Venus et Fleur Cofounder Seema Chadha's Must Haves: From a Luxe Notebook to a Lip Plumper

Venus et Fleur
Venus et Fleur
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From creating DJ Khaled's "Major Key" arrangement to helping decorate this year's Met Gala, Venus et Fleur has gone — and stayed — viral for its exquisite luxurious floral arrangements that last forever. The brand is co-founded by Seema Chadha, alongside her husband, and we spoke to her about building the company and her current must-have products.

You've probably seen the brand's iconic everlasting rose all over your social feeds; we even tested it out, and it's worth the hype (read our review of a Venus et Fleur arrangement here). In case you're unfamiliar, they're real, fresh flowers preserved using a special method and designed to last for at least one year. But why roses? "The rose, I think, is the universal symbol of love, and we started Venus because of a love story, but also Venus is my ruling planet in my horoscope, and Venus's flower is the rose," Chadha says. The love story she speaks of is her own. When she first started dating her now-husband, Sunny, he had sent her flowers on Valentine's Day, but she ended up not getting what he ordered. "He has this grand gesture he is trying to send across, and was super disappointed with the experience," she says. But it was this experience that planted the seeds for Venus et Fleur. "We realized there's this huge gap in the market in the floral industry in particular. Most people spend quite a bit of money on flowers and they're hoping that they get delivered in pristine condition and that's not always the case," she says.

Creating a luxurious floral business was not all sunshine and roses. "We heard more no's than we heard yeses from a lot of our vendors and engineers that we worked with. It was very disappointing and felt defeated, but we kept persevering, we kept trying." They started working with a farm in Ecuador that was dabbling in preservation, and soon perfected the Eternity Rose that changed the game for luxurious floral arrangements. "Our end game is to build a brand that people can rethink how they buy flowers and rethink how they celebrate milestones and memories," she says.

Chadha and her team get inspiration from travel, art, interiors, and design, which is exemplified in the brand's Elements collection. However, just like the brand's inception, it's also inspired by real-life moments. She shared that the brand's letters collection was born out of her planning her own baby shower, and the floral frame, she says, "was born because we were playing around with flowers at a photoshoot once and we thought it looked really amazing so we decided to make it into a product." The brand has also expanded by preserving other beautiful florals, including calla lilies, orchids, hydrangeas, gardenias, ethereums, and newly launched dahlias. "We're proud to say that we have many customers that come back for every single milestone, whether they started dating to engagement to their first baby. There are so many beautiful celebratory moments that we've gotten to be a part of. That's what makes Venus different. We stand for luxury. We stand for an elevated experience and we're not going to do anything less than that," Chadha says.

When she's not building a floral empire, she's spending time with her son, family, and friends, and exploring the world. Like the rest of us, Chadha loves her products, and she shares her current favorites ahead, including her go-to heels, a lip plumper, and her must-have carry-on bag.

Seema Chadha's Affordable Must Have
sephora.com

Seema Chadha's Affordable Must Have

"The Dr. Lara Devgan Scientific Beauty Platinum Lip Plump SPF 30 ($50) is something that I use every, almost every day," she says. Chadha claims that this is the best lip plumper she's ever used, noting that it does tingle a little but does not feel sticky. "It really just like brings that, that pinkness to your lip that you really want; the flush of color you get is so beautiful," she says. The Platinum Lip Plump is a clear gloss that contains hyaluronic acid at different weights, ceramides, peptides, and niacin, which helps produce that natural flush of color to your lips.

Pro Tip: Chadha loves to use this on top of other lip products as well, "it gives you that, fullness, and color that's just like a little bit more elevated," she says.

Seema Chadha's Investment Must Have
aminamuaddi.com

Seema Chadha's Investment Must Have

Chadha loves a pair of Amina Muaddi Lupita Slippers ($710), "they really make an outfit feel feminine, but still kind of tailored. You feel sexy, you feel kind of on top of the world, chic put together, but comfortable," she says. The squared open-toe shoe has a 95mm heel and is made with 100 percent lamb skin leather. She claims that the line of stylish heels is worth the investment because of how comfortable they are to wear. "You can wear it all day and then go into the night and not feel like you're really hurting the bottom of your feet or your knees," she says. Although she has them in a variety of colors, her favorite pair are the white ones, and she's worn them so many times, they're no longer white anymore. "With Amina Muaddi's, you can wear them with literally any outfit and they elevate the look," she says.

Pro Tip: Chadha would pair these heels with cargo pants, a bodysuit, and a trench, or a blazer dress for going out at night.

Seema Chadha's Morning Routine Must Have
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Seema Chadha's Morning Routine Must Have

Journaling is a practice Chadha implements not just into her morning routine, but throughout the day as well. "I think putting anything down pen to paper has been so powerful for me. I'm a big manifester, I believe in manifestation and I think writing it down really makes it feel like it's tangible, it's real, it's possible," she says. She found that having a journal that's beautiful, like this Louis Vuitton: Notebook Cover Paul MM ($590) is what helped her stick with the habit. "I keep it next to my bed. I write my grateful affirmations. I also write down what the day is gonna look like . . . and things that come into my mind I like to write down or I like to draw it out so I don't forget," she says. This Louis Vuitton journal isn't just a pretty piece, she loves that it has simple pages that let her free write and it's also durable yet small enough to carry in her bag wherever she goes.

Pro Tip: Looking to start journaling yourself? She recommends by starting off simply by writing five things you're grateful for: "They can be anything; it's just little things. It could be, 'I'm so grateful that I got to sleep in 30 minutes today. I feel well rested.' 'I am so grateful for my health.' It could be really big things like an opportunity, but I think writing them down really makes you get in the feeling of gratitude," she says.

Seema Chadha's Sleep Must Have
seekinghealth.com

Seema Chadha's Sleep Must Have

"I am obsessed with magnesium," Chadha shares. "The beautiful thing with magnesium is if you're having a mind-racing moment, and if you close your eyes, you'll go to sleep within 10 minutes," she says. She's tried plenty of varieties over the years and landed on the Seeking Health Magnesium Plus ($25) due to its composition of six different types of magnesium compounds in one formula. "It's been extremely helpful because it keeps me asleep and when I wake up I don't feel groggy," she says. Chadha notes that this brand really relaxes her, from her mind to her whole body. You can read more about the benefits of magnesium supplementation here.

Pro Tip: Chadha takes it usually 30 minutes before bed, along with other supplements like curcumin and ashwagandha. Reminder: It's best to talk to your doctor before starting any new supplements, as they can interfere with both medications and health conditions.

Seema Chadha's Travel Must Have
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Seema Chadha's Travel Must Have

As an experienced traveler, Chadha relies on the Tumi Alpha 3 International Expandable 4-Wheeled Carry-On ($895), especially when she doesn't want to check a bag. "It fits everything and you can really shove things in there and it won't open, it won't break, it won't be hard to close. It's just a very seamless, easy bag," she says. With a three-stage telescoping handle and four dual spinner wheels, Chadha says this is really easy to navigate through airports. Plus, she points out that because this made from a durable nylon fabric, you can really squeeze this in overhead compartments and it's still lightweight.

Pro Tip: Chadha loves that this bag allows her to be efficient while packing, but she also gave us a few of her favorite travel tips. For her travel wardrobe, she says to "create a uniform that will work for you and then try to mix and match." She also has pre-packed bags of her toiletries, makeup, medicines and supplements, so all she has to do is toss them in her carry-on.