INTRODUCING MAISON BEAUX
The new high-performance, salon-worthy hair care line boasts unparalleled ingredient and sustainability standards—and it’s only at VIOLET GREY.
Photography by OLIVIA MALONE
Hair by TEDDY CHARLES
Makeup by ZAHEER SUKHNANDAN
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Maison Beaux should not be mistaken for a “celebrity brand.” While the new hair care range is, in fact, co-founded by editorial hairstylist Teddy Charles and supermodel Amber Valletta, the two have poured their expertise and advocacy—not fame and hype—into the high-performance, environmentally responsible line where the product speaks for itself.
The couple came at the idea of creating the brand (which includes shampoo, conditioner, a volumizing spray, a multi-purpose styling cream, and a repair mask) from what originally felt like two contradictory angles: Charles with uncompromising performance standards defined by decades of hands-on experience, and Valletta with the staunch commitment to clean science and sustainability that she applies to every aspect of her life. “I’m annoying, I’m always recycling things all over the house.” Valletta jokes. Speaking seriously, she confides, “This would not have been possible a decade ago. I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to do it.”
Do it, they did. Working in collaboration with a biochemist and an in-house sustainability department, the pair dug in with Charles—who came up working in salons before making a name for himself in editorial, collaborating with photographers such as Craig McDean, Peter Lindbergh, Patrick Demarchelier, and Cass Bird, and publications from Vogue to GQ, Harper’s Bazaar, and W Magazine—taking the lead on efficacy. He put the products through their paces in his own chair, and with each round of development, he’d also send them to fellow stylists for feedback, then make the necessary adjustments. Of the process, Charles says, “It took me a year and a half to make the shampoo. The clean way we do it, is extremely hard to make a shampoo with good consistency and lather—but you want it to have a good lather, because if it doesn't, you feel it doesn't work.”
But “clean,” for Maison Beaux, is not a buzz word, and “eco-friendly” is not a box to check. Valletta, a UN Environmental Programme Goodwill Ambassador, has banned 2,850 “ingredients of concern to limit exposure and prioritize biodegradable ingredients that are less likely to persist in waterways and the environment.” She effuses, “The foundation of the brand is built with transparency, mindfulness, ethics, and sustainability. And not just words. We are pending B Corp. We use the Sustainable Development Goals from the UN as guidelines, and we have our certifications for Leaping Bunny and gluten-free. We're dermatologically tested. We exclude silicones, parabens, phthalates, PEGS, ethoxylated compounds, petrochemicals, animal-derived ingredients, and any preservatives associated with endocrine disruption. We invest in new technologies that, again, meet Teddy's rigorous standards for performance, but that are also ultra-clean.”
This push and pull between performance, clean science, and sustainability—and remaining uncompromising in each area—is the defining feature of the brand. It took years, proprietary breakthrough ingredients to replace those often relied on, R+D to create packaging that felt luxurious and biodegrades in a home compost—the list goes on. The rigor and attention to detail—including third party clinical testing and certification of claims—are simply part of Maison Beaux’s DNA because of their founding belief that there is not only, room for the brand, desire for the brand, but that it is necessary. In Valletta’s words, “There is enough stuff in the world. If we’re going to put something out there, it needs to be a solution. For the performance, but also for our health and the environment.”
THE LINEUP
