Caudalie It all started during the 1993 wine harvest at the Château Smith Haut Lafitte Estate, when college sweethearts Mathilde and Bertrand Thomas (who were working at the winery for the summer) had a chance encounter with a prominent scientist from the Bordeaux University of Pharmacy. When the professor noticed the young couple throwing out vats of grape seeds, he reacted as if they where throwing away pots of gold.

As it turned out, those precious seeds were worth their weight in gold. The professor went on to share one of his discoveries: that grape seeds contain polyphenols, which, once stabilized, have priceless benefits for the skin due to their incredible capacity to trap free radicals and fight aging. Armed with this beauty secret, coupled with their experience with winemaking and a healthy sense of adventure, the couple set out to start a skincare line—and so Caudalie was born.

Named after a French winemaking term, a caudalie marks the amount of time that the different flavors in a sip of wine linger on your palette after tasting (one second of persistence equals one caudalie). Mathilde and Bertrand found this romantic term quite fitting, since the greater the wine is the more caudalies it has.

For years, the couple worked closely with the professor to harness the power of stabilized grape seed polyphenols and channel it into effective skincare products. As one of the only independent laboratories to have its own team of researchers, Caudalie emerged as an expert in the field of vine-based skincare ingredients. The company is constantly reinvesting its profits in research and development, which has resulted in Caudalie's three registered patents on polyphenols from the grape and vine.

Over the past decade, Caudalie has continued to wow us with their amazing scientific breakthroughs, revolutionizing the world of natural skincare in the process. From the groundbreaking discovery of grape seed polyphenols as exceptional antioxidants, which was patented in 1994, to the identification of Resveratrol, a polyphenol that activates cell renewal (patented in 1999), to their most recent innovation, Viniferine, a polyphenol isolated from the vine stalk that inhibits melanin synthesis (patented in 2004), each new Caudalie innovation proves to be even more impressive than the last.

Another one of Caudalie's commendable characteristics is their commitment to their own "cosm-ethics." Caudalie products are free of parabens, phenoxyethanol, mineral oil, artificial colorings, and sodium laureth sulfate. No ingredients of animal origin are used, products are not tested on animals, and all of their products contain a maximum of natural active ingredients. (We'll cheers to that!)

The Caudalie vision has become a way of life. From one innovation to the next, Caudalie is a company that's at the forefront of skincare technology. And just like wine, Caudalie will grow even more exceptional with age.