It Takes a Village: How Commune’s Thoughtful Beauty Is Creating Positive Change
September 8 | 5 minute read
Words by Izzy Wight
In short, it feels worlds away from the competitive, relentless churn of modern city living. But in the idyllic English countryside town of Somerset, this spirit of togetherness is alive and well. You can find it in the lush woodlands, bustling market squares and, more specifically, in Kate Neal and Rémi Paringaux’s aptly named Bruton High Street store, Commune.
Complete with light-filled lancet windows, a flourishing terrarium and a tiered perfume organ, the retail space is home to the couple’s personal care brand – a thoughtful collection of candles, fragrance, body and bath products. Drawing on their illustrious fashion careers (Neal as a consultant and former merchandising director at LVMH, Paringaux with directorial stints at Gap, lululemon and Gucci), Commune melds botanical blends and innovative design – with nature always at its heart.
“I think the name came before we even knew the expression of it,” Neal explains. “There was just this very warm kind of sense of community in Somerset.” Moving from Vancouver at the beginning of lockdown, the pair found themselves in a “tiny little hamlet” – a forest-bordered village where neighbours spent idle time cooking for each other and going for long, nature-filled walks.
“I think something that we’ve noticed is that word ‘community’ is arguably the most overused word in marketing,” Paringaux adds. “We felt the word had been sort of conflated a little bit with social following and we wanted – at least in the context of Commune – to go back to the core meaning of the word. We thought, ‘How do we actually connect in a meaningful way?’ So there in our shop... that’s how we really started reframing the meaning of the word ‘community’ into something physical.”
Expanding beyond the rolling hills of Somerset, Commune has brought its transportive bath and body essentials to MECCA. Dressed in the brand’s ornate Eclipse motif, the collection includes luxurious candles in two evocative scent profiles, Lux and Nox (Latin for ‘light’ and ‘darkness’). You’ll also find indulgent, essential oil-rich blends for body, bath and hair, all infused with Commune’s signature fragrance, Seymour.
Before launching the brand, Neal undertook training with “the master of natural perfume” Mandy Aftel, in San Francisco. It was here she honed the art of layering of natural fragrances; crafting scents that lift moods, harness feelings and bring sensorial dimension to Commune’s everyday beauty staples. The Seymour fragrance – named after the neighbouring village of Bratton Seymour – is Neal’s ode to Somerset in spring.
"We were just past the spring equinox and moving into summer, and we wanted to capture the specific kind of light we were starting to see in the sky,” Neal explains. The fragrance opens with bright, refreshing grapefruit and lemongrass, unfolding into an herbaceous heart of geranium, clary sage and lavender. Complete with base notes of galbanum, hiba wood and cypress, Seymour evokes the grounding feeling of a countryside walk after an April shower.
Made up entirely of plant-based ingredients, Commune’s fragrances extend beyond the olfactory experience. “All of the elements that we put in our formulations come from nature, so they have benefits that are so much greater than just the pleasant scent,” Paringaux says. “Everything's got an aromatherapeutic benefit... you’ve got all that fragrant complexity and the healing benefits that come with it,” Neal adds.
It’s this fastidious, conscious approach to formulation – and packaging – that won Commune the Positive Impact Award at The Business of Beauty Global Awards 2025. Citing nature as “their most important stakeholder,” Neal and Paringaux made a commitment to no single-use plastic from the very beginning. Housed in recyclable aluminium bottles, each product comes with a unique reusable pump, inspired by the Gothic architecture seen around Somerset.
“It’s much easier to buy an off-the-shelf plastic bottle and put a label on it,” Neal explains. “It’s much harder to make a raw, industrial material like aluminium look really compelling. For us, it was about taking a holistic approach – thinking about how we can use a more responsible material and make that look exquisite. We want everyone who interacts with our products to be blown away by the aesthetic, but also the functionality.”
Wherever Commune sits within your day – a quick morning shower, a luxurious evening bath, a lit candle for a moment of ambience – the products encourage a ‘ritual of pause’. Neal adds, “I think the intention is really to make people reconnect... with themselves, with each other, with the brand. It’s the idea of getting up in the morning, going to your bathroom and interacting with something beautiful, something full of nature. That has an impact on your day.”
