About

Established in 2019 in memory of my Grandad, Fred Hatton, a gentle man who spent his life walking the hills and forests with his love, Kath.

My Story

I didn't really set out to create a skincare brand. Menteath came about during a period of my life when I was trying to understand how to feel settled again.

Before starting Menteath, I had spent around 13 years working in humanitarian response and other environments where trauma, crisis and grief were part of everyday life. I worked with refugees, in male prisons and in crisis response, including aviation disasters. I loved much of that work and it shaped who I am, but I don't think I realised at the time how much of it I was carrying with me.

When you're used to working in places where something might go wrong, being alert is useful. The difficulty was that I remained in that state when I came home. My adrenaline always seemed to be switched on, even when life was supposedly normal.

I increasingly found myself seeking out the outdoors. Walking, climbing, woodland and especially being at height gave all that energy somewhere to go. When I'm climbing, fear has a reason. I have to pay attention to what is actually in front of me — where I'm putting my feet, what I'm holding onto, my breath, the weather and the ground beneath me. I can't be somewhere else in my head. For me, learning to experience fear in that way, rather than constantly trying to avoid it, has been surprisingly healing.

The more time I spent outside, the more I noticed its sensory world too: wet earth, woodland, cold air on my face, rock under my hands, plants, water and the smell of smoke and fire.

That world gradually found its way into Menteath.

Skin, Scent + the Elements

I began experimenting at home with oils, botanicals and scent, initially making things for myself. I've always been drawn to smells that aren't traditionally associated with skincare — earth, smoke, wood, peat, herbs and plants — and to the memories and emotions that scent can bring back so vividly.

As I learned more about formulation, that curiosity led me into aromachology and eventually the emerging field of neurocosmetics and the relationship between our skin, senses and nervous system.

It helped me understand what I wanted Menteath to be: effective skincare that cares for the skin, but where scent, touch and the experience of using it matter too

Designed by the Wild

The outdoors isn't simply the inspiration for Menteath. It's where our products make sense.

Wind, cold, sun, water, chalk, dirt and sweat are part of a life spent outside, but they can also leave skin feeling dry, tight and in need of care.

Menteath is for what comes afterwards: balm massaged into dry hands when the chalk comes off, facial oil pressed into skin that's spent the day in the wind, body oil worked into tired legs after miles on foot, and scent that brings a little of the landscape home with you.

Our skin and body care is made to soothe, soften, nourish and restore without turning caring for yourself into another complicated routine.

Menteath is for climbers, walkers, skiers, swimmers, growers, people who work outside and anyone who simply knows they feel more themselves with a little more sky above them.

I don't believe skin needs to be perfect or that getting older is something we need to fight. I want Menteath to care for the skin we actually live in — so we can go outside, use our bodies, feel the elements and come home to something restorative.