La Rosée

La Rosée is a French cosmetics company based in Lyon, founded by two pharmacists who met at the city's pharmacy school. Its sources place the launch in 2015 [6], though one account dates the project's beginnings to 2014 [8]. The company makes skincare, body and haircare products sold mainly through pharmacies, built around a promise of simple, natural and transparent formulas. By 2024 it reported a presence in roughly 11,000 French pharmacies — about one in two in the country [1] — and described itself that year as the sixth best-selling dermo-cosmetics brand in French pharmacies.

The company is active. It was certified as a B Corporation in 2024 and continues to expand its range and its retail footprint at home and in several other markets.

La Rosée was created by Coline Bertrand and Mahault de Guilbert, who met as students at the University of Lyon's pharmacy faculty. Bertrand worked in a pharmacy after her studies, while de Guilbert went on to a master's degree in entrepreneurship. Both trained as pharmacists, and the company traces its starting point to their shared interest in natural beauty and environmental questions.

According to the company, the idea took shape at the pharmacy counter. The founders say they kept meeting customers who wanted "a simpler, truer, more responsible offer, without excess and without sophisticated unkept promises," and concluded that it was time to "return to the essential." Bertrand has described noticing that the ingredients highlighted on many products were not well dosed once she read the full compositions. In one founder account, the project was born the day after a New Year's Eve, during a car journey in Brittany.

The founding year is recorded slightly differently across sources. The B Lab directory, the brand itself and most editorial coverage give 2015 as the year of launch [6]; a Bref Eco interview cites 2014, which appears to refer to when the idea germinated rather than commercial launch [8]. The company commercialised its first five products in 2015 and reached about 250 pharmacies in its first year, with the founders personally visiting pharmacies across France to introduce the brand.

From an initial circle of around 30 pharmacies in Lyon, distribution grew quickly: roughly 280 pharmacies within the first year, then several thousand nationally. In 2019 the company launched a solidarity programme called Terre Mer Humain ("Earth, Sea, Human"), which it says supports planetary and social initiatives across five countries [6].

Trade and regional press have tracked the company's rise. Premium Beauty News reported 2022 revenue of around €35 million, projected to double the following year, and called it "the first brand contributing to growth in pharmacy this year" [7]. By the time of a Lyon Femmes profile, the company described itself as the fourth-largest brand in the French pharmaceutical-cosmetics market after nine years, carrying 48 product references and employing about 150 people [9]. Pharmacy counts reported over the years rose steadily — from figures such as 6,500 and 8,000 in earlier articles to roughly 11,000 by 2024 — reflecting growth rather than disagreement among sources [1].

The range centres on facial care, body care and haircare, alongside a baby line sold as Mon Petit La Rosée, plus suncare, everyday hygiene products and accessories. The company keeps a deliberately short catalogue; one founder said the aim was "to stay with a short range with only essential care products." Average retail prices have been reported at around €15, placing the brand in the drugstore tier.

La Rosée describes a solid stick mask as the best-selling stick mask in French pharmacies and says it created the first such product [5]. An invisible facial sunscreen fluid with SPF 50 has featured as a more recent launch. The company also lists among its firsts an ocean-safe suncare range and a fully refillable haircare line.

Formulation is governed by what the company calls a "drastic" charter, introduced in 2015, which it says excludes several hundred controversial ingredients, among them silicones, PEG, mineral oils and certain UV filters chosen for ocean protection. The brand states that the average natural-origin content of its range is 98 percent, that more than a third of its products are entirely of natural origin, and that more than 90 percent are vegan; it says none of its products is tested on animals. Some products use upcycled ingredients — for example tomato and organic cherry oil in a cleansing balm, or rice starch and apricot oil in powder compacts — while non-vegan items contain honey and beeswax. The company says its formulas are dermatologically controlled and ophthalmologically and paediatrically tested.

The company positions itself around naturalness, transparency and what it calls an absence of compromise, summed up in a tagline promising "cosmetics up to 100% natural and eco-responsible." It frames hydration as a fundamental skin need and presents itself as a brand "you can trust with your eyes closed." Its stated mission is "to take care of each skin," and it describes its longer ambition as becoming "a catalyst for transformations in the cosmetics industry." Commentators have placed the brand within the wider "clean beauty" movement and the French-pharmacy tradition, appealing to shoppers who, in the founders' words, "no longer necessarily believe brands and want clean."

Sustainability is central to how the company describes itself. It says its packaging is entirely eco-designed, with recycled-plastic bottles and reduced excess, and that all of its products are manufactured in France. It states an ambition to operate as a "regenerative enterprise" that returns more to the planet than it takes, and has outlined commitments such as climate training for staff, a secondhand-packaging initiative and a goal of increasing upcycled-ingredient use across the range by 2030.

These efforts underpin the company's B Corporation certification. La Rosée was certified with an overall B Impact Score of 80.0 [6]. The certifying body, B Lab, records the certification as October 2024 [6]; the company's own history page gives November 2024 [1]. The founders have described the certification as "not an end point, but a major step" in the company's development.

La Rosée is an active, growing company headquartered in Lyon. Its most recent reported milestones include the 2024 B Corp certification and a presence in roughly 11,000 French pharmacies. Beyond France it has reported operations and distribution in markets including Belgium, Spain, Switzerland and South Korea, with subsidiary operations cited in Belgium and Spain [7], placing it across several regions rather than fully global.