Notes From… Votary’s Arabella Preston
Meet the founders behind the hero creations in this year’s Beauty Advent Calendar
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Notes From... Votary's Arabella Preston
Meet the founders behind the hero creations in this year’s Beauty Advent Calendar
To celebrate the arrival of the Liberty Beauty Advent Calendar 2025, and to help you get excited to open those Liberty print drawers (opened them already? We won’t tell…) we’re speaking to the founders behind some of our favourite brands in the calendar to hear the stories behind the products inside.
If you want to keep the mystery alive until December: consider this your spoiler warning, if you don’t mind a little teaser: get set for tips, tricks and insider stories from the very best in the beauty world.
Not got your hands on the Liberty Beauty Advent Calendar 2025 yet? Worth over £1,245 but yours for £275, it's packed with 30 products, including 20 full-sized, from the most covetable brands in skincare, make-up, hair and fragrance.
And for the third year running, we've partnered with world-renowned artist Clym Evernden to bring back his iconic box, illustrated with scenes from our Tudor flagship.
This year's edition may now have sold out, but if you're looking for an alternative beauty treat for Christmas: we have just the thing. Discover our legendary Christmas Beauty Kits and Crackers: guaranteed to add a touch of glam to this year's festive proceedings.
The Liberty Beauty Advent Calendar 2024
The Liberty Beauty Advent Calendar 2024
This week’s note comes from Votary co-founder, Arabella Preston. You’ll find the brand’s Sensitive Resurfacing Peel hidden inside one of this year’s advent calendar drawers.
Make-up artist Arabella Preston founded Votary alongside co-founder Charlotte Semler back in 2015, after her own transformative experiences, and kitchen-table experimentations, using cleansing and facial oils. Focusing on plant oils and botanical actives the brand is beloved for it's high performance yet gentle range, and alongside sister brand Verden has a focus on potent, natural ingredients.
Votary Sensitive Resurfacing Peel
Notes From... Arabella Preston
How would you describe the brand in one sentence?
Transformational skincare powered by clinically proven natural ingredients.
What’s one thing you’ve learned since you launched the brand, that you wish you had known sooner?
Soothing skin sensitivity is key. Once skin is calm and balanced it glows and you look amazing. Reading our five-star customer reviews is a constant reminder of this.
Why did you create this product?
Sensitive skin types often miss out on the transformational side of skincare, so I wanted to create a peel treatment they could use at home with confidence. Sensitive Resurfacing Peel contains 10% lactic acid and is the perfect post-summer skin reset - it is brilliant at reducing sunspots and fine lines to reveal youthful, radiant skin.
What’s your favourite thing about the product?
We have buffered the lactic acid by adding soothing Lactobacillus Ferment and Horse Chestnut Seed Extract, which are proven to reduce skin redness, plus Chia Seed Extract to boost the skin’s barrier function and improve moisture retention. It’s a beautiful cocktail of ingredients to soothe and calm your skin, all while it gets an amazing exfoliation!
Do you have any expert tips, or favourite ways to apply it?
Start slow by leaving the peel on your skin for just three minutes, then rinsing. Gradually increase the number of minutes each week to a maximum of 10 minutes. I love to apply my peel with a fan brush - I don’t get to have facials as often as I like so this gives me a moment of spa at home.
When it comes to advent calendars: are you an “open all at once” or a “strictly one day at a time” person?
Strictly one day at a time - but I share the love and offer drawers up to my daughter and sister throughout the month.
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