Cleopatra's Skincare Secret 'Shea Butter' and the Successful Brand 'L'Occitane' [Hidden Industry Story]

Leading Environmental Protection: L'Occitane
Most Products Use Only Primary Packaging... Efforts to Reduce Waste
Goal to Make All Product Containers from Recycled Plastic by 2025

L'Occitane Hand Cream. Photo by L'Occitane Official Website

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Cleopatra, considered the most beautiful woman in history, was famous for her skin as beautiful as her appearance. The Egypt she ruled was not only home to the vast Sahara Desert but also had a dry climate, causing most residents to have dry skin. Despite this environment, what was the secret behind Cleopatra's reputation as a 'peerless beauty' and 'skin beauty'?

According to ancient texts, she frequently used an ingredient called 'Shea Butter' to maintain her beauty. This ingredient provided moisture to rough and dry skin, helping her overcome the desert's dryness. Shea Butter, nicknamed 'the gold of women' for its skin benefits, is still widely used as an ingredient in many cosmetics today.

Among these, there is a cosmetic brand inseparable from Shea Butter. It is the brand 'L’occitane,' which was the first to introduce Shea Butter into cosmetics. Why has L’occitane continued to be loved by consumers even after more than 40 years since its establishment?

◆ The brand that knows 'Shea Butter' best, 'L’occitane'

L'Occitane's initial shea butter product. Photo by Naver World Brand Encyclopedia capture · L'Occitane

L’occitane began in 1976 when Olivier Baussan, then 23 years old, sold essential oils he personally extracted at a market in southern France.

With a keen interest in plants, he used an old distiller to extract essential oils from various plants, including herbs and rosemary. He sold these products at the village market, and word of mouth about the natural ingredient-based products gradually increased sales.

Later, he acquired a declining soap factory in the Marseille region of France and began his full-fledged business. At that time, many soap factories in the area were closing due to the import of cheap mass-produced soaps.

However, Baussan did not give up; he learned traditional soap-making techniques from the Marseille region and expanded his business by selling soaps infused with natural essential oils.

Subsequently, Baussan began traveling worldwide to find new soap ingredients. In particular, during his 1980 trip to Burkina Faso in West Africa, he became interested when he saw local women applying 'Shea Butter' to their skin. At that time, women used Shea Butter, made by grinding the shea fruit from the shea tree, as a moisturizer.

Recognizing Shea Butter's excellent moisturizing and nourishing effects on the skin, Baussan established fair trade agreements with women in Burkina Faso and later succeeded in making soaps containing Shea Butter.

Baussan began using Shea Butter as a key ingredient in L’occitane products. In 1989, with the launch of '100% Pure Shea Butter,' L’occitane became the first company to make cosmetics with Shea Butter.

◆ Upholding 'naturalism' not only in products but also in packaging

L'Occitane's signature product, 'Shea Butter Hand Cream'. Photo by L'Occitane website

As Baussan said, "Natural ingredients grown in good soil and environment are the most beneficial to the human body," L’occitane is a representative brand that emphasizes naturalism.

For over 40 years, L’occitane has adhered to naturalism, creating cosmetics from natural ingredients such as lavender, verbena, olive, and almond. About 25% of the 200 plant-based ingredients used by L’occitane have received organic certification.

Additionally, L’occitane makes efforts to provide high-quality ingredients to consumers by adjusting production times. For example, lavender, harvested in July, is used to produce products in August, and olives, harvested in October, are processed in November. This reflects L’occitane's philosophy that only ingredients harvested in the same year should be used in that year's products.

Strict naturalism is also reflected in product packaging. L’occitane makes paper for shopping bags from apple juice pulp and tree bark collected from the Landes forest in France. Also, to prevent excessive use of packaging, the headquarters directly manufactures packaging materials and supplies them to stores worldwide.

Moreover, most L’occitane products use only primary packaging without outer boxes, and instead of non-recyclable ribbons, they decorate packaging with raffia (Raffia, straw), showing their commitment to sustainability.

◆ Eco-friendly brand 'L’occitane' pursues responsible consumption

Photo by TerraCycle

As an eco-friendly brand, L’occitane actively leads environmental protection efforts. In April last year, in collaboration with the environmental company TerraCycle, L’occitane conducted a 'used bottle collection campaign' and attracted attention by unveiling the EARTH BAG made from recycled cosmetic bottles.

About 15,000 bottles were collected by L’occitane over the past year. These collected bottles were recycled and transformed into 5,000 bags. L’occitane donated all profits from the EARTH BAG to resource circulation activities and to improve the environment of recycling collection factories.

Meanwhile, in line with the brand's purpose of 'raising awareness of the importance of nature and environmental conservation,' L’occitane aims to make all product containers 100% from recycled plastic and to introduce more eco-friendly refill products by 2025.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.