Cellular Innovation

CEO Sophie Guillon of Valmont Cosmetics tells us what it takes to innovate and create high-performance products with unique ingredients

WORDS: SARAH JOSEPH

What do the first 30 minutes of your day, your morning routine look like? I start the day with an application of Renewing Pack before my breakfast and then I apply the Moisturizing Booster, Elixir Vos Yeux and finally the Elixir Votre Visage.

Talk us through your career. I’ve worked for Balmain and Saint Laurent, then later led Valmont Group for more than 20 years. I oversee all aspects of product creation, supervise marketing and communication and manages international press relations, all guided by my intuition, experience and commitment.

Make-up has seen a strong shift from glam to barefaced. How has Valmont played a key role in making this change? Healthy is the new beauty. Young women are in absolute harmony with their environment and themselves. Unlike previous generations, they refuse to hide behind layers of makeup. Women are now aware of truly embracing their skin without artifice calls for an immaculate approach to their beauty routine. With this, Valmont has seamlessly built an image for a minimalist yet effective experience. With our Luminosity products featuring four heavenly textures, Valmont presents to all these women the gift of sublime skin, free of filters!

The Det02x cream is known as radiance in a jar – tell us more. In general, complexions are now greyish because of the city life, the cigarette which one could not resist during the last cocktail, or a plane trip which tired the skin. In addition to these extrinsic factors are those of the pandemic. The skin has never needed so much fresh air. DetO2x cream recreates the perfect environment to boost cells’ longevity. It oxygenates like a super O2 vector, removes CO2 that asphyxiates the cells and renews the cells for an optimal plumping effect. The brand has mastered anti-ageing treatments since 1985 – what’s the secret? Valmont’s treatments are extremely concentrated and remain very consistent in the quality of their active ingredients. Our cellular treatments offer immediate visible results, and the comfort of our textures make our creams totally addictive. The values of discipline and ethical conduct, together with the Group’s unwavering commitment to consistent quality for an international clientele, inspire confidence and devotion to the brand’s various Maisons. In less than a generation, Valmont has grown from 11 products to over 100 spectacular treatments, encapsulating a vision of international renown in more than 50 countries and nearly 1,800 highly selective points of sale.

Most of the products rely on the alliance of alpine ingredients. How does this ensure long-lasting results? Switzerland’s environment offers a wealth of natural resources, as well as optimal conditions to develop and create high-quality cosmetic products: unspoiled nature and pure air and water. Valmont has developed a unique space: the phyto-alpine garden for breeding plants, chosen for their effect on the skin, thus ensuring the quality of the extracts to be incorporated into its products.

Valmont has been true to the concept of cellulo-therapy. How did it all begin? The story of Valmont cosmetics began in the early 1980s in the rolling hills of Montreux, and cellular cosmetics appeared in Switzerland. They were treatment products with active ingredients developed from fresh cells. Valmont belongs to the family of cellular cosmetics, as it features cell extracts (DNA extracted from the milt of wild salmon by means of a complex process) and RNA, extracted from yeast. What makes the products different from others is their bio-mimetism with the skin. That is to say the way they merge into the skin to reproduce or compensate natural biologic phenomena. By constantly pushing back the frontiers of innovation, Valmont introduced a new DNA in 2016. How is this exclusive to the brand? In 2004, after several years of Research and Development Valmont was able to launch a new form of totally exclusive DNA: Triple DNA because 3 macro-elements from the NMF (Natural Moisturizing Factors) are linked to the main HP DNA chain. These macro-elements are Sodium, Calcium and Magnesium. In 2012 the potential for efficacy is greater than ever! Valmont exclusively developed a Triple DNA liposome. Protected by this phospholipid vesicle, Triple DNA can penetrate faster and further and deliver all its regenerating and repairing properties into the greater depths of the skin. In 2021, Valmont gave birth to a new DNA: Polymatrix DNA. This new DNA increases the quantity of active ingredients absorbed by the skin thanks to its structure and composition. The objective is to allow the active ingredients to penetrate deeply.

The Luminosity range harnesses the power of seven skin-boosting plants, could you elaborate. Each of these seven plants is well known in pharmaceutical science for their beneficial effects on the skin. Brought together in a cocktail, they are proven to remedy imperfections and unify the complexion. Everything is orchestrated to ensure that this living herbarium provides the skin with its full radiance potential. From organic and sustainable agricultural practices to painstaking manual harvesting, not to mention delicate extraction by means of organic solvents. The wonderful botanical resources of Switzerland are combined with the Japanese tradition of the White Mulberry, a nature that guarantees a powerful radiance. The Triple DNA symbolises the Valmont antiageing expertise to reinforce the skin in-depth, to boosts cellular regeneration and to protects against oxidation.

This is The Innovative Issue – what makes the brand unique? Valmont attaches great importance to the R&D department to offer effective anti-ageing products that use the finest cutting-edge active ingredients. Valmont’s fundamental focus is on the process of extracting raw materials and product creation methods. The DNA used is produced using the cold extraction method. By developing this specific and patented extraction process, Valmont made it possible to maintain the integrity of the DNA’s molecular structure, thus preserving its activity. Offer anti-aging skincare of high performance, with proven efficacy has been the brand’s mission since its inception: we are unique.

WORDS: AMY SESSIONS