Since 2020, consumers have been able to go to certain pharmacies and fill their own bottle of Mustela cleansing gel (as well as its organic version). This is a disconcertingly easy operation that allows the same bottle, designed and marketed by Mustela, to be reused and thus limit its impact on the environment. But behind this simple gesture lie several years of research and development. Mathilde de Montgolfier, Open Innovation Manager for Laboratoires Expanscience, went back over the genesis of this project in an interview with CosmeticOBS.
Certified B-Corp, Laboratoires Expanscience is committed to environmental responsibility. “Our objectives are ambitious. We want to give back to the planet what we take from it. And to achieve this, there is no small gesture, everything counts,” says Mathilde de Montgolfier. “We were already on the alert for the themes of bulk and recharging. Over the years, we saw that these projects were becoming more professional and that certain players were beginning to offer safe equipment. From there, we started thinking about launching our own concept.”
Houston, we have a problem
Mathilde de Montgolfier and her team had the idea of offering a refill system for Mustela’s Gentle Washing Gel (one of the brand’s bestsellers), which is only available in pharmacies. The consumer buys a glass bottle (consigned) that he can refill indefinitely.
But to carry out this project, it was necessary to solve some problems. Mathilde de Montgolfier remembers meeting with all the trades involved in order to draw up a list of all the blocking points… and to see how to solve them.
Regulatory constraints
The Gentle Cleansing Gel is manufactured in the Laboratoires Expanscience factory and bagged according to a semi-industrial process controlled by the in-house teams, …
