On any regular day, Amy Christiansen is hard at work revolutionising the world of luxury business with Sana Jardin, the socially conscious, clean, luxury fragrance house she launched as a vehicle for social change. But that’s not even touching the surface, with Amy’s vision also leading her to contribute to three philanthropic foundations, all whilst homeschooling and raising her two young sons in her London home.

All of this might sound like a demanding task to juggle alongside parenthood, but Amy brings with her a focus and vision on empowering women and a desire to address economic inequality. Amy’s passions stem from her career spanning over 25 years in the non-profit sector in the US, Middle East and Europe - beginning as a direct practice social worker providing outpatient psychotherapy to low-income children and families.  A Georgetown Ambassador for Women, Peace and Security and an Advisory Board Member of Nest, Amy now helps to nurture the next generation of leaders whilst empowering women and promoting peace. In addition, Amy is a Board Member for the learning and development training Elisa Sednaoui Foundation - further demonstrating her commitment to social change.   

The most notable element to Amy’s fragrance house Sana Jardin is their alternative business model - The Beyond Sustainability™ Movement. Sana Jardin has created a cooperative for low-income Moroccan women based on a unique circular economy business model that aims to empower female flower harvesters via flower recycling. Sana Jardin teaches the rural flower harvesters how to upcycle the byproduct from perfume production and convert it into their own line of businesses – enabling the women to become micro-entrepreneurs. With Sana Jardin’s supplementary business training, the women create and sell their own range of candles and orange blossom water of which they retain 100% of the profits. This alternative business model enables the women in the cooperative to recycle commercial waste to give them a year-round income and, in turn, works towards three of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

Launched in 2017, Sana Jardin now retails in 120 luxury retailers globally, including Net-A-Porter, Harrods, Liberty and Galleries Lafayette. 

No two days are the same when you are at the forefront of social change but here’s an insight into Amy’s daily routine…

7:15 am: I am awoken by the crystal bells on my phone, grateful that with homeschooling my sons get to sleep in a bit later as they are only commuting to their bedrooms – one of the major benefits of lockdown.

7:20 am: I walk out of my sons’ bedrooms, eyes still shut with my British Airways eye mask and I cosily crawl back under the covers to start my meditation. My daily meditation is a fusion of different spiritual teachers I work with with in Tulum and California, mostly consisting of grounding exercises, surrendering, and visualizing crystalline healing energy coming from my heart.

My bedsheets are from Marrakech, from a shop in the Industrial Quarter called Fenyadi, and I sleep in Moroccan kaftans or my latest obsession, If Only If Nightwear.

7:30 am: After my meditation, I like to have a glass of hot water with lemon slices from my Japanese hot water machine - a game changer so I feel less guilty when I drink coca-cola later in the day. Growing up outside of Chicago, sadly I have a bad soda habit!

I start to make Danish heart waffles for my sons, whilst yelling upstairs to them to get dressed and hurry up. The recipe is actually Norwegian but I fudge the story a bit so they know my late father’s Danish roots. My housekeeper makes the mix from scratch and we store it in the freezer so it only takes about 5 minutes in a heart-shaped waffle maker from Amazon. It is easy but my boys feel very spoiled.

7:55 am: The boys finally arrive downstairs, and we sit and eat the waffles with powdered sugar, and different fruits every day whilst listening to the Beatles. Listening to the Beatles always reminds me of my childhood in the Midwest and makes me appreciate living in London. Dear Prudence and Here Comes the Sun are two of our favourites.

After breakfast, I love saying to the boys “Right, time to go to school!!” and they scurry up to their bedroom, laughing hysterically at their “lockdown commute”.

8:25 am: I am in front of my computer, feet up on my chair, peacefully clearing through my inbox and reading the news. With friends and business in many different countries, I check my phone to see what I may have missed while I was sleeping.

9:00 am: I then get ready for the day with a quick shower using Lancer Polish face wash, a Clarisonic, Josh Wood shampoo for fine blonde hair and the Icy Blonde semi-permanent treatment gloss  - Josh Wood blonde hair products have saved me during the lockdown. I love Lancer products and MZ skin so I use the MZ Skin Hydrate and Nourish Cream. I feel like they make my skin much more glowing than it naturally is.

I use Laura Mercier concealer, MAC so sweet, so easy cream blush on my lips and cheeks, colour in my eyebrows with Tom Ford eyebrow pencil, and use Charlotte Tilbury the golden goddess eyeshadow to do a discrete and smoky eye. I tend to not really wear make-up and find myself letting my hair air dry during lockdown but if I need to have my eyes pop on a zoom call, I use L’Oréal voluminous original mascara in black and Tom Ford cat eyeliner. I have very blonde eyelashes so my secret is to use L’Oréal double extend primer which thickens the lashes before putting on mascara. Of course, I spritz my neck with Sana Jardin Tiger By Her Side amber perfume as it makes me feel centred and powerful.

9:30 am: I throw on a loose dress (often from a shop in Marrakech called Topolina) as they are free-flowing like pyjamas, but look more polished. I walk downstairs in my sandals to my living room and start my Zoom calls and emails from our dining room table. I don’t mind Zoom calls as I find they are efficient - everyone gets straight to the point! I will usually have a few Italian breakfast cookies on the side so I get a little sugar and carb high.

12:00 pm: I prepare lunch for my sons, sit with them to eat, and then try to meet a friend after lunch for a long and fast-paced walk in Hyde Park, even if it is rainy and miserable!

Check out Sana Jardin’s newest fragrance, Incense Water (which our Creative Director Lily is obsessed with) here!