New personal care brand To My Ships is disrupting the beauty space, sending luxurious scents, all-natural ingredients and a sense of calm and confidence straight to your pits.
Having launched in September, the London-based brand formulated its inaugural collection, dubbed Of the Gods, from naturally derived, vegan botanical ingredients responsibly-sourced in France. What’s on offer? A hand and body wash, a natural deodorant (roll-on or spray-on) and a fine fragrance.
Each product blends nuanced notes of green citrus – which is high in aldehydes and offers a sensual yet bright and uplifting aroma – with core plant ingredients. These include petitgrain, patchouli and the unconventional polygonum – native to southeast Asia – which infuse the offering with its signature aromatic and anti-bacterial properties. These carefully selected botanical extracts form the ideal base for a brand focused on formulating ingredient-conscious products that soak up sweat and leave you smelling luxurious. Gone are the days of drenching ourselves in overpowering and intoxicating scents that leave us nauseous; To My Ships creates understated yet refined personal fragrances where simplicity and subtlety take priority.
But the brand’s ethos goes deeper than simply crafting pleasant scents. Founded by Daniel Bense – who previously served as head of commercial at Aesop – To My Ships is actively transforming the way consumers consciously approach personal care, particularly with deodorant. “It was enticing to take a dark, smelly function [body odour], that is often overlooked in the bathroom (and the industry), and to elevate it to the heights we have,” Bense says. He attributes much of this elevation and reimagining of bodycare to the poetic inspiration behind To My Ships’ establishment: Homer’s implicit call for calm and civilised living in his epic, The Iliad.
“The Iliad, despite its scenes of chaos, carries a recurring theme of returning to calmness and humanity,” Bense says. “Creating this deodorant allowed us the indulgence of treating armpits with the utmost respect – which meant bringing together the scientific rigour of skincare, with the elegance of haute parfumerie.” Not only does To My Ships employ techniques commonly reserved for fine perfumes to ensure the highest quality of products, but by blending classical literature with modern skincare, Bense has built a timeless brand aimed at “everyone with armpits, but particularly those who are mature, worldly and who seek unique and distinctive products that have been created with a clean conscience.”
Sustainability takes centre stage on the brand’s moodboard, as it prioritises responsible design and a simplified aesthetic. Partnering with designers FormaFantasma, product packaging is created from recyclable aluminium and is post-consumer recycled. Each product is refillable, offering standard 375ml hand and body washes with 750ml refills and standard 75ml deodorants with 375ml and 750ml refills. These unconventional larger bottle sizes are a reaction against the beauty industry’s toxic taste for mini bottles. To My Ships encourages customers to refill and reuse their bottles as often as possible, rather than rushing to recycle them.
Led by a team of highly accomplished professionals with decades of collective experience, To My Ships has penetrated the bodycare industry with integrity and credibility. “What sets us apart,” Bense says, “is a shared experience in being bold and defiant, while always trying to do more with less, and better.”
Photography courtesy of To My Ships. Shop Of The Gods here.