Where it began
Over ten years ago, in a London apartment that always smelled faintly of lavender, I started Delune with a promise to myself: if nature could calm my mind, it could care for my skin too. I was looking for honest rituals that made hard days feel softer. That search became Delune.
The first big order
In 2017, a small subscription service took a chance on me. I packed every bottle by hand at the dining table and labelled until my fingers ached. It was the first proof that the formulas worked, and that people understood what I was making.
Packing the first big order by hand.
Before the studio
Before there was a studio, there was my bedroom, stacked with glass bottles and hand-cut labels. I learned to do things the slow way: batch, rest, test, repeat, until what left the door felt calm, considered and trustworthy. Those habits never left.
Early roll-on stock on the shelf, October 2017.
Learning as I went
I had no background in branding and had never owned a business. Everything I did, I did at home, learning as I went: the cards, the envelopes, the packaging, all of it.
That way of working is still what Delune is built on today.
Cards and envelopes laid out at home.
Dubai, 2020
In 2020 I left my job with an airline. Weeks later the world shut down, and I found myself stranded in Dubai. I decided to stay, and I have lived here ever since.
Moving countries on my own is one of the things I am proudest of, along with everything Delune has become since.
At the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi.
Delune today
Delune is still independent, and I still make the decisions. But I am far from alone. I work with so many brilliant freelancers and teams who help me every day.
Together we now reach customers in more markets than I can quite believe, including two of my favourites, Canada and Hong Kong. Nearly a decade ago, packing bottles at the dining table, I could never have dreamed of it.
Still delivered by hand
Here in Dubai it is still just me. Some days I even deliver an order by hand, and those are my favourite days.
To my lovely customers: thank you for making it all worth it, and for the privilege of a place in your life.
On my way to hand-deliver an order in Dubai.
Made with patience.
Delune began with a few bottles and a hope that care could be simpler. If it earns a place in your home, know it was made with patience and a great deal of care.
Luigi
