We had the pleasure of interviewing Ganael Bascoul, founder of Monsieur Barbier, a ball of energy, good humor, authenticity and simplicity. We first met him in Bologna during a world cosmetics congress and since then Monsieur Barbier is part of the Blooom family. Find the Better Shave shaving cream in mini size, and slip it right away in your toiletry bag for the trip.

Today, Ganael tells us about Monsieur Barbier and how to take care of your beard while traveling 🙂

1- Who is Monsieur Barbier?

He is the exact description of a typical barber you can imagine, but better. Always attentive, he concocts effective, sensory and natural products for his clients! He began by renewing the art of French shaving with products combining the tradition of master barbers (pre-shave, shaving cream and soap to be used by hand or with a brush, etc.) and French cosmetic, with exclusive formulations that take care of both the hair and the skin. For example, its Better-Shave shaving cream, available in Blooom kits, is enriched with arnica and ginger to prevent irritation, cypress eliminates excess sebum to make your shave a full-fledged shave.

Then he decided to freshen up the field of beard products, because most of the products offered were very oily and rather synthetic, with the tattoo-barber-biker atmosphere, very inspired by American barber shops, but very far from the French Touch universe. This is how he proposed the first dry beard oil (and also the first in the world to obtain Ecocert Cosmos Nat certification) and the Full Care 2-in-1 beard and hair shampoo. In just a few years, these two nuggets have become references on the French market, but also little by little internationally. Finally, since the start of 2020,  he has decided to take on a new challenge:  Facial care. With a range fully certified Cosmos Nat, and formulations never seen before: a gentle exfoliant, which allows you to have flawless skin without ever damaging it and a mattifying moisturizer, for a perfect complexion all day! And There you go ! Anyway, the last time we saw him, he was still too hot to handle and he had 2000 ideas in his mind, so I don’t think he’s finished surprising us yet.

2- Before shaving, shaving, aftershave, beard oil … what do you really need when traveling?

It all depends on your skin and the destination! With that, you are well advanced. The main thing for us is a shaving cream, even if we are bearded, to have impeccable contours. Then, if you have sensitive skin, with the hazards and stress of travel, pre-shaving is indeed a good idea. And if you have a beard, I recommend above all to have a good shampoo for beard with either, because you want it impeccable, but the hair shampoos (often filled with sulphates) or the shampoos of the hotels, risk it. ‘damage and create itching. So always his shaving cream and shampoo! Afterwards, if you like to have fun, add the pre-shave, aftershave and beard oil of course 🙂

3- What are your tips for maintaining your beard in summer?

The sun dries out the beard and can make it prickly and itchy. So it must be moisturized every day with a beard oil that is not too oily (so as not to suffocate it) and spread well to the root. To do this, rub your hands well with a few drops of oil, then comb your beard with your fingers from the root to the tips, not forgetting the hair on the neck! Again and again, don’t finish it off with hair shampoo. Prefer a sulphate-free beard shampoo, or our Face Wash exfoliating cleanser, which will be able to deeply cleanse it (after sand, chlorine and cocktails) while nourishing it with its shea butter and sweet almond extracts.

4- What are your essential cabin baggage products?

Argh … the entire Barbier range. To be honest, I never leave it. All the more so as we make it evolve with each production, to fine-tune every detail according to customer expectations. But on the other hand, for long trips, I rarely take perfume (or otherwise a classic from Serge Lutens or PH Fragrances) but just for the first few days. After that I love to buy a perfume locally (if possible a local hit) and wear it every day of the stay, because after that it will be like a postcard, an olfactory memory of this stay, and just by breathing it, even many years later, I instantly rediscover all the memories and images of this trip.

5- Monsieur Barbier, this is already a superb Made In France adventure, what plans do you have for our beards?

Argh, yes, we have lots of projects, and even more requests from our clients! Do-it-yourself beard and hair dyes at home, facial care line for sensitive skin, eye contours … In short, if we could we would work day and night on all these subjects, but sometimes we have to sleep. Suddenly, by 2020, we should have a lot of things as surprising as our previous innovations, even if our perfectionism on each product, prevents us from releasing more than a few new products per year, because what matters most in the world for this. good old Mr. BARBIER, it is the confidence of our customers!

Find all Monsieur Barbier products on clicking here