GR AP E F I NDS

Caudalie Resveratrol [ Lift] Firming Serum Born and bred in a village in Grenoble, near the French Alps, Thomas grew up in the midst of nature, with time-tested beauty regimens and rituals – hair masks made from real olive oil and rum, as well as facial masks from honey (straight from the beehives in a farm) – passed down from generation to generation.

She writes in her debut bestseller: “I was taught that beauty is not something you turn to in a panic when a wrinkle or pimple appears, but a ritual – figuring out what routine works best and carrying that with us through our lives. I used those lessons, as well as my love for the natural world when I went to the vineyard in Bordeaux that my parents bought in 1990.”

This vineyard at Château Smith Haut Lafitte produces top-grade red wines, and is also where Caudalie was born. Thomas first met Joseph Vercauteren, a world-class polyphenols specialist and director of the laboratory of pharmacognosy at Montpellier’s University of Pharmacy, during the grape harvesting season. “He asked, ‘Do you know you are throwing away treasures?’ This sentence changed my life,” she recalls. “He then revealed the amazing antioxidant powers of grape polyphenols.” It has been 20 years since.

GR A S S ROOT S

Thomas smiles nostalgically while reminiscing on the early days of Caudalie. “It was very small. We were 23 years old. We didn’t have a plan. We just wanted to survive.”

But soon enough, word of mouth turned Caudalie’s Beauty Elixir into a favourite must-have. “We never advertised, and we haven’t changed the formula. We did the FedEx ourselves. I was the receptionist, the buying office ...” she laughs.

As the business gained momentum, Caudalie Vinothérapie Spa opened its first doors in the Château Smith Haut Lafitte in Bordeaux. Here, the beautiful rituals are carried out with hot spring water and Caudalie’s holistic touch. Now, the brand has spread this philosophy across the world through its boutique spas, including one in Hong Kong and Malaysia’s Caudalie boutique in Bangsar.

2 0TH A NNI V E R SA RY

Caudalie, which is actually French for the unit of measurement for the length of time the taste of red wine lingers on the palate, was one of the first to discover the power