Cosmetics Empire takes a stand for endangered wildlife

Passion for cosmetics and nature

By Hedvig Von Mentzer. Photo: Philippe Chantecaille

The Chantecaille family is passionate about cosmetics and nature. So much in fact that they have managed to merge the two into inspiring projects and products their customers can take active part in.

Sylvie Chantecaille has been a trailblazer for decades. Her courage and creativity has taken her across the Atlantic, into major corporations and helped her build an empire that cares about the environment as much as she cares about her customers’ skin. Not only did she start one of the first “natural” skincare companies – back in 1998 when it wasn’t even trendy – but she wanted the results of conventional skincare at the same time. Thanks to extensive research and technological innovation, the products are capable of nourishing the skin and the body while incorporating centuries-old traditions to revitalize the spirit as well. Chantecaille caters to modern women who demand high-performance, health-enhancing products that are both efficient and effective.

Companies such as Chantecaille recognize the importance of nature. After all, it is the source of raw materials, so it’s vital for the continued production to take care of the environment. Sylvie Chantecaille realized that she wanted to incorporate her passion for animals and their welfare into the business when she noticed a dwindling number of butterflies in her garden. “I’m a serious gardener, and every year we used to have a massive migration of butterflies during the month of August in our East Hampton garden. When we started seeing only one or two a week, it prompted me to look into why they were disappearing. I created a gorgeous set of butterfly eyeshadows, which supported the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary and it opened my eyes to the exciting possibility that there was a way to use my day job for a cause I was so passionate about. After our Monarch palette, I kept discovering new issues and challenges against our world’s animal species and ecosystems that prompted us to start the annual palette for charity,” says Sylvie Chantecaille. “The real surprise for me was that we were able to do it, and that it happened so quickly- everyone was immediately interested in helping the charities we partnered with. We took the energy, efficiency, and skill we put into making the perfect product, and added a story and cause to it. After our second philanthropy collection for coral, I realized that people clearly wanted to know more, and to help more. They were interested not just in the product, but the stories. They wanted to know how to help, and what was being done.”

The three Chantecaille children now work in the company and their scope, like their mom’s, has always been about more than corporate work. Sylvie shares her passion with her daughters Olivia and Alexandra, her son Philippe and husband Olivier. Together, the family brings a dedication to enhancing wellness, supporting the environment, championing for animals, and a consuming passion for quality, purity and form. Which causes to support is a very organic process, according to Alex Chantecaille. “It’s usually driven by issues we feel strongly about that are also quite pressing. The only ‘requirement’ is that it be about endangered species, threatened wild areas, or areas of human or animal conflict. We’ve had the wonderful adventure of building up a rolodex of friends who run amazing charities for the planet that it’s a true joy to partner with them. Educating our salespeople and customers about our conservation projects makes me so proud. To see their enthusiasm and knowledge grow is one of the cooler parts of our business – it’s contagious! Our team is currently pledging to each reduce their personal CO2 emissions – we are actually offsetting the CO2 generated from their travel by sequestering forests in South America through the Carbon Fund.”

“Cause-metics” (coined by Alex) Collections have been launched as Chantecaille’s continued passion and commitment to nature and to endangered species grows stronger and stronger. From the humble honeybee, to the majestic elephant and the gigantic whale, no cause is too small, no animal (or insect) too little. It’s becoming more important to consumers, too. “I think people realize the impact that consumerism has on the planet and feel better when their purchases are sustainable and give back to causes that matter to them.

It’s great that millennials are so into conservation! Often the thing that people say they like the most about us is our engement to the causes we support and the high percentage of naturals in our skincare formulas. Our customers often take the information we share with them and go even farther. The first year we collaborated with the David Sheldrick Foundation, they reported a massive surge in individuals fostering their own orphaned baby elephants! I still hear store managers telling me they look forward to their monthly updates on how their elephants are doing.”

It may sound like glamorous charity work, but the Chantecaille family have a very hands-on approach. In June 2018 Alex and her brother Philippe joined the expedition to the North Pole for the Polar Bear Project. They travelled with The Perfect World Foundation, accompanied by Arctic explorer Ola Skinnarmo aboard an icebreaker travelling through Svalbard. Hoping to see polar bears and understand the grave situation of the shrinking ice caps, Alex and Philippe experienced an intrepid journey into nature that also provided a deep education into the mounting crisis of global warming.

“We learned of this amazing trip through our friends at the Elephant Family. It’s always been a dream of mine to go to the North Pole and so when the chance arose, I leaped on it and brought my photographer brother along. There’s nothing like living on an icebreaker in the Arctic circle, having insanely gorgeous adventures for a week, to become the closest of friends! It was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life! Seeing polar bears, arctic foxes, and walruses in the wild inspired such a passion to help them. Their dependence on this pristine frozen landscape was undeniably evident to us. I became invigorated to help reduce my personal CO2 emissions, drastically cut down on single-use plastic – because, yes, we saw a lot of plastic floating up in the Arctic, sadly – and to communicate this urgent message to our customers.”

This Spring’s Polar Collection boasts a Polar Ice Eye Palette inspired by the icy and ethereal shades ones sees in the far northern region and the Lip Cristals, a sparkly lipstick with a polar bear cub decorating the cap. To help offset the melting of the Arctic, the company has committed to plant a tree for each Lip Cristal sold. The initiative is in partnership with The Perfect World Foundation and the trees will be planted in the Attenborough Canopy in Kenya. The Attenborough Foundation has pledged to create a canopy of trees and continue to plant trees in Kenya as a protective measure against the growing crisis of global warming. In the summer of 2018, the Chantecaille family met Sir David Attenborough in Gothenburg Sweden, where he was honoured by The Perfect World Foundation for his lifetime commitment to nature and wildlife. Perhaps there will be future projects for Chantecaille with The Perfect World Foundation as well. Alex Chantecaille absolutely doesn’t rule it out.