offers a unique personal service which includes an online questionnaire, free testers (you only pay postage and packaging) and a free ‘try before you buy.’

“I personally recommend the best products for each individual customer’s skin and the online questionnaire takes away those awkward shop consultations where you can end up buying products that aren’t right for you!” she explains.

“I use plain English and have researched every single ingredient to ensure they are perfect for purpose and I like sharing this information with customers. For me the best thing about my work is when people tell me I have completely changed their skin for the better.”

Her latest product is a Bloom and Glow Balancing and Calming Radiance Face Oil (£22.55). It includes organic rose hip oil, geranium, evening primrose, sea buckthorn, Neroli and Vitamin E.

“It’s facial oil that won’t leave your face greasy because it’s so rapidly absorbed. Sea buckthorn is a multi-tasking super food for skin and perfect for all skin types as well as pregnant women.”

Her £17 Thirsty Work Ultra-Hydrating Anti-Ageing Day Cream smells divine with frankincense, neroli and carrot seed oils along with smoothing vitamin A, blackberry and rosehip, hyaluronic acid, vitamin B5 and comfrey extract.

Angela launched her business on a small scale two years ago and spent a long time constantly refining products.

The range has a shelf life of six months and includes cleansers, serums, body creams and much more ranging from £10 to £33. She sources her active raw ingredients from specialist, trusted companies with the highest standards and then is in her lab mixing, combining and testing.

Her partner Lee Simmonds works in Paris during the week and, as he’s been a guinea pig for Angela’s products, he’s gained her a loyal female following of make-up savvy customers.

She says: “I source ingredients from Paris and Lee takes back my products to customers there.

“Family and friends have tested everything and given me their honest and impartial feedback.

“This has enabled me to refine and tweak formulas resulting in an ethical range with tried and tested effects.”

Each product is given a chemist’s final stamp of approval to ensure highest standards and Angela is in the process of gaining Soil Association approval.

Her dream is that salons in the South West will stock her range but admits she is happiest in her state-of-the-art laboratory being creative, just as she did when she was a little girl.

Somerset Life readers can enjoy 20% off the range until 30 June. Just type ‘Somerset’ in the checkout voucher code.

For more information visit angelalangford.com or call 01460 929 596.