Queen Bee Deborah Mitchell reflects on building a skincare legacy fit for royalty.

Deborah Mitchell - best known as the Queen Consort's facialist and the force behind Heaven Skincare - has spent the better part of two decades turning a personal passion with skincare into an international brand. It's a trajectory that begins, improbably, in a converted disabled toilet pressed into service as her first treatment room and reaches, nearly twenty years on, a royal warrant for her work and brand. What's driven her forward is not luck but an ability to spot openings, act quickly and embrace risks others might avoid.

"My journey into skincare began, paradoxically, with no particular obsession for it," she tells me, reflecting on the early days of her career. "It began simply as something I needed to do alongside modelling - just an extra job. But once I started training, I felt like I'd come home. There was this feeling that reverberated through me, unlike anything I'd known before. Looking back, I realise it was the sense of being in exactly the right place. And it's a feeling that's returned at different points in my life since"

That early sense of belonging stayed with Mitchell as she began treating high-profile clients, including Camilla Parker-Bowles before she became Queen Consort. "When I began working with Camilla Parker Bowles, she had not yet become Queen Consort. I was used to treating celebrities - and they loved my products. For example, I found myself flying all over the world with Duran Duran, giving treatments wherever we went."

Despite her early success, Mitchell recalls the challenges of scaling her business internationally, including a shipment to Hong Kong, where the handmade bottles leaked slightly. Even with demand for her products growing , Mitchell found herself confronting unexpected obstacles. "I thought I can't sell these to the people who want them," she recalls. The worry wasn't about the customers - it was the practicalities: fragile handmade bottles, long flights, the fear of not doing it perfectly. She realised she had been putting blocks in the way of her own success. "If I had just gone for it, I would have fixed any problems along the way. Now I just go for it. It's far better than wondering what could have been." That approach - taking action despite fear - didn't just shape her own path; it continues to guide how she runs the business today.

Her philosophy goes beyond the practicalities of running a business, extending to the mindset needed to lead in an unpredictable market. She talks about the need for an internal shift, acknowledging that people - even ourselves - can be prone to negativity. "When you're striving to achieve something, it's hard to step back and simply let things be," she says. For her, courage, persistence and the willingness to act first and adapt along the way are not just strategies - they are the principles that shape every decision, and the foundation on which the business continues to grow.

"After years of building Heaven Skincare from the ground up, Mitchell is now watching the next generation take the reins. With her daughter Ella Cox taking over much of the day-to-day operations, Mitchell reflects on the dynamics of generational succession. "I'm still the CEO and founder, but she's running the day-to-day, and Ella is just incredible. She amazes me in every way. I can't believe how naturally she's taken to it - I'm not showing her to follow my path, yet she does it effortlessly. She genuinely wants to take on these responsibilities, and she comes up with the most brilliant ideas."

Passing the baton to the next generation brings its own lessons. Mitchell has learned the value of letting her daughter find her own way, allowing room for mistakes without setting her up to fail. If Ella is adamant about a particular approach, Mitchell steps back and lets it play out. Inevitably, she says, her daughter comes back with a new perspective: "Then she says, 'Let's do it your way this time, Mom.'" It's a delicate balance of guidance and freedom that has become a defining part of how she mentors the next generation.

From the very beginning, Mitchell has built her business on bold choices and uncompromising standards. Risk-taking has always been at the heart of Mitchell's approach to business. "If I hadn't created my bee venom mask, I wouldn't have become a multi-millionaire with customers all over the world. I just thought, 'I'm going to do it.' And it turned out incredibly well." Her commitment to quality ingredients remains unwavering. "The one thing I insist on is that every product I make is the very best, suitable for anyone. I never, ever choose a cheaper ingredient - there are plenty of cheaper products out there, but they don't deliver the results." The bee venom mask quickly became a defining moment for Mitchell's business. Not only did it boost skin vitality and youthful radiance, but it also showed remarkable effects on conditions like eczema. People with eczema - sometimes their skin would clear in seconds, right before your eyes, because bee venom has this incredible healing effect. Seeing the results on clients was truly amazing."

Word of Mitchell's transformative treatments spread quietly at first, whispered among celebrities - until it reached the royal household. "People started noticing something had changed with Camilla Parker-Bowles. She looked years younger. Soon, the palace was getting calls asking, 'Does Deborah Mitchell do her facials?' The palace never lies, though, and they confirmed it: yes." Yet even in the face of such high-profile success, Mitchell has maintained a careful, deliberate approach. "I still am solely owned. So there's no investment in my company by anybody else." That independence has allowed her to make bold product choices, scale globally, and retain complete control over the brand's identity.

Mitchell draws on years of hard-earned experience to share two principles that have guided her career. The first she calls the "George Clooney effect," a lesson in persistence. Clooney worked steadily for years without making a mark, only breaking through at 33. "He had to have those failures before he succeeded," she says - a reminder that early setbacks are often stepping stones. Her second principle is trusting her own judgment. "The mistake isn't in taking action; the mistake is listening to everybody else. I use that approach for everything. I can consider other people's opinions, but if they're wrong, then I'm wrong twice." For Mitchell, success isn't just about talent - it's about learning from failure and having the courage to follow your own instincts.

Mitchell has forged more than a skincare brand. Royal recognition may mark the milestones, but it is her judgment, daring and relentless pursuit of excellence that truly reign. The work she leaves behind speaks for itself.