Item
A commitment to biodiversity
As a 100% natural origin cosmetics brand, we understand the importance of preserving this biodiversity, and it is even one of the cornerstones of our approach.
Cécile Munoz
Co-founder of La Canopée, expert in green chemistry and natural cosmetic formulation. Since the creation of La Canopée in 2017, Cécile Munoz has been developing natural formulas that combine efficacy, sensory appeal, and respect for living things. Specializing in formulation chemistry and passionate about the properties of plants, she dedicates her work to pushing the boundaries of natural cosmetics in order to offer 100% natural origin skincare that is high-performance, physiological, and sensory.
Background and education
Born in 1989 and raised in Grasse, the historic cradle of perfumery and perfume plants, Cécile developed a deep connection with the plant world from a very early age.
Passionate about perfume plants and olfactory creation, she initially considered becoming a perfumer, like many others from Grasse. However, during an internship in this field, she discovered a reality of the profession that steered her away from her original vision, as a large part of the work consisted of reproducing existing accords. Disappointed by this approach, she began to focus not only on the scent of plants, but on their skin benefits and their potential in cosmetics.
This discovery opened up a new line of thought. As a teenager, her maternal grandmother gave her a book dedicated to homemade natural cosmetics. It was a real turning point. For years, Cécile formulated skincare products for her entire family herself, gradually developing her knowledge of botany, formulation, and green chemistry. After a scientific baccalaureate, she joined the Faculty of Sciences in Nice for a degree in chemistry, before continuing her studies at ITECH Lyon in a program specializing in formulation chemistry.
Her training as a chemical engineer provided her with great scientific rigor, research methodology, and a solid command of formulation mechanisms. However, a large part of her expertise was built outside of traditional academic curricula.
Green chemistry applied to 100% natural cosmetics remains a poorly taught field even today. It is through years of research, scientific bibliography, laboratory experiments, and constant work with natural raw materials that Cécile developed her expertise.
The creation of La Canopée
Alongside her sister Juliette, Cécile co-founded La Canopée after several years of development, research, and formulation. The brand was officially launched in November 2017 with a strong ambition: to demonstrate that 100% natural cosmetics can achieve a very high level of efficacy, sensoriality, and formulation quality.
Since the brand's creation, Cécile has led all formulation and research and development work, as well as the validation of the raw materials used in La Canopée skincare products.
Areas of Expertise
Over the years, Cécile has developed in-depth expertise in green chemistry, natural cosmetic formulation, botanical active ingredients, and skin physiology.
Passionate about the properties of plants and their interaction with the skin, she consistently pursues research to push the boundaries of natural cosmetics and advocate for increasingly demanding, innovative, and high-performance formulation.
Deeply committed to environmental and ethical issues within the cosmetics industry, she also explores challenges related to vegan formulation, raw material sourcing, palm oil derivatives, the sensoriality of textures, as well as the complexity of natural sun filters.
Her knowledge of plant chemistry and formulation mechanisms is continuously enriched through extensive scientific literature review, laboratory research, and experimentation.
For Cécile, a 100% natural-origin skincare product must never be a compromise. It must be effective, sensory, stable, innovative, and perfectly respectful of both skin physiology and all living things.
A demanding vision
Cécile’s moral integrity profoundly influences La Canopée’s formulation requirements. She implements particularly rigorous sourcing, validation, and raw material selection processes to guarantee the quality, traceability, and consistency of the ingredients used by the brand.
Her bibliographic research, laboratory trials, and constant scientific monitoring now allow her to achieve an exceptionally high standard of formulation in natural cosmetics.
For Cécile, the fact that a skincare product is 100% of natural origin is only a starting point. A cosmetic product must also be:
- - effective,
- - sensory,
- - stable,
- - pleasant to use,
- - and perfectly respectful of the skin's physiology.
This approach guides all developments carried out within La Canopée and fosters a vision of cosmetics where naturalness, innovation, and high-tech expertise can fully coexist.
Editorial contribution
At La Canopée, Cécile contributes to the creation of educational content focusing on:
- - natural formulation,
- - green chemistry,
- - plant-based active ingredients,
- - the skin's biological mechanisms,
- - the sensorial qualities of skincare,
- - natural raw materials,
- - the issues surrounding physiological cosmetics.
The content published by La Canopée is based on:
- - available scientific literature,
- - research work in formulation,
- - laboratory experimentation,
- - constant monitoring of raw materials,
- - as well as in-depth expertise in natural formulation mechanisms.
To learn more
Cécile's recommendations
Reliable articles and resources to delve deeper into beauty, skin, and wellness topics.
Item
Natural brand VS true natural brand
we invite you to discover what sets a natural brand apart from a truly natural brand, and why it is essential to understand these differences to make choices that align with your consumption habits.
Item
Vegan testing: our fight for animal welfare
In Europe, animal testing is banned, yes, but there are nuances that, unfortunately, did not align with our commitment to animal welfare.
