True Stories
From nature purity to alpine beauty: meet Jardin des Monts
Charlotte Landolt-Nardin, Jardin des Monts founder
I am Charlotte Landolt-Nardin. As a child, my father took me on hikes in the foothills of the Swiss Alps, in an alpine pasture overlooking the valley of Pays-d’Enhaut. There is where he taught me to respect nature. I would soon move to Brazil, but I never forgot the beauty of the region. Later, I studied horticulture in Lausanne, in Switzerland. However, organic culture was not taught to us at all! So I had to learn by myself, looking around for best practices, often emerging at the time. Regarding cosmetics, a huge challenge I had to face was to create high-quality organic cosmetics, comfortable to use and to apply on a daily basis thanks to “cosmetics” textures – without being for example too oily.
NATRUE: How was Jardin des Monts born? What defines this brand?
Charlotte Landolt-Nardin: In 2009, I returned to the Pays-d’Enhaut. In the mountains, at 1350 meters above sea level, I discovered an abandoned chalet and its garden hidden by nature. The smell of lemon balm, mint, and chamomile wafted in the air. My father’s lessons rushed back to me. I decided to revive this alpine beauty. My goal has always been to maintain the natural purity of the place whilst taming them a little. I decided to organically grow aromatic and medicinal plants that would fit in this specific alpine ecosystem. I then imagined which cosmetics could be created with these plants: so nature always comes first.
All Jardin des Monts cosmetics are 100% made with natural ingredients. We use plants from our garden and maintain traditions inspired by herbalism, hand picking the plants, flowers and roots. Handcrafting is also translated into the making of our products, immersing our ingredients in oils or alcohol, turning them each day to gently extract their goodness before being blended into our creams and lotions. Our Edelweiss and Masterwort ranges are NATRUE certified.
NATRUE: What is special about ingredients used in the products of Jardin des Monts?
Charlotte Landolt-Nardin: All the herbal and medicinal plants used in our product ranges are grown in our gardens, so we personally know their source and history – traceability is a mere walk along the terraces and paths surrounding our flowerbeds. In Summer, visitors are always welcome to visit our gardens. This requires though some walking along a quite steep path, as our gardens are only accessible by foot. The remoteness of the place allows the plants to grow in a preserved environment. As the gardens are in altitude, at 1350 meters above sea level, plants also offer particularly concentrated benefits.
We do need support with ingredients that can’t be produced in our garden, like the oils and alcohol used to extract the goodness from our flowers. In these situations, we source ingredients from accredited organic farms to ensure that we achieve the exacting standards of organic and NATRUE certification and product assurance.
NATRUE: How is Jardin des Monts adapting to the new trends in cosmetics
Charlotte Landolt-Nardin: As we’ve been creating for more than 10 years high-quality cosmetics, that can be used in very small quantities, are local, all natural, and swiss made, Jardin des Monts totally fits in new trends in cosmetics. We’re glad that new trends in cosmetics finally changed this way. Moreover, NATRUE gives our products a solid base, as it is an external label. It particularly mattered to us to choose an external organic label, and not make up our own.
NATRUE: How does the relationship with nature influence the cosmetic market in Switzerland?
Charlotte Landolt-Nardin: People feel the need to use products that are local and swiss made. This was definitely enhanced by the COVID-19 pandemic, people have been looking for Swiss ethical and organic products.
NATRUE: What is the value of the NATRUE Label for Jardin des Monts?
Charlotte Landolt-Nardin: NATRUE is an external and trustworthy label with very solid guidelines, also giving a clear structure to follow. This helped us a lot. Moreover, NATRUE focuses on the client and ensures that the cosmetics are of high quality. This matters a lot to Jardin des Monts. Finally, we share the same « no-compromises » philosophy.
For more information about Jardin des Monts, visit https://www.jardindesmonts.ch/en/
Download this interview here.