With a background in botany, Alexandra Whitcombe is hoping to attract women in their early 30s and 40s with the launch of her skin-care line called Vendôme Paris.
“My mother raised me with gardening,” said Whitcombe, a New York-based florist who founded Trellis Fine Florals in 2011. “I did it almost everyday and I kept an interest in that and wanted to see how I could apply it to makeup and skin care.”
The line, which launches at the end of September, includes nine stockkeeping units that feature a cleansing milk and restorative night cream, among others. Priced from $75 to $350, the skin care is a blend of Swiss herbs and botanicals.
The line will be sold at launch on vendomedeparis.com and Whitcombe is looking at high-end pharmacies and department stores for additional distribution.
“I visited several monk abbeys during a hike in the Swiss Alps and discovered old-world homeopathic skin-care recipes, which I brought back to America,” said Whitcombe. “I modernized them to meet the needs and demands of today’s highly selective, mature woman.”
Next spring, the company will launch its botanical-based makeup assortment, Whitcombe said, with the same customer in mind.
She added, “The market is way too saturated with brands that [cater to] late teens and women in their twenties. So I want to hit that sweet spot for women somewhere in between their thirties and early forties.”
Each of the products will be packaged in colorful casing to mimic a box of colorful macaroons.
While Whitcombe wouldn’t talk financials, industry sources estimate that Vendôme Paris could do just over $1 million in its first year at retail.
