February 17, 2021 • 24 mins
If you know Bobbi, you know she swears by Augustinus Bader’s moisturizer. This week, she’s joined by Charles Rosier, the investor-turned-beauty-entrepreneur who kickstarted the cult-favorite skincare brand. It all started when Charles saw how Dr. Augustinus Bader’s stem cell wound gel prevented scarring, and wondered if it would also work on wrinkles—and from there, the revolutionary skincare line was born. This week, Charles joins Bobbi to talk about the science behind the serums, how a beauty brand can help fund stem cell research, and why when it comes to brand-building, good luck is nothing without hard work.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Beyond the Beauty is a production of I Heart Radio.
I'm your host, Bobby Brown. So anyone that knows me
knows I tell the truth, knows I'm very authentic and
when I like something, I can't stop sharing it. And
I have been talking about Dr august stein Bader. I
(00:27):
have tried so hard to get this name done. It's
this cream in a bottle that's from a German scientist
and his partner who's a French investor, and it's incredible.
I've heard about it through celebrities, I've heard about it
through editors, but not until I actually tried it did I,
(00:48):
you know, really fall in love with it. Even my
future daughter in laws, who are thirty, say it's the
best thing they've ever used on their on their skin.
So I'm really excited about talking to Charles because it
is an amazing product, an amazing idea, and I just
want to understand what the company is about. Here's my
(01:08):
conversation with Charles Rosier. So, Charles, I'm so excited to
finally meet you. I can't believe we have never actually
even done a zoom together. That's true, that's true. We
had done install room dialogues email text emails, text, It's true,
I feel like I know you though, same, same, same.
(01:31):
It's been one of those weird, weird friendships. So where
where are you right now? I'm in Paris right now,
And how is it? Listen? We have officially is curpew
at six. We authorized to work, to eat, to sleep
and then go again. But no no social life whatsoever,
no restaurants open. It is what it is. I was
(01:54):
more optimistic about two one, but I guess we are.
We're all in the same boat. We are are. But
since we're here talking about your business, it's kind of
crazy how your business is flourishing during this pandemic. Yeah, yeah,
I mean we happened to be on a on a
sector that seems to maybe due to those zoom school
(02:17):
you know, we we still want to look hydrated, having
skin moist. I guess the skin care sector has been
a little bit privileged compared to two others. So so
that's that's one of the privilege of that pandemic is
that we've been busy. So time is flying, which is
good and and and one of my biggest problems is
(02:37):
anyone that follows me knows how much I love this product.
I have such trouble pronouncing the good doctor's name. So
if you can help me, please, because David laughs at
me all the time pronounced the name of this company,
so I would pronounce it Augustine's batter. That's that's my way.
But I'm French again, so you know it's German. So
(02:59):
I guess everyone you know it's good. Everyone can take
ownership of the way to pronounce it. So Augustus, Augustin,
Augustine News, Augustine News, butter, yes, and the American way
we call it a b or Augustine better. It doesn't matter.
(03:19):
It's what matters. And I'm I'm not someone I don't
get paid a penny. I absolutely believe this product has
changed my skin. I will never use anything else, and
it's it's remarkable. Thank you so much. No, but it
means means a lot to us because again, you know,
coming from industry experts, it carries some way because obviously
(03:42):
you have tried and you're trying, and you, I mean,
you get gifted a lot of products to try. So
for us, it's an endorsement coming from someone like you,
is is big because that that's again a testimonial that
the concept which was kind of translated Agustin's research into
a skink care product worked, you know, because it was
(04:02):
a nice concept, but it could have failed. Right. Well, well,
let's talk a bit about your story and how you
even met the good doctor and started this company, because
you're not from the beauty space. No, neither him, nor
nor nor me. Absolutely no. We we met through a
common friend who is passionated about stem cells science. And
(04:25):
he he used to be, you know, he used to
be the kind of group of Steve Jobs at Rid College.
He that comment from Robert Finland. He used to he
was actually the guy who taught him yoga and brought
him to India. So and he was part of that
same hippique community. And he became, like Steve Jobs, a
self made billionaire. And and he's based out of Singapore,
(04:46):
travels a lot, you know, like three continents in the
same week. So he didn't want to, you know, to
suffer from jet lag. He wanted to stay young and
healthy and was very interested into the stem cells science
in in that kind of anti aging implications. And he
introduced me Agustiness one day, telling me he was the
best brain to day in stem cell research. And because
(05:09):
he was himself so obsessed about that sector, and he
was a very demanding character. He's very similar to the
personator you can imagine of Steve Jobs. So his endorsement
meant a lot to me. I thought, wow, so if
he's saying that, that's probably true. And I took really
his word very seriously and philanthropically. I was funding the
research of a French professor called e tenemibou And and
(05:32):
he was basically very advanced on research on trying to
find a soution for spinal cold injury. And so I
stayed in touch with Augustineis for the stem cell implication
of spinal cold injury treatment because my professor I was
founding in France had another approach um and I wanted
to put them in contact and keep the dialogue. And
(05:54):
I visited Augustus in Leipzig, because you know he's the
still today the head of the stem seve research at
the University of Leipzig in Germany. Cluse to Berlin and
he showed me the picture of a four year old
girl that was burned second third degree and was scheduled
for skin graft and after four days after applying a
(06:16):
wound jail he created in two thousand and eight, the
skin of that of that child started to heal and
after two weeks it was like visible. And so, to
cut a long story short, she didn't have to go
through skin graft and she didn't have to any scarring
after just a few months. And I was shocked by
the fact that such a treatment existed and the public
(06:39):
was not aware. I thought, you know, this is so
incredible because obviously burned child, they have to sometimes be
reoperated up to ten times as they grow, they have
to reopen the scar so you have the psychological trauma
and the pain, but avoiding scarring is actually huge in
terms of consequences, and obviously such a that can have
(07:01):
you know, a big impact on in war zone, for
the Red Cross, even for every I guess mother going
with their children on holidays. And so I was really
again shocked that that was created, that that did you know,
existed and seemed to work, and the pictures were there
to show that it worked. And I discussed with another
professor that has been collaborating with Augustinus and and treating
(07:25):
more than fifty patients on different types of wounds and burns,
and confirmed that in every single case, it worked, and
because I helped that other professor, I did not have
any liquidity to help Agustinus. And my mind was saying, okay,
but how can we help that guy get that research out,
you know, because as a university professor, he didn't have
the fancial means to fund it. And apparently, as he
(07:47):
told me that day, from a city group, because half
of humanity used fire to cook and get hitting. But
it's in developing countries, and therefore burn accidents are in
major every in developing countries. So it's not that interesting
to fund the research of someone on burns because it's
not such a big thing in developing countries. I mean,
(08:10):
thankfully it's not just big things in developing countries, but
but it's so unfortunate that in seeing the risk reward
for pharmastical group to be so interesting, and therefore my
mind was, okay, burn skin to perfect skin, so I thought,
wrinkle to perfect skin, and that he was during a dinner.
So at the end of the dinner, I very candidly
asked him if you could do an anti recal cream
that worked, and he said yes, why And it took
(08:32):
me two years for him to take that idea seriously,
So what experience did you have to say I can
do this and this could be something. I mean, talk
a little bit about your career beforehand. I mean the
number one quality I had is I was a naive.
I was totally enthusiastic by by the concept and I
was hardcore believer and I went all in and I
(08:56):
stopped everything I was doing. I had a flat in
London that I sold to find the beginning of it,
and all my savings from twenty years were putting the project,
and everyone around me thought I was completely crazy, and
I was convinced it would work, not having even a
prototype in the hand. So that, yeah, that's so so
naive was was the word. Um No. I had the
(09:17):
past as a as an investor, I was, I was
a partner and I worked at women Sacks. I worked
in a Brasidan investment bank as a partner. So but again,
nothing really prepared me to be an entrepreneur. But but
when when I was about to study at university, I
was passionate about medicine. So in some ways that project
reconciled too of my passion because I had the dream
(09:40):
to be an entrepreneur one day and I always was
fascinated by biology and how the human body was working.
And suddenly I had a project that reconciled the fact
of being an entrepreneur and dealing every day with great
minds in the medical field. Because Augustinus and his colleagues
are just genius, and they are genius about how marvelous
(10:03):
is the body as a machine, because everything about obviously
this discovery is really about the inner doctor, because it's
about triggering your own stem cells to work and not
actually manipulating or cultivating stem cells and injecting them from outside.
It's really about, you know, empowering your body to works
at its best. So I was crazy naive according to
my entourage with hand side, I think they were right,
(10:26):
and luckily I did not listen to anyone and I
was crazy enough to go for it. And I guess
a little bit of you know, mix of luck and
hard work. And obviously, the the invention of agushness is
amazing because, as you said, if the cream didn't work,
it would not be a fan the only reason that's
also something fair to recognize that the product is amazing.
(10:49):
And did the doctor need convincing to go into the
beauty industry like yeah, absolutely, I mean I think he had.
I think he never used himself like a scheme are
beauty cream, and his wife is a doctor and probably
never used one either, So I I really think they
did not understand the concept of financing a medical project,
(11:12):
a research project with a skincare product, because they had
no idea of you know, the dynamics and the demand
for this type of product in this type of industry.
So I really per severed and went back and went back.
But but the last time, at the time I decided,
this is really the last time I go there. I
very bluntly told that since I said, listen, if we
(11:33):
would have studied two years ago, we would probably have
a product in the market today. So what is holding
you back? Because I was again offering to provide you know,
the financing, the structuring, putting the team together, etcetera. And
so there was no kind of risk according to me,
to to him, a part of course wasting a bit
(11:54):
of time, which is which is relevant risk. And that
day when I was really about to it up, he
kind of confessed to me that in the last three
months he was giving to his patience prototype of the cream,
and that those patients after one month, instead of calling
him back to talk about their treatment and how they felt,
they were calling him back to have another cream. And
(12:16):
so in a very candid as well, and since your wig,
he said, you know what, people seems happy about that cream,
so let's do it. And it was really like that.
It was really get people seems to enjoy it, So
let's let's do it. And that's how it started. So
(12:45):
I don't know how much of the story is in
your marketing of the product, because I think most people
see this beautiful bottle, this very high price point, and
they hear celebrities like it, they hear all sorts of things.
So do you have a strategy in your marketing, like
is this something that you talk about telling the story
(13:05):
or is it more just this beautiful blue bottle with
this magic dream. Personally, when when I try to to
share that story, I show I show the picture of
that of that little girl, that four year old girl,
and that's enough convincing about you know the project. Now
when it comes to communication to the outside world, Yeah,
it's a debate I'm having with the team all the time,
(13:27):
and I keep telling the team, we need to go
back to science, you know, we launched in much two
thousand and eighteen, so that we're very new brand, we're
very recent brand, and and therefore our story becomes what
people make out of it because we don't have As
you know, you've been part of a big group. You
were collaborating with this the order at some point in
your life, and those guys have incredible means, financial means
(13:51):
when it comes to marketing. When you're an entrepreneur like
you are today and I am today, you hustle with
the financial means you have, which are completely different than
those guys, than the big groups. And therefore, the celebrity
endorsement was to us an incredible tool, as well as
the journalist endorsement, like the beauty journalists who try the
(14:11):
cream and then put black and white their own experience
with the cream and endorsed it. It was this kind
of you know, cross references of journalists and awards and celebrities, etcetera.
I don't think what I've discovered is I think for
a premium product, people need to understand the reason why
to buy, it's not enough. Celebrities are not enough. They
(14:33):
might be enough for a ten year, ten dollar limbo,
but they're not enough to buy a moisturizer that is
supposed to have an impact on the health of your skin.
I agree with you because it's your. The true story,
the authentic story, is your point of difference. It's your
above everyone else. You know, it's not just here's another cream.
So did you launch with one product? Yes, so we
(14:55):
launched with one product and to texture, you know, the
rich texture, the lighter texture, and and that was you know,
out of like I guess, we have now nearly three
years of life. I'm out of those three years of life.
Nearly two years was just with those like two creams,
the rich cream and the creat You're you're expanding like crazy,
(15:16):
which we'll talk about. But the out of the cream
and the rich cream, which one out cells because I
know my favorite, Yeah, the rich cream out sails the
cream globally. But but again, you know, it's like it's
like I guess, colors and preference depending on your skin texture.
You know, one could think that the cream could be
used the day on the rich cream at night. I
(15:37):
guess it's a combination of that and the climate for
example in l a is very dry and the winter
in New York is very dry too. Now I I
think I heard the rumor, has it that you're in Florida.
I guess in Florida. Maybe the cream during the day
is more relevant than the rich I don't know. You know,
I love the rich cream just because I'm very dry,
and I think I told you this. I really swear
(15:58):
that my eyebrows have grown in because of it. Have
you tried it for hair growth? So yeah, yeah, it's
it's something we're thinking about. Yeah, because the science behind
you know, again, nourishing the environment of your of yourselves
so that they work at their best. That philosophy works
for your skin, but it does work as well for
your hair. So you know, hellos is multi factorial. It
(16:22):
can be linked to hormone stress and sterrustle. It's um
it's a complex issue, but I think we do have
a potential to contribute positively to that that issue. Yes,
it's very exciting. So tell me about your pipeline, because
you started with these two amazing products, and now how
(16:42):
many sks do you have? So I'm not even totally sure,
but I guess around nine something like that. Must be
around nine, maybe between eight to ten. I'm guessing that's it.
It seems like more you think. So we have the
hand cream, the moisturize, is the body cream, body lotion,
body oil, face oil, cleansing, bol cream cleansing, gael expoliating, torner,
(17:11):
all the essence. So we are at nine. So if
we consider that the cream that have to texture, we
are ten. I guess we have launched certainly a lot
of products this last here two thousand twenty between July
and September. And the reality is it's not that we
suddenly wanted another Nuncher of product. Is that some products
that were supposed to launch in February got delayed. I mean,
(17:33):
we all had to reinvent ourselves due due to the pandemic.
And you know, some of our suppliers are were based
in Italy, and you know Italy was hit very hard
from the beginning. So so it's not that we certainly
wanted to create this concept that we were going from
two to three products to to ten in the space
(17:54):
of you know, four months. It's just that we don't
have such a corporate planning, you know. We we we
have Augustinus and the New Product Team, etcetera working on
the formula and then and and we work on different
projects that we think from from talking to the consumers
will receive feedback, you know, the same way when we
release the face cream, people were saying, oh, I love
(18:15):
what I see on my face. Can I have that
the same for my body? So we decided to do
the body cream. And but but we don't kind of
planet a precise data where to launch, depending on the
strategy of season or whether it's like when something is ready,
we get it out. And I know it can seem
a little bit unconventional in some ways, but but why not.
At the end of the day, the main criteria for
(18:37):
us is that the product match our standard. And I
think if we're true to that, if we're true believers
that the product are special and they add something, then
then the day they are ready, they should be there.
They should be they should be proposed to the to
the consumer. And by the way, it's the new way
of doing business. So you are doing not you know,
you're not doing things traditionally. You don't want to be
(18:58):
doing that. That's like that it's a beast that you
could never change. I think you're on the sweet spot.
I think you're exactly where you should be. How do
you take care of yourself? What is your what is
(19:21):
your self care routine? I mean, I speak to so
many women, I don't speak to that many guys, so
I'm just curious. No, I've tried. I just like many
people during the pandemic, I've tried to I've tried to
do sports like I've tried to impose on myself. When
I was waking up in the morning the first phase
of the pandemic, when we had confinement in Paris, we
(19:41):
actually had something very weird. We had three months of
good weather in a rule in Paris from March to June.
And I was born in Paris, and so I've been
there for quite a few years now and I've never
seen that. And I'm lucky enough that i have a
little bit of outdoor space. So I was every morning
outdoor one hour, you know, enjoying a bit of sun.
(20:02):
I know it's not very good for the skin officially,
but I like enjoying the sun. And that's that's where
my I which is better, helps me and repair a
little bit of damage I do. But that damage, it's
vitamin D and I agree, I agree, And I'm in
the A lot of SPF. A lot of SPF are
chemicals and we need to be careful about those chemical
SPF two. Um. So yeah, so I've been I've been
(20:24):
kind of discipline about doing sports, and I like, I mean,
usually I'd rather do sports like swimming and being the ocean.
But obviously being in Paris, I still I was disciplined
in that, and I guess it helped me, you know.
And as I said, I think we were very privileged
to be busy. You know, we were in a phase
of problem solving. We wanted to contribute as well for
(20:47):
the pandemic, so we which changed the production to create
the hand treatment and to gift as well to to
hospitals and frontliners the sanitizers, and so we went onto
those kind of getting busy, and actually getting busy just
gets through through the day because, as you know, some
of the people they're based in New York. So waking
(21:08):
up in Paris, I had my kind of morning, a
little bit free to do their sports. But then come
to p M, my time the video called kicks in
and that was still till dinner time, non stop. And
again I feel blessed about that because I think for
a lot of people that unfortunately and sadly lost their job,
the pandemic was probably harder because you know, the time,
(21:30):
more anxiety, more worries about the future. But every day
I guess and and also more time to think about it,
and so I think that was part as well. You know,
being busy was also part of the of the self
care routine. Okay, now I have a speed round for you,
and these are the same questions I asked everybody. First
of all, what does beauty mean to you? What is
(21:52):
beauty mean to me? Energy? That's a good one. Yeah,
that's a really good one. What's your personal daily skincare routine?
It's been a big thing up in the in the
last three months, as you know, you know, I'm I'm
convinced about our products, so I add them to my routine.
So Sarah steps, Yeah, what are your steps? So I do?
(22:14):
I do cleanser, face, soil cream during the day and
uh and I'm done, and then the same with maybe
a return for night. And how about the last TV
show or movie you binged or the Queen's Gambit? Loved it?
Yeah it was, it was so good. And now you're
in Paris. What have you eaten today? Actually? Tight food? Yeah,
(22:39):
very good, tight food. I love spicy food. And it's
healthy food too, you know, I try with influence, so
rich new stuff, tried to with vegetables of tried, I
don't know. When I'm in Paris, it's bread and cheese.
But okay, um, I know, I know, I know that. Yeah,
what is your favorite cocktail recently because I've been to
Mexico recently on the holidays, mescalita because I've heard that
(23:04):
mescal is not so processed. So I'm kind of again
trying to be healthy while while being an alcoholic. No, yes, yes, yes,
I believe in that. And what are you most What
is Charles most looking forward to in two thousand and
twenty one? I, I mean, I, like all of us,
I guess the end of the end of the pandemic
(23:25):
because the end of you know, worrying about the our
loved ones, the end of seeing people losing their jobs,
and you know, anxiety everywhere. We all want that kind
of me to be over for so many reasons. Yeah. Well,
first of all, congratulations and everything you've done, You've only started.
I know the brand is one of the fastest growing
skincare brands. By the way, I hear that your online
(23:48):
searches have jumped from five thousand to forty thousand, like
it's happening. You keep saying you're a small little brand,
no one knows about you. It's happening. So enjoy the journey.
And I'm really excited I get to be I'm how
part of it. So nice to meet you, and so
and so great to talk to you, and thank you,
Thank you big. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,
(24:11):
visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
Beyond the Beauty is a production of I Heart Radio.
I'm your host, Bobby Brown. So anyone that knows me
knows I tell the truth, knows I'm very authentic and
when I like something, I can't stop sharing it. And
I have been talking about Dr august stein Bader. I
(00:27):
have tried so hard to get this name done. It's
this cream in a bottle that's from a German scientist
and his partner who's a French investor, and it's incredible.
I've heard about it through celebrities, I've heard about it
through editors, but not until I actually tried it did I,
(00:48):
you know, really fall in love with it. Even my
future daughter in laws, who are thirty, say it's the
best thing they've ever used on their on their skin.
So I'm really excited about talking to Charles because it
is an amazing product, an amazing idea, and I just
want to understand what the company is about. Here's my
(01:08):
conversation with Charles Rosier. So, Charles, I'm so excited to
finally meet you. I can't believe we have never actually
even done a zoom together. That's true, that's true. We
had done install room dialogues email text emails, text, It's true,
I feel like I know you though, same, same, same.
(01:31):
It's been one of those weird, weird friendships. So where
where are you right now? I'm in Paris right now,
And how is it? Listen? We have officially is curpew
at six. We authorized to work, to eat, to sleep
and then go again. But no no social life whatsoever,
no restaurants open. It is what it is. I was
(01:54):
more optimistic about two one, but I guess we are.
We're all in the same boat. We are are. But
since we're here talking about your business, it's kind of
crazy how your business is flourishing during this pandemic. Yeah, yeah,
I mean we happened to be on a on a
sector that seems to maybe due to those zoom school
(02:17):
you know, we we still want to look hydrated, having
skin moist. I guess the skin care sector has been
a little bit privileged compared to two others. So so
that's that's one of the privilege of that pandemic is
that we've been busy. So time is flying, which is
good and and and one of my biggest problems is
(02:37):
anyone that follows me knows how much I love this product.
I have such trouble pronouncing the good doctor's name. So
if you can help me, please, because David laughs at
me all the time pronounced the name of this company,
so I would pronounce it Augustine's batter. That's that's my way.
But I'm French again, so you know it's German. So
(02:59):
I guess everyone you know it's good. Everyone can take
ownership of the way to pronounce it. So Augustus, Augustin,
Augustine News, Augustine News, butter, yes, and the American way
we call it a b or Augustine better. It doesn't matter.
(03:19):
It's what matters. And I'm I'm not someone I don't
get paid a penny. I absolutely believe this product has
changed my skin. I will never use anything else, and
it's it's remarkable. Thank you so much. No, but it
means means a lot to us because again, you know,
coming from industry experts, it carries some way because obviously
(03:42):
you have tried and you're trying, and you, I mean,
you get gifted a lot of products to try. So
for us, it's an endorsement coming from someone like you,
is is big because that that's again a testimonial that
the concept which was kind of translated Agustin's research into
a skink care product worked, you know, because it was
(04:02):
a nice concept, but it could have failed. Right. Well, well,
let's talk a bit about your story and how you
even met the good doctor and started this company, because
you're not from the beauty space. No, neither him, nor
nor nor me. Absolutely no. We we met through a
common friend who is passionated about stem cells science. And
(04:25):
he he used to be, you know, he used to
be the kind of group of Steve Jobs at Rid College.
He that comment from Robert Finland. He used to he
was actually the guy who taught him yoga and brought
him to India. So and he was part of that
same hippique community. And he became, like Steve Jobs, a
self made billionaire. And and he's based out of Singapore,
(04:46):
travels a lot, you know, like three continents in the
same week. So he didn't want to, you know, to
suffer from jet lag. He wanted to stay young and
healthy and was very interested into the stem cells science
in in that kind of anti aging implications. And he
introduced me Agustiness one day, telling me he was the
best brain to day in stem cell research. And because
(05:09):
he was himself so obsessed about that sector, and he
was a very demanding character. He's very similar to the
personator you can imagine of Steve Jobs. So his endorsement
meant a lot to me. I thought, wow, so if
he's saying that, that's probably true. And I took really
his word very seriously and philanthropically. I was funding the
research of a French professor called e tenemibou And and
(05:32):
he was basically very advanced on research on trying to
find a soution for spinal cold injury. And so I
stayed in touch with Augustineis for the stem cell implication
of spinal cold injury treatment because my professor I was
founding in France had another approach um and I wanted
to put them in contact and keep the dialogue. And
(05:54):
I visited Augustus in Leipzig, because you know he's the
still today the head of the stem seve research at
the University of Leipzig in Germany. Cluse to Berlin and
he showed me the picture of a four year old
girl that was burned second third degree and was scheduled
for skin graft and after four days after applying a
(06:16):
wound jail he created in two thousand and eight, the
skin of that of that child started to heal and
after two weeks it was like visible. And so, to
cut a long story short, she didn't have to go
through skin graft and she didn't have to any scarring
after just a few months. And I was shocked by
the fact that such a treatment existed and the public
(06:39):
was not aware. I thought, you know, this is so
incredible because obviously burned child, they have to sometimes be
reoperated up to ten times as they grow, they have
to reopen the scar so you have the psychological trauma
and the pain, but avoiding scarring is actually huge in
terms of consequences, and obviously such a that can have
(07:01):
you know, a big impact on in war zone, for
the Red Cross, even for every I guess mother going
with their children on holidays. And so I was really
again shocked that that was created, that that did you know,
existed and seemed to work, and the pictures were there
to show that it worked. And I discussed with another
professor that has been collaborating with Augustinus and and treating
(07:25):
more than fifty patients on different types of wounds and burns,
and confirmed that in every single case, it worked, and
because I helped that other professor, I did not have
any liquidity to help Agustinus. And my mind was saying, okay,
but how can we help that guy get that research out,
you know, because as a university professor, he didn't have
the fancial means to fund it. And apparently, as he
(07:47):
told me that day, from a city group, because half
of humanity used fire to cook and get hitting. But
it's in developing countries, and therefore burn accidents are in
major every in developing countries. So it's not that interesting
to fund the research of someone on burns because it's
not such a big thing in developing countries. I mean,
(08:10):
thankfully it's not just big things in developing countries, but
but it's so unfortunate that in seeing the risk reward
for pharmastical group to be so interesting, and therefore my
mind was, okay, burn skin to perfect skin, so I thought,
wrinkle to perfect skin, and that he was during a dinner.
So at the end of the dinner, I very candidly
asked him if you could do an anti recal cream
that worked, and he said yes, why And it took
(08:32):
me two years for him to take that idea seriously,
So what experience did you have to say I can
do this and this could be something. I mean, talk
a little bit about your career beforehand. I mean the
number one quality I had is I was a naive.
I was totally enthusiastic by by the concept and I
was hardcore believer and I went all in and I
(08:56):
stopped everything I was doing. I had a flat in
London that I sold to find the beginning of it,
and all my savings from twenty years were putting the project,
and everyone around me thought I was completely crazy, and
I was convinced it would work, not having even a
prototype in the hand. So that, yeah, that's so so
naive was was the word. Um No. I had the
(09:17):
past as a as an investor, I was, I was
a partner and I worked at women Sacks. I worked
in a Brasidan investment bank as a partner. So but again,
nothing really prepared me to be an entrepreneur. But but
when when I was about to study at university, I
was passionate about medicine. So in some ways that project
reconciled too of my passion because I had the dream
(09:40):
to be an entrepreneur one day and I always was
fascinated by biology and how the human body was working.
And suddenly I had a project that reconciled the fact
of being an entrepreneur and dealing every day with great
minds in the medical field. Because Augustinus and his colleagues
are just genius, and they are genius about how marvelous
(10:03):
is the body as a machine, because everything about obviously
this discovery is really about the inner doctor, because it's
about triggering your own stem cells to work and not
actually manipulating or cultivating stem cells and injecting them from outside.
It's really about, you know, empowering your body to works
at its best. So I was crazy naive according to
my entourage with hand side, I think they were right,
(10:26):
and luckily I did not listen to anyone and I
was crazy enough to go for it. And I guess
a little bit of you know, mix of luck and
hard work. And obviously, the the invention of agushness is
amazing because, as you said, if the cream didn't work,
it would not be a fan the only reason that's
also something fair to recognize that the product is amazing.
(10:49):
And did the doctor need convincing to go into the
beauty industry like yeah, absolutely, I mean I think he had.
I think he never used himself like a scheme are
beauty cream, and his wife is a doctor and probably
never used one either, So I I really think they
did not understand the concept of financing a medical project,
(11:12):
a research project with a skincare product, because they had
no idea of you know, the dynamics and the demand
for this type of product in this type of industry.
So I really per severed and went back and went back.
But but the last time, at the time I decided,
this is really the last time I go there. I
very bluntly told that since I said, listen, if we
(11:33):
would have studied two years ago, we would probably have
a product in the market today. So what is holding
you back? Because I was again offering to provide you know,
the financing, the structuring, putting the team together, etcetera. And
so there was no kind of risk according to me,
to to him, a part of course wasting a bit
(11:54):
of time, which is which is relevant risk. And that
day when I was really about to it up, he
kind of confessed to me that in the last three
months he was giving to his patience prototype of the cream,
and that those patients after one month, instead of calling
him back to talk about their treatment and how they felt,
they were calling him back to have another cream. And
(12:16):
so in a very candid as well, and since your wig,
he said, you know what, people seems happy about that cream,
so let's do it. And it was really like that.
It was really get people seems to enjoy it, So
let's let's do it. And that's how it started. So
(12:45):
I don't know how much of the story is in
your marketing of the product, because I think most people
see this beautiful bottle, this very high price point, and
they hear celebrities like it, they hear all sorts of things.
So do you have a strategy in your marketing, like
is this something that you talk about telling the story
(13:05):
or is it more just this beautiful blue bottle with
this magic dream. Personally, when when I try to to
share that story, I show I show the picture of
that of that little girl, that four year old girl,
and that's enough convincing about you know the project. Now
when it comes to communication to the outside world, Yeah,
it's a debate I'm having with the team all the time,
(13:27):
and I keep telling the team, we need to go
back to science, you know, we launched in much two
thousand and eighteen, so that we're very new brand, we're
very recent brand, and and therefore our story becomes what
people make out of it because we don't have As
you know, you've been part of a big group. You
were collaborating with this the order at some point in
your life, and those guys have incredible means, financial means
(13:51):
when it comes to marketing. When you're an entrepreneur like
you are today and I am today, you hustle with
the financial means you have, which are completely different than
those guys, than the big groups. And therefore, the celebrity
endorsement was to us an incredible tool, as well as
the journalist endorsement, like the beauty journalists who try the
(14:11):
cream and then put black and white their own experience
with the cream and endorsed it. It was this kind
of you know, cross references of journalists and awards and celebrities, etcetera.
I don't think what I've discovered is I think for
a premium product, people need to understand the reason why
to buy, it's not enough. Celebrities are not enough. They
(14:33):
might be enough for a ten year, ten dollar limbo,
but they're not enough to buy a moisturizer that is
supposed to have an impact on the health of your skin.
I agree with you because it's your. The true story,
the authentic story, is your point of difference. It's your
above everyone else. You know, it's not just here's another cream.
So did you launch with one product? Yes, so we
(14:55):
launched with one product and to texture, you know, the
rich texture, the lighter texture, and and that was you know,
out of like I guess, we have now nearly three
years of life. I'm out of those three years of life.
Nearly two years was just with those like two creams,
the rich cream and the creat You're you're expanding like crazy,
(15:16):
which we'll talk about. But the out of the cream
and the rich cream, which one out cells because I
know my favorite, Yeah, the rich cream out sails the
cream globally. But but again, you know, it's like it's
like I guess, colors and preference depending on your skin texture.
You know, one could think that the cream could be
used the day on the rich cream at night. I
(15:37):
guess it's a combination of that and the climate for
example in l a is very dry and the winter
in New York is very dry too. Now I I
think I heard the rumor, has it that you're in Florida.
I guess in Florida. Maybe the cream during the day
is more relevant than the rich I don't know. You know,
I love the rich cream just because I'm very dry,
and I think I told you this. I really swear
(15:58):
that my eyebrows have grown in because of it. Have
you tried it for hair growth? So yeah, yeah, it's
it's something we're thinking about. Yeah, because the science behind
you know, again, nourishing the environment of your of yourselves
so that they work at their best. That philosophy works
for your skin, but it does work as well for
your hair. So you know, hellos is multi factorial. It
(16:22):
can be linked to hormone stress and sterrustle. It's um
it's a complex issue, but I think we do have
a potential to contribute positively to that that issue. Yes,
it's very exciting. So tell me about your pipeline, because
you started with these two amazing products, and now how
(16:42):
many sks do you have? So I'm not even totally sure,
but I guess around nine something like that. Must be
around nine, maybe between eight to ten. I'm guessing that's it.
It seems like more you think. So we have the
hand cream, the moisturize, is the body cream, body lotion,
body oil, face oil, cleansing, bol cream cleansing, gael expoliating, torner,
(17:11):
all the essence. So we are at nine. So if
we consider that the cream that have to texture, we
are ten. I guess we have launched certainly a lot
of products this last here two thousand twenty between July
and September. And the reality is it's not that we
suddenly wanted another Nuncher of product. Is that some products
that were supposed to launch in February got delayed. I mean,
(17:33):
we all had to reinvent ourselves due due to the pandemic.
And you know, some of our suppliers are were based
in Italy, and you know Italy was hit very hard
from the beginning. So so it's not that we certainly
wanted to create this concept that we were going from
two to three products to to ten in the space
(17:54):
of you know, four months. It's just that we don't
have such a corporate planning, you know. We we we
have Augustinus and the New Product Team, etcetera working on
the formula and then and and we work on different
projects that we think from from talking to the consumers
will receive feedback, you know, the same way when we
release the face cream, people were saying, oh, I love
(18:15):
what I see on my face. Can I have that
the same for my body? So we decided to do
the body cream. And but but we don't kind of
planet a precise data where to launch, depending on the
strategy of season or whether it's like when something is ready,
we get it out. And I know it can seem
a little bit unconventional in some ways, but but why not.
At the end of the day, the main criteria for
(18:37):
us is that the product match our standard. And I
think if we're true to that, if we're true believers
that the product are special and they add something, then
then the day they are ready, they should be there.
They should be they should be proposed to the to
the consumer. And by the way, it's the new way
of doing business. So you are doing not you know,
you're not doing things traditionally. You don't want to be
(18:58):
doing that. That's like that it's a beast that you
could never change. I think you're on the sweet spot.
I think you're exactly where you should be. How do
you take care of yourself? What is your what is
(19:21):
your self care routine? I mean, I speak to so
many women, I don't speak to that many guys, so
I'm just curious. No, I've tried. I just like many
people during the pandemic, I've tried to I've tried to
do sports like I've tried to impose on myself. When
I was waking up in the morning the first phase
of the pandemic, when we had confinement in Paris, we
(19:41):
actually had something very weird. We had three months of
good weather in a rule in Paris from March to June.
And I was born in Paris, and so I've been
there for quite a few years now and I've never
seen that. And I'm lucky enough that i have a
little bit of outdoor space. So I was every morning
outdoor one hour, you know, enjoying a bit of sun.
(20:02):
I know it's not very good for the skin officially,
but I like enjoying the sun. And that's that's where
my I which is better, helps me and repair a
little bit of damage I do. But that damage, it's
vitamin D and I agree, I agree, And I'm in
the A lot of SPF. A lot of SPF are
chemicals and we need to be careful about those chemical
SPF two. Um. So yeah, so I've been I've been
(20:24):
kind of discipline about doing sports, and I like, I mean,
usually I'd rather do sports like swimming and being the ocean.
But obviously being in Paris, I still I was disciplined
in that, and I guess it helped me, you know.
And as I said, I think we were very privileged
to be busy. You know, we were in a phase
of problem solving. We wanted to contribute as well for
(20:47):
the pandemic, so we which changed the production to create
the hand treatment and to gift as well to to
hospitals and frontliners the sanitizers, and so we went onto
those kind of getting busy, and actually getting busy just
gets through through the day because, as you know, some
of the people they're based in New York. So waking
(21:08):
up in Paris, I had my kind of morning, a
little bit free to do their sports. But then come
to p M, my time the video called kicks in
and that was still till dinner time, non stop. And
again I feel blessed about that because I think for
a lot of people that unfortunately and sadly lost their job,
the pandemic was probably harder because you know, the time,
(21:30):
more anxiety, more worries about the future. But every day
I guess and and also more time to think about it,
and so I think that was part as well. You know,
being busy was also part of the of the self
care routine. Okay, now I have a speed round for you,
and these are the same questions I asked everybody. First
of all, what does beauty mean to you? What is
(21:52):
beauty mean to me? Energy? That's a good one. Yeah,
that's a really good one. What's your personal daily skincare routine?
It's been a big thing up in the in the
last three months, as you know, you know, I'm I'm
convinced about our products, so I add them to my routine.
So Sarah steps, Yeah, what are your steps? So I do?
(22:14):
I do cleanser, face, soil cream during the day and
uh and I'm done, and then the same with maybe
a return for night. And how about the last TV
show or movie you binged or the Queen's Gambit? Loved it?
Yeah it was, it was so good. And now you're
in Paris. What have you eaten today? Actually? Tight food? Yeah,
(22:39):
very good, tight food. I love spicy food. And it's
healthy food too, you know, I try with influence, so
rich new stuff, tried to with vegetables of tried, I
don't know. When I'm in Paris, it's bread and cheese.
But okay, um, I know, I know, I know that. Yeah,
what is your favorite cocktail recently because I've been to
Mexico recently on the holidays, mescalita because I've heard that
(23:04):
mescal is not so processed. So I'm kind of again
trying to be healthy while while being an alcoholic. No, yes, yes, yes,
I believe in that. And what are you most What
is Charles most looking forward to in two thousand and
twenty one? I, I mean, I, like all of us,
I guess the end of the end of the pandemic
(23:25):
because the end of you know, worrying about the our
loved ones, the end of seeing people losing their jobs,
and you know, anxiety everywhere. We all want that kind
of me to be over for so many reasons. Yeah. Well,
first of all, congratulations and everything you've done, You've only started.
I know the brand is one of the fastest growing
skincare brands. By the way, I hear that your online
(23:48):
searches have jumped from five thousand to forty thousand, like
it's happening. You keep saying you're a small little brand,
no one knows about you. It's happening. So enjoy the journey.
And I'm really excited I get to be I'm how
part of it. So nice to meet you, and so
and so great to talk to you, and thank you,
Thank you big. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,
(24:11):
visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
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