Aesop’s Geranium Leaf, 27 Years On

A look back at the product that shaped how Aesop began, and where it stands now.

Words Coleen Wong
Photos courtesy of Aesop
August 11, 2025

Aesop’s Geranium Leaf Body Care range has quietly shaped the way we think about daily bathing. Introduced 27 years ago, it offered an alternative to the synthetic-heavy, overly scented products of the time. Instead, it focused on essential oils, most notably Pelargonium graveolens (Rose Geranium), and a clean formulation, housed in the now-iconic amber bottle.

What made it stand out wasn’t just the scent, but the intent. It was a product that treated bathing as a deliberate ritual, not just a routine. It was also foundational in setting the tone for what Aesop would become: minimal, genderless, and rooted in balance, between science and nature, function and form.

Geranium Leaf Body Cleanser became a mainstay in homes, hotels, concept stores, and spaces where design and detail mattered. It was a quiet signal of care, taste, and restraint–the kind of product that didn’t need to call attention to itself.

To mark nearly three decades of this range, Aesop is launching a celebration across its stores. Geranium plants and lab tools take over the window displays, referencing the original thinking behind the formula: where botanicals meet careful formulation. A limited-edition gift set, Evergreen Exhilaration, brings together two core products—one to exfoliate, one to replenish: Geranium Leaf Body Scrub and Geranium Leaf Body Balm.

This isn’t a relaunch. It’s Aesop staying where it’s always been. Clear, consistent, and not in a rush to change what already works. The range hasn’t been updated because it doesn’t need to be. It still holds up formulation, function, and everything in between.

There’s something to be said about a product that doesn’t follow cycles. While skincare brands race to push out new launches, seasonal scents, or trend-led ingredients, Geranium Leaf stays in its lane. And it worked for nearly thirty years. Its relevance hasn’t faded; it just became a part of the background. Quietly present and unmoved by the noise.

With Evergreen Exhilaration, Aesop isn’t introducing something new. It’s pausing to acknowledge what lasted. It’s a reminder of how simplicity, when done well, becomes lasting. There’s no overstatement, no reinvention. Just two formulas that have stood the test of time, offered as a kind of reset: a return to something that has always made sense.

In a time when everything is designed to be new, Geranium Leaf still does what it was made to do: cut through the excess and bring you back to the basics. And sometimes, that’s all you need.