How Marianella Is Made: Inside Our Williamsburg Workshop

Marianella is built by hand, in small batches, in our workshop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. A batch is 50 to 100 pieces, and each one is poured, labeled and packaged by the same people who made it. We have worked this way since 2007, and the only exceptions are our two Ultra Peptide formulas, which a specialist cosmetic lab makes for us.

That is the short answer. The longer one is about what a small batch actually changes: what we can check, what we choose not to make, and why a bottle that reaches you was made recently rather than pulled from a warehouse.

What a batch of 50 to 100 means

Small batch is a phrase that gets stretched until it means very little. For us it is a number. We make between 50 and 100 of something at a time, which is small enough for the people at the bench to give every piece their full attention and large enough to keep the shelves stocked.

The trade is plain. Fewer units per run means more runs, more hours and no savings from scale. What we get back is control. If a texture is not right, the problem is one batch, caught on the bench, not a season's worth of stock already boxed and shipped.

Poured, labeled and packaged by the same hands

In a large factory, the person who fills a bottle rarely sees it labeled, and the person who packs it never smelled it being made. In our workshop those are the same people. Each batch is hand poured, hand labeled and hand packaged by whoever made it, so the person putting a bottle in its box has seen that batch from the start.

You can see this in the products themselves. Our Hydrating Hand Wash with Kalahari Oil is a true castile-style liquid soap: organic coconut, olive and jojoba oils saponified the traditional way, which is slower than thickening a detergent. Our candles are hand poured into their black vessels. The Royal Kalahari Face Serum, the formula our brand is best known for, is still made by hand in Williamsburg in batches of 50 to 100.

What a small batch lets us check

Working slowly gives us time to look before anything leaves the bench. We check how a texture feels when it is warm and again when it has set. We check how a scent opens, because a fragrance can read one way in the bottle and another on skin. We check how the bottle looks, the label straight and the cap clean, because David Foote, our Creative Director, designed every piece of that packaging and it should arrive the way he drew it.

None of these checks are complicated. They simply need someone to stand there and do them, and a batch of 50 to 100 makes that possible every time. It is how Marianella worked at her kitchen table in 2007, with better equipment and more hands.

Making what is needed, not filling a warehouse

We make what is needed rather than producing months of stock in advance. That has two effects you can notice. First, what reaches you was made recently. A body cream or a face oil has not spent a year on a pallet before it gets to your bathroom shelf. Second, very little is wasted, because we are not left with surplus that has to be cleared or thrown away.

The same thinking runs through our materials. We use recyclable glass bottles and jars wherever we can, and reusable vessels where they suit the product. When we use plastic, it is only for safety or stability. We work with suppliers who share our standards for purity and performance, and an ingredient that does not meet them does not go into our products. We have never tested on animals, and we never will.

The two formulas we do not make ourselves

Everything we sell is made in our workshop with one exception, and we would rather say so clearly. Our Wrinkle Reducing Ultra Peptide Intensive Face Serum and Ultra Peptide Intensive Night Cream are our most intensive formulas. They are built around three peptides, Argireline, Matrixyl 3000 and Snap-8, and a specialist cosmetic lab makes them for us.

That is why we never describe those two as handmade. Everything else, from the face oils to the body scrub, comes off our own bench.

Why the method has not changed

Our brand has grown since 2007. The range now runs across face, body, hands and home, our products are sold at BEAUTYSPACE at Bloomingdale's, and the Royal Kalahari Face Serum won People's Star Beauty Award for Best Facial Care Product. None of that changed the batch size. The serum is made today the way it was the day it was first poured.

We think the slowness shows. A batch made by people who will check it has an author: the texture is a decision, the scent is a decision, and so is what was left out. If you would like to know exactly what went in, every ingredient we use is listed in our Ingredient Library, as it appears on the label. And if you want the story of how the first batches came about, read how our brand began in 2007.

Questions about how Marianella is made

How big is a Marianella batch?

Between 50 and 100 pieces. That is small enough for the people making it to check every piece by hand before it leaves the bench.

Is every Marianella product handmade?

Everything except two. Our Wrinkle Reducing Ultra Peptide Intensive Face Serum and Night Cream are made for us by a specialist cosmetic lab; every other product is made by hand in our Williamsburg workshop.

Where is the Marianella workshop?

In Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Each batch is poured, labeled and packaged there by the same people who made it.

Are Marianella products tested on animals?

No. We have never tested on animals, and we never will.