SIMPLE AND
DIVINES
Nature under your skin
Driven by a family heritage and a deep love of nature, Isabelle Buiret set out on her path towards essential oils in search of authenticity and respect for plants. From her childhood steeped in stories of the Ardèche region to her move to Corsica, she has transformed her passion into a lasting commitment. Through her « Simple and Divine« It cultivates and distils local species, with an ethical vision and a determination to preserve the island's botanical wealth.
Plants have a language, you just have to know how to listen to it
Pierre Lieutaghi, writer and ethnobotanist.
KEY DATES
1996
Arrival in Corsica
2001
Birth of «Simples & Divines»
2022
The APROHEC Association is created
2025
Corsican Immortelle’ to be classified as a PGI
A childhood steeped in
When Isabelle Buiret set foot in Corsica for the first time almost 30 years ago, it was to enjoy the lull of the south for a while.
Isabelle was born of a love affair in Grenoble between an Ardèche nurse's aide and a Burgundian who left for the Algerian War. Although the little girl grew up in Bourg-en-Bresse, with its rivers, lakes and farmland, her mind wandered elsewhere: lulled by the stories of the Ardèche told to her by her mother, who grew up among the olive trees and goats, by the story of her great-grandmother who came from somewhere in Italy, but whose first name, Delvina, and her love of wild plants, we only know.
For Isabelle, the feeling that she wasn't in the right place began at school. Despite her passion for sport, her nonchalant laziness and need for rapid emancipation led her to take up accountancy, not because it was her vocation, but because it gave her rapid access to the professional world and therefore to freedom.
In her twenties, with a degree in her pocket, Isabelle still listened not to the voice of her heart, but to the voice of reason, and here she was, heading in the opposite direction, towards Strasbourg, for a professional opportunity.
No regrets, her life was punctuated by work, outings and hikes in the Vosges, and then she found love. But when she became pregnant, her heart took over. She wanted to raise her child in the South of France, even in Provence, surrounded by olive groves and lavender fields, asleep to the sound of cicadas.
The first holidays were organised and the little family went to stay with a friend, but a little further south: in Corsica, at Portivechju. It was love at first sight for her partner. He managed to persuade Isabelle to move in for two years, just long enough for the baby to grow up...
Everything happened very quickly. A separation, a desire to change career direction, to work in areas that were more relevant to her... She set the record straight, passed her baccalaureate in Corte and enrolled in Modern Literature at the University of Aix-en-Provence to become a French teacher. But these studies proved to be very demanding, and a young baby didn't make things any easier... The literary project ended there.
Once again, she refocuses on what she wants. Perhaps that's when the family tradition takes on its full meaning. With a great-grandmother on her mother's side who treated the whole family with wild plants, and grandparents on her father's side who were farmers, Isabelle turned to the essences of the earth and their benefits.
The birth of the company
Beyond her family heritage, Isabelle Buiret is a firm believer in natural and organic products. She shops at France's leading organic chain, Biocoop, buys washable nappies for her baby, chooses committed cosmetics such as Weleda and Dr Hauschka, and is sensitive to products that really smell of plants.
And that's what Isabelle found in Corsica, a land with the richness of being able to offer a real plant scent...
Her love for Corsica grew gradually. It was important for Isabelle to see beyond the beauty of the island. Her presence on the island had to have meaning. It was the power of nature at Portivechju that tipped the balance: the quality and richness of the plants without pollution. As she wanders through the maquis, Isabelle discovers a variety of wild landscapes that go on and on. The potential is there, and island producers of natural and organic cosmetics are virtually non-existent.
In the end, Corsica lived up to his dreams of living in the South with cicadas and plants, it's just that it's a little lower down.
Deciding to stay for good, the young woman began developing cosmetic products. Faced with cumbersome, rigorous and costly regulations, she allowed herself the freedom to work at her own pace.
In 2001, the company was founded under the name «Les Simples», in reference to medicinal plants with health benefits. The word «divine» was quickly added, adding a touch of femininity and sacredness.
At first, Isabelle trained herself in the development of cosmetic products and bought her raw materials from distillers. But she soon began to aspire to master the plant from A to Z, from cultivation to product sales. So she trained in the distillation and cultivation of aromatic plants, with the aim of participating in every stage: harvesting, distillation, processing to arrive at the finished product.
She began by selling at small markets and landed her first order with Croque Nature, the organic grocery shop of the time. Little by little, her business took root, and the number of customers grew, to become a sustainable operation for over twenty years.
Initially based in Sotta, a meeting under the auspices of love gave new impetus to the company, which moved to Palavesa and then Murateddu.
A commitment to respecting plants
Her values have remained unchanged since the beginning of the adventure: a commitment to organic farming with a responsible approach, i.e. local, sustainable production. Isabelle sees no point in multiplying the number of products: the same skincare product has different virtues and can meet different needs. The basic products are essential oils and hydrolats, followed by cold-saponified soaps, solid shampoos, cleansing milks and body care products, peels and scrubs, deodorant creams and a small range for men.
On her farm, she grows a dozen or so plants, including immortelle, verbena, chaste tree, rosemary, gum arabic, gum arabic, gum arabic, gum arabic, gum arabic, gum arabic, gum arabic, gum arabic and gum arabic. nepita, These include true lavender, stoechas and laurel. In addition, there are the plants that occur naturally on the ground, plus wild-picking outings, in collaboration with the ONF, the National Forestry Office, and the Conservatoire du Littoral. There are favourite sites such as Cartalavonu for the Laricciu pine or the dwarf juniper, Figari for unheard-of expanses of myrtle, and the lands of his first love, where in the early days of the company the only source of income was wild picking on the Lavu Santu beach or the Muchju Biancu headland, among others.
Each plant is harvested according to the cycle of the seasons: February for bay laurel, March for stoechas lavender, May for mountain plants, June/July for Immortelle on horseback with the myrtle harvest, end of July for lavender, vervain and nepita, August for the fennel, September for the juvenile branches of the eucalyptus and then the mastic tree until October... And all of this is only picked by hand. In fact, despite an attempt to invest in small machines, their effectiveness has not been conclusive, so hand-picking has remained the safe bet. To harvest immortelle, you need a serpette and a team of four or five people...
As winter sets in, this small business is not asleep. The land has to be tended, weeds prevented from taking over the crops and the fences repaired. As well as the website, the shop is open all year round. It's a real pleasure for her customers from Porto-Vecchi to come to the farm and arouse their curiosity. For Isabelle, this winter period, when people take more time to talk, is a real opportunity to share and pass on her passion...
A showcase for respect for plants, from harvesting to selling the product, «Simples et divines» is certified by Nature et Progrès, Ecocert and Slow Cosmétique.
Preserving an exceptional natural environment
Followed by myrtle and rosemary verbenone, Corsican immortelle, a muredda, This means that between fifteen and twenty litres of essential oil are produced, compared with a maximum of one litre for the other plants. This plant, the leader of the island's flora, is the one that is worked on first and the one that is most sought after by our customers. Its medicinal as well as cosmetic virtues are well established: treatment of acne, haematomas, circulation, rheumatism, stress, anti-wrinkle, etc...
Corsican immortelle is so highly prized that it has become a coveted and copied commodity.
From then on, Isabelle's commitment did not stop at her business, but took on an island-wide dimension. In 2022, Isabelle took part in the creation of APROHEC, the Association of Corsican Essential Oil Producers, with the aim of obtaining PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) recognition for Corsican essential oils.
Corsican Immortelle is under threat from unfair competition from other regions and countries, but the quality is inferior and amplified by an artificial molecule.
Obtaining PGI recognition will attest to its traceability and therefore its superior quality.
This commitment to the island's Immortelle is due to be completed by the end of 2025, and will be followed by recognition for Rosemary verbenone and Green Myrtle. A crucial step for the Corsican industry and the protection of island plants...
As for the future, Isabelle hopes to continue the family heritage through her nineteen-year-old son, who is also a nature lover and has embarked on an agricultural course. While the young man still has plans for distillation, it is with a different outlook that he will accompany his mother, more in tune with the times, with the cultivation, why not, of black garlic, saffron or prickly pear, because the potential is there!
And so, rooted in the island's precious «simples», Les Simples et Divines continue to write their commitment to nature's salvation and open themselves up to new projects. Because beyond a personal desire, the aromatic and cosmetic plant sector, which is in full rise, embodies an essential facet of the island's wealth that it is imperative for Corsica to cultivate and develop while protecting it...
