Les Belges Histoires | Anne-Sophie Charle: committed entrepreneur

09.03.2023

After a career in public administration, Anne-Sophie Charle decided to take on a new challenge: to create a Belgian cosmetics brand, Maison Éole, in 2021, using the products of her husband's vineyard, Le Chant D'Éole, located south of Mons.

At the age of 44, Anne-Sophie Charle decided to move from the "hard" world of politics to the "soft" world of cosmetics. Well softness is relative; for this pharmacist's daughter, there was no question of launching her business without being able to claim real efficiency. She selected products in the vineyard to be analysed, such as leaves, shoots and lees, then sent them to CeREF Santé, among others, to find out if they contained usable active ingredients. And they did: the vine shoots contained a polyphenol five to ten times more effective than what could be found on the cosmetic market at the time.

But Anne Sophie Charle's values pushed her further. The products, which are vegan and 100% natural, are also - except for the perfume - 100% Belgian: "As an entrepreneur, we have a responsibility to use local expertise." They are also environmentally responsible: "I wanted to encourage consumers to use cosmetics differently." And the packaging, created with designer Charles Kaisin, is reusable: the glass bottles are packed in pretty wooden boxes that can be used for other purposes.

Anne-Sophie Charle is also following the family values by choosing to sell Maison Éole in pharmacies. 140 points of sale have already agreed to distribute it, won over by the scientific research that led to the creation of the products, their effectiveness, and their Belgian origin. We are at the end of 2022. Maison Éole has spread its wings, we can only wish it a successful journey.

With the support of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and Wallonia-Brussels International