The Founder

Hi, I’m Michelle Lavigne.

I guess I should start at the beginning…I grew up in a family of fourteen.

My mom gave birth to nine children, and together with my stepbrothers and sisters, she raised all fourteen of us. Life was busy, a little chaotic, and never quiet; but I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Long before “natural living” became a trend, it was simply how my mom lived. She believed in whole foods, home remedies, and paying attention to what we put in and on our bodies. Looking back, I don’t think I realized just how much those early years would shape me.

Like most people, though, I eventually wanted to figure things out for myself.

In my twenties, I became fascinated with fitness and wellness. I was always researching, trying new approaches, and looking for ways to optimize my health and I trained relentlessly. I genuinely believed that if I could just find the right routine, the right diet, or the right habit, I’d finally feel my best.

Around that same time, I built a career as a tattoo artist. It was a job that demanded patience, precision, and an obsession with quality. As a creative person with a type A personality, I spent years creating something meaningful with my hands, never imagining those same skills would one day lead me somewhere completely different.

Then, in my mid-thirties, I became a mother.

Both of my pregnancies were considered “geriatric pregnancies,” which still makes me smile because I never felt old. But I do think becoming a mom later in life gave me a different perspective than it might have in my twenties.

When my first son was born, everything shifted. Not long afterward, I found out I was pregnant with twins, and suddenly life became full…probably more than I was truly prepared for.

Like so many parents, I was trying to balance raising young children, keeping a home running, and figuring out who I was in this new season of life. I was busy, exhausted, and often felt like there weren’t enough hours in the day.

In the middle of all of that, I started coming back to my roots and being very cautious about ingredients in products and what I would use on my children, so I started looking for products I felt completely comfortable bringing into our home.

I quickly realized I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for. The products that performed beautifully often weren’t as natural as they claimed to be, while the products with simpler ingredient lists often left me disappointed.

So I enrolled in a cosmetic formulation course and at the time, I wasn’t trying to start a business.

I was simply trying to solve a problem for my own family.

That was the beginning of Less & Lavish.

As I spent more time formulating, I noticed something else changing too. Because for years, I’d thought wellness was all about doing more. More knowledge. More routines. More optimization. More discipline.

But motherhood has a funny way of showing you what actually matters. You can’t optimize your way out of being overwhelmed.

You can’t squeeze peace into an already overflowing schedule.

Around that time, I found myself thinking back to a trip I had taken to Italy when I was seventeen.

I remembered it, not because of the landmarks or the food, but because of how life felt.

People weren’t in such a hurry. They took time to enjoy meals, spend time together, and simply be present. It just felt different. Slower.

I realized I’d spent years chasing wellness as something I had to achieve, when maybe it was just as much about the way we choose to live.

That didn’t change why I started Less & Lavish. It changed what I wanted it to represent.

Today, I still care deeply about creating products made with ingredients I trust. But I also hope Less & Lavish serves as a small reminder that luxury doesn’t have to mean excess.

Sometimes luxury is taking ten minutes to wash your hair without rushing.

Sometimes it’s choosing products you don’t have to second-guess.

Sometimes it’s simply giving yourself permission to slow down.

Since my husband is also a health coach, caring about what we put in our bodies and on our bodies has always been part of our everyday life. It’s not something we do because we own a business, it’s simply how we’re raising our family, and that naturally carries over into every product I create.

Thanks for being here and for supporting this little dream that started at my kitchen table.

With love and a little luxury,

Michelle