Inspiration
Forever Snö
Forever Snö
Raphaëlle Monod-Sjöström, born and raised in Annecy and La Clusaz, won everyone’s heart with her talent and success as a professional skier.
She knows the mountain environment like the back of her hand, and cultivated her winning mentality thanks to all that the mountains have to offer. This amazingly rich natural environment continues to give; Raphaëlle unveils its hidden benefits through her very own line of 100% all-natural organic cosmetics, Snö Eternelle.
© SNO Eternelle / Raphaëlle Monod-Sjöström
Nature as a resource
Snö, Swedish for snow, embodies everything that Raphaëlle Monod-Sjöström believes in: the resources and unlimited power of nature, and the amazing virtues that mountain plants have to offer, specifically through their ability to thrive in the cold.
This acute awareness comes from her background as a high-level athlete, a profession that proved extremely tough on her body and skin. Deeply inspired by the natural world, Raphaëlle quickly started looking for ingredients that would allow her to face harsh conditions of cold weather and be as natural as possible. While the 1980s were not yet so pioneering in this area, Raphaëlle definitely was.
© SNO Eternelle / Snö means snow in Swedish
She experimented with all sorts of mixtures in her kitchen, testing them for years with women in her circle of friends and family before starting to look for a laboratory where the stars and ethics would align to allow her to take on this new challenge: creating her own line of all-natural, ethical cosmetics.
The essence of the mountains
Raphaëlle’s source of inspiration for her products naturally comes from plants and the mountains.
Influenced by Sweden, where her husband is from, and the other Nordic countries, she chooses to focus on Nordic essential oils instead of exotic oils, extracting the beneficial ingredients from the flowers and berries that grow in colder countries and climates. Plants with the capacity to thrive at high altitude and extremely cold temperatures develop a high concentration of anti-oxidants and are rich in omega-3, as well as 6, 7, and 9!
At the very heart of its line of cosmetics, Snö Eternelle distills the essence of nature into a bottle. The cold-pressed virgin oils include wild rose, sea-buckthorn, cranberry, raspberry seeds, and even Mauve des Bauges (a type of tall mallow that grows in the Bauges Mountains).
While pesticide free, chemical free, and no preservatives are a given, these cosmetics are also made fresh, mixed and prepared every six months to ensure maximum effectiveness of the active ingredients they contain.
© SNO Eternelle / The mountains and plants for inspiration
Cosm-ethic or bust
Earning certification labels with the most stringent standards, such as Cosmebio, Cosmos Organic, and Cruelty Free, Snö Eternelle is made with 100% all natural ingredients and active ingredients that are 100% organic.
A pure sample of nature captured in environmentally-friendly glass bottles and recyclable wood packaging. Our favorite among her amazing products is huile éternelle (eternal oil) a mix of four essential plant oils, a booster with too many benefits to count.
This limited range of cosmetics gets right to the heart of the matter, and the family-run company continues to maintain its all-natural and authentic character, just like its founder. Raphaëlle infuses the very essence of her personality into every single one of her products, as she has done for the past seven years, now reaching the age of reason for this truly principled adventure focused only on the essentials.
© SNO Eternelle / Pure samples of nature
Copyright:
- © SNO Eternelle
Journalist: Gaëlle Tagliabue
Translation: Darin Reisman