Our partnership with London-based illustrator Eleanor Percival was born from a shared obsession. She spends her days painting botanical specimens from her garden shed studio. We spend ours extracting active compounds from those same plants in our London lab. When we needed an artist to capture the rosehip, camellia and chamomile extracts that power our formulations, Eleanor was the natural choice.
The perfect partnership
"I work in a very cute shed at the back of my garden and I get to look out at the birds and the plants, it's lovely. I've got a big interest in lots of different subjects and I think that informs my work quite a lot. I am obsessed with nature, and I love gardening. My parents were both big gardeners so that's a big interest for me. I think I've always loved drawing plants and flowers, and it's been really fun to get paid to do that, rather than just doing it for myself!"
Instantly inspired
"I loved doing the Rosehip illustrations. I'd never painted them before and they're such beautiful colours and lovely shapes. Doing the Camellias was great as well. I've literally got a white Camellia right outside my window so I get to look at them the whole time."
Illustrating the ingredients
"Usually I work in watercolour, that's my favourite medium. But I pretty much use whatever is fitting for the project. For the Rosehip illustrations I tried a few different things; first ink, then I tried watercolour. Actually the sketches that came out best were the ones that I did in coloured pencil.
They just had a nice texture to them, and then when I scanned them in and started working with them on the computer, they were the ones where the lines were the most effective, and they looked like the most spontaneous illustrations."
Bringing the designs to life
"Once I'd scanned them in, I worked with the designer at Pai. We tried lots of different colourways and worked out what would work best for these products. And that was really lovely, I love working with colour like that. So that was fantastic."
Eleanor's Pai picks
"These are products that I actually use, so it was nice to think about them in connection to other people discovering them too. The Light Work is one of my absolute favourites! It's really easy to use and delivers real results. My god the smell is amazing! It's a brilliant product to use when you're feeling lazy, but you also want something that delivers real results. My other favourite product is the Echium and Amaranth Age Confidence Oil. The texture is incredible and it absorbs beautifully!"
The science behind the botanicals
Eleanor's illustrations aren't just beautiful. They capture the exact ingredients we extract using CO2 supercritical technology. Our Rosehip BioRegenerate, for instance, contains 700% more antioxidants than cold-pressed versions, including trans-retinoic acid that helps even skin tone. Eleanor painted those same rosehips, capturing their burnt orange intensity.
The white camellias she watches from her studio window? We extract their omega-rich oil for our Salvation Jane. The connection between artist and ingredient runs deeper than aesthetics. It's about understanding what makes each botanical special.
From illustration to innovation
Eleanor's botanical illustrations have become part of Pai's visual language, appearing on limited editions and gift sets. But they represent something bigger. They're a reminder that behind every formula is a plant with specific chemistry we've spent years learning to extract properly.
When you see Eleanor's rosehip illustration on our packaging, you're seeing the same ingredient we've spent years perfecting the extraction of. Same plant, different obsessions. Hers is capturing its form. Ours is capturing its function. Together, they tell the complete story of natural skincare that actually works.
Want to know more about the 12 science-backed benefits of rosehip oil for your skin? Or discover 10 unexpected ways to use Rosehip BioRegenerate beyond your face.
