Bonjour, and welcome to La Mode Verte – a space dedicated to discussing all things beauty, lifestyle, sustainability, and inspiration.
La Mode Verte, French for “The Green Fashion,” or “The Green Way,” is a platform we’ve created to deliver you content that matters.
From the latest trends in clean beauty to the strong, passionate people who inspire us, we believe in living a greener life, and want to share our passion for positivity, sustainability, and creativity with you.
Before we dive into these topics, we want to take a moment to talk about who we are. For those who know us, thank you for believing in our vision and purpose. Your support allows us to make a positive change in an industry that greatly needs it.
For those who may not know us,
ALLOW US TO INTRODUCE OURSELVES
We are FRENCH GIRL: a woman-owned, Seattle-based collective of passionate people devoted to creating natural, sustainable skincare that looks as good as it feels.
WOMAN OWNED
Founded by Kristeen Griffin-Grimes in the kitchen of her Seattle home, FRENCH GIRL puts people and planet first, valuing high-quality ingredients, ethical business practices, and a cruelty-free supply chain over all else.
Raised in a French-Cajun household, our Founder and Creative Director Kristeen Griffin-Grimes references her European roots with FRENCH GIRL’s inspired formulations, based on time-tested artisanal recipes. Armed with a background in advanced botany and chemistry and an enduring passion for plant-based ingredients, Kristeen brings years of experience and passion to all of FRENCH GIRL’s botanically active creations.
FRENCH GIRL IS MADE UP OF BELIEVERS
FRENCH GIRL is made up of believers. We believe that luxury should be accessible to everyone, regardless of background; that self-care is sacred – a practice that every human needs to reflect on and reconnect with what matters most.
We believe in the power of nature to provide us with everything we need – be that nourishment, adventure, or safe, effective skincare – and that businesses don’t have to test products on animals or source from companies who underpay and undervalue their employees in order to be successful.
NATURE IS TO BE CHERISHED
We believe sustainability is the future and know that clean beauty is a vital a piece in the larger puzzle of creating a safer, kinder world.
We believe that nature is to be cherished, not exploited, and that we can make a difference in the world simply by choosing to care.
We believe in the power of community, and the waves of change that can awaken an entire movement when we work together.
Even the smallest businesses can change the world. At FRENCH GIRL, that is our mission: to make life beautiful.
Thank you for helping us do just that.
Bisous,
FRENCH GIRL
A LETTER FROM THE FOUNDER
Dear Reader,
My earliest memory is of scent – the perfumed garden of honey-scented pea blossoms that my father tended on our oyster farm on the wild coast of Washington. This intrinsic affinity for all things sensory would collide with my natural inclination for creation – foraging for plants in the woods with my brother, collecting herbs and flowers in bowls and jars and crushing them up into my own herbal concoctions.
Then, there came the enchanting facet of my heritage. French culture settled deep in my bones as I was growing up – my mother’s Cajun-French roots in Louisiana as a Jazz singer in New Orleans, and my father’s strong ties to our hands-on way of life stirred in me a desire to visit the French “motherland.”
I spent hours with a well-worn atlas in my lap, tracing its roughly hexagonal borders, and trying to speak a faux French gleaned from the few phrases my parents tossed cheerfully back and forth. Many years later, my own family of four crossed the border into France for the first time, and something that had long been dormant in me switched on. I had at last found a place that made sense, one that elevated the ordinary into art. I began to understand more fully what could be done with very little. The French are masters of an art that has nothing to do with money and everything to do with an appreciation of the small, beautiful moments in life.
After days spent trying to capture that illusive French aesthetic on my notepad, my mind buzzing with sensual overload, I returned home deeply inspired to infuse my life with all things beautiful. This soon translated into a rejuvenated interest in the natural world, with all of its beautiful, sensory ingredients waiting to be harvested and combined and transformed into something else of beauty. And so began my journey creating French Girl, the great passion of my life: beautiful, natural skincare that nourishes and empowers the mind, body, and soul; inspired by l’esprit de France.
Avec Amour,
Kristeen Griffin-Grimes
Founder + Creative Director
"Welcome to our petite maison on the web! Here we welcome thoughtful and civilized discussion. The FRENCH GIRL editorial team reserves the right to remove comments at any time . If you’d like your comment to appear on La Mode Verte, be respectful of our community and think before you post."