Victoire de Taillac, Founder and Brand & Communication Director for Officine Universelle Buly talk to EW about her building a beauty brand and what goes into it.

What do the first 30 minutes of your day look like, your morning routine?

I start with my daily ablution and tongue scraper. Shortly after, I take my dog out for a walk. We are lucky to have a garden and breathing fresh air in the morning is very important for me. Drinking hot water is usually the last step of my relaxed morning routine, before having my coffee, breakfast and reading the newspaper.

Talk us through your career.

I discovered my interest in beauty when I was a very young, working in PR for a Parisian store Colette, then a few years later I opened with Ramdane our first beauty store Parfumerie Générale. We were both 25 at the time. Later, Ramdane took over the candle brand Cire Trudon and we decided to move to Morocco. After a few years we moved to New York to open Cire Trudon, our first store in New York. We moved back to Paris in 2014, took over Officine Universelle Buly and opened our dream perfume store inspired by the XIX century.

What is Officine Universelle Buly?

A French beauty and perfume brand well known for its beautiful products and outstanding stores. We are inspired by the French “age d’or” of beauty brands at the beginning of the XIX century but we are also very modern in our way of thinking and creating. We are inspired by the past but with the efficiency and quality of today.

Talk us through the process of developing new products. Where does the inspiration come from?

My husband Ramdane Touhami has a very creative mind, he follows his own inspiration. It’s amazing how many product ideas he keeps having. There are no rules when we work on a new product. It is a complete mix; Some of our products use state of the art technology and some couldn’t be simpler. We really like the French aesthetics of the XVIII century and the perfumery golden era. We were really inspired by the original catalogue from Jean-Vincent Buly, the names of the products along with the original packaging. It has been our creative frame since.

Buly is all about promoting art de vivre; can you expand on what this means?

Aesthetics are very important in our life as it drives our lifestyle. When we started to work on Buly, we thought the products could enhance your bathroom and improve your mood. Being surrounded by beautiful objects is important to us. Efficiency and beauty are our two components when we are creating a product.

You’re passionate about rituals and traditional customs. How is that reflected in the products?

We believe that beauty products and the techniques that have been used for centuries prove their efficiency. We use this knowledge in our formulation, in our advice on how to apply the products. We also have a very popular selection of traditional beauty accessories like Greek sponges, vetiver root scrub and Indian tongue scrapers.

There is a lot of detail that goes into designing the products, what does the creative process look like?

The creative is all from Ramdane’s mind with conversations with me and the team. Very easy.

Which hero product is a personal favourite and why?

Huile antique Tubereuse du Mexique, our scented body oil. Very comforting for the skin and perfectly fragrant.

What does the future hold for Officine Universelle Buly?

An amazing and very unusual new botanical perfume collection.

This is The Elevate Issue – what small things elevate your life?

Details. Paying attention to small details in your life makes such a difference

April’s – The Elevate Issue – Download Now 

– For more on luxury lifestyle, news, fashion and beauty follow Emirates Woman on Facebook and Instagram

Images: Supplied/Instagram