4. The Beauty and Science of Plum Oil

Hello and welcome to the Formula Botanica Green Beauty Conversations podcast. If you don't know who we are, we're the online and award winning organic and natural cosmetic science school. And you can find out more information on us over@formulabotanica.com today we're talking to the fabulous sisters from Le Pruniere about their plum beauty oil and their journey from plum farmers to natural cosmetic formulators. I hope that you enjoy this episode.

Hello and welcome everyone.

Hello.

Okay, so we've got three, three sisters on today. We've got Jacqueline, Elaine and Alison from Le Prunier. And I wanted to know if one of you could just give us a brief introduction to La Pruniere, its history, what it's all about.

Sure. La Punier is a company founded by all three of us. We grew up on a fourth generation family farm in Northern California right now near Sacramento. Beautiful, beautiful location. Our childhood was really amazing up there. We were very active with farmers markets, we worked a lot of trade shows and we grow a ton of plums. So the three of us kind of put our heads together and we're trying to figure out, you know, we love this, how can we make it better, how can we diversify things? Jackie has a science background, so she's a magician and figured it out. Yeah. So we put our heads together and we created an anti aging, really wonderful oil that is now Le Pernier.

Yeah. So tell us a little bit about the plum beauty oil. Let's hear a little bit about what it does, the science behind it, everything that makes it so wonderful.

So it's a blend of varietals from our family farm and we're 100 year old family farm here in California and we just found that we did a comparison to all the other leading beauty oils and it is just a very powerful, all natural, 100% organic pure oil. We don't use any additives, anything synthetic. It's super high in Omega 6, Omega 9, it's very high in vitamin E, vitamin A, and it's also extremely high in antioxidants. Eight times and six times higher than Marula and Argan oil. So we that it's a very beautiful oil on its own and we want to share with the world.

So in terms of anti aging, I know you've mentioned a few bits about around science, so what do you think makes it superior?

It was definitely the antioxidants. So since it's really high in fighting against hydroxyl radicals, that is really great from an anti aging perspective. And also since it's so high in vitamin E. It's super moisturizing, so it in effect prevents against dry skin. It keeps your skin moisturized, so very good for fine lines and wrinkles as well.

It sounds amazing. I mean, I know Lorraine and I have been itching to try some and hopefully we will be able to soon. Okay, so your dad had the plum farm. You thought about diversifying, you made, just came up with the idea of having a beauty oil. So how did it develop from there and what were your kind of main routes to market?

Well, just to take it back a step, our father and his business partner, his brother, they started farming organic in the 80s, which I think is really, really awesome. They kind of pioneered that, especially for the plums. So we just wanted to, you know, follow in their footsteps and think of something that was innovative outside of the box. Once we decided on this product, Jackie reached out to several different labs. She's been working on that for nearly two years. And I kind of jumped in when it was, when we finally realized the strengths of the oil and we knew, okay, this needs to be shared and people need to know about it because it's fantastic. And nobody really has ever heard about palm oil.

So dried plums are actually, out of all the fruits and vegetables out there, they are one of the number one highest top ranked in antioxidants. So our thought process was it makes sense. If the all natural fruit itself is so high and potent, why would it not be that the oil itself would be equally potent and full of antioxidants as well? And it is.

So while we were also growing up as kids, we used to accompany our dad. And I know it mentions this on the website, but we traveled a lot with him to Asia. All three of us were very lucky to do that. And what we realized was Asian women have a fantastic skin, but b, also they incorporate plums into their diet. So that was very kind of influential for us. We thought about that a lot when we were kind of creating all of this.

So you created it and then how did you. So obviously your dad was doing his trade with the plums, and then how did you start trading with the plum beauty oil? Like, what was your route to market? How did you separate it, if you wish, from what your dad was doing?

We initially launched in Tokyo at the beginning of the year, and it was more of a soft launch to see how consumers reacted to it. And ultimately for us, we knew that that would be most likely the most critical markets. So we launched there and the reception was just overwhelming. And really, really great. So that gave us confidence that we could then if it did well in Asia, we could take this back to California, to London and we would do extremely well. And so for us, that has been our plan and strategy and just taking this also domestically, but globally as well.

So are you selling in retail outlets then?

We are, yes.

Okay.

We just landed them. We can actually speak about it. We're doing that with Neiman Marcus in a couple days. It'll be sold online and from there we'll see. We have a few other stores lined up. We're really excited about some of these particular awesome boutiques that really are like minded and support the green movement and love the product. So stay tuned.

Yeah, so I'm wondering about like we touched briefly on the, on the green movement and environmental factors. So if you're extracting the plum oil from the seeds, does that mean that you're using waste from the farm in a beneficial way?

Yeah. So our thought process was when we initially started down this venture, we looked at all the byproducts from the family farm and first and foremost we noticed that the plum itself was not being looked at from a beauty standpoint. And the kernels, that was. So we definitely are utilizing the pit as a byproduct that had previously been thrown away. And also after we do the crushing of the oil as well, now we're producing meal from that which is now going to be used as a scrub as well. So we're looking at many different components of the byproduct on the family farm.

So you're thinking of diversifying the product range as well. So you have the plum beauty oil and now you're hoping to do. Did you say scrub? Is there anything else? So a plum beauty scrub?

Yeah, no. It's a really interesting texture. It needs to go through a process of refinement. But we definitely have some other ideas. I don't want to give them all away just yet until they're prepared, but some really cool, innovative products and we're really lucky. We have some great advisors that have been helping us along the way. Maestros, you know, we use them as sounding board and they've been very helpful. So.

But the farm itself, we actually have an organic worm farm, solar on the farm as well. So there's outside of utilizing byproducts, there's many different ways on the farm that we actually are sustainable.

It sounds so interesting. So there's your dad and his brother and then the three of you. So how do you all work together as a team? Three sisters. Like, what are your roles? Who does what? You know, does it work, the three of you together? Terribly.

No, it doesn't work a lot. We all. I mean, we're best friends, so we're in constant communication. We talk all the time. But I think, you know, Jackie runs with the R and D, and I do a lot of the creative. I love the branding. And Lainey Poo, she helps with customer service and sales, and. Yeah, it's a. Well, it's a great machine. We figured it out.

We all have our strengths and weaknesses, and so it's really great. I think we can anticipate where each other will need support, and we each jump in. So that's really great. And I know, although we don't live in the same location, I'm here in Northern in California, and Ali and Elaine are in Los Angeles. We do speak each day, and I feel that communication is key and we might not always see eye to eye on things, but I think that's what makes the business work and successful. So we have a melding of different ideas all the time. Disagreements, actually, sometimes can be really positive and can lead to growth.

It's healthy.

Yeah.

No, no, I agree. So, Elaine, tell us a little bit more about sales. Like, do you do the PR as well? Like, is it. Is that your kind of.

No, the PR is mainly done by Allison. There's a combination of us, since we live together in Los Angeles. What's great is that we're each other's sounding board as well as with Jackie.

So if there's ever something that comes.

Up, we both kind of come together, discuss it, and go after it. So with sales, you know, dealing with customers all over, which is really awesome. I studied actually abroad in Beijing when I was in college, so it's nice to interact with customers all over the world as well as domestically. So it's really fun. And it's just a great experience to work with my sisters.

Yeah, it's really nice. I mean, there's something about, like, a strong women team together, I guess. You know, at Formula Botanica, we do have male contractors, but generally it's just.

A core group of women that work together.

Something bearing about it.

Yeah, yeah, definitely. And, yeah, like you say, we don't always agree, but I think that sometimes that disagreement always ends up in something fruitful.

Yeah, no, you kind of push the boundaries and figure out, you know, maybe there's a different route and maybe there's.

Something better or maybe, you know, you never know.

Yeah.

At least for myself, I'm really so thankful. We have. We do get along so well and we each have different ideas because marketing definitely. And the creative side is not my strength. But I know Alison excels in this and Elaine also too in sales and customer relations. So it's really. It would be way too much for one person.

I wouldn't.

Yeah. We're always telling people not to do it all by yourself because it's way too stressful and to. Yeah, to think about your strengths and weaknesses and use your strengths to your best of your ability and then outsource where your weak areas are. I suppose you guys are quite lucky because you just have to outsource to each other.

Sorry.

We've recently brought on a couple of people so starting to kind of outsource here and there.

So you're getting bigger then?

It's growing. It's definitely growing. We've realized that there's a bit more of a demand and we need the extra support for perhaps social media, maybe pr. We'll see.

Yeah, yeah, social media is quite a bit. Quite time consuming, I think. More time consuming than people realize, definitely.

So we brought on a retail strategist. She's really amazing. And so she's helping, doing the retail placement here in the United States and also internationally as well. And then like Ali said, we are looking to. We're in talks with a PR company right now and with the launch of Neiman Marcus here in the United States, I know that'll be very helpful winning the product as well.

So just a lot of.

A lot of things going on. Slowly but surely, but very exciting all at the same time too.

Okay, so just to wrap up, where is the best place that people can find you? Website, Facebook, Instagram. If you let us know all those details.

Sure. So our Instagram handle is Leprunier.

L E P R U N I E R. You can also find US.

On Facebook, La Prunier USA, Twitter, Prunier USA as well. You can also start shopping online@neimanmarcus.com we'll offer a discount for your viewers if you shop our.

Our site lipunier.com and actually the exact website, it's www.neimanmarcus.com indiebeauty and we can also provide a link to that for you as well.

Fabulous. All right, thank you so much for joining us, guys. We really appreciate it and it's been really interesting talking to you about all the different aspects of laprunier and I think it will give our listeners a lot to think about.

Awesome meeting you at the show. We'll talk to you soon.

Thank you so much for having us.

Pleasure.

Thank you.

Bye bye.

Thank you so much for joining us and I really hope that you enjoyed hearing from Alison, Elaine and Jacqueline from Lepruniere. If you want to go shopping over@lepruniere.com you can claim 10% discount off your entire order by entering the code F for formula B for Botanica 2018. That's FB 2018 at the checkout. If you want to find out more about Formula Botanica, you can head over to www.formulabotanica.com or find us on social media, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Formula Botanica. If you want to join in on the global green beauty conversation, then head on over to our free Facebook group, the Skincare Entrepreneur Mastermind. Wherever you are in the world, I hope that you enjoyed listening and that you have a lovely day. Bye.