Inner Bloom with Leonie Cornelius
Leonie Cornelius is an award winning Garden Designer, Interior Architect and best-selling author. She is also passionate about creating gardens that nourish body, mind, and soul.
I first met Leonie at the Bord Bia Bloom Festival in 2023 when she called by looking for a product to soothe her chapped lips. Several jars of Superfood Cleansing Balm later and it felt like Leonie was the perfect next guest on the Inner Bloom Series! I absolutely love Leonie's authentic commitment to helping people reconnect to body and soul through nature and the beautiful garden spaces she creates that nurture and restore. This interview was truly inspiring and I hope you get as much from it as I did.
Nicola x
Can you share how your own wellness journey began Leonie?
It’s funny, when I think back even as a child my every day was linked to a sense of care and being aware of what was good for me and what wasn’t. My parents always had a really strong sense of wellbeing and looking after the family. I was born in Germany and we always had nourishing gardens when I was young. We also lived on a Greek island when I was a toddler for a while and we made our own olive oil and essential oil mixes like sage and rosemary so I always had this intuitive awareness of deep rooted nature rituals in my life. Something I am so grateful for.
There is more scientific research out now than ever that shows the negative impact stress has on our body and minds including our skin. How do you manage stress in your very busy life as an award winning garden designer?
This is honestly one of the biggest challenges - particularly being self-employed and running a business while also raising my gorgeous young man. Over the years I definitely struggled with feeling burnt out and overwhelmed with trying to do everything perfectly. (Perfect- pah- I’ve dropped this now and it feels GOOD!) There was a moment when I realised that something had to shift in my life and I introduced some really powerful self care rituals into my every day which linked to wild connections, being outdoors for my morning ritual and nourishment and healing through wild nature. This has been the biggest shift for me and has given me so much balance and joy.
Could you describe your favourite self-care rituals that help you ground and balance?
One of my favourite things to do as part of this wild ritual is to start my day in my wild Leitrim garden with my black vanilla infused tea. I get up and cleanse my face, brew my tea and bring it outside to my nourish garden where I grow healing and nourishing plants. It looks out over the lake and every morning the elements are different. This really plugs you into the season- what’s changing. You think about how the leaves look now, how is the weather? How nature morphs over time- daily, seasonally….This direct connection to nature before I even start into work is something that has become so much part of my ritual that I really miss it if I'm not able to do it.
How do you feel after you practice your favourite self-care rituals?
Plugged back into my inner wild!
What is the hardest part about prioritising and carving out the time for your own self care? How do you get around these ‘blockers’ to make self-care happen?
I think the biggest challenge for me practising self-care is that I'm a very empathetic person and I always want to make sure everyone around me is happy. It makes it so important to carve out self-care because particularly when my son was younger than you would take care of everything else before you even thought of yourself and we all know the ‘put on your oxygen mask first’ scenario right? Taking care of ourselves and making time for selfcare makes us happier and better humans!
We know you are a big fan of Nunaia – is skincare a part of your own daily self-care ritual?
I adore the Nunaia brand- I came across it at Bord Bia Bloom and have loved using it ever since. The biggest thing for me is that the products are completely natural- I don’t use any products which have chemicals or toxic ingredients as my skin is very sensitive. Also- asides from sensitive skin- we don’t need chemicals in our wellbeing products- nature offers all the healing we could ever need!
My favourite ritual is my evening cleanse- my top product is the amazing Superfood
Cleansing Balm (it feels like silk on your skin!) I also use it as a really potent mask when my skin is super dry. Then moisturise (the Earth Blossom Moisturising Cream is divine!) and I love patting on a bit of the Nourishing Radiance Serum to finish. A dreamy ritual which is both light and rich.
Does your skincare ritual influence your overall wellbeing?
Absolutely- I try and drink lots of water and take care of my skin- especially when I'm working outside like creating a show garden. Your skin can really take a hit in the heat and being outdoors all day. So lots of water, sunscreen and really rich moisturising at night is so important. I think overall the simple act of taking care of your skin is a great ritual reminder of being good to yourself.
Your Nunaia desert- island product and how you use it?
Superfood Cleansing Balm all the way. It’s the best! I use it for cleansing, as a mask and even for my nails and cuticles or dry patches like a cream. It’s so versatile and rich yet not oily.
We make products in a unique way— using whole plants that build a connection with the skin and soul that you can’t get from synthetic ingredients. We know you are also hugely passionate about designing gardens that nourish body, mind and soul. Can you tell us more about why you think connection to nature in all its forms is a connection back to ourselves?
That's exactly why I love your products! That connection between nature and humans and the realisation which I think we all need to come back to, that we are all interconnected and need to celebrate and pay respect to each other. My own work really tries to focus on finding re-connection in the world that often feels disconnected and nature can really bring us so much healing mind body and soul.
There is so much joy and healing to be found in simply slowing down and noticing how beautiful nature is from the flowers in summer to the colours in autumn. Slowing down and noticed in the little things can become a really powerful ritual of connection. That's what all my gardens are based around and that's why I love creating spaces for people which reconnect them and plug them back into themselves, others and the wild.
What would be your advice to others that are curious about self-care rituals but don’t practice a regular ritual?
Self care rituals don’t need to look like one thing- or even the exact same every day. Start with something small- take your tea outside and breathe in the scents of nature. Take one minute to close your eyes and feel the sensation of cleansing your face. Rituals can start small- with simple awareness of what you’re doing and finding delight in the moment!
We are big fans of your new Wild & Well course that helps people bring more nature and intention into their lives. Can you share more about this and other projects you are working on at the moment?
Thank you so much! My wild +well course which is a pre-recorded course on my website
was such a lovely thing to film. It came from my talks at Bord Bia Bloom this year which
were all around well-being and connections to nature and how we can create more self
care and well-being rituals for ourselves in this world which often feels a bit bonkers.
I also have some really exciting news for 2026-2027 which I am dying to share but can’t just yet…….. what I can say is it very much links to powerful wild connections and rituals!
LEONIE'S WELLNESS WISDOM
Your favourite place to go to find a moment of calm and tranquility?
Lakeside where I live, feet in the water, picking lake mint.
Your favourite book, podcast, or music playlist that helps you unwind?
Constantly changing but right now I am re-reading The Well Gardened Mind- by Sue
Stuart Smyth (amazing book!), listenign to Sza’s SOS Deluxe: LANA album. So good!
Podcast I am loving ‘We can do Hard things’ - it’s also the most incredible book!
Top tip to restore instant balance
Smell some soil! The micro bacteria in it is proven to be as powerful as Prozac!
Top tip for building self-care into your day?
Get outside! Breathe in the scents, see the sun through the trees, find moments of delight.
Follow Leonie on Instagram @leonie.cornelius and check out her fabulous new Wild & Well online course and her stunning garden design work here.
Shop Leonie's favourite ritual skincare here
