Gaelle Lebrat Personnaz - the one who dares.

Today I present to you Gaëlle , founder and CEO of MANUCURIST , an innovative company, with its 20 employees, dedicated to the research and distribution of ecological and responsible nail polishes under the GREEN name, much more than a marketing slogan in the air of time, but a manifesto in the service of an ideal.

We launched a collaboration together, because we like these words which rock and guide us, such as “convergence”, “affinities”, “connivance” and “confidence”, the one which works so well with the adjective mutual, to provide “mutual trust”, the real fuel of our businesses and those who run them.

You will love Gaëlle's magnetic personality, journey and action. His course began in a fairly standard fashion. Baccalaureate in hand, head to college. of law and its coded and technical, but respectable, universe for anyone who has the sacred fire for legal professions. Unlike me, who only spent 3 long months in Paris II, wondering every day if I was in my place on its benches, Gaëlle went to the limit of excellence to obtain a DEA in mergers & acquisition (“fusac.” in the jargon of insiders). The first internship in an international firm, therefore prestigious, was a source of disappointments. 20 years ago, these very pyramidal structures were not bothered about being kind to young trainees. Sexism lurked even around the corner. It must be said that Gaëlle was, as my Grandmother said, “a pretty bit of a girl”, which had the paradoxical effect of pushing Gaëlle to underestimate herself by brushing aside the walls, as if to atone for a singularity. It was absurd, she agrees today. Let us hope that this universe has changed, under societal pressure, the tremendous call for equal opportunities and the fight against all discrimination. The “fusac.” were ultimately not Gaëlle's professional El Dorado. At least she learned to learn and structure her thoughts, that's always a good thing. But 5 years to realize that she had somehow entered Orders without having faith is a long time!

And then, not even a radical questioning, but rather a breath of liberation, Gaëlle decides to enter the French Fashion Institute - if you read Astrid, that will definitely remind you of something! - . IFM passport in hand, she enters the big brands, Vuitton, Saint-Laurent (...), under the rule of their large parent companies and their powerful design and marketing machinery. What followed were 20 exciting years rubbing shoulders with the stars, Marc Jacob, Stefano Pilati and Tom Ford, who amazed Gaëlle with her simplicity and self-control in all circumstances, what class! The opposite of capricious divas. 20 years above all of capitalizing on experience and specialization: “visual merchandising”, in other words the science of visual detail which allows at first glance to differentiate between mediocrity and style.

Promotions, comfortable salary, happy life between “recomposed” then “composed” children, the picture borders on the ideal, until the little music of Paulo Coelho distills his well-known words:

“ If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine, it’s deadly ”!

So, after reaching her forties, Gaëlle decided to relaunch her mother's artisanal niche, which had developed nail polishes for professionals in the 90s. Gaëlle founded Manucurist in 2015, writing a beautiful page of Mother Daughter succession. I feel a visceral attachment to my Mother, but I know that if I had to work with her, the offices would look like a powder keg in which we would play with matches! So I admire Gaëlle's adventure for this other intimate reason. 46 years old today, admittedly unvarnished, she is always quick to laugh at everything, including herself. Self-deprecation is still the best defense against those who take themselves seriously, with this satisfied air which is, all in all, a real handicap in the face of the trepidations of the world. On the contrary, it takes a lot of lucidity and humility to face the challenges of this world, and a lot of determination, too. Gaëlle is completely resistant to pretense, naturalness and transparency are the oxygen that she breathes in and out.... and yet she creates and diffuses varnish, an accessory which evokes a translucent and superficial layer - varnish of a furniture, cultural varnish, etc... - so much trompe-l'oeil before seeing the substance.

Well ! No, Gaëlle and Manucurist do not sell varnish, but varnish, do you see the nuance? She is radical. And his nail polishes are special, they are neither trompe l'oeil nor pretense, but 1) illuminations and 2) aids in the fight against the deterioration of our planet.

1) illuminations : I liked Gaëlle's speech on self-esteem and dignity, identical in every way to mine during and after going through my ordeal. Again this morning, as always, I took care of myself in front of the mirror. It took me at least half an hour to put on my makeup, apply my Green nail polish (Pomegranate red to be precise!), to do my hair and to decide which light blouse to button, with the sole aim of offering you a mirror where you will have pleasure in looking at you if we pass each other, even furtively, without speaking to each other, and yet enough to find life beautiful, despite the crowded metro, transformed today into a giant hammam. Wherever we go with Gaëlle and so many others (boys are welcome at the club!) we will be stubborn to never compromise, to be dignified and pretty in one way or another, without the slightest narcissism, through all the ups and downs of our lives. Poor Narcissus, victim of misinformation since the mythological day when he looked at himself in the water of the fountain! He was not the egocentric poseur that we say today, he was only unhappy, trying to find his lost image. By examining the murky water, he did not find it, but he discovered self-esteem, nothing to do with futile narcissism! This is what we would like you to find in Green and our engaged Vestiaire: self-esteem and femininity, like politeness and sharing, without the slightest futility, but on the contrary, with deep meaning.

2) aids in the fight against the deterioration of our planet : Manucurist has methodically invested in research to develop a varnish in two fluid and long-lasting layers, totally eco-responsible, that is to say without toluene, without ormaldehyde or camphor... all potentially carcinogenic endocrine disruptors. When nature offers us red algae, cassava, bamboo, coconut fiber, sweet almond oil... why give in to the mercantile and inconsistent ease of petrochemicals whose ravages are no longer hardly debatable.

“ We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children .”

Attributed to Saint-Exupery, this visionary quote would rather be a saying born among the Inuit and it would be the most plausible, the Inuit and the polar bears being on the front line to suffer the disastrous effects of mistreatment and the warming of our old planet. So, yes, the time has come to reason in Inuit - to be "green" - anticipating the day when future generations will hold us to account for our blind misconduct today. If you had a little time, go and reread on this same blog, the portraits of Inès Leonarduzzi (April 8, 2019), Nathalie Rozborski (April 19, 2019) or even Cyrielle Hariel (November 7, 2018); you will also reread the portrait of Siham (March 18, 2019) who crossed paths with Gaëlle and podcasted her, to note that a new wave has risen, determined to transform the desperate reality of past decades, at least two fronts, saving the planet and proclaiming, definitively, equality between men and women, that's a minimum! Gaëlle and Manucurist move forward with a confident step, light perhaps, despite all the headwinds that entrepreneurs must face as soon as they open their eyes in the morning. One day, L'Oréal or Shiseido could take a keen interest in this value-creating niche. Consecration or uprooting? Gaëlle does not ask the question. Like me, she loves the minute that passes, as long as it is beautiful and full of meaning. She confesses to still being able to hold back a small tear while often reading and rereading her cult book, The Salt of Life by Françoise Héritier who left this world two years ago, at the peak of her science, her art and her tireless defense of the cause of women. We will hide behind these few lines:

“. .. walk briskly, drag your feet in the dead leaves.... listen to the owls at night and the crickets during the day, make a bouquet of embankment flowers, watch the sheets of fog slide by, trying to feel the moment where we fall asleep sleeping on someone's shoulder listening to the Callas or moaning the wind eating a sandwich in the street There is a form of lightness and grace in the simple fact of existing, beyond the occupations, beyond strong feelings, beyond commitments, that's what I wanted to account for. Of this little extra that is given to us all: the salt of life ”