Having been raised in a natural environment by a father who was a real lover of flowers and gardens, and then coming of age during the “back to earth” movement of the 1970s, going into an organic industry seemed to be the most natural path for Bernard Chevilliat to take.

Trained as a biologist, Chevilliat started his career as a beekeeper in an apiary he established with his brother in Ardèche in 1977 before starting up what is now the leading ecological and organic skincare brand in France: Melvita.

Melvita founder Chevilliant.

Chevilliat founded the premier cosmetic brand in 1983 with a commitment to develop treatment products as close as possible to nature. It allowed him, together with wife Nûriël, to put their biology skills and the expertise they had acquired in terms of natural extracts and essential oils towards developing and designing organic beauty products for people to use everyday without the need for harsh chemicals. They started with a hexagonal soap made with honey from hives, enriched with lavender honey, propolis and shea butter.

When launched in 1983, the soap proved to be a phenomenal success, leading Chevilliat to develop one of the biggest soap factories in France. Today this soap is a Melvita icon.
As the years went by, the range was  expanded to include shampoos, bath products, milks and creams, harvesting the benefits of floral waters, plant oils and other natural ingredients.

“Melvita is a reference of life and honey, that extraordinary product of flowers that sits at the confluence between the plant and animal worlds. Faced with the combined assaults of industrial chemistry and parasites, the world of bees was already, in my eyes, a reminder of the world’s increasing fragility, because a world without bees would be a world without flowers, fruit, beauty…” says Chevilliat. “This is why, from the outset, I wanted to place ‘nature at heart’ of our approach and of our ecological and humanistic concerns.”
From the start, Chevilliat has been running the business with strict ethical codes.

“As a beekeeper, I have learnt the huge benefits that the vegetal world can offer provided it is treated with respect,” he says.

Melvita’s headquarters in the Ardèche Gorges remains an environmental sanctuary to date, its laboratories and manufacturing facilities being among the first to be granted the Ecocert certification. Originally a bee farm, the site has been carefully managed as Melvita has grown preserving every aspect of the environment. The eco-factory site now covers over 2ha and provides a sustainable work place for over 250 local people.

The factory has everything from solar-voltaic panels to provide sustainable energy for power and water heating, to a living green roof helping the site blend into the natural landscape: proof that, even on an industrial scale, we can still work together to look after the planet. On top of that, Melvita’s products go through a rigorous series of tests before they are introduced to the market to ensure that they are effective, safe and pleasurable to use.

As part of its global expansion plan, Melvita opened its first flagship boutique in Malaysia in October. Located in the ever-popular retail destination Suria KLCC, Melvita’s boutique concept, with its green façade, blue sky and nature soundtrack, gives a feeling of stepping into nature, thus offering consumers a comfortable and relaxing shopping environment.

The design is very contemporary — simple and clean, and reflective of the brand’s high regard for modern science and the environment. The oak wood flooring has to be PEFC or FSC certified whilst the choice of wood finishing and coating, paint and lighting all adhere to their corresponding eco-label requirements. A second store was recently opened in 1 Utama.

Customers can expect to find a comprehensive selection of Melvita products, ranging from skin care and body care to men’s care and food supplements. Highlights include the Apicosma skincare line, which brings together the benefits of royal jelly, pollen, honey and propolis or beeswax, formulated using only excess bee product so as not to endanger the bee colony. The range is most suitable for sensitive skin, with soothing and anti-oxidant properties. Bio-Excellence is its anti-ageing and radiance boosting line, blending fruits and flowers to help invigorate, repair and overall improve complexion.

Melvita’s organic Floral Waters are also pretty popular. The collection comprises five variants, each with a different function and targeting a variety of skin types — cornflower for softening and relieving, lavender for purifying, witch hazel as a tonic to reduce redness, rose to moisturise and reduce wrinkles, and narcissus to brighten.

“With today’s numerous environmental challenges, affecting the environment and increasingly your health and beauty as well, it is of great importance to select the products we intend to use daily carefully,” says Chevilliat.

Melvita founder Chevilliant.