La Bougie owner Lucy Hagerty on her UK base in Lymington
FORMER royal chef-turned-luxury perfumer Lucy Hagerty has revealed why she choose Lymington as the perfect town to open the first UK branch of her La Bougie fragrance company.
A decade after launching her perfume business in Ireland, Lucy said complications with exporting products after Brexit lead her to establish a UK headquarters for her fragrance business.
The story of La Bougie began in 2012, when Lucy Hagerty embarked on a new journey to craft the perfect candle. Believing in the intimate connection between taste and smell, Lucy spent seven years mastering the art of perfumery prior to the launch of La Bougie.
After growing the West Cork-based artisan perfumery to be one of the best known in Ireland, Lucy opted to open her first UK shop in Lymington in early 2023. The move gives La Bougie in-store and online platforms for its range of eaux de parfum, candles and scent diffusers which are created using prized aromatics and botanical oils from around the world.
Since launching the luxury boutique store selling a range of La Bougie products on the High Street in Lymington, Lucy has also supported local sailing champion and America’s Cup athlete Hattie Rogers.
Lucy began her business in the Irish town of Kinsale, which she describes as “very similar to Lymington, with a large sailing community”.
She said: “Lymington is somewhere that I spent many of my teenage years so it was already a town that was very close to my heart – and the demographic was just right for the business.”
In the 1990s Lucy was the personal chef to Sarah Ferguson, but after marrying her Irish husband, she left the royal household and focused on raising her two daughters. She said: “We moved all over the world for my husband’s job in finance, and when we moved to Switzerland I began training in perfumery.
“I started La Bougie at my kitchen table in 2012 and, fast forward to 2024, and we now have a 5,000sqft factory in Ireland where I create the fragrances from scratch. The chemistry and the laboratory work involved is very extensive – it’s not just sitting there and mixing a few oils.
“We now have a workforce of 15 – and many have been with us from the early days.”
She added: “Then Brexit came along and it was just so tricky shipping so we thought ‘why don’t we open a UK office and a shop in England?’ – and we settled on Lymington as the perfect place.”
Lucy’s husband Peter now runs the marketing and finance side of the business, and their daughter Tabitha heads the retail and dispatch team. She said: “They say it takes a family to raise a brand, and that is certainly true of us.”
La Bougie’s best-selling scent is Mission Fig featuring ‘parched earth, fig leaves and blond wood’ and other top fragrances include Honeysuckle and Sea Salt, Pomelo; Tuscan Bergamot; and Desert Rose.
To celebrate the festive season Lucy has recently launched a new fragrance called Fir Baby described as a decadent winter candle with notes of fir resin, musk, and currants.
Lucy said: “Fir Baby is not just a candle, it is a festive and sensory experience bringing the classic components of the season together in one mysterious and sexy fragrance, so different, yet so familiar that you can’t quite put your finger on it... in a limited-edition burgundy jar.”
La Bougie is on the High Street in Lymington. To find out more visit www.labougie.co.uk
