Bonjour et Bienvenue

I started SLO in 2015 when I was working in the Beauty Industry living in NYC.  I launched a line of sustainable cosmetic products that were free of harsh chemicals and dyes as everyone in our my family had some degree of 'sensitive skin' and I always found it difficult to find the right products for each of us.  As a cosmetic chemist, I just decided to make them myself.  Unfortunately Covid hit and I put everything on pause.  I closed up my lab, moved out of NYC and flew across the Atlantic to France. 

I've already lived 12 years in France.  I did my undergrad in Chemistry and then went to a Perfumery school in Versailles, were I studied cosmetic and fragrance formulation.  The entire time I was studying, I travelled.  I went from Nantes to Casablanca by bus.  I travelled from Paris to Stockholm in an 18 wheel truck.  I biked across Europe with my boyfriend, now husband.  This was all before the internet and blogs.  It was an adventure.  There were so many places I could go. 

In 2005 we moved to NYC and continued to travel, but discovering new cultures and lands wasn't as easy.  We were working long hours. We had two babies.  

Coming back to France after 15 years has been an experience.  Traveling now is not the same as it was back then.  I traveled alone, as a couple, as a tour guide, and now with kids.  Traveling has gotten more hectic, crowded and instagrammable.    For better or worse, I still love it, but with kids you have to take it SLO, take more time to see places and show my kids the things I saw. 

The blog is where I I decided to save and share my itineraries, as I spend quite some time before each trip searching for the best places and experiences.  I find it's better to share than keeping them on my iphone.   

I also find that choosing the right clothes and packing is not that easy.  As we have sensitive skin, walking in the heat takes a toll on our skin.  I started to notice that the itching, redness and stickiness wasn't due only to the products we used, but the clothes we wore.  So I started to test different materials and realized that the same harsh chemicals and dyes that are found in beauty products can also be found in clothes.  Which is why I decided to share some of the basic, eco-friendly, skin-friendly clothes that you can find in my bags.   

Happy Travels.

Jenny