The interview took place in the muffled atmosphere of Parisian Hôtel Molitor. Comfortably seated in a sofa, Vincent Honnart introduced his brand and talked a bit about himself.

A longtime global manufacturer, Vincent Honnart ended up in the cosmetics industry about ten years ago. His frequent trips abroad made him realize that in many countries, natural ingredients actually played a prominent role in beauty and skincare rituals. ‘My conscience slowly started turning towards naturalness. These trips triggered something off in my mind. And I eventually found myself in the makeup field, which I thought was fascinating,’ he recalls.
Later, Vincent Honnart took part in the birth of a beauty brand, Boho Cosmetics. The idea was to make organic makeup affordable. ‘By developing these products, I realized most natural makeup consumers were mothers aged about 30 who turned to organic products for their children first, and then for themselves. However, if they looked for healthy products, they also did want the comfort and aesthetics provided by conventional cosmetics. And obviously, at that time, organic and natural cosmetics did not meet this demand,’ he explains.

He then got a new idea: creating a healthy cosmetics brand that could compete with the comfort of use offered by conventional makeup. His project’s originality was his will to add actives to his products: he reveals he ‘designed them as skincare products. Women use them on a daily basis, so why not have the pleasure of making yourself pretty, while taking care of your skin?’
As regards formulas, Vincent Honnart and his technical team focused on the different materials that could potentially be incorporated to the products. As they were carrying out a screening, casually drinking coffee, something clicked in his mind: why not use coffee in the formulas?
Following this almost divine revelation, they carried out more in-depth research on green coffee. The results were clear: ‘coffee actually has strong antioxidant properties for the skin, even in quite low concentrations. That was exactly what we needed, since you cannot add many actives to a cosmetic product,’ Vincent Honnart explains.
That is how coffee became the starting point of the Colorisi adventure. The brand’s founder decided to go for natural, not organic formulas, ‘not to have to use cochineal carmine in lipsticks. It is better not to be labelled and use no raw material of animal origin. Still, our whole range is cruelty-free-certified by PETA.’

Nature and humans: Colorisi’s leitmotiv

Offering qualitative cosmetics with natural formulas? Done. But the brand’s originality also lies in its values and philosophy.
Vincent Honnart describes himself as someone who likes craftsmanship. Mechanic chains and 100% automated production systems? Not for him. For Colorisi, he chose manual work as much as possible. ‘Our lipsticks, the metal rings around them, caps, and other products are handmade. Every piece is processed one by one. The final assembly and shipping preparation step is managed by disabled people. Human values are essential. Today, we tend to forget about that, although it is crucial and it gives meaning to any activity. Humans are a priority to us, and if we can also make beautiful products, it is even better,’ he explains.

In addition, Colorisi is proactive as regards environmental protection. Packaging is designed to compete with conventional cosmetics, but in an eco-responsible way. As a result, all the brand’s products are presented in cases made of cherry trees cultivated following the principles of integrated farming (for every tree cut down, another is planted), featuring aluminium metallic elements. Vincent Honnard explains he chose these materials ‘due to their low ecological impact. The use of wood does not produce carbon. Aluminium does generate carbon during the first production phase, but it can be recycled indefinitely and its shelf-life is unlimited.’
Lastly, all packs can be refilled.

Colorisi sounds like a compromise between the quality of conventional cosmetics and the commitment to the protection of nature. At the end of the interview, Vincent Honnart revealed he will soon market 100% organic nail varnish. But when exactly? The promise sounded tempting, so we tried to know more, but he had fun maintaining the suspense: he explained ‘there is no precise date for now, because the product needs to be real perfect. Good things come to those who wait.’
Other brands have fallen flat on their faces with organic-labelled nail varnish, so we cannot wait to have a closer look at his!

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