La Bouche Rouge Expands Makeup Line
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La Bouche Rouge is ready to offer its customers more than just “red lips.”
Known for its eco-luxury take on lipsticks, the Paris-based cosmetics brand founded by L’Oréal veteran Nicolas Gerlier in 2017 will expand its range starting in August to include makeup essentials for eyes as well as powders.
The products will be developed in its laboratories near Orléans, France, respecting the label’s sustainable positioning both in terms of natural and microplastics-free formulations, and refillable and recyclable packaging.
“After the lipstick, I wanted to create beautiful, desirable objects that are made to endure and accompany women all throughout their lives,” said Gerlier, explaining the development has taken two years.
“One of our cherished values is to be a positive economy project: Luxury companies should have a positive social, human and environmental impact,” he continued, underscoring the importance of eliminating the use of plastic.
Among the new products are Le Sérum Noir mascara made of 99 percent natural ingredients, such as carnauba wax, that comes in a glass bottle featuring an innovative brush made of castor bean oils. The wiping ring is crafted from plant-based materials and a cap of recyclable metal.
This was the most challenging product to realize. “We did not want to use recycled plastic for the bottle or even the brush, as recycled plastic is the exact opposite of sustainability,” Gerlier said. “It is a material that is still poorly transformed: Most recycling methods still pollute and create waste.”
Other new eye products include Le Crayon à Sourcil eyebrow pencil and Le Khôl Noir eyeliner, both crafted in cedar wood and containing castor oil and squalane, while Le Sérum Sourcil eyebrow serum comprises caviar extract, Japanese microalgue and pistachio oil.
Another standout item is a universal compact in heavy recyclable metal. The single, refillable case can contain powders, such as La Terre bronzer, La Lumière highlighter and Les Ombres eye shadows.
Like the brand’s signature lipsticks, the mascara and metal compact can be covered by polished leather cases, crafted from French company Tanneries du Puy’s scraps, in various colors. Both those and the vegan alternative can be customized with initials.
Prices for the new products range from 28 euros for pencils to 59 euros for the compacts.
The line will be available worldwide on La Bouche Rouge’s online store and in niche perfumeries, concept stores and retailers such as Le Bon Marché, Galeries Lafayette and Dover Street Market Parfums in Paris; Harrods in London; Isetan in Tokyo, and Bergdorf Goodman and The Webster in the U.S.
To mark the launch, La Bouche Rouge will collaborate with fashion photographer Viviane Sassen for a “militant shooting project.”
Collaborations with cool players in beauty and fashion have helped catapult the brand’s appeal. The label launched limited-edition lipsticks with the Self Service and i-D magazines and fashion label the Attico, among others.
Gerlier revealed an upcoming project will involve a high jewelry brand.
La Bouche Rouge’s core consumers are sophisticated Millennials and women aged 25 to 45, who Gerlier said “aspire to consume differently and are aware of their impact on the planet.”
He would not discuss company sales, but industry experts estimate La Bouche Rouge generates net revenues of 1.5 million euros yearly.
The brand’s top markets are France, Japan and the U.S. It is gearing up to debut in China via the retailer SKP and to launch on Tmall and in Dubai next.
La Bouche Rouge aims to further expand its product categories in the future.
“From the beginning, we’ve actually considered makeup as skin care —– we created the first pigmented lip serum with our lipstick. So naturally, our next line will be around skin-care essentials,” Gerlier said.
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