Will the future of shower gel pass through the beads? It is in any case the ambition of
NeoCosmetics a young Ile-de-France company born two years ago. Two cousins, Hector and Paulin, then executives in the food industry, chat while on vacation with their grandmother and realize that between them, they have sold more than a million plastic bottles.
It is too much for them. Originally based in Nogent-sur-Marne, in the Val-de-Marne, avenue du Val de Beauté (that cannot be invented), they then decided to embark on a project that would reduce the quantity of single-use plastic in our daily life. Their choice fell on shower gel, “a product used by a very large part of the population”, explains Hector Sentilhes. “A bottle of shower gel is on average 25 grams of plastic. It’s not much, but reported to all French users, this represents 4,500 tonnes of plastic per year, ”he says.
An organic, vegan and sustainable shower gel in the shape of beads
This is the genesis of “Neo”, the shower gel in the form of solid beads: “The idea was to concentrate the active ingredients of the shower gel and to remove from its design the water which imposes forms of packaging which tend towards plastic, ”says Hector Sentilhes. Why marbles? Here again, their grandmother had an important part in this strategic choice: “She had back problems and often used ball-shaped bath salts to relieve them. Seeing them, it became obvious to us. “
Neo comes in the form of five balls that must be mixed with 300 ml of tap water to obtain the equivalent of 35 days of traditional shower gel. Always in a sustainable development approach, Hector and Paulin have developed, in partnership with the industrialist Fareva, a certified organic and vegan product, 99% of natural origin once diluted and manufactured in France, in Nontron in the Dordogne, in a bath salt manufacturing plant. “It is a particularly moisturizing formula thanks to a secret ingredient which has effects comparable to hyaluronic acid”, explains Hector Sentilhes.
Offer the container to avoid plastic
If the beads come in small cardboard packages, you need a container to mix them with the water. NeoCosmetics offers its “eternal bottle”: “It is made of stainless steel, it is solid, durable and elegant. Above all, we did not want to risk that our customers only find plastic solutions to make their shower gel. »Equipped with a pump and a glass window on the side as a gauge, it was designed by Paul-Edouard Carrera, a designer based in Paris.
Small departure from Made in France, the bottle is made in Ningbo in China, at one of the largest producers of stainless steel bottles in the world. “It’s hard to find manufacturers for these products elsewhere, and the costs would have been too great. “
In-store launch in early 2022
Today based in La Ruche, a start-up incubator in the 20th arrondissement of the capital, NeoCosmetics, has already recruited four employees on work-study contracts and is carrying out the last tests, essential before the marketing of the product. “We have already carried out pre-tests with 1,000 beta testers and the feedback is extremely positive”, rejoices Hector Sentilhes.
After crowdfunding that exceeded their expectations, the two cousins are preparing the launch of their products in physical stores for the beginning of the year 2022 with a first kit which includes 5 balls and an eternal bottle for the price of 35 euros.