"Frances Shoemack grew up in the "middle of nowhere", with a "hippie dippy" yogi mum and a farm (with all its animals and chaos) to call home. When she talks to us, it's late night on a Friday in New Zealand - where she's always lived, save for a stint in Amsterdam; the kids are in bed, and she's a glass of wine down. This sums up Abel as a brand: approachable, fun and never stuffy. But that's not to say it's unsophisticated - quite the opposite, in fact. Abel is alluring, with its delicious branding and unconventional, innovative scents that scratch an itch."
""I grew up attuned to the rhythms of nature," Shoemack recalls. "I feel super grateful to my mother - she grew everything that we ate." Farm life aside, she worked with the land as an oenologist long before beginning her own fragrance brand. "It wasn't like I suddenly discovered clean beauty and wanted to change my life - [sustainability] has always been a part of me." But while she ate organic produce and opted for natural skincare formulas, she struggled to find sustainable fragrances that felt cool and matched her lifestyle. "I'd walk into a beautiful perfumery or department store and ask for a natural perfume, and they'd tell me to go to the supermarket.""
"Dowdy brown packaging peppered with Papyrus lettering alongside her weekly food shop was not how Shoemack envisioned her perfect scent. And so, on the smell of an oily rag (which Shoemack translates from Kiwi slang as 'the bare minimum'), she created Abel. "I was working full time and doing it off my savings," she explains. "I didn't have any experience in the industry.""
Abel produces natural, sustainable fragrances formulated from upcycled ingredients and free from petrochemicals. Each formula is designed to last for hours without overwhelming the senses. Frances Shoemack founded Abel after growing up on a farm in New Zealand and working as an oenologist, bringing a lifelong commitment to nature and sustainability to scent creation. Frustration with bland natural perfume options and conventional packaging prompted a hands-on, savings-funded launch and iterative product development. The brand presents approachable, playful yet sophisticated scents with unconventional combinations and distinctive branding. Products are available through the Abel website.
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