Phyt's

Phyt's is a French organic skincare and body-care brand that began in 1972 as PHYTAL, a line of natural-origin products for beauty salons created in Alénya, in the Pyrénées-Orientales, by a biologist-naturopath and a beautician [2]. Its central idea, which the company calls Naturo-Esthétique, treats beauty and health as inseparable and pairs salon treatments with plant-based formulas. The brand has been part of the Laboratoires Jérodia group since 2004, and its products are made at the group's site in Caillac, in the Lot department of south-western France.

Most of the range carries the French Cosmebio organic label, and the brand still reaches customers chiefly through trained beauticians in salons, alongside direct online sales. The company describes itself as one of the early movers in certified organic cosmetics in France, and a member of its staff took part in drawing up the Cosmebio charter in 2002.

The brand grew out of a meeting between Jean-Paul Llopart, a Catalan biologist and naturopath, and Rosanne Verlé, a beautician. According to the company's own history, the two set out in 1972 to make natural-origin products specifically for beauty institutes, working from the premise that the condition of the skin cannot be separated from a person's overall health. That premise became the foundation of Naturo-Esthétique, the method the brand still uses to describe its approach more than fifty years later.

Llopart also worked on packaging. In 1974, the company says, he applied for a patent after finding a way to pack thick, paste-like products into glass ampoules [2]. The single-dose glass ampoule has remained part of how the brand's salon treatments work: a French lifestyle blogger who visited the company in 2018 described beauticians opening a fresh ampoule for each client, so that each dose is used only once and stays unaltered until it is opened [11].

Phyt's names three products from those first years that it says built its reputation and are still sold: Crème Absolue, the Gommage Contact + exfoliating scrub and the clarifying Sérum C17.

The name changed twice before settling. In 1976 PHYTAL became PHYT'S AROMATIC, a name the company explains as a reference to phytotherapy (treatment with plant extracts) and aromatherapy (treatment with essential oils). For its first decade the brand worked only inside the salon, but in 1982 its products began to be packed in aluminium tubes and sold to salon clients as a complement to their treatments.

Training became the next pillar. In 1990 the first Naturo-Esthétique training centre opened in Alénya, teaching beauticians the brand's methods. Its facial treatments draw on techniques that, by the brand's account, include Chinese medicine, shiatsu, reflexology, Californian massage and lymphatic drainage.

In 2002 PHYT'S AROMATIC took part in drawing up the charter of Cosmebio, a French private label for natural and organic cosmetics. The 2018 blog post identifies the company's scientific director, Nadine Fabréga, who had then held the role for about thirty years, as one of the people involved in creating the label [11].

The largest change came in 2004. That year PHYT'S AROMATIC was renamed Laboratoires PHYT'S, and the company was bought by Thierry Logre, a biologist trained in phytotherapy and aromatherapy who, according to the brand, wanted to preserve its character. The same history places the brand's integration into the Laboratoires Jérodia group, a specialist in natural beauty and health, in 2004 as well [2].

Production then moved north. In 2006 the company set up its manufacturing site in former wine cellars in Caillac, near Cahors, and in 2007 it opened the PHYT'S Institut there, a salon the company says was built with natural, environmentally friendly materials. In 2008 it acquired the Bionatural brand.

From 2013 the company worked on developing Phyt's for the international market. In 2018 it bought a 7,000 m² building for logistics, and in 2019 it created a subsidiary, France TERROIRS, to grow natural and organic-certified ingredients for its own formulas. During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the company says it quickly began producing hydroalcoholic hand gel to help ease supply shortages. The same year it named the French actress Ingrid Chauvin, known for the television series "Demain nous appartient", as the face of the brand.

Phyt's belongs to Laboratoires Jérodia. The Cosmebio members' directory lists the company as "Groupe Jérodia – Laboratoires PHYT'S", based at La Bouygue in Caillac, and names three brands under it: Phyt's, Bionatural and Gamarde [9]. Bionatural, bought in 2008, is still offered alongside Phyt's in the brand's salons.

The same directory entry describes the group as both a maker of its own finished products and a contract manufacturer, offering formulation, manufacturing and packaging services in small and large quantities.

The Phyt's word mark is registered internationally and is held by Laboratoires PHYT'S [8]. The brand's Swiss market is run by a separate company, PHYT'S Sàrl, registered in Plan-les-Ouates in the canton of Geneva.

Naturo-Esthétique is the thread running through the brand's self-description. The company presents it as a combined skill set drawn from a biologist-naturopath and a beautician, intended to let salon professionals position themselves as specialists in natural beauty [3]. It lists four features it considers distinctive: products that are as natural as possible, an environmentally friendly approach, a holistic view that links health and beauty, and the pairing of external and internal care, meaning cosmetics used together with nutritional supplements.

The brand's stated values are well-being, efficacy, protection of people and the environment, a close partnership with beauty professionals, and safety. Its current slogan, used on its website, translates roughly as "organic beauty for 50 years, without compromise".

Phyt's describes its formulas as certified organic and of 100% natural origin, free from synthetic preservatives and synthetic colourings. It says most, though not all, of its products are vegan [4]. The company also says it sources ingredients from France or elsewhere in Europe wherever possible, a point repeated in the 2018 blog account of the factory visit.

Distribution has long centred on the salon. Cosmebio's entry describes a complete range distributed in beauty institutes by "Naturo-Esthéticiennes", and the 2018 visitor described Phyt's as available above all through a large network of beauticians trained in each range's treatment protocols. The company also sells directly to consumers online.

On its international reach, the company says its products are available in 45 countries on every continent and that it works with selected distributors in Europe and Australia and, more recently, in North America [2].

The Phyt's range covers face care, body care, make-up, hair care, sun protection, baby care, men's care and food supplements. The face line includes daily care, anti-wrinkle treatments, balancing care and Phyt'ssima, a line for very dry skin; the body line includes daily care, slimming products and sun care. Make-up has been sold under the name Phyt's Organic Make-up.

The brand's expertise, by its own description, lies in working essential oils and plant oils into its formulas. Among the products listed under the Cosmebio label are the Reviderm cream, serum and mask, Naturoderm, La Crème Panacée and Sérum C17 [10].

Two more recent lines show where the company is heading. Panacée is a global anti-ageing treatment for all skin types that, according to the brand, took seven years of research. Biocosmeceutic, which the company promotes as new, is described as the first certified-organic "cosmeceutical" line made from 100% natural ingredients, with targeted formulas inspired by aesthetic medicine and meant for home use. The company says its formulas are tested by external approved laboratories, and that Biocosmeceutic products are dermatologically tested.

Salons also offer Kineplastie, a manual anti-ageing facial technique. Phyt's credits its development, more than seventy years ago, to René and Françoise Morice rather than to itself; the brand describes it as working with the shape of the individual face.

### Certification

The majority of Phyt's products carry the Cosmebio label, and Cosmebio's own list of labelled brands includes Phyt's. The company says its internal standards go beyond the label's requirements. It also states that its operations comply with the ISO 22716 standard for cosmetics manufacturing practice and the ISO 14001 environmental management standard.

Manufacturing is kept in-house. The company says its product lines are developed by its own research and development department in Alénya and processed and made in Caillac [5], and the 2018 visitor reported that the factory there produces both the cosmetics and their packaging. The blogger also noted that the factory could be visited by appointment.

On packaging, Phyt's says it chooses containers made from recycled, recyclable or energy-recoverable materials. In production, it reports using Ecocert-approved cleaning agents and gentle processing methods, and states that it has cut the water used to make its products by half. The company groups these measures under a stated commitment to quality, traceability and short supply chains; its France TERROIRS subsidiary, set up in 2019, grows natural and organic-certified ingredients for the formulas.

Phyt's is active. As of 2025–2026, the company was selling its range through an online shop and promoting the Biocosmeceutic line as a new launch [1], and Cosmebio continued to list Phyt's among the brands carrying its organic label. The brand markets itself on its fifty-plus years since the 1972 founding and remains part of the Laboratoires Jérodia group.