A family-run business.
Thanks for visiting my little webshop here. I am Eleanor and I make the products in small batches in Sussex, UK.
The Adriatic is my medicine place and the name Sirena comes from the Croatian word for 'mermaid'
I have worked in the beauty industry for 20 plus years, as a hairdresser and brand ambassador for a well known organic hair and skincare brand. I always loved learning, especially about the power of botanicals and aromatherapy, and I loved being able to help people feel good using my hands, whether that was a shiatsu scalp massage at the salon basin or the mini hand, shoulder and back massages I delivered to promote the products I was selling (a lot of) in-store.
I would read the labels on the products I was using on myself and my clients in great detail trying to figure out what did what. When I started to look up the ingredients I couldn't pronounce it was a shocking realisation that even the 'natural' 'organic' products I wholeheartedly believed in for so long still contained many combinations of super-toxic ingredients - Benzoates, bleaches, formaldehyde.
I pared down my own use of these products, using coconut oil to remove makeup and moisturise my skin. Searching for natural alternatives, I went down a few more rabbit holes. I continued to recycle, reuse, replace. I moved away from the fashion and beauty industry, working more in hospitality and events, retaining my regular hairdressing clients and my love of natural products, but increasingly consumed by guilt about the waste involved everywhere. My mind and body were suffering. I experienced burn-out, and breakdowns, which I now lovingly refer to as break-throughs. Because through the darkness, I was illuminated.
I became a mother in 2018. The birth of my son was far from the natural, empowering experience I still long for, and in the aftermath, struggling with the high standards of self-care and expectations I had set during pregnancy, the state of the world I had brought this perfect creature into... I was reborn again as a mother, but without the proper initiation and ceremony, I was a little lost at sea.
Through my love for him, I started taking better care of myself again. Breastfeeding, I didn’t want to put anything on my skin that wasn’t edible. Deodorants and moisturisers swapped out again. I was tired, depleted and searching for remedy. Having heard of it from my Jamaican friend in London years before, I came across an account on instagram selling Seamoss and I ordered a jar. I began adding it to my diet, mixing it into juices, soups, porridge, but my favourite was a hot chocolate {recipe here} I began to feel better. The splits in my fingernails slowly disappeared. I felt less tired, less anxious. As my son grew, I added it to his diet too. Making ice lollies with seamoss infused smoothies and porridge was his favourite! I felt empowered knowing that there were ways I could improve our health and wellbeing.
In 2020 I discovered Gua Sha. I realised that the beautiful jade combs I had admired in museums but never really understood were actually for the body and scalp rather than hair! I loved how easy it was to give yourself a soothing massage with these tools, and I was hooked. I carried my stones in my pocket wherever I went, soothing me through the stresses of a world falling apart. I started making more skin products, an oil for using for Gua Sha, and was still trying to find a hair conditioner that worked for my fine, fragile hair, using essential oils and experimenting with the plants in my new garden. I was making for friends and family and myself, trying herbs and spice blends for the sea moss gels, and amid the chaos, I was excited about this passion and new way of living for me. Promoting and receiving Radical Self Love.
Like many people during the pandemic, I lost my sense of smell. I didn't make anything for months. I felt lost again. Until a friend invited me to contribute to a local Christmas market, she reminded me that I knew what I liked and what felt good in my hands and on my skin, even without this vital sense that I had been so blessed with for so long. I read and researched extensively to find the blends and balance the properties of each ingredient. I tested them on a loving circle of magical people who told me they worked. So I made some more, and they sold out.
A year later, I am grateful to be recovering a new sense of smell. I am learning every day. I'm lucky enough to have a garden in which I can grow my own herbs, flowers and vegetables. I am surrounded by beautiful, knowledgable souls who share their gifts and wisdoms. I’m working on shopping and spending mindfully, in ways that support communities and families over corporations. I take responsibility for my growth and healing, and I try to work in ways that serve me and others, one of which is making and sharing the offerings you find here on this website.
I have learned that one of the most important things we can do in this world is to take care of ourselves. I know now that this process of life, death and rebirth occurs naturally within us throughout our lives. As we learn new things, we let go of old ways of being that no longer serve us, and we are reborn again and again.
Thank you for visiting my little online shop and taking the time to read about my journey, and thank you for supporting my family and my dreams.
With love, Elli
We are all just walking each other home. Ram Dass
