Very resistant, its so-called “rice stitch” knitting – an English knitting method – creates small nubs that provide a slight exfoliating texture, ideal for the skin.

It perfectly cleanses the skin, activates microcirculation and relaxes the face.

A miniature tool – with high cleansing potential! – A must have in the bathroom or in the vanity case for a radiant and cotton-like soft face!

These little knitted beauties are discreetly coloured by botanical dyeing. Discovered in China more than 5,000 years ago, this dyeing process is very appealing to the Officine. It is one of the forgotten methods and know-how of the new industrial world, but yet with undisputed efficiency and charm.

The advantages of this process are many: a certain ecological benevolence; the beauty of sincere colours; the preservation of ancient traditions.

The colours

And from the virtue of plants... colour was born! (ou - …let there be colour! Un clin d’oeil à la Bible)

This unique and efficient dyeing method draws upon the wonders of plants to create colour. The small gloves are dyed with so-called “colourfast” plants that are chosen for their high resistance to light and washing, and for their historical pedigree.

Colours: old rose
Origin: madder (flower)
Source of pigment: roots
Rubia tinctorum L.

Commonly known as the rose madder, the common madder or dyer’s madder

Originally native to Central Asia, madder gained fame thanks to the red pigment extracted from its underground stems, giving fabrics a sublime carmine colour. Madder has thus developed as an important commodity in European and Asian economies. It was mentioned in the list of plants recommended for cultivation in royal gardens in the year 812 and by Colbert, who tried to stimulate a quality French dyeing industry. In the 19th century, there were over 13,000 hectares of madder fields in the Vaucluse.

The old rose on the knitted gloves is obtained by a bath composed of 100%madder root.

Colours: natural green
Origin: nettle (herbaceous plant)
Source of pigment: leaves
Urtica dioica L.

Commonly known as common nettle, stinging nettle or burn nettle

Originally native to Eurasia, nettle is a plant now found in temperate zones across the world. The silky and shiny finest fibres of this plant were reserved for the royal courts, the less fine fibres for clothing and bed linen, while the coarse fibres were used to make ropes, bags and carpets.

Like all green plant leaves, nettle leaves contain chlorophylls a and b which help give this green colour to the natural fibres.

Nettle leaf dyeing is not as famous as madder dyeing. It is more related to vernacular, local practices of gathering wild plants and individual recipes for dyeing personal effects.

Colours: earthy brown
Origin: acacia (shrub)
Source of pigment: wood
Senegalia catechu

Commonly known as cutch tree, black cutch, cachou or terra japonica

The catechu acacia is a small thorny tropical tree with fern-like leaves, native to Southeast Asia. It was exported from India to China and Japan in the 16th century, then to Europe in the 19th century under the name of “terra japonica”.

This brown dye was used for textiles but also to protect fibres from bad weather, to colour wood or to tan leather. Cachou produces beautiful browns on cotton, a brown that has been coveted for centuries for calico fabric - originating from the city of Calicut on the west coast of India. The light brown colour produced by cachou is called “khak” or “khaki” in India and means “dust, earth or ashes”. In Myanmar, cachou was virtually the only source of vegetable dye, used to make the yellow-brown robes of Buddhist monks.

The brown of the knitted gloves is obtained with catechu gum.

GREAT BENEFITS

This immensely comforting small knitted glove is perfect for cleansing the face and raising the spirits. It removes all the impurities accumulated on the skin and soothes the mind with the softness of a “cottony” massage.