Melvita: French Beauty—and Honey—in the U.S.

Melvita

Enlarge Photo

Recently, while shopping at the Westfield Centre in downtown San Francisco, I noticed a new skincare store and had to pop in. Throughout the beautiful boutique, I saw a variety of interesting products as well as signage with the Cosmébio and Ecocert logos. (For more on these classifications, check out Spa’s label guide.)

Aside from the array of beauty products, I also noticed an abundance of honey. A half dozen mouthwatering varieties, including lavender honey and orange tree honey, were displayed in beautiful jars alongside the creams and lotions.

After speaking with a sales associate, I discovered I was browsing at the first U.S. outpost of the French company Melvita, which means "honey and life" in Latin. The company opened its San Francisco location in April and has since added a store in Seattle and one in Newport Beach, California. Founded by a former beekeeper and biologist, Melvita has been offering organic skincare products, plant oils, floral waters, and—of course—honey since 1983.

If you can't check out one of the new West Coast stores, be sure to visit the U.S. website, which launched in November 2009.