Valmont CEO Sophie Vann Guillon, 59, Shares Her Luxe Beauty Favorites

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La Maison Valmont, born in the soaring mountain peaks of the Swiss Riviera, is well known for raising the bar in luxury beauty. Bazaar editors have fought tooth and nail over the brand’s cult-favorite serums, cleansers, and sunscreens.

CEO Sophie Vann Guillon develops many of those prestige essentials from scratch. After completing her studies in her hometown of Paris, Vann Guillon envisioned herself working with luxury brands. Shortly after graduating—now, over 30 years ago—she moved to Switzerland to follow her dream and took a job with the world-renowned beauty house. In 2000, she took on a leadership role at the company alongside her husband, Valmont president and artistic director Didier Guillon.

“Today, I have the position of CEO, but it’s a title that does not really convey the reality of what I do every day. I would say I’m more like a creative CEO, stressing more on the creative part,” she tells Bazaar of her role at Valmont. “When you represent a brand and endorse its existence, you have to renew yourself every year. If not, within one generation, a brand can become dull or forgotten. I’m trying to keep the new generation interested in what we can bring to them. So that’s my challenge.” Valmont is already known for having developed effective, science-backed products for nearly four decades, and has even more beauty innovations planned for this year and beyond.

To learn more about the ever-changing beauty landscape—and to get a closer look at the CEO’s top rotation staples (in addition to copious amounts of Valmont skincare, hair care, and fragrance products)—we asked Vann Guillon to give us a peek into her daily routine. Read on for a few of the ways the longtime beauty boss continues to get better with age.

If you don’t mind sharing, how old are you?

Well, I’m turning 60 this year—it’s an important year. This is the time to reflect on what you’ve done, what you have achieved, what you still want to do, and what you really like to do. And I was very lucky that I spent most of my professional life doing what I wanted. So, I have to say that I’m happy and lucky to have fulfilled my dreams since I was out of school.

What age do you feel you are in your head?

Sometimes 14, 18, or 85, depending on the time of the day. I have very deep questions about the meaning of life, and other times I’m just happy because it’s sunny outside and jump around like a kid and do silly things like my daughters or son would do. My life has many seasons in one day.

Is there a beloved beauty product you’ve worn for most of your life?

I’ve always been dedicated to beauty. I just bought a book about iconic products from iconic brands—each continent has its own. For example, in America, I very much admire what Elizabeth Arden did when she started with Red Door Spa in New York City. One of her most iconic products is the Eight-Hour Cream, but on top of the cream, you also have ceramides, which were really inspiring to me back in 2004, when I created my Hydration collection. These women who are very inspiring [to me] always have an iconic product, including Helena Rubinstein’s mascara, which is still selling today after being taken over by L’Oréal.

Another lady I admire a lot is Estée Lauder. She created the Advanced Night Repair line, which came out in 1988 or so? That’s also a must-have. These are women and products that I admire—it’s not only about my own products. I use a lot of skincare, but, of course, about 95 percent of that is made up of Valmont. My iconic product is the Prime Renewing Pack, which can either be used as a cream, as a one-shot pack mask, or as a daily mask, which I do every morning.

HydraPlay Skin Perfecting Daily Moisturizer

Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex

Prime Renewing Pack

What aspects of your physical appearance do you love more now, as you’ve gotten older?

I’m not the kind of woman who’s always wondering what’s wrong or what could be better. I’m quite happy with my smile, because I’m a happy person. Even if time leaves traces on your face, if you smile, there’s an inner beauty that comes out. And on top of that, if you have healthy skin, that’s even better. Of course, we all want to stay young and look young, but I know for myself it’s better to accept that it won’t always be the case. If you don’t, you’ll exude bitterness, and that won’t be very nice-looking on your face.

Which beauty products would you say have aged well?

Well from my collection, the Prime Renewing Pack has definitely aged very well, because it’s been our bestseller for 40 years. Plus, the beloved products I mentioned earlier have also aged well—they are icons of real skincare believers. Products that are based on the belief of science, or at least the concept of it, age well. They age well because they’re always going to have an audience who repeats their purchases, and who are using their advocacy with words and comments, making the product live through a period, and the product will continue to move through time. Another favorite is the Baume de Rose from By Terry—that has also become an iconic product.

Please give us a quick breakdown of your current beauty routine.

Skincare is easy: At night, the most important thing is to take off my makeup—if you don’t cleanse your face, no matter what you apply, nothing’s going to penetrate. Then, I rebalance my skin’s pH with a toner, then a serum, and an eye product. On top of that, I add an emulsion to fix between the serum and cream and later add a cream. And then from time to time, I use our Time Master Intensive treatment. I do that at night because the cell is at its utmost capacity to regenerate and repair and reset the whole mechanism for the morning.

Fluid Falls

Vital Falls

V-Firm Serum

V-Line Lifting Eye Cream

Time Master Intensive Program

V-Firm Cream

For the day, I go straight to the Prime Renewing Pack on clean, naked skin, then I add the Moisturizing Booster, which is a hyaluronic blend, and then I add the Moisturizing Serumulsion, which is between a serum and an emulsion. Lastly, I moisturize my face. Although my age is a little bit advanced, I’d say I use products that are meant for a younger generation. But the ideology of my brand is not a matter of age—it’s a matter of what your skin needs.

Prime Renewing Pack

Moisturizing Booster

Moisturizing Serumulsion

Daily Veil SPF 30

I also use my own shampoo, which I developed very much based on what the U.S. offers as one of the biggest markets in hair products. An American woman is washing her hair likely every morning—we don’t do that in Europe. But I have to say the rest of my hair collection I’m not so happy with, so maybe we’ll release something new in the future. Right now, I’m using the competition to get more volume; I really like Oribe. I typically don’t use a flat iron or blow-dryer—the more you use them, the more there’s potential to burn the hair.

Regenerating Cleanser

Conditioner for Magnificent Volume

Signature Dry Texturizing Spray

A lot of conversations around aging seem to lead to injectables and plastic surgery. What are your thoughts on the topic?

I think science has evolved and we have a different attitude toward beauty—in the past, we only had skincare. But in the past 20 years, injectables and plastic surgery have really started to boom: It started with collagen injectables that were devastating on the lips, because it’s a protein that is very difficult to disintegrate there.

Now, the injectables business has been growing by more than 400 percent every year for the past two decades. [Just about] everybody’s got injectables in their tissues; it’s part of the common life nowadays. You can’t avoid it. The new generations are starting to go into this trend younger and younger, and it’s part of their routine—actually, it’s part of their culture. We, the skincare experts, are lucky that we were not kicked out completely from their lives. That was a big danger at one point when there was a blooming of beauty injections and fillers. And this is why we’re blessed that they do combine injectables with good beauty and skincare products—and actually, it’s part of our routine and daily life to do so. [Not using injectables would be] like living in 2024 and saying, “I don’t want to go digital.”

What keeps you feeling vibrant and youthful?

Scientific discoveries. I love to listen to scientists or engineers—when they describe something and the mechanism, I’m always thrilled. It makes my day, because I don’t stop at what they’re saying. I think about how what they’re saying can connect to another area, and how we can create something new. I really love that—it’s a never-ending story.

Many people fear growing older. In your opinion, what is the best part about it?

I think you begin to appreciate the value of things. You realize that you can’t take anything for granted, so you start to enjoy and appreciate things in a deeper way, so it’s kind of like achieving wisdom, in a way. Well, that’s still a long way out for me, but I have kids who were born with spirituality, and I think that’s the path to move forward on toward wisdom. Once we get there, it’s really enjoyable.

Physical aging is something you don’t really master. You can master the way your spirit is aging, but in terms of physicality, you don’t really master the mechanics. But don’t forget to take care of your body every day by exercising. Have spirituality, be always open and curious about things that motivate you, and exercise.

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