Privacy policy

Last updated: 5 September 2026

Essencia operates this store and this website, including all data, content, features, tools, products and services, in order to provide you, the customer, with a curated shopping experience (the "Services"). Essencia is powered by Shopify, which enables us to provide the Services to you. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use and disclose your personal information when you visit, use or make a purchase or other transaction through the Services, or when you otherwise communicate with us. If there is a conflict between our Terms of Service and this Privacy Policy, this Privacy Policy controls with respect to the collection, processing and disclosure of your personal information.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By using and accessing any of the Services, you acknowledge that you have read this Privacy Policy and that you understand how your personal information is collected, used and disclosed, as set out in this Privacy Policy.

Personal information we collect or process

When we use the term "personal information", we mean any information that identifies you, or that could reasonably be linked to you or another person. Personal information does not include information collected anonymously, or information that has been de-identified so that it cannot identify you or reasonably be linked to you. We may collect or process the following categories of personal information, including inferences drawn from that information, depending on how you interact with the Services, where you live and what applicable law permits or requires:

• Contact details including your name, address, billing address, shipping address, phone number and email address.
• Financial information including credit card numbers, debit card numbers and financial account numbers, payment card information, financial account details, transaction details, payment method, payment confirmation and other payment-related information.
• Account information including your username, password, security questions, preferences and settings.
• Transaction information including the items you view, add to your basket, save to your wishlist or buy, return, exchange or cancel, as well as your previous transactions.
• Communications with us including the information you give us in your communications with us, for example when you send a query to customer support.
• Device information including information about your device, browser or network connection, your IP address and other unique identifiers.
• Usage information including information about how and when you use or browse the Services.

Sources of personal information

We may collect personal information from the following sources:

• Directly from you including when you create an account, visit or use the Services, communicate with us or otherwise provide us with your personal information.
• Automatically through the Services including information from your device when you use our products or services or visit our websites, and through the use of cookies and similar technologies.
• From our service providers including when we engage them to enable certain technology, or when they collect or process your personal information on our behalf.
• From our partners or other third parties.

How we use your personal information

Depending on how you interact with us or which Services you use, we may use your personal information for the following purposes:

• Providing, personalising and improving the Services. We use your personal information to provide the Services to you, which includes performing our contract with you, processing your payments, handling your orders, remembering your preferences and the items you are interested in, sending you notifications about your account, handling purchases, returns, exchanges or other transactions, creating, maintaining and managing your account, arranging shipping, facilitating returns and exchanges, allowing you to post reviews, and offering you a personalised shopping experience such as recommending products related to your purchases. This may include using your personal information to personalise and improve the Services.
• Marketing and advertising. We use your personal information for marketing and promotional purposes, such as sending you commercial, advertising and promotional communications by email, text message or post, and showing you online adverts for products or services on the Services themselves or on other websites, including on the basis of items you have previously purchased, added to your basket or other activity on the Services.
• Security and fraud prevention. We use your personal information to authenticate your account, provide a secure shopping and payment experience, detect, investigate or take action on possible fraudulent, illegal, unsafe or malicious activity, protect public safety and secure our services. If you choose to use the Services and register an account, you are responsible for keeping your account credentials confidential. We strongly recommend that you do not share your username, password or other information with anyone.
• Communicating with you. We use your personal information to provide you with customer support, respond to your requests, serve you effectively and maintain our business relationship with you.
• Legal reasons. We use your personal information to comply with applicable law or respond to valid legal process, including requests from law enforcement or government authorities, to investigate or take part in civil discovery, potential or actual litigation or other adversarial legal proceedings, and to enforce or investigate potential breaches of our terms or policies.

How we disclose personal information

In certain circumstances we may disclose your personal information to third parties for legitimate purposes, in accordance with this Privacy Policy. Those circumstances may include:

• With Shopify, vendors and other third parties who perform services on our behalf (for example IT management, payment processing, data analytics, customer support, cloud storage, and order fulfilment and shipping).
• With business and marketing partners to provide marketing services and show you advertising. For example, we use Shopify to support personalised advertising through third-party services, based on your online activity across different merchants and websites. Our business and marketing partners will use your information in accordance with their own privacy notices. Depending on where you live, you may have the right to tell us not to share information about you for personalised advertising and marketing purposes.
• When you direct us to, request it, or otherwise consent to us disclosing certain information to third parties, for example to ship products to you, or through the use of social media widgets or login integrations.
• With our affiliates or otherwise within our corporate group.
• In connection with a business transaction such as a merger or insolvency proceeding, to comply with applicable legal obligations (including responding to subpoenas, search warrants or similar requests), to enforce the applicable Terms of Service or policies, and to protect or defend the Services, our rights and the rights of our users or others.

Relationship with Shopify

The Services are hosted by Shopify, which collects and processes personal information about your access to and use of the Services in order to provide and improve the Services for you. In order to provide and improve the Services, the information you submit to the Services will be transmitted to and shared with Shopify and third parties that may be located in countries other than your own. In addition, to help protect, develop and improve our business, we use certain advanced Shopify features that incorporate data and information derived from your interactions with our store, with other merchants and with the Shopify platform itself. To provide these advanced features, Shopify may use personal information collected about your interactions with our store, with other merchants and with the Shopify platform itself. In these circumstances, Shopify is responsible for processing your personal information, including responding to your requests to exercise your rights over the use of that information for those purposes. For more information about how Shopify uses your personal information, and about the rights you may have, you can read the Shopify consumer privacy policy. Depending on where you live, you may be able to exercise certain rights over your personal information here: Shopify privacy portal.

Third-party websites and links

The Services may contain links to websites or other online platforms operated by third parties. If you follow links to sites that are not affiliated with or controlled by us, we recommend that you review their privacy and security policies and other terms and conditions. We do not guarantee and are not responsible for the privacy or security of such sites, including the accuracy, completeness or reliability of the information they contain. Information you provide in public or semi-public spaces, including information you share on third-party social media platforms, may also be viewable by other users of the Services and by users of those third-party platforms, without limitation as to its use by us or by third parties. The inclusion of such links does not by itself imply any endorsement of the content on those platforms or of their owners or operators, except as expressly stated within the Services.

Children's data

The Services are not intended to be used by children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children as defined by applicable law in your jurisdiction. If you are the parent or legal guardian of a child who has given us their personal information, you may contact us using the details below to request its deletion. As of the effective date of this Privacy Policy, we do not have actual knowledge that we "share" or "sell" (as those terms are defined in applicable law) the personal information of individuals under 16 years of age.

Security and retention of your information

Please be aware that no security measure is perfect or impenetrable, and we cannot guarantee "perfect security". In addition, any information you send us may not be secure while in transit. We recommend that you do not use insecure channels to send us sensitive or confidential information.

How long we retain your personal information depends on a number of factors, such as whether we need it to maintain your account, to provide the Services, to comply with legal obligations, to resolve disputes or to enforce other applicable contracts and policies.

Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the rights listed below in relation to your personal information. These rights are not absolute, may apply only in certain circumstances and, in some cases, we may decline your request where permitted by law.

• Right of access. You may have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you.
• Right to deletion. You may have the right to ask us to delete the personal information we hold about you.
• Right to correction. You may have the right to ask us to correct inaccurate personal information we hold about you.
• Right to data portability. You may have the right to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to ask us to transfer it to a third party, in certain circumstances and with certain exceptions.
• Managing communication preferences. We may send you promotional emails, and you can opt out of these at any time using the unsubscribe option in our emails. If you opt out, we may still send you non-promotional emails, such as those about your account or orders you have placed.

You can exercise any of these rights where indicated within the Services or by contacting us using the contact details below. For more information about how Shopify uses your personal information and about the rights you may have, including in relation to data processed by Shopify, you can visit https://privacy.shopify.com/en.

We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights. We may need to verify your identity before we can process your requests, as permitted or required by applicable law. Where applicable law allows, you may appoint an authorised representative to make requests on your behalf. Before accepting a request from a representative, we will require the representative to provide proof that you have authorised them to act on your behalf, and we may need you to verify your identity directly with us. We will respond to your request within a reasonable time, as set out by applicable law.

Complaints

If you have a complaint about how we process your personal information, please contact us using the contact details below. Depending on where you live, you may have the right to appeal our decision by contacting us using the details below, or to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. In South Africa, that authority is the Information Regulator.

International transfers

Please note that we may transfer, store and process your personal information outside the country in which you live.

If we transfer your personal information out of the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, we will use recognised transfer mechanisms such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses, or any equivalent contract issued by the competent UK authority, as applicable, unless the transfer is to a country that has been recognised as providing an adequate level of protection.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, including to reflect changes in our practices or for operational, legal or regulatory reasons. We will post the updated version of this Privacy Policy on this website, update the "Last updated" date and give notice of the changes as required by applicable law.