By Elysse Kimberlin

Lavender aftershave? Hmmm, OK. Lavender fire starter? Well, different. Lavender chocolate? Wow.

All, and more, have arrived at Bellevue Square with the opening of Pelindaba Lavender.

Stephen Robins, a retired physician and founder and owner of the company, opened the Bel-Square store in August. It did not take long for them to settle in to their new home.

“San Juan is a huge destination location with a large following”, said Amelia Powell, Director of Retail Operations for Pelindaba Lavender. “Many kept asking us when we were coming to the Eastside, but now we’re here and there’s been more of a turn out than I actually expected. It’s really been great having so many people come in who recognized the name and already knew who we were.”

Pelindaba offers a wide range of products made from lavender plants of which there are 40 different species and 400 cultivars, all are represented in the demonstration garden at the Pelindaba Lavender farm on San Juan Island. Only two of these, however, are grown in mass to supply what is needed for the majority of Pelindaba’s products held inside any of their now three locations: Friday Harbor, Downtown Seattle and now Bellevue Square.

A guest can find anything from fire starters to men’s aftershave and even lavender chocolate sauce, which is not only edible but also quite delectable. All of the products are are certified organic, economically and environmentally friendly as well as being fully sustainable.

“We don’t use fertilizers or pesticides and we rarely turn on the irrigation system,” Powell said. “Our goal was to utilize the island’s resources and community while making as little impact on the existing environment as possible.”

Even the packaging of all their products is made by hand.

“We couldn’t find boxes that we liked, so we just made them”, Powell said. “All the labels are put on by hand as well.”

However, Powell insists that they are not doing anything ground-breaking.

“We aren’t inventing the wheel here, we’re just trying to get lavender back into the general consciousness.”

According to Powell, one of lavender’s original and possibly first uses was as an ingredient in the bath salts of the ancient Roman bathhouses.

“Lavender has the most known uses in the western world”, said Powell, which isn’t surprising to anyone who has entered a Pelindaba Lavender store location. Powell calls lavender and chocolate a “phenomenal combination” and likes to tell of a customer who once requested men’s aftershave and the next year when he returned to their store, they were able to offer it to him.

“Our guest’s ideas are really taken to heart,” she said.

Pelindaba Lavender makes a wide variety of products, but when asked what they are most proud of, the answer is easy.

“Our vision has always been our name, pelindaba is the Zulu word for a place of great gatherings. We invite people to visit the farm on the island year-round, we have weddings in the lavender fields and the annual festival draws thousands of people from all over the world. You can even take a nap in the fields on a warm summer day if you want to,” Powell noted.

“A big part of what we do is to create a positive impact on our local community, our doors are always open to great gatherings of people, as well as the great gatherings lavender plants.