# Gamarde ## Facts | | | |---|---| | Founded | 2006 | | Origin | France | | Headquarters | Mercuès (Lot, Occitanie) | | Owner | Laboratoires Jérodia | | Status | Active | | Manufacturing | Caillac, Lot (Occitanie), France | | Distribution | Multi-channel | | Website | https://www.gamarde.fr/ | Gamarde is a French organic skincare brand built around the thermal spring water of Gamarde-les-Bains, a former spa village in the Landes department of south-west France. Its first ranges went on sale in pharmacies and parapharmacies in January 2006 [4]. The company behind it, Laboratoires Gamarde, is based in Mercuès in the Lot, and the products are made in Caillac, also in the Lot. Gamarde belongs to Laboratoires Jérodia, the group that also owns the organic cosmetics brand Phyt's. The brand's story joins two very different timelines: a nineteenth-century spa whose water was approved as a treatment water in 1841, and a twenty-first-century approach to organic formulation that the company calls "Dermocosm'Ethic Bio". Most of its face and body products carry the Cosmebio organic label. Gamarde is an active brand, sold mainly through pharmacies and parapharmacies alongside its own online shop. ## Origin Gamarde-les-Bains lies near Dax, in the Chalosse area. According to the company, the spring rises on a geological fold at the edge of Triassic rock formations that are rich in sulphur and salt. Gamarde credits the water's character to this long passage through the rock, describing it as naturally mineralised and high in sulphur compounds. The first bath house, fed by the historic Buccuron spring, was completed in 1841. The brand's history page says the Académie de Médecine gave the water a favourable opinion and recognised it as a treatment water, or "eau de soin" [4]. Medical spa treatment began there by the end of the nineteenth century, and the resort's reputation grew until 1926. That year, after disagreements between its owners, the spa closed. The operating authorisation for the spring lapsed in 1955. A new authorisation, with a protection perimeter around the source, was granted in 1993. The baths themselves never returned: the company notes that the thermal establishment that made the village known for decades is no longer in operation, but that the water still comes from the original source, now drawn through a modern protective borehole [3]. ## History & milestones In January 2006, Laboratoires Dermatologiques Gamarde began selling their first dermocosmetic ranges made with Gamarde-les-Bains thermal water, through pharmacies and parapharmacies. The company describes them as the first organic ranges of this kind made entirely from natural ingredients, and its page for prospective stockists calls Gamarde the first "Dermocosm'éthic bio" brand, "since 2006". An independent French magazine profile of the brand also dates it to 2006 and credits Laboratoires Jérodia with conceiving it [6]. A second year also circulates. The Laboratoires Jérodia website is reported to give 2007 as the year the Gamarde brand was launched and its Caillac production site was inaugurated [8]. The two dates are only a year apart and may describe different steps, with the first ranges reaching pharmacy shelves in 2006 and the production site opening in 2007. This article follows the brand's own dating of January 2006. Since its launch the range has grown well beyond the original face care. It now covers body care, solid shampoos for sensitive scalps, sun care, products for babies and children, a men's line and foot care. The most recent addition the company highlights is the Retinol HA anti-ageing range, made up of a cream, a serum and a refill for the cream, which it presents on its homepage as its current innovation. No launch date for the range has been published. In recent years the company has also built up its own plant supply chain in the Lot, buying farmland and growing some of its raw materials itself (see Sustainability). ## Ownership Gamarde is part of Laboratoires Jérodia, a cosmetics group based in the Lot. The magazine profile describes Jérodia as the group that conceived Gamarde and its certified-organic formulas in 2006, and says the products are developed in Jérodia's dermatological laboratories in the Lot [6]. The register of brands holding the Cosmebio label lists Gamarde under "Groupe Jérodia – Laboratoires Phyt's", with an address in Caillac [7]. Its sister brand, Phyt's, is described in the same register entry as having followed a philosophy of products "free of all chemistry" for more than 40 years. Gamarde's own trading company, Laboratoires Gamarde, operates from Mercuès. ## Philosophy & positioning At the centre of the brand is Dermocosm'Ethic Bio, a name the company coined for its way of working rather than a patented technology. Gamarde defines it as a scientific approach to caring for healthy, mature or weakened skin. It combines knowledge of how skin works with research and formulation expertise, using mainly natural-origin ingredients, certified-organic plant extracts and thermal water. The company extends the idea to production, citing eco-extracted plant ingredients, eco-labelled production units and eco-designed packaging. The philosophy rests on one stated belief: that skin is a vital organ, the interface between people and their environment, and that one cannot be protected without respecting the other. The brand's tagline, "L'Alliance de l'Eau de Gamarde et de la Nature", translates as the alliance of Gamarde water and nature. The company says its aim is to offer a certified-organic answer for weakened skin while preserving the planet, and that every ingredient and formula comes out of its own research centre and its own factory. Gamarde positions itself first and foremost as a pharmacy brand. Its page for pharmacists sets out nine reasons to stock it, among them organic dermocosmetic expertise, formulas without synthetic preservatives, transparency about ingredients, short supply chains and French manufacturing. It describes its offer as a face and body range designed for the pharmacy, aimed at delicate skin and at customers looking for organic products. The company also calls itself a pioneer in the field and states that it is the only line of certified-organic dermatological skincare offering as many products of fully natural origin. That is the company's own characterisation of its market position. ## Products & innovation The thermal water is the thread running through the whole catalogue. It is sold on its own as Eau de Gamarde, a spray in 100 ml and 250 ml sizes that the brand describes as soothing and protective for the skin. On its website, Gamarde lists the minerals it says the water contains, including sulphur, chlorides, calcium, magnesium, silicate, potassium, strontium and boron, and assigns each a role, from helping hydration to calming the skin. The company says the water suits every skin type, from a baby's to an adult's. To support these claims, the brand cites a satisfaction test on 20 volunteers with sensitive skin who used the spray twice a day for 21 days. All of them reported that their skin felt hydrated, supple and toned, and 94% said it felt immediately soothed [4]. This is a self-assessment survey, not a clinical measurement. Separately, the company says it verifies the efficacy of some of its products through clinical studies carried out under dermatological control by an independent laboratory [2], though it does not name those studies on its website. The face range is built largely around hydration. Crème Riche, a moisturising cream with hyaluronic acid, sits alongside Fluide Léger, a lighter moisturising fluid for delicate skin, and Elixir Hydratant, a water-based serum. A richer cream, a cream mask and a body milk use hyaluronic acid of plant origin. For reactive skin there is a pair of soothing, repairing products that the brand describes as biomimetic and high-tolerance, and there is also a tinted DD cream with SPF 30. Cleansing is covered by a gentle cleansing milk and a micellar water. The Retinol HA range is the brand's anti-ageing line. The company describes its retinol as "new generation" and of 100% natural origin, and sells the cream, the serum and an eco-designed refill for the cream. Gamarde has also moved into solid formats, including a solid face moisturiser, a solid face scrub, a solid body exfoliant and solid detangling shampoos for dry or coloured hair on sensitive scalps. The body range adds a shower cream, a protective shower gel, deodorants, a superfatted soap, an intimate wash, a hand cream and a repair cream for damaged feet. Sun protection includes an SPF 50 fluid for babies and children. According to the company, its formulas contain no synthetic preservatives, colourants or emulsifiers, a promise its website qualifies as applying to the majority of formulas. It also says they contain no mineral oils, silicones, paraffin or PEG. Hero plant ingredients named by the brand include lavender essential oil, hazelnut oil and Centella asiatica extract, several of which it grows or sources locally. On certification, Gamarde says its skincare ranges are certified organic by the official certifier Qualité France, following the Cosmebio charter [3]. Cosmebio's public register lists Gamarde among the brands carrying its label [7]. The company says its own standards go beyond the Cosmebio and Cosmos frameworks, but the label it holds is Cosmébio; no COSMOS designation is listed, and no other third-party certifications are documented. ## Sustainability Manufacturing stays close to home. Gamarde says its ranges are developed, processed and produced in Caillac in the Lot [3], with production workshops near Cahors and a research laboratory in Occitanie. The company describes its products as entirely made in France and says it controls the whole chain, from raw material to finished product. The most distinctive part of its approach is its own plant supply chain. Over the past few years, the company says, it has set up a unit to source and grow raw materials such as lavender essential oil, hazelnut oil and Centella asiatica extract. Its stated goals are better traceability, shorter supply chains, partnerships with local cooperatives and farmers in Occitanie, and the purchase of farmland in the Lot for its own crops. On those plots it uses a flock of 150 sheep for eco-grazing, which it says keeps the land maintained without herbicides or fertilisers and reduces CO2 emissions [3]. It also sources raw materials through the local association Quercy PPAM. Packaging claims are more cautious. The company says it favours packaging made from recycled materials that is mostly recyclable, uses paper from sustainably managed forests, sorts its waste and avoids raw materials whose sustainability is not guaranteed. Its homepage states more modestly that some of its packaging is recyclable. Refills are offered at product level, for the Retinol HA cream, rather than across the range. ## Current status Gamarde is active. In 2026 the brand runs a maintained website with a working online shop and a 2026 copyright notice, and it features the Retinol HA range as its current innovation [1]. Its documented distribution is centred on French pharmacies and parapharmacies, together with direct sales through its own website. ## Timeline {#belagg-timeline} | Year | Event | Source | |---|---|---| | 1841 | First bath house ('maison des bains') at Gamarde-les-Bains completed, fed by the historic Buccuron spring; favourable opinion of the Académie de Médecine recognises the water as an 'eau de soin'. | https://www.gamarde.fr/eau-thermale-de-gamarde/ | | 1926 | Spa closed after disputes between the owners. | https://www.gamarde.fr/eau-thermale-de-gamarde/ | | 1955 | Operating authorisation for the spring ceases. | https://www.gamarde.fr/eau-thermale-de-gamarde/ | | 1993 | New operating authorisation granted, with a protection perimeter. | https://www.gamarde.fr/eau-thermale-de-gamarde/ | | 2006 | January 2006: Laboratoires Dermatologiques Gamarde launch the first organic, 100%-natural-ingredient dermocosmetic ranges with Gamarde-les-Bains thermal water in pharmacies and parapharmacies (brand launch). | https://www.gamarde.fr/eau-thermale-de-gamarde/ | | 2022 | Launch of the brand's first household products (multi-surface disinfectant, air purifier, anti-parasite spray), reported by Mag' in France on 7 Oct 2022. | https://maginfrance.fr/gamarde-des-soins-dermatologiques-certifies-bio/ | | — | Retinol HA anti-ageing range (cream, serum, refill) presented on the homepage as the brand's current innovation; launch date not stated. | https://www.gamarde.fr/ | ## Certifications {#belagg-certifications} - **Cosmebio** — “Nos gammes de soins sont certifiées Bio par un organisme certificateur officiel, Qualité France, dans le respect de la charte COSMEBIO.” — https://www.gamarde.fr/dermocosmethic-bio/ ## Signature products {#belagg-products} - **Eau de Gamarde (thermal water spray, 100 ml / 250 ml)** — Eau de soin apaisante et dermoprotectrice — https://www.gamarde.fr/ - **Crème Riche (hyaluronic acid face cream)** — Crème Riche Crème visage hydratante à l'Acide Hyaluronique — https://www.gamarde.fr/ - **Fluide Léger (moisturising fluid for delicate skin)** — Fluide Léger Fluide hydratant visage pour peaux délicates — https://www.gamarde.fr/ - **Elixir Hydratant (aqueous hydration serum)** — ELIXIR HYDRATANT Sérum aqueux visage booster d'hydratation — https://www.gamarde.fr/ - **Retinol HA range (Crème Rétinol HA, Sérum Rétinol HA, refill)** — Rétinol anti-âge nouvelle génération — https://www.gamarde.fr/ ## Key ingredients {#belagg-ingredients} Eau thermale de Gamarde-les-Bains (sulphur-rich thermal water) · Plant-derived hyaluronic acid (acide hyaluronique d'origine végétale) · Retinol (Retinol HA range, stated as 100% natural origin) · Lavender essential oil (own phyto-filière) · Hazelnut vegetable oil (own phyto-filière) · Centella asiatica extract (own phyto-filière) Source: https://www.gamarde.fr/devenir-partenaire-gamarde/ ## Proprietary technologies & patents {#belagg-tech} - Dermocosm'Ethic Bio (brand-coined name for its formulation approach; not a patented technology or named active complex) — https://www.gamarde.fr/ ## Mentioned in {#belagg-press} - **Mag' in France** (2022) — Brand profile 'Gamarde : des soins dermatologiques certifiés bio' (7 Oct 2022): created by Laboratoires Jérodia in 2006, Gamarde-les-Bains thermal water described as 'plus confidentielle' than Vichy/Jonzac/Avène, family ranges, solid care, mineral-filter sun care, first household products. Niche French editorial (tier 4), not A-tier. — https://maginfrance.fr/gamarde-des-soins-dermatologiques-certifies-bio/ ## Sources 1. (T1) https://www.gamarde.fr/ 2. (T1) https://www.gamarde.fr/devenir-partenaire-gamarde/ 3. (T2) https://www.gamarde.fr/dermocosmethic-bio/ 4. (T2) https://www.gamarde.fr/eau-thermale-de-gamarde/ 6. (T4) https://maginfrance.fr/gamarde-des-soins-dermatologiques-certifies-bio/ 7. (T4) https://www.cosmebio.org/en/cosmebio-label/brands-carrying-cosmebio-label/groupe-jerodia-laboratoires-phyts/gamarde-1919/ 8. http://www.laboratoires-jerodia.com/fr/marques-gamarde.php --- Glowpedia · · Published 2026-09-30 Please cite with a link to the article URL.