Jaune Ciel, a farming laboratory

‘Although I began my career as a farmer, I quickly wanted to find a way of adding value to my plants that would allow me to live by cultivating a small area, by hand, while being as respectful as possible of the ecosystem already present and without working all hours’ Agathe tells us.

'Today, I produce my home-made cosmetics, after growing or gathering the plants I need in the garrigue. I'm in charge from start to finish, working out the different formulas myself to create my products'.

Natural cosmetics mean respecting nature, without any chemical treatments...

'Well... as naturally as possible! I use mulching and shredding to conserve moisture, and I don't intervene in my crops, if at all. I let nature do what it does best, from sprouting to flowering, and I adapt to the seasons.

Flowers are very good at adapting to the climate and show great resistance, or resilience. The garrigue is a wonderful place to live and learn, whatever the season. Protecting themselves, defending themselves, resisting disease or drought, plants and flowers develop treasures of inventiveness to survive.

What do I grow? Lavandin abrial, Italian helichrysum, clary sage, peppermint and calendula. In the garrigue, I find other aromatic plants with a southern flavour, such as thyme, rosemary and laurel... I harvest all year round, knowing of course that certain plants will not be available at certain times of the year.

I learn a lot from the mysteries of nature and I use some of its resources to think about my formulas and develop my products in the laboratory, on a human scale. Each jar of cream represents several months of painstaking but varied work in the laboratory'.

Macerates, hydrolats, essential oils...

'My training at the Pamiers Ariège-Pyrénées agricultural college was completed by two others, one devoted to organic cosmetics and the other to distillation, at the Centre de Formation Professionnelle et de Promotion Agricole (CFPPA) in Nyons, in the Drôme.

For my products, I have chosen exclusively Mediterranean plants, renowned for their skin-protecting properties, such as the lavandin used in the hand cream.

The essential oils are carefully harvested after several days' preparation and form the very basis of the quality of my cosmetics.

My panel of testers is small but effective. After an initial test on myself, I present new ideas to my family and a few friends and acquaintances. Odour, consistency, colour, nothing is left to chance. Every product needs a great deal of work upstream, bearing in mind that each cream, balm, etc. then has to undergo a whole battery of regulatory tests (stabilisation, conservation, etc.) before being validated and put on sale. All in all, it takes at least a year to obtain the perfect formula and a finished product'.

You sell your creams and balms on your website, at local produce markets and in shared shops...

Yes, in addition to my website and my presence at certain markets, you can come and meet me in Saint-Quentin-la-Poterie, in the shop I've opened with other local craftswomen.

As I really enjoy meeting people, this gives me the opportunity to talk about my work and how I make my products.

Lip balm, deodorant, hand cream, face creams... What's next?

My face creams were the very first products in my cosmetics range, which now includes deodorant, lip balm...

I'd like to come out with at least one new treatment a year, like the body lotion I'm thinking about... My laboratory is often in turmoil, and there's no shortage of ideas to add to what I'm already presenting at L'envolée, the shared boutique'.

Thanks to Agathe for her welcoming introduction to Jaune Ciel.

The right address: Jaune Ciel.

Photographs 1,4,6 ©Tamara Morisset.

Find Agathe Lévêque and Jaune Ciel at L'envolée boutique, place du Monument aux morts, Saint-Quentin-la-Poterie (open from 10.30am to 1pm and from 3.30pm to 6pm, Tuesday to Sunday), on Instagram and on Facebook.