As the son of a chemist, Le Métier de Beauté’s CEO and Founder, Richard Blanch, grew up working in labs. And though he studied architecture in college and took a more creative route to work in advertising afterwards, he said, “I have always had chemistry in my bones.”

Returning to his roots, Rich began spending time in the lab again while making product with one of his marketing and advertising firm’s beauty clients. “There’s an amazing amount of craft, know-how, skill and process that goes into making a great product just like a chef making a great meal,” said Rich. “You can give people all the same ingredients but a great chef can turn them into a really great meal. It’s similar with product. So I spent a lot of time with Samuel (Harkavi from Il-Makiage) physically making product and learning about the nuances and the chemistry.”

He began researching the beauty industry to better understand manufacturing and where needs existed for products to be made better. The process began with eyeliner.

“We saw that there were significant problems with eyeliners in the industry,” he shared, pointing out specific issues with shades, applicators, and the difficulties women experienced when applying eyeliner on their own. “We spent an enormous amount of time prototyping our eyeliner.” The result: Precision Liquid Eyeliner with the Noir shade leading as the brand’s top selling sku.

“We found a company in Japan that was more writing instrument-focused, and worked with them. The company still makes our eyeliners out of Tokyo and it’s a great relationship,” explained Rich. Another source of inspiration for the New York-based luxury beauty company’s color products included high-end paints which resulted in quadruple milled, powder eye shadow formulated to be buildable, blendable with excellent color payoff.

“We took that approach through the entire line and spent time looking at the marketplace and the customer. Our real point of difference from day one is about the name of our company,” Rich explained. “It’s the idea of Métier – this kind of craft that we bring.” The company added skin care to the lineup in 2010 with the launch of a cosmetic treatment product, Peau Vierge Anti-Aging Complexe. This tinted treatment – formulated to provide “natural-looking coverage for instant smoothing and perfecting” – boasts the TPMdermal delivery system to aid in the delivery of key ingredients such as retinol, deeply into the skin to deliver benefits with daily use. Available in three shades, it’s priced at $125 for 1 oz. and $175 for 2 oz.

“One of the important things we did very early on in the business is that we acquired license rights to 28 patents from a Biotech in transdermal delivery,” said Rich. Le Métier de Beauté utilizes the patented TPM Technology and promises visible results within the first seven days of using the brand’s skincare regimens. Rich explained, “This is the only system that works within the oil and water soluble layers of the skin. Therefore we have seen enhanced and increased absorption of our active ingredients in clinical tests. We also can ensure quick results from use of our products.”

Upcoming skin care launches slated for September include Instant Line Perfecting Serum, $150, developed to give a lift to the under eye area and remove skin aging around the eyes, and Ultimate Hydrator, $225, which addresses skin’s hydration levels with hyaluronic acid and Vital ET. Additionally, Anastasia Feklova is now representing the brand as its national esthetician traveling across the country for product trainings and client facials and events.

Le Métier de Beauté’s 2015 Beauty Vault VIP program is a limited time program priced at $348 per year – which breaks down to $29 a month – that gains members access to a full-sized product, or assortment of products, curated by the brand and shipped directly to customers homes each month beginning in August.

Entering into the third year, this program launched in 2013 with about 500 members and expectations are that it will close at over 1,000 members this year. Clearly explaining that this is not a subscription service, Rich said a goal this year is to “create a strong, one-on-one, program that allows us to offer an online experience that mirrors that experience our clients get inside one of our retail partner’s stores.” Makeup artist Dustin Lujan will be driving the program, and serving as its face. And it will be supported online through a You Tube channel, social media and email newsletters. “Our VIPs will be very happy they joined the program in 2015-2016,” added Rich.

On the makeup side, limited-edition collaboration palette collections – Paris and London – co-created with Neiman Marcus’ Ken Downing launched this spring. Inspired by the “trends, tones and textures presented at the Spring 2015 shows in London and Paris” each collection includes an Eye Shadow Kaleidoscope Kit, which boast four shades for $125. In October, the Stephanie Kaleidoscope – inspired by a former Neiman Marcus employee and colleague of several of the brand’s employees who has been battling Breast Cancer – will launch. Priced at $95, the company will donate 30 percent of the total sales of this product to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Le Métier de Beauté is sold at Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus locations nationwide as well as Bergdorfgoodman.com and NeimanMarcus.com. “We’re really well staffed and focused on retail,” said Rich. “We want to deliver as consistent an experience as possible.” The company has been building its team joined by Hylton Lea as Director of Skincare in October 2014, and Monica Gallegos as Vice President of Sales this spring.

Future plans for Le Métier de Beauté include the launch of an e-commerce site at the end of August 2015, and the soft launch of a skincare line in Summer 2016 that will utilize the brand’s delivery technology to develop high dose treatments through a subsidiary called Métier MD. Rich shared, “We have entered into an agreement with Dr. Kenneth Arndt, Dr. Jeffrey Dover and Dr. Michael Kaminer of Skincare Physicians to assist us on formulations for the line. Similar to finding strong retail partners, we looked for physicians who shared our love of research, clinical results and effective treatments options.” The products will feature formulations positioned for distribution in doctor’s offices.