Meet Our Producers of Immortelle

Our relationship with our producers is precious, and built on trust and mutual respect. They're the ones who grow the locally sourced, traceable ingredients that lie at the heart of our products. We have long-term, non-exclusive contracts with our producers, pay them a fair price, and provide them with technical and financial support. But we want to go even further…

Our aim: to have a Fair Trade relationship with all our direct producers by 2025.

The Immortelle Flower

If you don’t know about the Immortelle flower from Corsica, let us tell you about her.

This strong and resilient plant grows in extremely harsh conditions in the Corsican Maquis. Swept by salty winds from the Mediterranean sea and drenched in intense sunlight, she bears the name of Immortelle because she doesn’t wither, even after being picked. She offers endless possibilities in terms of beauty care such as: the Immortelle Essential Oil, the Immortelle Oil Extract and the Immortelle Aqueous Extract. However, unrevealed extracts were still hiding in plain sight up until very recently.

20 years of research, and yet the flower still doesn't cease to amaze us!

Pascale Chérubin

Pascale grew up in Marne county and later moved to Corsica where she initially taught agriculture. Pascale was always in touch with existing or future farmers either through the advice or the technical support she was giving them. As she was keen to practise what she preached, Pascale started looking for farm land as she wanted it to become a real life project for her and her family. L’OCCITANE was looking for Immortelle growers and a previous company Pascale had worked for put us in touch. Thanks to them, we partnered and it was perfect timing: she found farm land at the same time and started planting. L’OCCITANE helped Pascale technically and financially and as a result she now have 7 productive hectares!

“Life is made of opportunities and those opportunities pave your way! I have the chance today to grow 7 hectares of Immortelle flowers. My family and I live in the middle of our fields, even if I’m not there every day. It defines the rhythm of our lives and it is an integral part of our daily life.”

Stephan Francisci

Stephan was born in Corsica and always dreamt of working the land. His family did not have land and it took him 20 years to achieve his dream! Stephan believes that patience and perseverance is important, but passion is the key! In 2003, L’OCCITANE were looking for farmers who would grow Immortelle flowers to partner with and Stephan took up the challenge and became the first Immortelle grower in Corsica. Later down the line, L’OCCITANE encouraged Stephan to open his own distillery in 2011. As the partnership grew, we helped to set up the distillery by supporting him technically and financially. Today Stephan is in complete control of the whole process, from growing to distilling.

“I was the first to grow immortelle flowers in Corsica – although it was a complete unknown to me. You do this job because you are passionate about the flower, not for financial gain. And then, one day, without realising it, you manage to earn a living! Some people never live out their passion and I am proud to do so.”

Catherine Sanci

Catherine was born in Corscia and originally followed her passion as a horse riding instructor. Catherine discovered the island on a horseback and was interested in learning about aromatic plants. She started alongside another producer of Immortelle who taught her how to harvest and eventually became a wild Immortelle picker in 2008. We were introduced to Catherine, through Stephan and the relationship grew from there. Built on trust, a genuine partnership and the human aspect is at the heart of it. The team at L’OCCITANE work with Catherine to help find solutions when technical problems arise.

“I had to learn about the plant from the ground up. There were very hard years and I learned everything on the job. My father always said: if something is worth doing, it’s worth well. I learned about distillation through the immortelle plant and thanks to this outstanding flower, I started to fall in love with my job. You can climb mountains when you are passionate about what you do. Now I’ve mastered distillation but I still have the desire to discover plants I don’t know. It has been an enduring adventure beyond my wildest dreams!”

The Benefits of Immortelle

Organic Immortelle essential oil is rich in active molecules with unique anti-ageing properties. It's renowned for its restorative properties: bringing the skin a healthy skin glow by renewing it through detoxification and collagen production.

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Anti-Ageing Skincare

Achieve youthful, radiant and glowing skin with anti-ageing products. Formulated with the unique anti-ageing ingredient Immortelle, our anti-ageing range actively works to reduce the common signs of ageing including fine lines, wrinkles and dullness.

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