LA FERVANCE
The LA FERVANCE journey began with founder Melissa Obeid asking herself - “What will it take to make luxurious, high-performance, ethical beauty from 100% natural origins?”
While that .01% from the previous 99.99% limit might seem small, it’s an enormous roadblock that many before her struggled to scale. The elusive 100% is a feat of magnitude, and not to mention, a costly investment. However, for Melissa and her husband Jamie Arnold, the pursuit for perfection was all about the destination - the journey was about allowing the time to get it right.
A French Love Affair Ignites
A long-lasting love story with French culture was sparked by chance, as Melissa - like many Australian women in their 20s - travelled extensively around Europe and spent some time in Rome, London & Paris in the early '90s. A week before she was set to fly back home, serendipity struck: she came across an opportunity for a month-long seminar at the Paris Fashion Institute and thought it was too tempting to
not pursue.
Unexpectedly, like in a fairytale, she was accepted and met Mrs Joan White, the PFI's founder, who became soon her mentor and took her under her wing. This unforgettable experience set her on a journey which changed the course of her life. She soon found herself inside the doors of the fashion label SO - Press Office, as a stylist on photoshoots with Sonia Rykiel, Paloma Picasso, and then as
assistant to Jean-Paul Gaultier when hosting the Europe MTV Music Awards.
If fashion became her path in Paris, when she returned to Melbourne a few years later, a new world of art, culture and nature was thrust upon her. After working on the first two Melbourne Fashion Festival productions and co-founding a menswear fashion label called industrymelbourne, Melissa held senior management roles at Saatchi & Saatchi, and in nationwide event management. Whilst working as
Membership manager at the National Gallery of Victoria under the Directorship of Dr. Gerard Vaughan, the museum staged major French exhibitions - including the Australian 'Napoleon: Revolution to Empire’ exhibition in 2014, that Melissa discovered the 1800 Napoleon directed expedition which returned to France with over 200,000 species of flora and fauna.
For Mélissa, this exhibition vividly represented how the two cultures were inherently linked by French savoir fare and their diverse environments - which are both blessed with active botanicals – and planted a seed for her next adventure into the world of clean beauty. After years of research and analysis, she decided to initiate the development and commercialisation of a suite of Australian-made, 100% natural
baby products created under Proprietary brands sold nationwide. This was an Australian first.
LA FERVANCE is born
As she experimented with natural skincare in Australia, Mélissa recognised a void for impeccably presented, high-performance, 100% natural skincare products developed within an eco-friendly framework. In their quintessential style, the family committed to the LA FERVANCE project entirely - relocating their family to France, and later selling their first family home to facilitate the collaboration with the global leaders in cosmetic science.
These experts were intrigued by Mélissa’s vision and excitedly drawn to the integrity of the project and her sheer determination to make it succeed. After five years of intense clinical research, development and extensive testing,
LA FERVANCE was born.
A Commitment To Integrity, Sustainability & Luxury
Holding true to the founders’ commitment to offering products not only of sheer luxury, but more importantly, of integrity. LA FERVANCE applies a 360 degree approach to excellence within every element of their brand and product offering. Created with complete transparency across the supply chain, and with each supplier hand selected by Melissa, from the ethical Burgundian apiarist who produces the honey, to the Olive Plantations of Provence and Gold Mines in Italy where raw ingredients are sourced, to the fusion between the northern and southern hemispheres that combine indigenous Australian ingredients such as Kakadu Plum with French-grown Mimosa, to the women of at the family-owned packaging creators in the South of France, who hand fold the sustainable card packaging. Every
aspect tells a story of love, care and connection to story and to place.
While that .01% from the previous 99.99% limit might seem small, it’s an enormous roadblock that many before her struggled to scale. The elusive 100% is a feat of magnitude, and not to mention, a costly investment. However, for Melissa and her husband Jamie Arnold, the pursuit for perfection was all about the destination - the journey was about allowing the time to get it right.
A French Love Affair Ignites
A long-lasting love story with French culture was sparked by chance, as Melissa - like many Australian women in their 20s - travelled extensively around Europe and spent some time in Rome, London & Paris in the early '90s. A week before she was set to fly back home, serendipity struck: she came across an opportunity for a month-long seminar at the Paris Fashion Institute and thought it was too tempting to
not pursue.
Unexpectedly, like in a fairytale, she was accepted and met Mrs Joan White, the PFI's founder, who became soon her mentor and took her under her wing. This unforgettable experience set her on a journey which changed the course of her life. She soon found herself inside the doors of the fashion label SO - Press Office, as a stylist on photoshoots with Sonia Rykiel, Paloma Picasso, and then as
assistant to Jean-Paul Gaultier when hosting the Europe MTV Music Awards.
If fashion became her path in Paris, when she returned to Melbourne a few years later, a new world of art, culture and nature was thrust upon her. After working on the first two Melbourne Fashion Festival productions and co-founding a menswear fashion label called industrymelbourne, Melissa held senior management roles at Saatchi & Saatchi, and in nationwide event management. Whilst working as
Membership manager at the National Gallery of Victoria under the Directorship of Dr. Gerard Vaughan, the museum staged major French exhibitions - including the Australian 'Napoleon: Revolution to Empire’ exhibition in 2014, that Melissa discovered the 1800 Napoleon directed expedition which returned to France with over 200,000 species of flora and fauna.
For Mélissa, this exhibition vividly represented how the two cultures were inherently linked by French savoir fare and their diverse environments - which are both blessed with active botanicals – and planted a seed for her next adventure into the world of clean beauty. After years of research and analysis, she decided to initiate the development and commercialisation of a suite of Australian-made, 100% natural
baby products created under Proprietary brands sold nationwide. This was an Australian first.
LA FERVANCE is born
As she experimented with natural skincare in Australia, Mélissa recognised a void for impeccably presented, high-performance, 100% natural skincare products developed within an eco-friendly framework. In their quintessential style, the family committed to the LA FERVANCE project entirely - relocating their family to France, and later selling their first family home to facilitate the collaboration with the global leaders in cosmetic science.
These experts were intrigued by Mélissa’s vision and excitedly drawn to the integrity of the project and her sheer determination to make it succeed. After five years of intense clinical research, development and extensive testing,
LA FERVANCE was born.
A Commitment To Integrity, Sustainability & Luxury
Holding true to the founders’ commitment to offering products not only of sheer luxury, but more importantly, of integrity. LA FERVANCE applies a 360 degree approach to excellence within every element of their brand and product offering. Created with complete transparency across the supply chain, and with each supplier hand selected by Melissa, from the ethical Burgundian apiarist who produces the honey, to the Olive Plantations of Provence and Gold Mines in Italy where raw ingredients are sourced, to the fusion between the northern and southern hemispheres that combine indigenous Australian ingredients such as Kakadu Plum with French-grown Mimosa, to the women of at the family-owned packaging creators in the South of France, who hand fold the sustainable card packaging. Every
aspect tells a story of love, care and connection to story and to place.
