DORÉ

I am never without lipstick on me. Not on my face necessarily, but it is always within an arm’s reach. Because I believe lipstick is the single product that can completely transform a woman’s face, and thus her attitude, confidence and mood.

You might remember how heavily we featured lipstick in our Art of Love series with the Le Méridien. Well, now we’re here to tell you it wasn’t just any lipstick we were featuring. It was a special color, specifically designed with Garance in collaboration with the chic Parisian brand, La Bouche Rouge called Le Doré. (And is the lipstick Garance is wearing in the photo above!)

While we were in Paris filming The Art of Love we sat down with Nicolas Gerlier and Ezra Petronio, the founders of La Bouche Rouge to ask them a few questions about their inspiration, adherence to a sustainable brand, and their relationship with our very own Garance!

To say lipstick is your passion is an understatement. What is it about lipstick in particular that drove you to create this brand?

Creating a lipstick was mainly about making a statement, a declaration. La Bouche Rouge, stands for the passion of color but also for “voice.” A voice to create and consume beauty differently, to engage this revolution with an iconic object that every woman has in their handbags, a lipstick! My encounter with Ezra Petronio, co-founder and Creative Director of the brand, was decisive to endorse a true esthetic vision.

What are some qualities that define a La Bouche Rouge girl?

La Bouche Rouge girl is elegant, militant and independent. She cares about having an impact on her environment and is careful about what she buys, how it is made, where it is from. She loves art, fashion and beautiful objects.

How do you concept new lipstick colors? What inspires you to create a new color? Is it a person or something more abstract, like a feeling?

We have a lot of different ways to concept a color. Sometimes, we give “carte blanche” to friends of the brand, like makeup artist Wendy Rowe, who created our core 6 colors, the 6 reds that can match all complexions.

We get inspired by women like Anja Rubik or Chloë Sevigny and also by nature sometimes to create shades from flowers for example.

We also like to let our friends, like Garance, have 100% control on their color creation and just create the perfect shade for them.

Clean beauty in your lipstick and sustainability in your packaging is very important to you and the La Bouche Rouge brand. Why did you want to make that one of your founding values?

Sustainability is indeed one of our founding values. We could not imagine to launch our Maison without taking sustainability and eco-design as an obsession. 83 % of the water is contaminated by microplastics in less than 100 years, 1 billion lipsticks are thrown away every year. Cosmetic industry is one of the most polluting one. We believe we do not have the luxury to do otherwise. One of our first commitment is to avoid plastic at the maximum, not only in the packaging and in our object but also in the way we are producing it – in reusable metallic molds and not silicon molds like in the classic industry and mainly in our formula which microplastics free. Our lipstick case is totally plastic free, and this was a true challenge! It is reusable and made to last for life. Our refill is the first microplastic free lipstick refill and it is made in France.

When did you first learn about Garance? What about her inspires you?

I knew Garance for a long time, following her career with attention. I actually had Garance in mind at the origin of the project, even before we launched our first production! One of our values is, “embrace a certain Parisian elegance” as well as “celebrate your inner fashion spirit” and “aspire to the artistic and intellect.” It’s on all our lipstick boxes and it was obvious to me that Garance endorses all the values we wanted to represent as a brand. So I took a plane and went to meet her in Los Angeles to share my vision with her. It was a true inspiration for me and I am beyond happy to collaborate with her today.

What do you hope La Bouche Rouge adds to the beauty industry?

I hope that La Bouche Rouge is a declaration to the beauty industry to do things differently. We are not perfect, we just try to do better every day. To respect the planet, to respect the people who are wearing the products and the people who are making it. If a one and a half year old Maison can do it, I am sure others can too!

If Le Doré isn’t your perfect shade of red, you might enjoy the other color La Bouche Rogue collaborated on with our friends at Le Méridien in celebration of their (avec amour) program. You can find that iconic red color, along with our Art of Love videos, here!