A minute with Elsie Hadjipavli Herbal skincare formulator, herbalist

Where do you live?
Kalavasos with Zenonas (partner) Narou (dog) and Smol (cat)

What did you have for breakfast?
Vegetable soup with a poached egg

Describe your perfect day
With dear friends, friendly strangers and lots of dogs. Long conversations about love, death, ancestral ways, the nervous system, plants and fungi. Sharing homemade food, edible flowers, chocolate, red wine and laughter. Wild mushroom foraging, laying on lush moss and dips in icy rivers. Ending the day immersed in natural hot springs while it snows and Mark Lanegan casually plays music in the back.

Best book ever read?
Tissue Cleansing Through Bowel Management by Bernard Jensen, because I learned so much about my body and how it works.

Best childhood memory?
When my parents took us on a surprise visit to my grandma (she was spending the summer in the mountains) and they turned the back of the van where my sister and I would sit into a playroom, so that we wouldn’t get bored of the long drive. Best day ever, and at the end I got to see my favourite person.

What is always in your fridge?
Tahini and Sauerkraut

What music are you listening to in the car at the moment?
I rarely listen to music in the car, but I love Nick Cave for road trips.

What’s your spirit animal?
Jelly fish. Not sure why, she just showed up many times in my dreams and meditations. I read that she is supposed to sting you into action, which is something I often need.

What are you most proud of?
My ability to be detached from and question my own beliefs and perceptions.

What movie scene has really stayed with you?
In Persepolis, when the grandmother is undressing and jasmine flowers are falling off her bra. I guess because it reminds me of my own grandmother, and it instantly brings the smell of jasmine to mind.

If you could pick anyone at all (alive or dead) to go out for the evening with, who would it be?
Jane Goodall and Zach Bush

If you could time travel when/where would you go?
To a Pink Floyd concert in the 70s

What is your greatest fear?
Allowing fear to stop me from experiencing this life fully.

What would you say to your 18-year-old self?
Trust your instinct and be kind.

Name the one thing that would stop you dating someone
If they didn’t like dogs

If the world is ending in 24 hours what would you do?
Hug my loved ones. Hug anyone who feels lonely. Open that bottle of expensive brandy I am keeping for a special occasion and go out to release as many animals as I can that are kept in cages.