Interview: Noble Panacea CEO Céline Talabaza on developing a new kind of skincare brand

Prologue: Noble Panacea is a new and fast-emerging name in the world of niche beauty. The luxury skincare brand was founded by Sir J. Fraser Francis Stoddart, a world-renowned scientist who was awarded The Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2016 and knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2006. He also received the Albert Einstein World Award of Science in 2007.

Sir Fraser put his impressive chemistry acumen to work on developing a skincare brand, one that boasts a unique scientific technology called Organic Super Molecular Vessel (OSMV).

OSMV is claimed to increase the efficacy of Noble Panacea’s products up to tenfold, extending the regenerative and healing properties of active ingredients. Sir Fraser created the brand in tandem with  Noble Panacea Chief Executive Officer Céline Talabaza and Head of Brand Audrey Bois Nicolaï.

In October 2019, Noble Panacea was launched at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, a choice of venue designed to offer an allegory of the sculpting prowess that the brand’s molecular technology represents.

“Noble Panacea means a universal cure of high moral excellence. It means to think beautifully,” says Sir Fraser of his creation.

Along with robust sustainability credentials, Noble Panacea also has a deep commitment to women’s causes. The key one is Girl Up, an organisation committed to advancing the skills, rights and opportunities of girls everywhere. In Hong Kong the company works with Inspiring Girls Hong Kong, a charitable organisation that focuses on the education and empowerment of girls aged 14-16 in the local community.

The brand also boasts impressive star power. British actress Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) is a Global Ambassador while Christy Turlington has just been named Noble Panacea’s new ‘Fundamental Changemaker in Residence’.

Until now, Noble Panacea has only been available in domestic markets (the US, Hong Kong and the UK are its top three) but travel retail is high on the agenda. The company recently appointed Sophie (Xinling) Wang as Director of Global Travel Retail to progress the brand’s aspirations in the channel.

The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie spoke to Noble Panacea CEO Céline Talabaza about progress to date and her heady ambitions for the company.

Céline Talabaza remembers vividly the time she first met Sir J. Fraser Francis Stoddart, an encounter that would shape her subsequent professional career.  “It was at Northwestern University in Chicago. I literally sat down in a classroom and learned about his awarded work on molecular machines,” the Noble Panacea CEO recalls. “And I got to know him, his vision, his values, his priorities about education, his personality. And really his dedication about fundamental research in the supramolecular fields.”

She was drawn not only by the technology, which she describes as “a game changer” in the cosmetics industry, but by the charisma of the man. When first approached about taking a role with the company (initially as Global Marketing Director) Talabaza sought assurance that Sir Francis would be part of the journey – “the soul of what we will be building, something very different”.

Fast forward to October 2019, when Noble Panacea launched at Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Since then, the New York-headquartered company has built its own scientific lab in California and launched two collections. The USA was the springboard, followed by the UK, France, Germany, Hong Kong and the UAE, with Singapore set to follow imminently.

“We are growing year-on-year very healthily,” says Talabaza, speaking to The Moodie Davitt Report by video link. “However, the positioning of the brand, the price point, the sophistication of the science and the choices we have made to answer challenges around sustainability etc. position us as a very niche brand.”

“So while we are growing strongly, we also have a model that is about talking to a few who are in the know. Once they get to know us, there’s a very high enthusiasm for the brand. From an organisation perspective, we are also growing. We have a headquarters in Zurich and people based in New York. We have an office and a lab in California. Then we have people based in Hong Kong, in the UAE and in London.

“We launched at the end of 2019, just as COVID hit. So it’s a very modern structure. We’re not fully remote but we are scattered around the globe and we are growing in this way for the moment.”

Talabaza says her vision and mission for the brand is to continue to grow in a way whereby the company communicates with the right clients. “They are people who are early adopters, who are ready to take a risk on consuming skincare in another way,” she explains.

“It’s about understanding the difference between what’s inside our formula – the technology – versus what’s proposed elsewhere in the market and trying to find this bubble of people who are convinced, so then they can spread the word.

Asked about the brand’s positioning, Talabaza replies, “Depending on the country, people using La Mer might come to us or people from La Prairie would come to try. People from Sturm and [Augustinus] Bader might also try Noble Panacea.

“But the level of our science and the fact that our founder has a Nobel Prize in molecular machines – and that’s what we use in the formula – takes us to another level. So we’re currently in the process of understanding where we sit between those very established, beautiful successful brands like La Mer and La Prairie and these new challengers that are very exciting such as Bader, Dr. Barbara Sturm and Susanne Kaufmann. There are a lot of interesting new brands coming up.”

Sir Fraser Stoddart’s worldwide renown in chemistry is an essential component of the success to date, Talabaza says. “Chemistry is really part of what makes a good formula in skincare. So for him to have the highest-regarded awards in that field was very interesting to me because that is basically a dream for someone who works in the industry.

“He is right now one of the top ten chemists in the world – he’s still teaching [at Northwestern University in Illinois -Ed]. And the whole brand was born around not only his work but also his personality. He’s passionate about education in science, mentorships, sustainability and cross-generational collaboration. And I think that makes the brand very special.

The OSMV factor

“I’m glad to see that there are a lot of doctor brands in the market because what’s in the product and how it works on the skin should be looked at in a very precise way. But the calibre we are dealing with in terms of Sir Fraser is beyond anything. And what we include in our formula that’s so wonderful is the OSMV – the Organic Super Molecular Vessel.

“It is a delivery system. It’s a system of encapsulation of active ingredients. So if you were to picture it in your head, it’s like an octagonal cube that would host the molecule of an active ingredient. Why is it important? Because it protects active ingredients from degradation from cross-interaction. And it makes it easier to travel further into the skin. So we have data that proved 200+ percent penetration versus non-OSMV encapsulated ingredients.”

Talabaza has learned her chemistry well. What follows is a detailed but fascinating conversation about how the OSMV works. “We programmed it so the door of that OSMV opens in a precise and pre-programmed manner during the day or during the night when we have defined that active ingredient will have the most potent action.

“So when I started to understand this. I asked many, many questions. First I asked, ‘Okay, can you make the release of that active ingredient stable within the therapeutic window the whole day or the whole night?’ Yes. Okay. ‘Then what happens when you don’t encapsulate the active ingredient in OSMV?’A question that nobody asks in the industry.”

She continues, “You can also play with the sequence of ingredients. At night you have different phases, for example a detox phase. At 4:00am that’s when your body and your skin is the most able to retain water and hydration. Yet nobody wakes up at four to put on a moisturiser.

“So if we are able to work on the detox phase during the first part of the night and then send these hyaluronic acids and other ceramides after 4am roughly, then you’re supporting the biorhythm of what normally is happening in the body. All of this makes it a very sophisticated product. And if you don’t get the explanation one-on-one about what’s in every single dose, it’s very difficult to understand on its own.”

Building a brand on the right values

That sophistication, based firmly on science, means education – of knowledgeable consumers who care about their skin and what is going into it – will be key to Noble Panacea’s growth. But the brand’s story is about more than chemistry. It’s also about values. Noble Panacea is cruelty-free, gluten-free, fragrance-free. It’s also devoid of alcohol, silicone and PEGs (polyethylene glycols).

“The list is very long but it’s more and more important to our clients. We know that,” says Talabaza. “They are very educated. We call them the self-optimisers. So they already know and make choices accordingly when they choose fashion items, or when they make nutritional choices, or when they track their metabolism, or when they want to provide a certain way of education for the kids.

“So these people are optimising everything in their life. Our own mission as a brand is to deliver optimal skin health. And we do that through the most sophisticated supramolecular technology. So imagine having that technology, and then we deliver the best potency of good ingredients to the skin. If you mix it with ingredients we know, and a lot of people know, that are terrible for skin health, it would be almost useless.

“If we wanted to make the core of what we do true to the OSMV power, to dedicate itself to optimal skin health, then we had to look at all the nasties. We make no compromise on building formulations that have none of these ingredients.

“I think we have come to a place where we are very happy with the quality of the experience because it’s a high-price product. You cannot just have cream that smells bad or look awful. You still need to be as close as you can to offering a delightful experience, but without those bad ingredients.”

Sustainability in everything it does is another key pillar of the Noble Panacea philosophy. “We should apply all our brain power to try to solve this huge issue, which is a big threat to us,” says Talabaza on the wreckage humanity has inflicted on the environment.

“Sustainability is a topic that is dear to Sir Fraser. He has studied and worked in the field of green chemistry for his whole career. The way these principles apply to his research are really important for him. And for me.

“I was asked to create a new brand and a new collection of products. So was I going to create something that will create additional waste? As a responsible person, I had to think about this from the beginning and not only from a marketing positioning perspective but also from that of personal responsibility.

“Another interesting question is what’s the meaning of luxury today?” she continues. “During COVID I was living in Switzerland, and for me luxury at that time was to have space without people where you could take the car, land in the middle of nowhere, enjoy mountains, fields, nature. Just to be able to take the kids out there, breathe fresh air, go back to the car, and go back home without disturbing anyone. That was luxury.

“I think we are going towards this… so the way we approach sustainability is making sure that we create less waste than what is currently proposed by the industry.

“So all the boxes for our products are made out of starch, which means that they are plastic free, and they are meant to be biodegradable. You’re not supposed to throw it away every time. You’re supposed to refill them. So when it’s empty, you get a refill which is a very simple paper cone that’s hosting the doses.

“So that box could stay in your bathroom for years. And then you refill the doses. Once the doses are empty we have a recycling partner in place that takes them and recycles them.

“In everything we do we make no compromise. It doesn’t matter if that starch material is extremely expensive. It doesn’t matter if it’s extremely expensive to take all the empty doses and recycle them. We approach the business in an uncompromising way. That doesn’t mean we have found the ideal solution because the ideal solution would be no pack, which is not an option today.”

Commenting on Noble Panacea’s decision to work with Girl Up, an organisation dedicated to expanding girls’ skills, rights, and opportunities to lead, Talabaza explains, “There were three reasons. The first one is the people we talk to with Noble Panacea might enjoy beauty and cream and serum but they also understand that there is a higher need in the world, and there is higher aspiration.

“Number two, Sir Fraser has mentored more than 500 PhD students over his career. And throughout his mentorship journey he mentioned to me that the subject of women in science has a very special place for him. His two daughters are PhD chemists. His late wife was an extraordinary PhD chemist. And he believes diversity in the lab is key for success.

“I personally come from a family of teachers where I’ve always been told – and have proven – that education is the base of a healthy society. We decided to find the best organisation that could help us raise awareness about STEM education [a teaching approach that combines science, technology, engineering and maths -EAd] amongst girls.

“I invite you to listen to one episode of the Think Beautifully series – Episode 3 with Melissa Kilby. She’s the CEO of Girl Up and she brings up some incredible stats where you realise even in super developed countries in top universities in STEMs… the discrepancy between male and female is huge.”

As a fascinating conversation draws to its close, I ask Talabaza how after her previous decade or so in the skincare industry she views her own journey since that chance meeting with Sir Fraser. “When I got to the point of being invited into a role, which wasn’t CEO at that point, it was in order to build the strategy, work on the formula, and work on the positioning.

“I was delighted because every single minute that I spent on that project was seeing the light… was building something that was tangible. And today it’s still the same. I got the chance having been identified as a candidate to be the CEO of the company, which was not necessarily something I was expecting.

“But what excites me the most is every single minute that me and my team are putting into this project is seeing the light. To see the brand grow and our people grow is very rewarding for me. And I have the feeling that we are part of something bigger than just a beauty brand.”

And the highlight of her tenure to date? “In terms of achievement to date, well, it’s to make sure that we respect the vision and the expectation and the standards of Sir Fraser.

“So every time I spend time with him, I really want to understand how happy and content and fulfilled he is with what he’s seeing. He has met so many people in his life. He was at the White House with Obama. He was knighted by the Queen. It’s a very different world. So I always want to understand if what he’s seeing with the brand is his vision.

“Then from a managerial perspective, I’m happy we have retained the people that have been part of that journey since day one because I didn’t build the brand alone. Audrey Bois Nicolaï [Head of Brand] together with Sir Fraser and me built the brand. And she’s still part of the team.

“Having people who came onboard really early and that are still part of the team, for me that’s a proof of success. When it comes to the product, I’m very proud of the repeat purchases. Few people get to try the brand, which is normal for the moment. But once they do then the repeat purchase rate is quite high. And so it means that we are delivering the right thing in those doses.”

Having been entranced – like millions – by Jodie Comer’s bravura performance in ‘Killing Eve’, I have to ask what the British actress is like to work with.

“She’s similar to Sir Fraser in some ways in a sense – and this is the reason why I chose her – because she’s so talented. True talent. She did a one-woman show called Prima Facie in London. It’s two hours straight. Just performing alone on the stage every single night. And now she’s on Broadway. She could have chosen to do blockbuster movies or TV series. No. She put herself at risk and she’s doing it in a way that is incredible.

“She just won the Olivier award. So she’s so talented. But also very down to earth, very humble and that is like Sir Fraser. Extremely talented, an expert in his field but he makes you feel that everybody has the right to be in the room and everybody’s interesting and I love that.”

In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Comer said of her relationship with Noble Panacea, “Everyone’s feelings towards beauty, makeup and skincare are so different. We’re force-fed so much information of what’s the next thing and what you need to buy.

“But I know for me, I would rather give to my body in a good way through nutrition, through drinking lots of water or spending money on products that are backed by science and can actually give my skin the nutrients it needs.” That’s what you call celebrity endorsement. But of the heartfelt kind.

A window to the world

We close out on travel retail. I ask Talabaza about how such a young brand, strong in certain local markets but yet to launch in others, is approaching this definitively global channel. And what other domestic markets beckon.

“So besides the US, UK and Hong Kong we have a nice presence in Europe – in the French and German markets, for example,” she responds. “It seems that these clients are appreciating where we come from [in terms of product and principles] and that’s working well. We have launched in the UAE which is going through an economic boom.

“There are a lot of high net-worth individuals in the UAE that have high purchasing power but now also have the desire to buy a brand that is based on science. So we just launched there in February with Bloomingdale’s and that’s also working really well. And we are launching Singapore very soon.

“When it comes to travel retail, it’s definitely of real interest. It’s a huge business for those established brands. What’s interesting for us is that it’s really a window to the world. And those self-optimisers I spoke about are travelling. Usually they don’t have that much time to do shopping. But when they travel, that’s a rare moment when you can capture their attention, where they are free to shop or to discover new things.

“We are very new. We are a three-years old brand, so we need to establish that traction in order for travel retail to be successful. But you’ve met Sophie [Wang]. And Sophie has been brought on the team to develop that area because we know that there is interest from travel retailers already for the brand. We just want to make sure we execute it in the right way.” Noble principles. From a Noble – and Nobel – brand. ✈