Established in the Drôme region of France, France Charvin has been attracted to flowers since she was a child. Today, she carefully makes her own organic cosmetics using plants she farms herself and wild flowers she collects along the sides of her property.
“This love of flowers extended to organic biology, and it is through its study that I became an agricultural engineer. However, I wasn’t happy with the jobs I had, and when I met my partner Nicolas, I had the opportunity to follow my real dream: to have my own farm and to be able to harvest flowers everyday!”
Photo Credits : Bôm Cosmétiques
Before she founded BôM in 2013, France made herbal teas and syrups, continued her studies at the Ecole des Plantes in Lyon, and followed a course on craft cosmetics in DrHumana, a training program where she discovered water-free beauty, and the properties and benefits of different plants. “My production process is inevitably linked to my region: I devised my line of products according to the ingredients I could find immediately around me. I am very spoiled by the Drôme region, because it boasts a wide variety of soils and sun expositions.”
Photo Credits : Bôm Cosmétiques
France selects ingredients such as beeswax with care and rigor, while always favoring local and organic producers. “My true ally as a base ingredient is organic olive oil. My favorite comes from Spain or Morocco. This can be surprising, but these countries’ climates and wide varieties give oil that is easily scented. Which means that it can take in all that the plants have to offer. This comes from the fact that the olives are really allowed to mature, making a very stable oil resistant to time and temperature fluctuations.”
France chose to keep water out of her recipes, freeing her from using the additives, emulsifiers, and preservatives that you need when working with water. She also doesn’t use the traditional distillation method: “Actually, I use maceration. I harvest my plants, and macerate them in the sun, in a vegetable oil. The sun will help release fat-soluble active ingredients, including essential oils, into the vegetable oil. I then filter the preparation, and I get an enriched oil, with all the properties of the plants I initially collected! This technique does not waste energy, allows to work on a small scale, and treats the plant gently, which I prefer!”
You can find her numerous tips and precious information on her blog https://www.bom-cosmetique.com/
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Photo Crédit : Bôm Cosmétiques
