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S-beauty Special
Melyon founder Roger Dupé on how a revamp of the old bar soap benefits your body and mind
Using French craftsmanship and old techniques to bring four different, handmade, and, therefore, irregular soaps to life.
By JOHAN MAGNUSSON
17 Nov 2021

After the huge K-beauty trend and its 10-step-routines, there’s a growing global buzz for Scandinavian S-beauty and its innovative products with sustainability at its very core. In the latest issue of our printed magazine, we highlight 13 innovative beauty launches. This is #8.

The Swedish skincare brand is based on Dupé’s personal story and the idea of changing the ideal of beauty. 

— The brand Melyon is inspired by the English word ”melanin” and the Togolese/Ghanaian expression Enyonam, meaning ”It’s good for me”, he explains.

Their range of old bar soaps made for modern conditions, he continues, has been a real success.

— We used craftsmanship from the south of France to ensure that our soap would be something else with an old technique and the benefits of natural soap making with a cold process method. We wanted to have natural ingredients like coconut oil and seed oil, which are better preserved. We also used top-quality ingredients that offer a sensory experience that more commercially made alternatives can not match. It’s also free from artificial ingredients and drying detergents, cold process natural soaps are skin-kind with a luxuriously creamy lather that perfectly pampers your skin every day from top to bottom.

Melyon has also just released a lightweight Body Lotion and an Exfoliating Bath Glove.

— The body lotion takes inspiration from the centuries of women in West Africa using shea butter and moringa oil. It’s an iconic skin-softening ritual that has been passed down for generations. These ingredients deeply moisturise and restore dry, sensitive skin and protect it from a harsh climate with a daily repair. The active ingredients create an innovative product for the body that calms and improves skin texture, leaving your skin velvety soft, hydrated, and with a delicate scent of almond. I believe most West African children and adults have a strong relation to shea butter and lotion. When I was a kid, I remember how important it was to moisturize. It was unacceptable to be dry either before you went to school or after your bath. But it has its reasons — darker skin is thicker and needs more moisture with good active ingredients to stay hydrated. My parents passed down how to do my skincare routine, and since then, I have always carried some lotion with me, Dupé shares. He adds:

— This bath glove goes well together with our soap and body lotion as a skincare routine. It is a fully ecological product made with 100% premium Viscose derived from wood pulp and a unique woven technique that makes it thicker and coarser without any harsh friction while scrubbing the skin. Some skin benefits are softening of the skin texture, black spots, and fake tan, and minimizing scarring.

Soaps by Melyon in our latest issue
Set design: Niklas Hansen
Photography: Anders Kylberg

More:
#1: After our heavy use of sanitizers, this innovative hand mask is a saviour for your hands
#2: Why HAVU can serve as the perfect example of a conscious cosmetics brand in 2021
#3: When finished, Sprout’s patented makeup products can be planted and grow into wildflowers
#4: How a shorter shelf life for Skinome’s freshly made retinol creates a more effective cream
#5: Amelie Soie on why Mulberry Silk is so beneficial for your hair and skin
#6: I am By Swedish Haircare’s multifunctional products cater to today’s demanding customer
#7: Byredo’s mascara is shower-proof, gym-proof, swim-proof — even tear-proof