A latest launch is seeking to capitalize on two big trends: quiet luxury and French pharmacy.

“I wish to say Le Balm is sort of the ‘quiet luxury’ of the sweetness world,” said Dr. Natacha Bonjout, a French pharmacist-turned-skin care founder whose namesake brand launched last month with one product: Le Balm.

Much like the quiet luxury trend that has been sweeping social media, Bonjout Beauty was built on the premise of high-quality minimalism. The brand’s debut stock keeping unit, Le Balm, is a waterless “solid serum” formulated with greater than 60 lively ingredients, including peptides, prickly pear native stem cells, vitamin C, squalane and ceramide NP.

“The role of French pharmacists in French culture may be very necessary; I’m able to bring that authority to the U.S.,” Bonjout said.

Le Balm boasts skin barrier-repairing and antiaging claims, and goals to cater to consumers of all ages and skin types. Retailing for $120, the clinically tested offering goals to simplify one’s skincare regimen by multitasking as a moisturizer, serum, lip salve and under-eye cream.

“Each lively that I added to the formula is included at its highest concentration beneficial by the lab,” said Bonjout, who relocated from France to the U.S. in 2010, and has accomplished stints at beauty supplier Fareva’s Chromavis division and Givaudan-owned Naturex.

“I felt there was this chance for me to create a brand based on the science and research of French pharmacists; I had this information of the lively ingredients and formulation, but additionally understood the business perspective from working on the manufacturing side,” Bonjout said.

The founder’s vision appears to be resonating. Since launching mid-May, Bonjout Beauty has done greater than $50,000 in direct-to-consumer sales, and the brand estimates it could reach $1 million in sales during its first yr in the marketplace.

“Our priority for the subsequent yr is to develop word of mouth around Le Balm,” Bonjout said, adding the brand’s next product, a nourishing cream, will drop in 2024.

“We’re specializing in one product at a time — we wish people to eat less, but eat higher,” she said.

The brand participated within the French Institute Alliance Française’s Recent York wellness and sweetness pop-up last month, and plans for added Recent York and Recent Jersey pop-ups are within the works.

“[Pop-ups] weren’t within the marketing strategy, but being a direct-to-consumer brand, it’s hard to see who your customer is. We would like to host pop-ups as a technique to have that direct contact with our consumer, allow them to try the product, ask me questions and begin relationship-building,” Bonjout said.