IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CLARINS
Virginie Courtin grew up at the very heart of the beauty industry. Her grandfather Jacques Courtin-Clarins founded the company in Paris in 1954, and her father, uncle and cousins all work for the business. Virginie worked her way up through the company, becoming Global Managing Director of Clarins in 2022. The third generation of the Clarins family to lead the company, she is the driving force behind Clarins’ commitment to the natural world, preserving her grandfather’s legacy as well as innovating for the modern customer. Plants have been at the heart of the company since the very beginning. We all know Double Serum, Extra-Firming range and Beauty Flash Balm – but not everyone knows the commitment that lies behind these enduring beauty icons. Clarins has been a family business from the very beginning and now, more than 70 years on, it’s still a passionate personal project with the highest ideals.
Was sustainability and the environment always a subject close to your heart? “I grew up in a family where respect for nature and people was part of everyday conversations. My grandfather built Clarins around plants because he was fascinated by their power. My father [Christian Courtin], who led the company for many years, was deeply committed to protecting nature and biodiversity. The more I learned about environmental and social challenges, the more passionate I became about them. It’s a field where you learn every day, and the more you understand the issues, the more you want to act. Today, sustainability really shapes the way I look at business.”
What are you proudest of so far when it comes to Clarins and environmental initiatives? “What makes me proud is not one initiative, but the fact that we have moved from good intentions to measurable commitments. When I took on my role at Clarins, I felt we were already doing many remarkable things, but often quietly. We needed to structure them, measure them and hold ourselves accountable. Today, every major decision we make, whether it concerns sourcing, packaging, manufacturing or people, is evaluated through both a business and sustainability lens. If I had to choose one symbol of that transformation, it would probably be our Domaines Clarins. We decided to cultivate our own plants to better control the quality, traceability and environmental impact of our ingredients. It is a long-term investment that may not always be the easiest choice, but it reflects exactly who we are.”
What do you want people to know about Clarins and its positive impact? “I would like people to see Clarins as the most inspiring, innovative and caring beauty company in the world. To me, that is what positive impact means: making a positive difference not only for our customers, but also for our employees, our communities and the planet. I believe the companies that will thrive tomorrow are those that combine performance and responsibility. At Clarins, the two go hand in hand. Better products, better practices, stronger impact. That’s our vision of sustainable growth.”
Why was achieving B Corp certification (in May 2025) so important for Clarins? “Because it challenged us. B Corp is one of the most demanding assessments a company can go through. It looks at governance, employees, customers, communities and the environment. What mattered most was not the certification itself, but the transformation behind it. More than 200 people across 27 entities worked on the process for almost three years. It forced us to question ourselves, measure our impact more precisely and identify where we could do better. In that sense, B Corp is not an arrival point. It’s a commitment to continuous progress.”
What was the most challenging part of winning B Corp certification across such a vast company? “The scale. When you’re present in more than 150 countries, with thousands of employees, different regulations, different cultures and different levels of maturity on sustainability, consistency becomes the challenge. The most difficult part was not changing one process. It was aligning an entire global organisation around the same level of ambition. What impressed me most during the journey was seeing how engaged our teams became. B Corp succeeded because it stopped being a sustainability project and became a company project.”
Can you tell us how the Domaines Clarins are central to the brand’s ethos? “The Domaines embody a conviction we have always had: the quality of our products begins with the quality of the plants. Ten years ago, we asked ourselves a simple question: if the quality of our ingredients is so important, why not grow some of them ourselves? In a way, we became farmers. Today, our two Domaines are cultivated according to organic and regenerative agriculture principles, helping us protect biodiversity, restore soil health and secure the highest quality ingredients for our products. I often compare skincare to cooking: the best recipes start with the best ingredients. The Domaines allow us to go one step further, by controlling not only what we grow, but also how we grow it. Beyond sourcing, they are also living laboratories where we study plants and learn from nature every day.”
What future initiatives are you most excited about? “Without hesitation, the next chapter of regenerative agriculture. Our ambition is that by 2030, one-third of the plants used in Clarins formulas will come from our Domaines. It’s an ambitious goal, but one that reflects our long-term vision. I am also very encouraged by the success of refills. In some markets, Extra-Firming refills already represent up to 40 per cent of sales, showing that customers increasingly embrace more sustainable habits. And beyond environmental initiatives, I am deeply proud of our partnership with Mary’s Meals. Together, we have helped provide more than 50 million school meals to children around the world. And a child who can eat at school is a child with a better chance of learning, growing and building a brighter future.”
When it comes to small things we can do ourselves at home, what are the key things to bear in mind? “I think many people underestimate the power of small habits repeated every day. Choose products you will actually use and finish. Refill when possible. Recycle correctly. Consume a little more consciously. Ask yourself: where does a product come from? How was it made? What is inside it? I also try to share these values with my children. Not in a dramatic way, but through simple everyday habits. Sustainability isn’t about being perfect. It’s about making better choices, little by little – and over time those choices add up.” Learn more at Clarins Boutique & Spa, 33 Wicklow Street, Dublin 2, and at counters nationwide; www.clarins.ie.
