Things are progressing well with the development of Gallinée, even if it is mostly undercover: Launching a beauty brand requires a lot of tests that don’t make for very visual updates: Compatibility testing (to check that the product don’t react with the packaging), Challenge test (to check that nothing grows in the tube), patch tests (to check the product doesn’t have any have any adverse reaction on skin).
The cool part is the industrialisation process: we started on a lab bench doing 200g of product each time, and before going full scale, we are doing a pilot batch of each of the 5 reference.
That means that I was in Normandy last week to see a pilot batch being done, ask a lot of questions and take too many pictures. It is very rare for beauty brands to show this and I don’t know why: it is really cool and super exciting!
Meet Laura, our formulator. In addition of being ultra-clean, organized and a trained chemist she manages to look good in a mob cap, a notable achievement.
The aim of the day was to make 15kg of our 2-in-1 mask and scrub. Each ingredient has been weighted ultra-precisely and labelled according to each step of the process. I counted a good 15 steps. Think of it like rocket-science cooking.
And here is the state-of-the-art “cooker”: an all in one mixer, pressure and temperature controller, with a lot of little buttons. I was only allowed to touch one button, the one that light up the inside of the vat so that you can look in. That made me feel already so responsible.
Oh and look, you can peek inside thanks to a cool little porthole!
Then for 6 hours it goes like that: Put ingredient A in phase B, mix with C for 10 minutes at that temperature, that speed and that pressure. All the way to ingredient Z.
There was 2 highlights for me: First one, when the perfume was added. Even if it was a very little quantity of it, the whole room suddenly smelled like Gallinée. And the second one at the very end, when they open a tap and here you have: Gallinée 2-in1 scrub and mask on TAP!
Oh and also we went for a steak tartare after. I love France.
So overall, an amazing day.
Marie
