It's well known that France is the world's long-standing leader in cosmetics, thanks to impressive expertise, constant innovation, and established reputation. The sector generates nearly €24 billion in revenue each year.

But beyond research and manufacturing, France isn't known for its highly developed chemical industry. While it's possible to easily have your cosmetics manufactured in France, it's not easy to find ingredients made in France.

On the other hand, finding your ingredients in France is necessarily more expensive, due in part to regulated working conditions and social benefits that are the envy of many.

A rapid awareness

When I began to take an interest in cosmetics, I began to look at the impact of manufacturing, from start to finish. This means, in concrete terms, from the cultivation of raw materials to your shower, and even to the sea, where some of our wastewater ends up.

Although cosmetics were largely manufactured in France, most of the ingredients and components were not only of synthetic origin, but also manufactured on the other side of the world, mainly in Asia.

When I created LAO, I wanted to formulate products with Common Sense. It was therefore unthinkable for me to follow the usual pattern, even if it allowed for cost reduction, because in my opinion it did not guarantee real traceability of ingredients, and ensure optimal quality, in addition to promoting good working conditions for workers in the value chain.

Act with Common Sense

That's how I set out to source as many ingredients as possible close to home, with a minimum of middlemen. For certain types of ingredients, like active ingredients, it was a no-brainer because I knew it was possible. France has never stopped cultivating wonderful plants, like lavender, lemon, thyme, lemon balm, apple, sunflower... but also, more recently, hemp. The list would be too long to list, but the possibilities are endless!

Herbalists and other local producers are coming together and gaining momentum around ethical, modern and traceable production techniques, so we might as well take advantage of this and support them!

Furthermore, from the outset, the choice of natural was obvious, but not without ecological considerations. It was necessary to consider the impact of producing each type of plant. This is how hemp emerged, thanks to its ability to grow without irrigation or pesticides, and even to capture CO2!

Total transparency, a solution to raise awareness

To lay yourself bare is to reveal everything, to agree to show your strengths but also your areas for improvement, to show good faith to deserve your trust. It also means putting in your hands all the information necessary to consume better, but also in full awareness.

It allows you to realize all the work behind a cosmetic, the months of formulation, the hours spent selecting the best partners, the comparisons of the most distant partners to reduce its impact, the impact of the cultivation of the raw materials involved and the perspectives!

Modern technology, looking to the future

With the goal of earning your trust in mind, I looked for a way to make the information shared traceable. Blockchain technology, which allows you to anchor and make data on your natural shampoos tamper-proof, quickly became a must, and I chose SORGA to support me.

SORGA provides access, via a QR code affixed to each shampoo bottle and on our product pages, to a complete and certified interface allowing instant access to all the information on your LAO cleansing care, from seed to bottle.

In the different tabs, you can explore the information associated with our shampoos, but also have access to a map that shows the location of each of our partners, for total transparency.

While often only the active ingredients are mentioned, LAO dares to go further and focus on each of its ingredients, explaining its function on the hair and in the shampoo, its manufacturing method and its origin.

In my opinion, the future of cosmetics rests on a real need to innovate, but also to explain, raise awareness, and empower everyone. Access to certified information will allow you to maintain your trust in us, but also to make your choices in a more informed way! This is also what Transparency by LAO is all about.

Lisa, founder of LAO

Sources

FEBEA. The cosmetics sector, figures. 2019. Available online: https://www.febea.fr/fr/le-secteur-cosmetique/le-secteur-chiffres