A French-born beauty connoisseur and founder of The Detox Market shares his mission:
To promote wellness with safe, pure and healthy ingredients
Romain Gaillard, CEO and founder of The Detox Market (thedetoxmarket.com), first began seven years ago with a pop-up green beauty shop in Venice, CA, as a safe haven for customers seeking pure and effective eco-friendly beauty products.
The Paris native and cofounder of Archivd Inc, Cyphort and Odacité saw a major hole in the market, and later opened a flagship store in West Hollywood. “The idea was to educate everyone about toxicity in beauty products, but more importantly show the amazing green brands that were available,” says Gaillard, who now has shops in Toronto and, most recently, Santa Monica. “We did a dozen pop-ups in the U.S. and Canada within three years. It was so much fun and very rewarding. The Detox Market is a passion project, an experiment that turned out well,” he says. We recently caught up with Gaillard at the newly opened Santa Monica boutique.
What makes you passionate about green beauty and why?
I think it is about the people. Almost everyone involved in green beauty has a fascinating story. Of course it starts with the founders and the formulators, but you also have the growers and the manufacturers. The green beauty community is so refreshing, I encourage anyone looking for purpose and meaning in beauty to join the movement. You will not regret it.
How do you determine whether products are “green enough,” and on what basis?
Part of the issue with green beauty is that there is no clear definition. On top of that, it is very confusing, because some ingredients sound okay and are awful, and some sound nasty and are great. Our philosophy is based on transparency. We have a list of ingredients we do not accept, and it can be viewed on our website. That is the first test for us. Then, of course, we try the products.
With several green beauty retail outlets launching, including Credo and Follain, for example, what makes The Detox Market different?
The more people who are aware of the inspiring choices in green beauty, the better. I receive emails on a weekly basis from people trying to open a Detox Market-like store everywhere from France to the Philippines! I always try to give some advice if I can.
I believe our singularity comes from our legitimacy (we started before it was a thing) and our authenticity. The idea is not to do a Sephora or CVS for natural beauty. We want to create our own model where each store has its own personality.
What do you hope people learn about green beauty?
I hope that everyone realizes that green beauty actually works. The products we have are as good or better than conventional beauty products, and on top of that, they are beneficial for you.
We don’t have to choose between purity and efficacy anymore. The other thing I would like people to know is that you can start with just one product. You don’t need to change everything. Start with one thing, see how it goes, and then try for more.
Are there any new lines you will be carrying that you’re excited about?
Right now, I am super excited about Linné botanicals. The founder is very interesting and the formulations are as good as the packaging. I really enjoy C.Lavie as well. We also have some amazing new products from existing lines such as the Pendulum Potion from May Lindstrom coming very soon, the Synergie Mask from Odacité (an instant best-seller) and the new palettes from RMS Beauty.
What are three key ingredients or things to look for on labels (or in ingredients in general), in green beauty?
Here is the first thing to learn about a label: It follows the INCI Nomenclature conventions, which means it starts with the highest concentration of ingredients and then goes to the lowest. So the top ones should be organic and good for you, and in most conventional skincare the first one is water. Not a great sign. I like when it starts with some floral water or aloe vera juice. You also want to look at the bottom of the list, which is where it can get dirty. To make it simple, quality is at the top and potential toxicity at the bottom.
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