In conversation with Nicolas Gerlier, founder of La Bouche Rouge
The Manifesto Reasoned Beauty
Today, true luxury implies sustainable objects and formulas.
Producing and consuming in a sustainable manner is no longer solely urgent, it’s now also vital. La Bouche Rouge intends to lead the way in reinventing everyday objects, guiding women to consume dierently and think in a new manner. Without greenwashing, La Bouche Rouge chose to avoid all use of plastics, even those recycled. The first makeup routine without microplastics. La Bouche Rouge launches its complete line that reinvents the makeup ritual.
Why did you create La Bouche Rouge?
After a long career working for a large cosmetics group, I wanted to take on a project that resonated with my values. As a father of three, I wanted to show them that it was possible to build a better world: with La Bouche Rouge, I created a company that respects the planet and that avoids all use of plastic, a problem that wasn’t considered at that time. I wanted to create beautiful, desirable objects that are made to endure and accompany women allthroughout their lives. I wished to work with French artisans and artists, to create a brand that is alive, intelligent, creative, and which has a purpose and impact on the world. This, for me, is true modernity. We start a revolution with each of our daily choices. La Bouche Rouge is part of that.
For you, how does the beauty of tomorrow look?
I think that the crisis that we are currently experiencing will put an end to the consumer habits of the 20th century. Luxury should be the first sector to show the way. Luxury’s mission is to render our lives sublime. It’s therefore unthinkable for us to create objects that destroy the planet. That would be senseless! One of our cherished values is also that of a positive economy: luxury companies should have a positive social, human and environmental impact. We are committed to this through each step of our products creation. This also entails the quality ofour products, with their clean formulas and high na-turality, which are easy and pleasant to use. The future is also a world without plastic. Since 1950, only 9% of plastic waste in the world has been recycled, and around 12% is burned. The majority of it ends up in dumps, nature or the oceans. The cosmetics industry has the potential to bring about tremendous change: it’s the third most polluting industry in terms of plastic, after automobiles and fashion.That’s why we’re working towards a path of cleaner beauty. We created beauty without plastic at each step, from production to our formulas, even, for instance, with regards to our lipstick moulds and how we present our products in stores.
Why did you choose not to use recycled plastics?
Recycled plastic is the exact opposite of sustainability. It’s a material that is still poorly transformed: the majority of recycling methods still pollute and createwaste. The methods that recreate plastic that’s 100% reusable are rare. Because of its brittleness, plastic, even recycled, continues to leave microparticles. To avoid this, we have to create new desires. That’s LaBouche Rouge’s mission: to create objects so beautiful that you don’t wish to toss them, but rather, to reuse them.
How did you conceive the mascara brush in castor oil?
It entails the same method as traditional brushes: castor oil is poured into the same moulds that areused to create plastic brushes. It naturally solidies. Once solid, it can be used just as long as the mascara itself, without transferring into the formula. It’s therst of its kind in the world!
How did you choose the metal alloy that constitutes the universal case?
It’s a blend of zinc, aluminium, magnesium and copper, of which a portion is already recycled. It is highly resistant, does not get easily ruined and canbe recycled an in nite number of times. As it is heavy and precious, it is easily identified by waste sorting channels: this guarantees that it will be properly recycled, unlike other metals.
Why did you choose to use leather?
We use scraps of leather from the luxury industry. This allows us to highlight French artisanry, without producing any additional leather. Thanks to this, we maintain ties with French living heritage companies, which hold an unparalleled, traditional savoir-faire. This allows us to create artisanal, French objects that are at the fore front of fashion, which isprecisely what we all want to create today. To satisfyall our clients, we also have a vegan version. Speaking of which, all La Bouche Rouge formulas are vegan.
Why were you adamant about avoiding all microplastics in your products?
They pose a health risk: mascara and shadow particles – glitter, for instance – can fall into the eye, thereby altering the mucous membrane and causingeye diseases. An American study proved that we find nearly 30% of microplastics in the form of silicone or glitter in the eye after application. Therefore, we created formulas without risks for one’s health, and which can be used with contact lenses.
