The Story Behind Gaelle Organic

Long before I became an esthetician, formulator, and founder, I was an international model. My skin was part of my work, and I learned very early to pay attention to it.

Hours in makeup, constant travel, changing climates, and long days could quickly show on my face. I began to notice that when my skin was properly cared for, it looked healthier, fresher and more radiant, and when it wasn't, no amount of makeup could really disguise it.

That was the beginning of something that has stayed with me throughout my life: I didn't know it then, but those years were the beginning of an education in skin that would eventually lead me somewhere entirely unexpected.

Those years were the beginning of an education in skin that would eventually lead me somewhere entirely unexpected.

Working with Aida was not always easy.

In fact, there were times when our strong personalities collided.

One day, she fired me.

The reason?

I wasn't selling enough products.

The truth was that I was often talking clients out of products they didn't need.

I believed my responsibility was to help women with their skin, not to encourage them to buy more products than they needed.

I told her that I was an esthetician, not a salesperson.

I wanted women to care for their skin properly and use only what was necessary.

When I explained this during my exit interview, Aida was not impressed.

Eventually, something interesting happened.

The clients kept asking for me.

So Aida hired me back.

In fact, she fired me and hired me back more than once. We were both strong-minded women, and we didn't always agree. But through it all, there was enormous affection and respect between us, and somehow, each disagreement only deepened our relationship.

As women learned that I would always give them honest advice and never recommend products unnecessarily, trust grew, and I became one of the salon's most successful makeup artists and skincare specialists.

That experience taught me a lesson that has remained with me ever since:

Today, that same philosophy guides every formula we create.

After decades of working with skin, another experience changed the direction of my work.

I was diagnosed with stage 1 endometrial cancer.

At the time, I had been using the same moisturizer for years. Its ingredient label wasn't in English, so I asked a friend to translate it for me. She told me that one of the ingredients was estrogen.

I was stunned.

I had spent much of my life learning about skin, yet I had trusted this cream for years without really knowing what was in it. I wasn't prepared to do that anymore.

That experience changed the way I thought about ingredients.

I began studying them much more deeply. I wanted to understand what each ingredient did, why it was there, and what it contributed to the health and appearance of my skin.

I became fascinated by what could be achieved with carefully chosen natural and organic ingredients, not simply on their own, but in combinations that allowed them to work together.

So I began creating my own formulations.

At first, they were simply for me.

I wanted every ingredient to have a purpose. And I wanted the finished formulas to do what good skincare should do: give my skin what it needed to look healthy, radiant and vibrant.

Friends began asking to try them.

Then more friends.

And they kept coming back for more.

Eventually, my daughter suggested that we find out how my formulations compared with the prestige skincare these women were already using.

We gave them to a small group of discerning women and asked them to compare the results with the products they knew and trusted.

My condition was simple: if most of them didn't think my formulations were at least as effective, I wasn't going to start a skincare company.

They did.

In fact, many told us that my products quickly became favorites in their routines.

Word spread.

What had begun as something I created for my own skin was becoming something much larger.

What began as a personal passion gradually became a company.

In 2008, Gaelle Organic was born.