Per your request.
Review #25 - Flamingo Estate š
What Is It
Flamingo Estate sells āhome essentials made from Mother Natureās most precious ingredients.ā First of all, beautiful mission statement.
Home essentials feels like the most appropriate term for their wide array of offerings ranging from candles to body soaps to olive oils to cleaning sprays to peak season fruit boxes (available to LA residents only).
Since ātomato girlsā have their own aesthetic and food scented items are allegedly hot these days, an item from their Tomato Collection feels like a good starting point for the brand. I went for their hand soapāI know, I know, another soap. But itās the best-selling item in the collection (save for a candle, which felt a tad too subjective to review), so what are you gonna do.
Good news is that thereās a fun (and actually edible) bonus item, which may or may not be the $80 dried strawberries. More on that later.
The Lore
This brand is less of a brand and more of an ongoing story about a property, the people who nurture it, and the literal fruits of their labor. So in order for me to comment on any portion of its online identity, I first have to give you a quick synopsis of the literal identity.
(Iām hesitant to link you to the full story of the estate as I know youāll be thoroughly immersed and I fear you might not return. Yes, I understand the prior statement will likely yield counter-intuitive results.)
Flamingo Estate is the home of Richard Christiansen, an Aussie-born nature lover by blood and creative marketing guru by trade. After growing up on a sugar cane farm in NSW, he moved to the states, worked in marketing, and founded his own agency, Chandelier Creativeāperhaps you recognize their work for Equinox, Rhode, Khaite, shall I continue?
After 20 years and coincidentally just before the pandemicās onset, he stepped aside from agency life, renovated a former Playboy Mansion into what the Times refers to as an āInstagram playhouse,ā and spent his quarantine attending to his āsoap and candle experiments.ā During this time, he befriended a local farmer who was feeling the repercussions of the restaurant industryās devastation, which left her with lots of fruits and vegetables with no one to sell to. Richard began selling her boxes of fresh produce to his friends, many of whom happen to be high profile and/or net worth.
His network of farmers expanded and his word-of-mouth fruit dealing quickly developed into a legitimate business of its own. These are the high-end CSA boxes that make up just one element of Flamingo Estateās current product line, in addition to the soap experiments I mentioned earlier, some specialty dried fruitsāoh, and the $200+ honeys made in partnership with celebrity beekeepers (Julianne Moore, Ai Weiwei, Tiffany Haddish to name a few). Now you see why āhome essentialsā is the best phrase for their offeringsāit really covers all possible bases.
Brand / Aesthetic
Now you can see that Flamingo Estate (the property) and Flamingo Estate (the brand) are inextricably linked, both to each other and to their creator and primary inhabitants (Richard and Aaron Harvey, his creative/life partner, that would be).
Iām far from the first person to write about the brandāso many major media outlets already haveāso Iāll let them do the heavy lifting. Vogue called them a ālush hedonistic playgroundā and WWD used the phrase āhomegrown lifestyle powerhouse.ā Thereās not much left for me to say that hasnāt been said already, so Iāll just throw out some adjectives that come to mind: creative, maximalist, and charismatic.
The brandās aesthetic emulates everything the house has to offer: vibrant colors, grandiose decorations, lush greenery, and abundant harvests. I donāt typically like over-the-top anything, but for some reason, Iām really drawn to Flamingo Estate.
I dislike using the word āvibeā because I find it to be a cop out, but in this case, itās exactly whatās appealing to me about the brand. Interior tree enthusiast and friend of the estate Chrissy Teigen feels the same, musing about that āsomething specialā Richard has in his āaura.ā Now I donāt know Richard, although I wish I did, but itās clear that this āspecial energyā we feel from the brand is a raw, concentrated extension of his personality.
Thatās why I love Flamingo Estate. Straight up. I love it because itās unique, personal, and I can feel the passion that goes into it. Itās obvious that Richard and his team are having fun with this allātheyāre just having a good time making designer honeys and selling them to rich people. Truly, though. Theyāre unabashedly for rich people (which Iām all in favor of), another student of the Lisa Rinna School of Owning It.
Even though they recently secured investment, the creativity has yet to be diluted by the PE dollars. The small business spirit remains, and you can tell by two important markers: flexibility in their product offerings (whatever the harvest permits!) and creative risks (their recent Ozempic-related email subject line). None of the SKUs feel subpar, like a venture capital machine is cranking them out for the sake of increasing AOV (average order volume, I got you).
The voice is a bit ethereal and (sophisticated), but itās not too self-serious. Thereās a touch of playfulness and wit. You can feel the genuineness in all of its extravagance. While thereās a youthful excitement, it has that gravitas of a legacy brand, which you can hear in their copy and see in their design.
Theyāre doing what they want and theyāre not trying to be something theyāre not. Itās all a lot, and itās all well-executed. Youāll find this personality and vibrancy beautifully displayed via their Instagram, so letās get there.
Marketing
For those of you who didnāt read the NY Times article 7 times this past week, no worries. I took a screenshot of the most important part.
Yep, you heard that. Richard runs all of the socials. He signs each caption with an āxoā just like your grandpa does in his texts, and the endearing factor holds up. Thereās an appropriate blend of highly-produced photos/videos and personal content, both of which are reason to give them a follow.
On personal content: It takes a lot for me to like something so painfully earnest, and yet, here I am, telling you this video made me feel something.
On creative content: the feed speaks for itself. Instagram is a visual platform, and a brand like Flamingo Estate, with design and expression at its core, is a shoe-in for success. I give so much credit to Aaron, the brandās head of creative, for concocting what could be one of the most interesting companies on the market, visually speaking.
Iāve spoken about this before, but your Instagram content is only as cool as the stuff youāre doing outside the app (this holds up for people tooā¦). The Estate and its bounty would be enough to hit the Offline Cool Stuff Quota, but they bring it a step further with the partnerships.
I know, just what youāve been waiting for! These brand partnerships are some of the best in class, IMO. Iām not the first to have that opinion, though. We donāt have time to cover all of them, so hereās a select few:
The East Hampton Inconvenience Store in partnership with Mytheresa
Set in a Railroad Racetrack, this is a recommitment to their āgood things take timeā mentality in the form of a limited edition Shoppy Shop. I fear I wonāt be able to make it there before the collection ends on Sunday, but if youāve made a pitstop (sorry!), Iād love to hear how it was IRL.
The collab with Kohler to expand their Heritage Colors Collection
SO COOL. What a great example of a legacy brand getting involved with modern cool kid culture. And on Flamingo Estateās part, what a great way to solidify this brand world with a reminder that the property is at the heart.
Limited Edition Ice Buckets with Gaetano Pesce
I am a sucker for the scarcity approach, so the fact that only 25 of these are in existence increases my desire by 200x. Plus, they look amazing.
Kelly Wearstlerās Gingerbread House
Their 2022 Christmas campaign was a California Modern Gingerbread House made by none other than Balthazarās pastry chef Mark Tasker. Only 100 were made, and all proceeds went to Better Shelter. I can imagine weāre all thinking the same thing: did any of these purchasers eat their mini property?
Jane Goodallās Tanzanian Honey. Thatās all.
There are so many more I could talk about, including the Dalai Lamaās Candle Collection and Oscar the Grouch merch (the range!), but Iāll let you do that research on your own.
One last thingāIād be remiss if I didnāt mention their emails. A recent one garnered a lot of attention from its subject line (in reference to something shrinking): āWeāre on Ozempic.ā I went wide-eyed seeing that in my inbox like the rest of their subscriber list. I even took the bait and posted it on my Instagram story.
I can imagine this garnered some angry replies, or at the very least, eye rolls, but I personally thought it was hilarious. To be clear, I wasnāt paying attention to the details of the emailās copy, but the zoomed-out, marketing brain perspective of āwhat a strange way for them to enter this conversationā made me do a weird snort-sigh of appreciation. I wonder if that email saw conversionsā¦
Efficacy
Hereās the important part where I tell you if the products are worth the hype.
First, letās start with the Spicy Strawberry Fruit Snack. I, of course, knew about this productās existence, but I couldnāt stomach the idea of spending $80 on dried fruit, something that I donāt really care to eat in general. But when my friend
and I met for a post-EV Salon matcha ( is good at many things, and fostering friendships may be her finest skill), she pulled the jar out of her bag and I gasped like she was about to propose.These Spicy Strawberry Fruit Snacks are really fucking good. Theyāre a little jammy, but not too sweet, with just a little kick. I understand why these are $80. I want these all the time. We decided theyād be especially good on vanilla soft serve with a little olive oil drizzle. Gourmet palates over here, am I right?
Now for the Roma Heirloom Tomato Hand Soap. Iāll admit, I didnāt really understand why or how tomato could be an appealing scent. In my mind, I expected the smell to resemble the flavor of a garden salsa flavored Sun Chip (which I love), although I couldnāt imagine how this translated into an aroma.
The hand soap, unsurprisingly, does not smell like a middle school vending machine snack. It does, however, smell mildly fresh. Itās not too strongāwhich is a good thingābut it has a subtle, herb-forward fragrance.
Scent aside, it fills all the major soap requirements: it suds nicely and it makes my hands feel soft. I will say, the pump is a little finicky, letās just say I was the victim of a small soap explosion when I first installed it, but I smelled rich so Iām not that mad about it.
Overall Thoughts
This soap is fabulous, and itās making me genuinely excited to wash my hands. I canāt tell if thatās weird or not.
Am I suggesting everyone to make this their primary hand soap of choice? No, that would be unreasonable. However, I am suggesting you make a luxurious soap (or any of their offerings, honestly) your primary housewarming gift of choice. I know if I received the Heirloom Tomato Dish Soap, Iād be thrilled. Speaking ofāI hope someone in my family is filing away the Spicy Strawberry Fruit Snacks idea for a future birthday of mine.
Rating: āļøāļøāļøāļø.75/5
In Other Newsā¦
My stockpile of Buffing Bars will last me through an apocalypse and yet I still want the new one with DS & Durga.
Pickleback shots got yassified.
First AI, now a rebrand. Itās been a big few months for Prose.
Sporty & Rich partnered with Sonos on a version of hot girl headphones.
A fun housekeeping note: can you believe Iāve done 25 of these? Iām going to be away, attempting to relax next week (if youāll also be in Fire Island, HMU) so Iām thinking Iāll do a special edition newsletter that follows up on some of my past reviews. Iām feeling reflective, or whatever.
Thatās all for now. If thereās a product you want reviewed or just want to chat, reply to this email or leave a comment. :)
Their tomato candle is the best burning (as in no tunneling, even burn, great throw) candle I've ever purchased, but my husband doesn't like the smell. ALAS.