Aesop’s Holiday Gift Kits

Each of the six holiday gift kits Australian skin-care line Aesop has released in its new Pursuits of Passion holiday gift series was inspired by a naturalist, and honours those whose passion for botanicals aligns their own life’s work with Aesop’s company values.

For instance, “The Constant Gatherer”, a refreshing body care duet, references Minakata Kumagusu, a Japanese biologist who collected and documented botanical specimens (particularly fungi and lichens); “The Impassionate Wanderer” is comprised of a nourishing hair care trio and inspired by John “John of the Mountains” Muir, known for his heartfelt devotion to the American wilderness. “The Intrepid Gent”, filled with essentials for the well-groomed man, takes its title from Scottish army physician Andrew Leith Adams, who studied the natural history of the various places in which he worked including India, Gibraltar, and Canada. The German-born scientific illustrator Maria Sibylla Merian, who studied indigenous fauna and flora in the then Dutch colony of Surinam in South America, is honoured in “The Avid Explorer”, a lavish body care quartet, while “The Persistent Collector”, consisting of a nourishing classic skin-care collection, celebrates Etheldred Benett, regarded as the first female geologist.

The distinct products are stored in reusable amenity cases, wrapped in colourful sleeves with illustrations depicting each naturalist in different settings, like Leonard Jenyns—one of the world’s first phenologists—wandering his beloved Cambridgeshire, or Etheldred Benett collecting fossils on a Dorset beach. Created by Norwegian artist, cartoonist, and illustrator Bendik Kaltenborn, known for his playful work, the striking simplicity of the aesthetics is in keeping with Aesop’s own timeless good taste, as the brand goes beyond the surface of conventional skin care.