We are starting off the year with a focus on uplifting our MINTD Box family. There’s no underestimating how difficult it can be to comeback from testing circumstances, so we hope that our readers will find inspiration and motivation from the incredible journey entrepreneur, environmental advocate and skincare extraordinaire Valerie Grandury of Odacité has cultivated. 

‘From fighting cancer to fighting wrinkles’ she shared with us how her mission to heal went beyond the physical to the environmental and created a resolve to remove toxic ingredients from her everyday life. She describes how Odacité produces natural products that are effective and don’t hinder the planet. 

Before founding Odacité, I was in the film industry, producing commercials all around the world.

I had breast cancer and I realised that if I wanted a chance to heal - and for my children to have a liveable planet - I would have to make it my mission to remove all toxic ingredients from my life, starting with the products that I was applying on my skin every single day. Back in 2009 the clean beauty movement did not exist and the offering for natural skincare was limited to a very “granola feel” skincare, greasy texture, awful scents, lack of actives and ugly packaging…

I was not ready to sacrifice performance for purity, and this is how the idea for Odacité was born. Odacité was created by uniting the expertise and luxury of French skincare with the healthy green California lifestyle, so that each formula can be as pure as it is effective, without forgetting the pleasure of the sense… I’m french after all.Natural ingredients are central to your products.

When you formulate clean beauty a big part of the efficacy comes from the quality of the ingredient. Ever since our inception we focus on sourcing extraordinary ingredients from all around the world. We work directly with farmers that have mastered the art harvesting natural ingredients to create high performing botanicals. We select ingredients by their native origins and ancestral use of improving skin conditions. Our Lavender comes from France, Aloe from our backyard in California, Acai from the Amazon forest… green tea seed oil from Japan has been used for centuries by the Geishas to create flawless skin… Moringa oil was used by the pharaohs to protect their skin from dryness, we harvest it from the footstep of the Himalayan Mountains. We have our own lab, allowing us to trace each ingredient from its source to our lab, ensuring its origin, freshness, quality and potency. This is how we make sure that each bottle we put out in the world is bursting with antioxidants, minerals and vitamins so it can transform the way your skin feels and looks in record time. Sustainability is a key component of the ethos at Odacité.

Indeed, sustainability was a priority from the beginning of the Odacité journey. 

When you manufacture a product there is no way you can have zero impact on the environment, what we do is focus on having a positive impact.

We source ingredients that are wildcrafted, organic, non-GMO, and always grown without environmental-damaging chemicals, pesticides or fertilisers, supporting non-polluting organic and regenerative agriculture practices.We make all our products in small-batches , never creating any waste. 95% of our packaging is made of recyclable glass.  Our boxes are made of FSC® certified paper, a not-for-profit organization that promotes the responsible management of the world's forests. We only print with biodegradable ink. Every Earth Month since our inception we plant thousands of trees, in 2020 we are planting 20,000 trees in Ethiopia. We are in constant search of improvement in the innovation field by creating effective and sustainable formulas such as the 552M shampoo bar to offer plastic free solutions. 

Daily 5 minute effective routine in 4 steps: Cleanse, Mist, Treat, Moisturise 

 Blue Aura is my go to cleanser, it’s everything I love, fast effective with a gorgeous scent, no need to rinse so easy to use even when feel too tired to cleanse your face! 

 Mint & Green Tea Treatment Mist is like a big glass of water for my skin and it prepares my skin for better absorption of the treatment serum.

 

Apply a targeted Serum Concentrate according to my skin’s need and apply Ba+S Eye Contour Serum. Eye serum is non negotablem start in your mid-20s.

I put on a veil of hydration with Oleosome Time Delivery Cream in the morning, switching to Crème de la Nuit for night time.

 

Weekly: I exfoliate 3 times a week with our Bioactive Rose Gommage, follow with our All embracing serum and practice Gua Sha massage

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So easy because the results are just so stunning. When you choose an organic product that is perfectly formulated, and completely free of junk, petroleum and silicons ladened in conventional skincare, your skin is going to transform and come to life. Here we call it the Odacité effect. Our products are perfectly biocompatible with your skin and will literally “feed” your cells with all the nutrients they need to create a skin that looks vibrant, fresh, healthy and so glowing.

My absolute obsession right now is our new Crème De La Nuit. It took two years to create this night cream! We reformulated 22 times and put it through clinical studies to scientifically prove its results on hydration, elasticity and firmness. 

It is a dream come true for my skin and it is also all the amazing feedback I receive daily about the formula and the results people get from it. 

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs?
Think outside the box, be a change maker and offer something different that comes from your heart, your passion and your vision. When I created Odacité, the clean beauty movement did not exist and nobody believed that natural products could work. I knew in my innermost being that I could change things, and that I could create formulas where visible results go hand in hand with absolute purity… Odacité pioneered the clean beauty movement and today it is the fastest growing segment of the beauty industry. It will take hard work, perseverance and a little bit of madness surely, but this is the way to achieve great things.