1/2 - By creating Le Rouge Français, Elodie Carpentier has brought back colors to makeup, thanks to the virtues of tinctorial plants. The biotechnology engineer tells more to Le Boudoir Numérique about her organic, eco-responsible, vegan and cruelty free makeup brand.

By Ludmilla Intravaia

Le Boudoir Numérique: You created your brand Le Rouge Français in 2018, after three years of developing your patented innovation, plant-based coloring in makeup. What is it?

Elodie Carpentier, co-founder of Le Rouge Français: We use biotechnology processes, technologies from living organisms, for the enzymatic extraction of coloring ingredients from plants, pigments which are then integrated into the final formula of our lipsticks, of our mascaras, eyeliners, blushes and any other makeup product. Our grinding, extraction and infusion processes allow us to obtain natural and original colors, alternatives to chemical and non-renewable pigments, while benefiting from the moisturizing, antioxidant and repairing properties of tinctorials plants to protect the epidermis.

What is a tinctorial plant?

These are plants or fruits which, thanks to the molecules contained in their flowers, leaves, berries, wood or roots, have color properties, but also beneficial for health. There are several types that we source in France, such as dyer’s madder, the key ingredient in our lipstick. Dyer’s madder is a red root used since ancient Egypt for its coloring and soothing properties. Cleopatra, one of the most attractive women in the world, already used dyer’s madder to sublimate her lips. The orange-red annatto seed has also been used since the dawn of time in South America for body paints, to protect against the sun or insect bites. Sorghum, indigo, damask rose, hibiscus…, thanks to the many tinctorial plants, our innovation in green coloring offers a range of incredible shades, with beautiful applications in makeup.

You are one of the winners of the 2021 Vegan Entrepreneur Award from PETA France, intended to reward, as explained by the animal rights association on its website (see here), “women who advance the animal cause through their courageous entrepreneurship”. Your makeup is vegan and cruelty free. What does that mean?

Our company is certified without products derived from or tested on animals. Cruelty free means preserving animals from tests. Before the ban on cosmetic testing on animals in Europe (the marketing of cosmetic products containing ingredients tested on animals has been banned since 2009 in Europe, AN), one carried out preclinical tests to ensure that a makeup product sold on the market had no potential side effects on the skin of human beings, that it would not create allergies, for example. However, some French brands that complied with European regulations could not be considered cruelty free, because they exported to countries, where testing on their products was mandatory, such as China. In the meantime, this country has decided to ban animal testing (since May 1, 2021, for French cosmetic products exported to China, with the exception of hair dyes, whitening products and sunscreens in particular and subject to a certificate of compliance with good manufacturing practices and a safety assessment, AN), which shows that the fight of the vegan communities is understood and that it is possible to no longer contribute to this animal suffering, when buying makeup products. There are still countries where pre-testing is mandatory, but regulations in favor of the ban are advancing rapidly.

What does vegan mean for Le Rouge Français products?

We respect the animal cause, therefore we do not exploit animals. Our formulas and packaging do not contain any product or by-product derived from animals. Conventional makeup can contain various non-vegan ingredients such as the cochineal red pigment obtained from these crushed insects, waxes and gelatins from pork and fish or even whale fat which is not yet banned in Japan, for example. We do not use beeswax, animal fat, carmine from cochineals or animal leather. We have introduced innovative alternatives, such as waxes from rice, candelilla (a shrub native to Mexico, AN) and carnauba (a palm tree from Brazil, AN) which allow the material to be applied just as efficiently as the ingredients of animal origin.

In terms of accessories, you also have designed a vegan apple-based casing for your lipsticks. Did you choose the Apple Skin alter-leather from the Italian company Frumat?

Absolutely. The positioning of Le Rouge Français on French elegance required a great deal of research into innovative materials to find the right alternatives to luxurious materials such as animal leather. By setting our sights on this Apple Skin, made from agro-food residues from the orchards of Bolzano at the heart of the fruit juice industry in Italy, we are helping to revalue waste into a luxury item. Today there are a lot of vegan alternatives with the same grain, the same finish and a look as luxurious as animal leather. We also use the grape skin for lipstick and makeup pouches. Likewise, if we are not using them yet, we are exploring the possibilities offered by mushroom leather or cork, which also have very beautiful feel resembling that of leather.

Do you believe in these new innovative materials as a future alternative to animal leather?

Of course, especially since the research never stops. Like us. It is for this reason that we focused on plant-based coloring, on our formulas and our certifications but also on our packaging that we wanted eco-responsible. Thus, we have found alternatives, not only to animal leather, but also to plastic, by developing a gem of engineering, namely the first bio-based lipstick case made from castor oil, which is recyclable and refillable.

So, this lipstick case is the result of your own research?

We took the risk of developing our packaging internally, because most of the makeup packaging is sourced in China. We are very satisfied with this innovation, especially the look of the material. Plant biobased already exists as an alternative to plastic, for example from potato starch, but suffers from a yellowish appearance. With our castor oil case, the refill is completely visible through our material, that is really transparent.

You said previously that your dyer’s madder comes from France. Is this the case for the majority of your ingredients?

In terms of sourcing, we focus as much as possible on a local origin, in France. For example, dyer’s madder comes from Charente-Maritime, indigo and persicaire (herbaceous plant, AN) from Provence. Our ingredients are from organic farming (agricultural production method excluding the use of synthetic chemicals and genetically modified organisms, AN). And when a plant is endemic (confined to a particular geographical region, without human intervention, AN), we source it in its country of origin to preserve biodiversity, the balance between flora and fauna, as well as the ancestral know-how of the local population which feeds on the culture of these resources. We work with trusted partners who guarantee us ethical, certified and sustainable supply chains. I am thinking in particular of the Guayapi company (see here) whose operation we visited in Sri Lanka and which goes beyond organic, by being certified Forest Garden Products (GFP), namely the cultivation of tinctorial plants under the trees, respectful of the ecosystem of these forest gardens.

* Le Rouge Français flagship store is located at Espace Chamberlan, 5 rue Rouget de L’Isle, 75001 Paris. More info on the brand's website here.

* Read the second part of Elodie Carpentier’s interview, in this article from Le Boudoir Numérique: “We want to share an immersive experience around color”.

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