lbr2

Mirror Mirror
VOL 2
Spring 2016
NEW!
La Bouche Rouge
The First Revolutionary
Sustainable Luxury Lipstick
IssamayaFFrench
shares her behind the scenes
beauty secrets
50 Shades Of Red
Lipsticks
by Chanel

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La Bouche
Rouge
The French Touch
Writer Georgette Koning
Pictures David Pelham
Make-Up Sandra Govers
Product Styling Knapp Studio

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French High End Beauty
Nicolas Gerlier looks at me.
‘For you, the right shade of lipstick is
the new one by Anja. It has a satin finish
and contains no plastics.’
Nicolas Gerlier is not a makeup artist,
but he is the mastermind behind
La Bouche Rouge, the first French
sustainable high-end beauty brand.

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Anja? That’s top model Anja Rubik,
the face of La Bouche Rouge.
World-famous art director Ezra
Petronio designed the look of
the brand. Inspired by the personalisation
of objects in bygone
days are the initials on the
simple white packaging: LBR.
To develop colours, Gerlier approached
Anja Rubik and beauty
expert Wendy Rowe, a consultant
for Burberry who’s come
up with special lipstick colours
for Vogue covers. Gerlier says
he asked Anja Rubik not only
for her beauty, but also because
of her association with environmental
organisation Parley.
‘These days it’s important to
give meaning to a product. It’s
all about telling a true story.
You need an intelligent
and beautiful
woman to do that.’
In the same way that
French businessman
Frédéric Malle shook the world
of fragrance in 2000 with his
innovative perfume house, Editions
de Parfum Frédéric Malle,
and now, in 2016, Nicolas Gerlier
wants La Bouche Rouge to be the
first ground-breaking, sustainable
beauty brand in France.
He’s convinced of the success
of his mission. ‘When you do
things from the heart and with
a powerful personal vision, you
will eventually succeed. I must
admit, however, that I have no
idea how long thi journey will
take to get there, in fact.’ Nicolas
Gerlier’s first product for
La Bouche Rouge is a sustainable
line of lipsticks in a range
of shades; they are based on a
new formula and come with an

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optional leather case. Why lipstick?
Gerlier fires away: ‘I’ve
always been obsessed with lipstick.
Lipstick is a fantastic product.
Every woman has at least
three in her purse. It’s a pleasure
to wear, because it’s easy to
create a look with lipstick. Also
important: a pretty red mouth
is very visible on social media.
Red is like a manifesto, and
sustainable La Bouche Rouge
makes you militant. Lipstick is
today’s personal signature; until
a few years ago, it was perfume.’
Gerlier says that lipstick is the
key product for makeup brands.
Sales have doubled worldwide.
What’s more, the competition
between the makeup business
– lipstick, nail polish and foundations
– and the skincare industry
has changed completely.
The reason? The power of
internet and social media, with
selfies and all kinds of information
that lead to an
individual’s shopping
choices. Gerlier
stresses the power
of an online presence: ‘Digital
and social media create possibilities
for a new brand like La
Bouche Rouge: we can broadcast
our story without having to
invest too much. All you need is
an e-boutique, an Instagram account
and social influencers.’
Nicolas Gerlier knows what he’s
talking about. For over ten years
he worked for L’Oréal, where he
was responsible for the international
marketing of Giorgio
Armani and Lancôme Maquillage.
He also spent time in the
lab, helping to develop products
and formulas. I ask whether he
has a scientific background: ‘No,
but I do have a financial background
and a background in
art.’ Before joining L’Oréal, Gerlier
was with Sotheby’s in Lon-
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don. After leaving L’Oréal, he
worked for four years in fashion
retail, where he was involved
in digital and social media.
But beauty continued to fascinate
him, especially because it
would allow him to combine his
creative talents with his business
skills. Gerlier: ‘I wanted
to launch something bearing
my personal vision.’ He finds it
odd that nothing new happens
in the world of makeup. ‘The
conservative world of beauty
doesn’t understand “creation”.
The marketing machine with
its meetings and its focus on results
is killing. But I’m sure the
situation will change within the
next three years, thanks to the
advent of new figures.’ In 2016
he sets his sights
on a beauty competition,
challenging
himself by submitting
makeup
based on a sustainable formula.
He calls the product La Fille en
Rouge and immediately wins
first prize. Among other things,
the award means that luxury
conglomerate LVMH will support
him with a strategy for his
start-up and help him with the
production, which takes place in
Cosmetic Valley – a region near
Chartres, about 90 km southwest
of Paris – a location with a
focus on beauty and the home of
LVMH’s research centre, Hélios,
where products are developed
for Dior. One of the first things
Gerlier does is to change the
nameLa Fille en Rouge becomes
La Bouche Rouge. ‘That really
stands for beauty: it’s edgy, simple
and direct.’ Gerlier tells the

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director of the LMVH research
centre that he wants total freedom
as a start-up and is determined
to make sustainable
products. His plan is to remove
all harmful ingredients from
the lipstick: allergens, disrupters,
smells, microplastics and
preservatives. Gerlier aims high.
He doesn’t want to be average.
The deal now with Hélios is to
change existing beauty rules by
making a sustainable product
together with sustainable packaging.As
a start-up, Gerlier shelters
beneath the mighty LVMH
umbrella, but financially he’s on
his own. ‘It’s a win-win partnership.
I work independently, but
everything I learn about developing
an entirely new colouring
and pigmentation process
is shared with Hélios. I own the
patent, but Hélios has permission
to use my proprietary information
for other brands.’
In developing the lipsticks, Gerlier
has two goals in mind: making
the most qualitative lipstick
formula in terms of comfort
and longevity, and removing all
harmful ingredients. A major
challenge is the elimination of
smells, because it’s difficult to
find odourless ingredients. Gerlier’s
plan succeeds for the most
part. ‘In the balm, there’s no
added scent, but you can smell
the natural ingredient, styrax
benzoin, which is a tree resin
– a rich ingredient that’s good
for lip protection.’ He emphasizes
that he’s not yet permitted
to market his brand as organic.
‘It would have to be at least 70
per cent organic, and it isn’t.’
The first LBR lipsticks have satin
and matte finishes. The latest
version contains silicones, because
it’s too expensive to make
lipstick without them. To find a
good alternative, Gerlier start-
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ed a crowdfunding scheme this
year. If he gets the amount he’s
aiming for, he’ll use it to develop
a silicone-free matte lipstick. An
important part of the LBR concept
is the refillable case, made
from a highly luxurious leather.
The idea is that a customer
buys not only the lipstick (€45)
but also the case (€135). Gerlier
spared no expense in developing
the most beautiful leather
case. His work was preceded by
an extensive search. It was essential
to find the right supplier.
In the region of Alsace, Gerlier
discovered a kind of leather
that has been treated – since
1842 – with a secret tanning process
involving no fewer than
700 steps. Buyers of the leather,
which smells
faintly of wood
and has a ‘wax
touch’, are Chanel
and Hermès. The
La Bouche Rouge lipstick case is
stitched traditionally by an artisan.
‘France has two specialties:
beauty and leather. La Bouche
Rouge has definetely, undoubtedly,
the French touch!’ Looking
back, Nicolas Gerlier remembers
the development of the
refill as a nightmare. ‘But we
did it.’ He takes a lipstick with
a magnetic closure and pops
off the cap. ‘Do you hear that
sound? Très chic. The mechanism
is eco-friendly. Compared
with “ordinary” lipsticks, the use
of plastic is minimal. Our lipstick
contains only a very small
piece of plastic – without it, the
stick doesn’t fit. Did you know
that women throw away a billion
lipsticks a year? How many

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Mirror Mirror
"Lipstick is the
red badge of courage"
Man Ray
10
lipsticks get dumped by manufacturers
is unknown, but that’s
probably even more. Altogether,
it’s a huge amount of plastic. My
goal is to limit the use of plastic.’
What are his goals concerning
the sale of the new product? ‘Of
course, there’s a business plan,’
he says. But his biggest priority
right now is conveying the message
that LBR is the first sustainable
French luxury label. The
sale of the product is secondary.
The day before the interview,
Gerlier hears that Instagram
and Facebook are ‘extremely interested’
in the brand, owing to
its originality. ‘They proposed
a plan to test new e-commerce
tools for doing business. Normally
they work for large accounts
and don’t have time for
start-ups, but they looked at
LBR from the perspective of sustainability.
Instagram believes
it’s the right channel to support
the brand with the right strategy.’
Barely a month after the
launch, Gerlier was approached
by parties from New York, London,
Dubai and Hong Kong. ‘I
didn’t have to call anyone.’ His
explanation? ‘The timing was
perfect. Right now it’s important
to be extremely authentic
and to keeping focusing on the

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core message: what is important is
beautiful packaging, sustainability,
an excellent formula and a good
network.’ And now, do you have
any advice for start-ups? ‘Focus on
a single product. Many brands start
by calculating how they can reach
a million in profit with a number
of products. That method is outdated.
Today, one key product is
enough, provided it’s unique, simple
and necessary. LBR’s unique
features are the refillable leather
case, the formula and the concept:
to be the first French beauty maison
based on luxury and sustainability.’
You must be contemplating
expansion already? ‘Yes, the kickoff
combines our lipstick with our
made-to-measure lipstick service,
which allows customers to order
personal colours via an app. In the
long run, I’d like to launch skincare
as well. And why not leather
products? Swedish firm Byredo is
a good example. They started with
fragrances before adding
leather products to their offering.
A store? Possibly, but
nowadays a pop-up store is the
way to go.’
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