About us

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who spent hours in her grandparents’ garden mixing up mysterious potions and “scientific experiments” (a.k.a. mud, leaves, and whatever she could find). That girl was me.

I was endlessly fascinated by my fizzing, bubbling creations — I had no idea what I was doing, but I was very committed to it. As I got older, the potion-making faded away, but I never forgot those hours spent in my grandpa’s delightfully creaky old shed.

Fast forward to 2013 — I was 21 and had my first child. When he got older, I got to dust off my old Harry Potter books and dive back into the wizarding world with him. We made our own spells and potions (with slightly less mud this time). It reminded me just how fun and magical childhood can be.

When he turned six, he asked for a Harry Potter–themed birthday party. I won’t lie — I was probably more excited than he was. We turned the house into a mini Hogwarts, made a wizard-worthy cake, and gave every child their own wand and potion-making kit.

And that, without me realising it, was the start of The Potion Lab.

The kids were obsessed — bubbling, fizzing chaos everywhere. I couldn’t stop thinking about their little faces lighting up, so I decided to see if I could turn it into something more. Then life happened: baby number two arrived, I started drafting a business plan… and then lockdown hit. Oh, and baby number three decided to make an appearance too.

With schools closed and everyone stuck inside, Halloween was looking grim. My kids were heartbroken about missing trick-or-treating, so I decided to trial my potion kits — paper bags, tea-stained recipe cards, burnt corners (on purpose!), and hand-cut stickers. I advertised locally and set up collection days, and honestly the response blew me away.

Over the next year, I redesigned everything, made it more sustainable, and created refillable kits with affordable ingredients. I teamed up with Royal Mail (shout-out to the true heroes of small business) so I could send our potion kits all over the UK. Everything has been tested and certified to UKCA and CE standards. 

What started as a through the night kitchen-table experiment has grown into a full-time business, complete with a little workshop and thousands of potion kits flying out across the country each year. I still can’t quite believe it.

I’m so grateful to everyone who’s supported The Potion Lab — from our first customers to our regulars who send in amazing photos of their little witches and wizards. And of course, huge love to my three beautiful kids (the original muses) and my lovely partner.

Here’s to bringing a little bit of childhood magic — and a lot of fizz — back into everyday life.

Thank you,
Sophie x