Delphine Guillemare’s cosmetic and household products, natural, biosourced and manufactured on site, are located in La Barre-en-Ouche, commune of Mesnil-en-Ouche (Eure). For several weeks now, the young woman has had a shop adjoining her workshop located at 9b place André-Agut. Everything is placed under the La Belle Verte brand. The young woman and her partner bought the old garage located there a year ago. Gradually they reorganized the place. Some 120 m2 are now devoted to the manufacture and sale of soaps, balms, creams but also various scouring products. But all are 100% organic.
“I know all my suppliers”
“I know all my suppliers,” emphasizes Delphine Guillemare. They are all based in France and work organically. My olive and sunflower oils come from the Pyrenees. Concerning sunflower I am looking for a supplier a little closer as is the case with beeswax which is of Norman origin. » The young woman places her entrepreneurial approach within an ecological framework, concerned about environmental issues and particularly with regard to the carbon footprint of her activity.
Not surprising from a young woman who, first of all, chose to study botanical archeology or environmental reconstruction. A doctoral student, she went into exile in Iran and Yemen. The political instability of these distant research sites forced Delphine Guillemare to return to France prematurely. More than ten years ago. “When I returned, I worked in various jobs,” says Delphine Guillemare. I have been in turn a cultural mediator, an arborist in Normandy but also a teacher. During all this time and these different experiences, I made my own cosmetics. I started by doing a cold saponification course. This is the traditional and basic method of making soap. Simply mix water with lye and fats like oils. Since then I haven’t stopped…” Until I made a career out of it.
A health crisis to mature the project
Delphine Guillemare is definitely taking the plunge during the COVID period. The decision is made. She starts her business. This health break allows him to move forward step by step. She is testing different dosages. Until finding the right formula. So, she sends her soaps, creams and balms to the laboratory. The passage is necessary and obligatory before the marketing authorization of its products. Everything is then compliant in terms of health.
Today, four years after the creation of La Belle Verte, Delphine Guillemare works alone in her laboratory and her boutique. It manufactures nearly 400 products per year. The young woman has no shortage of ideas to sustain her activity and therefore her job. “From January 2025, I will start organizing manufacturing workshops in my premises,” she explains. I want to pass on my knowledge and share my experiences. This will allow us to better understand the raw materials used in the composition of cosmetics but also household products and, above all, to manufacture them on site ourselves. »