Skin care is an exciting category, with global beauty routines, dynamic ingredient sourcing, and advanced sensorial and formulation technologies bringing new formats, functions, and possibilities to market—to say nothing of the growing K-beauty movement and the rising Nordic beauty trend. Still it can be challenging to differentiate a skin care line when every brand is competing to meet the same consumer expectations.
But Pour Moi Beauty is definitely different, rather than focusing on skin type or personalized products, the new brand is all about skin care that correlates to climate conditions: desert, polar, tropical, or temperate. Today for those of us in New York City, for instance, the site recommends Temperate Day Cream because the temperature is a mild 74⁰ and humidity is in the normal range (30%—65%).
Here, entrepreneur Ulli Haslacher shares a profile of herself and the brand she recently launched that’s swiftly becoming known as the first climate-smart beauty brand.
Name: Ulli Haslacher, President
Indie Beauty Company: Pour Moi Beauty, LLC.
Launched: August 23, 2017 at Indie Beauty Expo in New York
Headquarters: Upland, California
Commercial indicator: We launched our online store on August 23, 2017, and we received our first retail PO from a luxury retailer 4 weeks after the launch.
Team work: We have 7 full-time employees and 2 part-time employees.
Distribution: We just started distribution and are currently available online through NeimanMarcus.com and our online store, PourMoiBeauty.com.
Years in beauty: I have over 20 years of experience in the beauty, health, and personal care industry. I have been at the forefront of several successful beauty and personal care businesses that have launched products nationwide in FDM retailers, DR TV shopping, and other channels.
Years at Pour Moi Beauty: I founded Pour Moi Beauty in 2014, but the start of concept and product development goes back to 2011. I filed multiple patents and trademarks in the US and internationally, and it took until August 2017 that the brand was ready to launch in the marketplace.
Entrepreneurial experience: I have extensive entrepreneurial experience since early 2000, starting several companies in the health and beauty industry. Apart from being the Founder and President of Pour Moi Beauty LLC, I established in 2004 Pacific Blue Brands, a boutique consulting firm focusing on beauty, health, and wellness brands in both consumer and medical products. Clients include Soniclean, a dental brand currently on QVC. I’m also a co-founder and current President of BHS International, the home of the LIV Aid, Olivia Newton-John’s breast self-exam aid.
The business: Pour Moi Beauty distributes the world’s first and only climate smart skincare, formulated and manufactured in France. We are dedicated to helping the consumer better understand how the environment affects skin and contributes to the appearance of external aging in younger women via our blog, Beauty Forecast, and social media outlets.
The wow-factor: We are the world’s first and only climate smart skincare, where skincare is formulated to follow along when skin changes with the climate. We are not aware of any other skincare company in the US or overseas that matches skincare to the climate and focuses on the effects of external aging.
The customer: Our target customer is the female millennial in her thirties and female Gen X in her forties who are seeing the signs of external aging.
Milestone moments: During our first 60 days in the market, we received 263 editorial placements, online and in print (with over 130 million impressions), including large editorial features in the September 2017 issue of PeopleStyle and the October 2017 issues of Shape and Real Simple.
Plus, Shopify, our shopping platform, has recognized our store sales in the top 13% of similar stores launched at the same time.
Advice for fellow indie beauty entrepreneurs: Focus from the beginning on what makes your brand different and try to build on it.
Just one: Asked about her go-to product, Haslacher says it’s The Pour Moi climate smart Day Cream for the climate she’s in.