Remember when Crabtree & Evelyn announced it was closing all its stores here in January this year and everyone flocked to grab body washes and hand creams on massive discounts? The last store shuttered at Paragon in end January, and with an announcement that it was moving operations online, the brand went quiet.

Until now.

8days.sg just received a press release from the ‘new’ Crabtree & Evelyn, and boy, we barely recognise it. Yes, it’s still called Crabtree & Evelyn, but gone is the brand’s signature flowery packaging and quaint English rose garden vibe. In its place are products with minimalist packaging and clean lines, and marketing visuals featuring Millennials with nose piercings and tattoos and not a bottle of body lotion in sight.

It's not just about the products, it's a feeling... And the feeling is so Millennial, so chic.
It seems like a huge departure from the brand founded in 1972 by “wanderlust and nature enthusiast, Cyrus Harvey”, which has relied heavily on its legacy as an English-styled bath and body brand. Its original founder sold the business decades ago, and it’s currently owned by Hong Kong investment holding company Nan Hai Corporation, who handled the store closures earlier this year and is currently re-launching the brand here and internationally. It seems the closures were to allow the brand to lick its business wounds and come back with a vengeance.

But don’t worry, there’s a still a strong English connection — C&E’s global team sits in London, and the branding is still inspired by founder Cyrus Harvey’s “values of travel, connection and curation”, which have “never been more important or relevant to the world.” The new brand message? “Born Curious. Grown Wild.” Very… edgy. Will this appeal to Millennials, which are obviously now the brand’s target audience? Will they buy into a label that used to be traditional and now retains some of that brand legacy while pursuing new and hipper values?

Will the products retain the brand’s signature scents and textures, or will they be similarly rebranded into something completely different? We’ll let you know when we get our hands on a revamped hand cream. Meanwhile, here are some beautiful visuals and cool products to feast your eyes on.

No more floating through ethereal English gardens, yo. The new C&E gurl sits at hipster cafes and has nose rings.

Edgy with a fun vibe, much?

What you're looking at is the Evelyn Rose collection, one of two core collections for the revamp. The other is called Crabtree, and is the brand's first 'genderless' offering.

Here's what the press release says about Evelyn Rose: It symbolises powerful, independent women, inviting the consumer to reject the ordinary, embrace the thorns and unleash their unique nature. With a completely different formulation from the old Evelyn Rose, this collection is centred around hydration and represents the brand’s beautifying collection. It’s also a complete challenge to everything you think about Rose. The products aren’t sweet, or subtle. They’re unexpected, bold and different.

Woah.

At the end of it, it's still about selling the products, right? We can't wait to sniff the body lotions, hand creams, body creams, cleansing balms, lip scrubs, face foams, facial mists, exfoliators, masks, solid perfumes, oils, candles, tea and diffusers!

Yes, we still see some flowers on the boxes, but gone is the olde Englishe feel. In its place are hipster illustrations and one-colour dusty pink bottles with clean lines and minimal print. Because the English Rose of today is social media-driven and connected, with an obsessive need for Instagrammable skincare. The Evelyn Rose Lustrous Body Oil is $51.50 for 100ml.

A melty hydrator infused with rosehip seed oil and rosewater concentrate, boosted with smoothing murumuru butter and enhanced by mallow flower and meadowfoam.

We used to love C&E hand creams. Will we love this new one too? Stay tuned.

We're definitely not in olde Englishe C&E land anymore. These bottles in the Crabtree collection (the 'genderless' line) are pharmaceutical-cool and we love the dark seafoam green hue and minimalist vibe.

From the press release, Crabtree is a collection of elevated essential products encompassing the brand’s ‘All for one. One for all’ approach to life. These products might be functional in use. Some are unusual in form. But all have a unifying quality: inclusivity. She can use his. He can use hers.

We likey.

The Crabtree Refresh + Renew Face Foam is $22 for 50ml and $35.50 for 125ml.​​​​​​​

A splash of apple water and a dose of skin-softening shea butter offers moisture, while apple AHAs gently exfoliate.

Wanna get your hands on all these hip new Crabtree & Evelyn products? No, there are no stores. They are only available online, at their new content platform and e-commerce site, www.crabtree-evelyn.com.