Today we’d like to introduce you to RACHEL LONDON.
Hi RACHEL, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Topsy Blends really started because I was trying to solve a problem in my own life.
For years, I dealt with chronic stomach pain and nausea on an almost daily basis. I had been to doctors, changed my diet, tried different exercise routines and home remedies, and nothing seemed to make much of a difference. Eventually, my sister introduced me to essential oils. I started researching them and created a blend that I could apply topically to my stomach. To my surprise, it actually helped — a lot. That little blend eventually became Tranquil Tummy, one of my first products, and planted the seed for what would become Topsy Blends.
I became completely fascinated with aromatherapy after that. I didn’t just want to know that essential oils could be helpful; I wanted to understand why. I wanted to learn about the chemistry, the individual components of the oils, how they interacted with the body, and how to use them safely and effectively. That curiosity eventually led me to complete more than 300 hours of formal aromatherapy and Anatomy & Physiology training and become a Certified Aromatherapist.
I started Topsy Blends in 2015, and it has grown, slowly but surely, over the last 11 years. What started with me making a handful of products has evolved into a full line of aromatherapy, skincare, and self-care products that I formulate and make myself here in Oregon.
There have been many different versions of Topsy along the way. I’ve had an apothecary shop, taught aromatherapy workshops, worked with wholesale accounts, built an online business, and spent countless weekends selling face-to-face at local markets. These days, you’ll most often find me at my booth at Eugene Saturday Market, where I’ve been lucky enough to build relationships with customers who come back year after year. Some of them have been with me for nearly the entire journey.
I think one of the things I’m most proud of is that after 11 years, Topsy is still very much a small, hands-on business. I’m the person developing the formulas, making and packaging the products, answering customer emails, designing displays, packing online orders and standing behind the booth on Saturdays. My customers aren’t buying something created by a distant company- they’re buying something that was made by the same person they’re talking to.
Topsy has certainly changed over the years, and so have I, but the heart of it has stayed surprisingly consistent. I want to create approachable, practical ways for people to take care of themselves and make everyday life feel a little better. Sometimes that’s a blend that helps someone unwind at the end of a stressful day, sometimes it’s skincare that makes their morning routine feel special, and sometimes it’s simply something that smells wonderful and makes them happy.
Eleven years later, I’m still learning, experimenting and dreaming up what to make next — which I think is probably why I still love what I do so much.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not! I don’t think you can run a small business for 11 years without hitting quite a few bumps along the way. 🙂
One of the biggest challenges has simply been figuring things out as I go. Topsy has always been a very small business, and for most of its life, I’ve worn nearly every hat. I’m the product developer, maker, marketer, photographer, customer service department, shipping department, bookkeeper, market salesperson along with everything else that comes up in between. There is a lot of freedom in working for yourself, but there is also no one else to hand things off to when you’re overwhelmed or don’t know the answer.
I’ve also learned that growing a business isn’t always a straight line. I’ve tried things that worked wonderfully and others that didn’t. I’ve opened an apothecary, closed an apothecary, changed products, changed packaging, adjusted where and how I sell, and learned to let go of ideas I was once really attached to. Over time, I’ve gotten much better at seeing those changes not necessarily as failures, but as information about what Topsy and I need next.
The most difficult period personally came in 2023, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Suddenly I was navigating appointments, surgery, radiation and recovery while also trying to keep a business running. When you’re self-employed, there isn’t really a traditional medical leave waiting for you. If I’m not making the products, filling the orders or showing up to sell them, those things simply don’t happen.
It was a strange position to be in — owning a business centered so much around self-care while being forced to really examine what taking care of myself looked like. I had to learn to give myself more grace, accept help, slow down when I needed to and recognize that the business could bend around my life rather than my life always bending around the business.
Thankfully, I made it through treatment, and that experience gave me a different perspective on both my life and my work. I care deeply about Topsy and what I’ve built, but I also understand in a much more tangible way that success isn’t just about how much the business grows. It’s also about building a life that I actually get to enjoy.
There have certainly been easier and harder seasons over these 11 years, but I think navigating all of them has made both me and Topsy more resilient. I’ve learned that I don’t have to have everything figured out…I just have to be willing to adapt, keep learning and keep moving forward.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Topsy Blends is an aromatherapy and self-care company built around a pretty simple idea: self-care should feel good, be approachable and actually fit into your life.
I sometimes describe what I make as “luxurious self-care for practical people.” I love creating products that feel special and beautiful to use, but I also want them to have a purpose. My product line includes aromatherapy blends, natural skincare, body care and other everyday self-care products designed to become things you genuinely enjoy using.
As a Certified Aromatherapist, I’m especially passionate about taking something that can sometimes feel confusing or intimidating, like essential oils, and making it approachable. You shouldn’t need to own 30 bottles of essential oil or understand the chemistry behind them to enjoy aromatherapy. That’s my job! I formulate the products so that my customers can simply find something they love and easily incorporate it into their everyday lives.
I’m also a bit obsessive about creating products that do more than one thing. Some of my favorite formulas have come from asking, “How can I make this even more useful?” I love a product that earns its place on your bathroom counter or in your bag rather than becoming one more thing you bought and forgot about.
A perfect example of that is The Great Omni Oil, or “The G.O.O.,” which actually came out of one of the hardest chapters of my life. After breast cancer surgery, I was dealing with serious swelling and discomfort around my underarm and lymph nodes, along with tender, irritated skin and scars that needed extra care. I was looking for one natural product I could feel good about using to support my “healing journey”, but I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for — so I decided to create it myself.
After more than 130 hours of research and countless test batches, I finally developed an oil that became part of my own daily self-care routine. But then, in typical Topsy fashion, I started discovering all the other things I could use it for- my hair, scalp, cuticles, bath, full-body moisturizer, outdoor adventures and more. What started as a very personal product created during breast cancer recovery eventually became a 20+ use “everything oil,” and today, it’s Topsy’s best-selling product.
There’s something really special to me about the fact that one of the hardest experiences of my life ultimately inspired a product that I’m incredibly proud of and that so many other people now love and use in their own lives. In a way, I think The G.O.O. is a great representation of Topsy as a whole: it came from a real need, a lot of research and experimentation, and a desire to create something genuinely useful.
Something else that sets Topsy apart is how personal it still is. I make my products in small batches, and because I sell so much of what I make face-to-face, I get an incredible amount of direct feedback. I hear what people love, what they keep coming back for, what they wish existed, and sometimes what isn’t working for them. That relationship with my customers has shaped Topsy enormously over the years.
I’m probably most proud of the community that has grown around the business. There are customers I’ve known for years, and I get to hear about their lives, meet their families, watch their kids grow up and, for some, see them every Saturday! People will bring back an empty bottle of something they’ve used for years or tell me they gave one of my products to a friend who then became a customer herself. Those moments still mean a lot to me.
At the end of the day, I don’t think self-care has to be complicated or performative. Sometimes it’s a whole evening devoted to yourself, but sometimes it’s putting on a face cream you love, rolling a comforting aromatherapy blend onto your wrists before a stressful day, or taking 30 seconds to tap into one of your strongest senses — your sense of smell — to help you feel good.
That’s really what I want Topsy to be: small, practical moments of taking care of yourself that you can actually make part of your life.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
The simple things, honestly! Working in my garden, going on walks with my dog, a really good meal, laughing with the people I love, and spending time at home with my fiancé, Michael.
I would say I’m happiest when I’m creating something- whether that’s dreaming up a new product for Topsy, working on a project around the house, or trying something I’ve never made before. I think I just really love the feeling of making an idea come to life.
After everything I’ve experienced over the last few years, I’ve become much more appreciative of ordinary, happy days. There’s something pretty wonderful about a life that doesn’t need to be extraordinary every day to feel really good.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.topsyblends.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/topsyblends/
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/topsyblends/
