ODACITE

Odacite Skin Care takes organic, pure skin care to the very next level. It really doesn’t get better than this. You’ve probably heard me bang on and on about ingredients in skin care needing to be as fresh as possible, right? The main reason is that if you are going to the trouble to buy organic skincare, you want to make sure that the oils and other ingredients are still active and haven’t gone rancid.

Every tiny detail of Odacite skin care is attended to. The ingredients are chemical-free botanicals that are either wild-crafted or organic. They are also sourced in rural areas that are as far away from heavily polluted areas as possible.

Odacite is the only skin care line which is:

Made fresh for each customer
Dated with a Freshiency™ Date to guarantee freshness and efficiency
Directly shipped from their lab to your door

Regular cosmetic are manufactured to have shelf life of 2-3 years. How can your skin care be active after years in a jar? Studies show that with time even the best ingredients degrade. To keep a product “fresh” for three years, guess what you need to fill it with…preservatives!

Valerie Grandury was kind enough to send me a huge box of Odacite goodies, many of which are her “hero” products – so lucky little me now has an Odacite mini-fridge in my bathroom, stuffed full of goodies. My 11 year-old daughter is obsessed with this fridge and is pleading me to have it in her room. “No Way!” I said. So we are kind of sharing it, and she’s managed to stuff in a bunch of her products, which is very annoying. Anyway, I can’t complain – with all these beautiful products gifted to me – I’m just glowing with the freshest ingredients ever!

I sampled the Ultra effective Eye Cream, which is one of the most stunning eye creams I’ve ever used! I do tend to get dry right under my eyes, especially if I’m wearing a lot of makeup for TV – it’s horrifying to see in a magnifying mirror! But I promise that this cream did the trick. I applied it in the morning, and the silky hyaluronic acid keep that tricky area hydrated all day long. It also feels good knowing how many fresh antioxidants are surrounding my eyes, doing their best to counteract free-radical damage.

I also sampled the Night Time Repair Serum. What I like about this is that it’s concentrated enough to be considered a “serum” and yet it’s more like a creme. So, you don’t need to use this AND  a separate creme. It contains the finest white and green tea antioxidants, MSM (stimulates collagen synthesis,) and Hyaluronic Acid. I went to sleep feeling like an organic goddess, and woke up with soft/hydrated skin.

Finally, I tested Odacite’s latest offering, “A Summer in Hossegor.” Valerie originally created this for her mother, and named it after their family summer home in France. At the heart of this anti-aging formula are 4 precious oils: Wild carrot, Papaya, Buriti, and Blueberry Oils. It’s extraordinary the lengths that Valerie has gone to with the ingredients in this oil. For example, the Carrot Seed oil is hand pressed in a small French village that’s used the same traditional method over 2 centuries to press their oils. Buriti oil is from the Amazonian jungle, and is one of the richest sources of beta-carotene, and vitamin C.

BTW: The mini-fridge IS genius, if you have a big enough bathroom cabinet in which to house it (my husbands now saying the only way I can keep it is for him to install it INSIDE the cabinet because it weirds him out to have to look at it – really??). He wonders why I just don’t walk a few paces to put the product in our regular refrigerator – he’s got a point! Anyway, it’s actually pretty small and it’s an eco fridge because there is not compressor, so it is CFC-free.

I was dying to interview Valerie Grandury, CEO and founder of Odacite, and managed to catch up with her last week:

S.U. What inspired you to start Odacite?

V.G.Necessity is the mother of all invention could not be more true in my case 🙂 In 2004 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and it created a desire to totally reinvent my live. In order to heal I felt the absolute necessity to totally detoxify my environment. I quit my job in the film business sold the big party house in the Hollywood hills and moved to the serenity and fresh air of Topanga Canyon. I adopted a raw vegan diet, started yoga and meditation, went back to school to study body detoxification and to become a health and wellness coach.
Emboldened in my new philosophy of zero toxicity (and no wrinkles too) I searched for natural skincare and wondered how products that are left on shelves for year could maintain any active properties, so I started blending my own skincare. First for me, then for my wellness coaching clients and through word of mouth for a large LA base private clientele. A friend of mine convinced me to take it to the next level and we partnered. Two years of research, many challenges, lots of passion, scouting the world for the best ingredients and a good dose of audacity led us to create our first line of fresh skincare.
Odacité (french play on Audacity) launched in 2009, four years later we ship fresh from our California lab to homes in 22 countries.

S.U.Why is it so important for ingredients in organic skin care to be fresh?

V.G. Freshness is the key to both efficacy and zero toxicity. It ensures that each ingredient gets delivered to your skin with all of its bioactives intact and without the need for preservatives. Research shows that fresh ingredients are blessed with full antioxidant and vitamin activity, but as they age they start to loose some of their active properties and become less effective. Every body is aware of it with food: grab an apple off the tree it is filled with all it’s nutritional value, buy it 2 month later in a super market it has lost most of it beneficial properties. Same with natural ingredients in your skincare. oils for example will become rancid and filled with free radicals, so you may end up applying a potion that actually accelerates the aging process…

S.U. How to customers keep their Odacite ingredients fresh?

V.G. All our products perform in their original freshness for six months without refrigeration. Because we are all about efficacy we recommend to use our products within those six month and each product will come with a Freshiency (FRESHness/efficIENCY)  date to remind you.
If you pass the 6 month freshiency,  products are still good, just less active.
Most of our clients use the products without refrigeration, however we designed a mini fridge for clients that want to extend the optimum efficacy pass the 6 month.

S.U. Do your anti-aging ingredients pack as powerful a punch as their synthetic counterparts  – for example, a synthetic retinoid is gong to show faster results, right?

V.G.I’m a firm believer that if you want to look (and feel!) young for ever, you need to skip synthetic.
In the case of retinoid and its derivatives, retinol and retinyl palmitate there is a lot of controversy as it seems to react with UV and may increase the speed at which malignant cells develop.
In our formulation we rely on beta carotene which the body naturally converts into retinol. Just as effective without the danger of synthetics and can be used by pregnant or nursing moms.

S.U. Why is it important that skin care ingredients be organic?
1 – Because your skin and your body don’t need pesticides and insecticides. Both are super detrimental to your heath
2- Some studies suggest organic ingredients have more beneficial properties
3- Because choosing to buy organic products is the strongest statement you can do if you are concerned with the environment.

S.U. If you could pick out your top 3 anti-aging skin care ingredients, what would they be?

V.G. The synergy between ingredients is part of the efficacy in a formulation so it’s hard to pick only three.
But here are three I would not leave home without:

1/ Aloe Vera: I honestly think this is one ingredient you want on your skin every day for your entire life.
It is the liquid base of all my crèmes. Never could understand why so many skincare products use water when Aloe juice is such a skin super star!
Aloe is a true miracle healer backed up with a lot of research and science.
With more than 200 actives, aloe stimulates up to seven times the production of fibroblast which produces the collagen and elastin fibers.
It is a fabulous moisturizer, great for all skin types. anti-inflammatory, free radical scavenger, super rich in antioxidants,
Aloe protects the skin against the damaging effects of sun exposure.
Aloe is alos rich in Lignin, that enhances penetrative effect of the other ingredients into the skin.
In my wellness coaching practice I worked with a lot of women undergoing radiation/surgery, aloe is amazing at healing burns and scars.

2/ Hyaluronic acid: The plumping miracle. Because hyaluronic acid  is a naturally occurring substance found in skin, collagen and other areas of the body it is deeply absorbed with no risk  of irritation or allergy. Hyaluronic acid attracts and binds water within the cells of the skin to bring instant hydration and elasticity. It creates fullness, results are immediate.

3/ Tea extract: Antioxidant power house, green tea has 20 times the antioxidant properties of Vitamin E. We use, green, white and rooibos tea. All three come from the same plant they are just harvested in different way and time of growth. They all have staggering  anti-aging properties, by preventing the degradation of cell membranes and neutralizing the spread of free radicals. Their amazing anti-inflammatory properties are effective in slowing down the aging process and boosting the immune function of skin cells.

S.U. Do you enjoy running your own business?

V.G. I always did so I guess hard to compare 🙂 I love it and can’t imagine working any other way.
As much as I enjoyed having a production company and shooting commercials all over the world, with Odacité I feel I have found exactly what I’m meant to do in this life time. I wake up every morning excited about the day, I work with amazing people. The only drawback, it really never stops!

S.U. .Have you noticed a change in the natural/organic skin care space in the past few years?

V.G. Yes major. For me organic is a given but not enough and I’m happy that a number of new organic brands are now making highly effective products.
Thank god we are stepping out of the “granola” organic into products that deliver even better than their toxic counterpart.

S.U.  Many women complain that organic, fresh skin care products are cost-prohibitive – what would you say to them?

V.G. I understand. I would say make your own – it’s not that difficult and it is fun.
I saw such a tremendous difference on my skin when I started to blend my own fresh products. You can find amazing recipes at Gorgeously Green!
I always tell my clients you are better off using ultra virgin coconut oil on your skin than cheap off-the shelf skincare.

S.U. Finally, what is your vision for the future?

V.G.We are working on the Odacité Beauty Center that will pair a very effective detox program and skin care treatment. It will take 5 to 10 years off your face without surgery.