The coronavirus pandemic has not only wreaked havoc on the economy.

One sector stands out: cosmetics.

Mathilde Thomas, co-founder of Caudalie, and Quentin Reygrobellet, co-founder of Blissim, both guests of "La France Bouge" on Europe 1, explained the reasons for this success on Tuesday.

During confinement, it is not because they were not going out that the French did not take care of their bodies.

The finding is established by cosmetic brands, and even more so by those who manufacture natural products.

The co-founder of the natural cosmetics brand Caudalie, Mathilde Thomas, and the co-founder of the cosmetics box service Blissim (ex-Birchbox), Quentin Reygrobellet, were invited to the show

La France Bouge

on Europe 1 to discuss it. 

The "mask-born" or the acne created by the mask 

The Covid-19 pandemic is making life hard on our skin.

Under the obligatory mask, acne points its nose to the skin of adolescents as well as that of adults.

So that a word was born to name this phenomenon: the mask-born.

“It's a cataclysm!” Says Mathilde Thomas.

With the appearance of this born mask, sales of the Caudalie brand have exploded.

"Who says acne says hyperpigmentation of tasks and therefore says more tasks. We have seen an upsurge in sales of all our anti-acne products, anti-tasks but also masks", assures Mathilde Thomas.

Result: sales of these products have doubled and it is out of stock. 

And what made Caudalie's strength is, in part, its distribution in pharmacies during confinement.

"We were extremely lucky to have this incredible network of pharmacists when all the perfumeries were closed," notes Mathilde Thomas.

The Caudalie range could therefore be recommended by pharmacists as "a natural anti-acne alternative".

The co-founder assures us, the list of ingredients is very controlled and includes only "good assets" such "natural salicylic acid, essential oils, polyphenols". 

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The explosion of "green" products

The natural brand Caudalie also sold very well on one site: Blissim.

Formerly Birchbox, this platform delivers boxes of products every month to subscribers but also has an online sales area.

And there, the "green corner" of e-commerce has exploded, assures the co-founder of the company, Quentin Reygrobellet.

"We have seen a very significant increase in sales, around 70% on the whole green part," he explains. 

To continue its ascent in the market, Caudalie has even decided to embark on zero waste.

For Mathilde Thomas, "the packaging must either be recycled, recyclable or refillable".

The cosmetics brand has therefore decided to change all of its face care packaging this year and body care packaging next year. 

Take care of your skin in your free time 

Another consequence of the pandemic, a little more positive this time: the increase in our free time.

Thanks to teleworking, the French have the opportunity to take care of their skin.

For the co-founder of Caudalie, this is reflected directly in sales: "it's true that our customers have bought a lot more scrubs, masks, body lotion."

Mathilde Thomas adds that she recently launched a firming body balm.

This was a great success, whereas in normal times the body only represents "10% of sales" at Caudalie. 

An observation shared by Quentin Reygrobellet, the co-founder of Blissim.

Monthly box subscriptions containing five miniature products have "literally exploded and continue to grow."

According to him, "the box has really replaced the experience of discovering the product".

The customer thus receives five samples that he can test before purchasing the product in standard size on the e-commerce.

"It's important in cosmetics, because that's only how we will see if the product works", assures Quentin Reygrobellet.

The number of subscribers today reaches around 240,000.