Our Story

 

My obsession with great skin began about fifty years ago.

As a young successful international model I realized early on that my skin was one of my biggest assets. I needed to protect and nourish it at all costs if I wanted any longevity in my career.

In modeling, it's common to wear heavy makeup for long hours. It soon started to wreak havoc with my skin. I began researching ways to soothe my damaged skin. After an assignment at the Dead Sea, I was mesmerized by the healing powers of nature - fifty years ago, the water in the Dead Sea was still potent with salts and minerals, and my skin experienced a miraculous rejuvenation. That moment was the awakening of my obsession with discovering what works for creating beautiful, healthy skincare. 

The more I learned and experimented, the more incredible results I saw. It’s fair to say I became obsessed with taking care of my skin.

Upon moving to California, my obsession with skincare really began to blossom. I decided to become an esthetician and got an amazing opportunity to be mentored by the great Aida Grey, the owner of a renowned Beverly Hills salon, and skin advisor to some of the most influential people in the world. Her personal clients included First Lady Nancy Reagan, Julie Christie, Princess Caroline of Monaco, Queen Beatrice of the Netherlands, Queen Nor of Jordan, Cher, Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Princess Astrid of Norway, Barbara Streisand, Madonna, Peter Fonda, to name just a few.

She understood beauty is ageless if you learn how to take care of yourself, and that if you use natural and organic products your skin will flourish.

After many years of learning from the godmother of natural skincare, I began making my own creams  - using the most powerful ingredients from our seas and throughout our earth.

I started my skincare business when my daughter, whom I encouraged to embrace organic care, challenged me to start my own line, based on the creams I made for myself and had shared with her.

So I decided to test it on twenty of my fussiest friends who were using the most expensive beauty brands. This was no easy task, as they truly believed in all the hype - they thought that the more expensive the product, the better it must work. My goal was to see if my creams were as good as their expensive, but chemical-laden ones, or better.

If 80% of these lovely, intelligent women thought my products were as good as what they had been using, I would begin an organic skincare business. To my delight, 100% of them came back saying “This is the best moisturizer I’ve ever used.” It was then that I felt confident I had a business. The results spoke for themselves, and, just by word of mouth, the business grew quickly, for which I am most grateful.

Achieving radiant skin is simple when you focus on nourishing and rejuvenating yourself with fresh, natural and organic ingredients.

When we began our Gaelle Organic journey, we were uninspired by the standards set for organic cosmetics in the United States.  We set out to create the best products possible and after years of hard work we think we have.

We know you have endless choices when it comes to taking care of your skin, we’re grateful you are considering us and would love to share with you the levels we go to in creating the best possible products.

16 things that set us apart from the rest…

Small Batch Manufacturing
When you hold a Gaelle Organic product in your hands, take comfort in knowing it was manufactured most likely within the last couple weeks. We make all of our products in small batches to ensure the highest quality. Organic ingredients are more potent the fresher they are and the more potent they are, the bigger benefit you will notice. This is a large part of why our products are so successful in addressing all the unique needs of your skin.

Alcohol-free
The U.S. organic standard causes many manufacturers to use alcohol as a preservative. But alcohol is very drying, even on oily skin, and has adverse consequences. Just because it is “organic alcohol” does not make it any better for your skin. When alcohol is used as a preservative in an organic product, it generally takes up about 14% of the volume of the product – it’s not just a few drops! That’s why we decided to have Gaelle Organic’s products be certified by Ecocert, Europe’s leading organic certifier. Ecocert’s organic cosmetics standard supports the formulation and manufacture of organic skincare without the use of alcohol. With your skin being your body's largest organ, we feel it’s important to pay attention to everything you apply to it. 

Premier Ingredients
We source products from 6 continents  (Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America and Australia) and dozens of  countries. When it comes to organic ingredients, there can be large differences from one supplier to another. Things like climate, soil composition and mineral availability affect the outcome of the ingredient, and ultimately its effectiveness and benefit to you. Over the last few decades we have tested hundreds of different suppliers and found what we believe to be the best supplier of every individual ingredient.

We spend as much as 10x more for certain ingredients because we believe in the power of nature and have seen the superior results first hand. For example, we source extracts from a supplier in Tasmania who has a unique ability to extract high purity, nature-identical ingredients from seaweed, enabling precisely-targeted bioactivity. We have clay that is sourced from the ocean floor deep in a fjord that has made its way there over millions of years after originally resting thousands of feet above sea level.. Why do we go to such lengths? The results are undeniable… We often hear things like “This Masque is pure magic”  - Try one of our masques and you’ll understand.  

Certified Organic
As one of the forerunners in organic standards, European-based certification body Ecocert is leading the way in qualifying what it means to be a sustainable and environmentally responsible company. As one of only ten Eco-Certified organic cosmetic manufacturers in the US, we are proud to say that we are aligned with their high ethical standards. Ecocert have taken a good hard look at our products, and all the processes we use to bring them to you, and have confirmed that we are in full compliance with their organic cosmetic standard. They also inspect our facility annually and audit our manufacturing records to ensure our continued compliance with their standard.  They require that at least 95% of the plant ingredients in our products be certified as from organic farming; these plants must be processed as lightly as possible; harmful synthetic ingredients and GMOs are completely banned; animal testing and harm to animals or environment are banned.  

GMO-free 
None of our ingredients contain GMOs. They are as nature intended. 

Kind to Nature
Every day is Earth Day! Ingredients certified by Ecocert must be kind to the natural world, I know it sounds cliche but for example no degradation or contamination of landscape is permitted – ‘negative effects on the natural balance’ are not allowed. And here at our offices and facilities all spiders when caught inside are treated like royals and safely returned to their natural environment - OUTSIDE :)

Made in California
This may come as a surprise but to this day we personally manufacture all of our products in-house. Our facility is located in Ojai California and we personally still oversee every single product that is made. We do not outsource our manufacturing or white label products from a manufacturer. This allows us to maintain strict standards and ensure you only receive the highest quality and best products available .

Glass Packaging
We use glass jars and bottles exclusively for two reasons. The first is that it is safer for you. There is a lot of research that indicates housing oil in plastic is a bad idea. Oil can cause breakdown of the plastic and ultimately micros of plastic can leach into the product and potentially be harmful to you. So to err on the side of caution and be 100% sure we provide you with the best experience, we use glass. The other reason is the environment. At Gaelle Organic we are committed to doing our part and protecting the environment by not using plastic wherever possible. 

Sustainability
Sustainability in and of itself is the fulfillment of a modern-day need in a way that does not hinder the future or the present through the production of that need. At Gaelle Organic, sustainability means recyclable packaging, elimination of single-use plastics, consciously-curated ingredients, safe-to-use components, and small-footprint production from start to finish.

Designed by a Licensed Esthetician
Most of today's skin care companies are founded by entrepreneurs and not estheticians. Gaelle has been a licensed esthetician for decades. Her focus originally was to create products for herself that delivered better results than anything available, and she succeeded. She never intended to start a business but was encouraged by her daughter and friends who were early “testers” of the products and were immediately hooked. Our focus since day one has been on quality and we will always prioritize the end result and what is best for you and your skin, even if it costs us more.

100% No Questions Asked Money Back Guarantee
If for any reason you are not happy with a product you have purchased, we will accept a product return or exchange, provided it is at least half full and received within 30 days of initial purchase from gaelleorganic.com.

50+ years in Development
As you may have read in the “Our Story” section, Gaelle has had a lifelong passion for skin care. As a young model she realized early in her career how important her skin was and began at an early age learning everything she could. Her passion led her to landing her dream job working directly under Aida Grey, the “godmother of modern skin care.” Aida was a pioneer and single-handedly created the industry that we all know as “skincare.” She pioneered the use of natural ingredients in skincare and Gaelle, having sensitive skin was her canary! Learning under this skincare legend gave Gaelle a huge advantage and lead in the natural skincare industry.

European-level Consumer Protection
We welcome the higher consumer protections in Europe and hope U.S. regulators follow suit to improve the safety and integrity of the products we put on our skin. Gaelle Organic products are registered in the European Union, in compliance with EU Cosmetics Regulations 1223/2009. These regulations require that products must be analyzed and approved by a qualified third-party toxicologist prior to market release.

Full Transparency
EU regulations also require that all ingredients be listed on product packaging.

Truth In Advertising
EU regulations further require that all product claims must be backed with clinical evidence, which must be stored on file and accessible to regulators. 

Cruelty-free
We value the well-being of animals in all that we do.  Neither Ecocert nor the EU permit animal testing of any cosmetic products, or their ingredients. In addition, Gaelle Organic is certified cruelty-free by PETA, as shown in this link on PETA's database.

In health & beauty,

Gaelle