Vestige Verdant is a natural luxury brand based in Estonia that promises beauty without sacrifice. As a best-selling brand from Amazingy, we were eager to inquire about their backstory. Their founder and CEO, Roone Roost, gracefully answered all of our questions with true eloquence.

What sparked the idea for this brand – how did it all begin?

As with everything in life, the most profound life changing events take place when you least expect them – on idle Tuesday evenings.

As usually in life, it is only possible to connect the dots looking back, so in this case I would say that “the idea” began more than 15 years ago, when a group of very bright Estonian scientists began investigating a substance called balneological peat (which is partially decayed vegetable matter found in bogs that has been found to have curative effects). The study focused on two questions: 1. is it found in Estonia and 2. what is the quality of said substance if it is found in Estonia. That research lasted for more than a decade and it concluded that not is it only found, it is of the best quality in the world to date.

Somehow that study found its way to my desk and having read it I realised the proper application for it; in high end luxury-organic skincare. That was the moment when the snowball started rolling and that is how it all began.

What inspired you to launch your brand?

I have to admit this is one of the most frequently asked questions and one I always struggle to find an answer for. The best answer I can provide you is Vocatio Interna (it was my calling). I am convinced that Vestige Verdant is not a brand or company that was built in the traditional sense, for me it seems it is a company that was meant to be born, and I merely helped deliver it to existence. Be it fate, chance or happenstance, I do sincerely believe that the world needs Vestige Verdant and that is why I have always been focused on building this into a company that generates true value, not just worth.

Why did you choose the name?

“Vestige Verdant” means “a sign of blooming nature” in Victorian era English. You see, 19th century was when a shift in paradigm was happening – from handicraft to machine manufacturing; it changed the world. What we are aspiring to do is similar – we want to change the thought paradigm; to carve in stone the presumption that beauty products have to come with health benefits, not health hazards. Beauty should not require sacrifice, not in this sense.

How would you describe the ideology behind your brand?

That is a very good question and I guess the corporate answer would sound something along the lines of “we are idealistic about health and nature and we are perfectionists at what we do…” Well. One thing is for sure, we are resilient and we are constantly aspiring to be better than we were as a company one day before. We have a very simple ideology. At the end of the day we have the ability to deliver the best products and thus the responsibility to do so. We started this company with one principle carved to stone: we will create value before fortune and this is what will continue to be true for each and every product carrying the Vestige Verdant coat of arms. Our way of doing that is to deliver products that have health benefits and to create the products in a manner that is sustainable and nature friendly.

Could you tell a bit more about the main ingredients in your products and how you select them?

Well the logic behind our products is fairly simple – all of our products need to have health improving abilities in addition to beauty benefits, they need to be 100% organic given every possibility and they need to be the best in their speciality.

We have not limited ourselves to one core ingredient or area where we get our ingredients, the world has a lot to offer and so we pick the best from every corner of the globe.

Our Organic Mask is made from Estonian balneological peat, which, as I mentioned earlier, is the best in the world; what makes it the best is the sheer amount of bioactive substances in it and the fact that it has been untouched by human activity for thousands and thousands of years. Even today we take great care in extracting it – it is only done by hand and making sure we leave the surrounding nature in the same state as it was before we went there.

The Rare Oil Blend is made of five rare oils: Neroli oil from Italy, Patchouli oil from Indonesia, Carrot seed oil from Nepal, Sea Buckthorn oil from Germany and Argan oil from Morocco.

It is very important to point out that the organic oils we use are of the highest quality and are from farmers that do not use pesticides and who follow fair trade principles. Also we take pride in the processing said oils, because we only do cold pressing and use only techniques that preserve the health benefits that these wonderful oils hold and ensure that they will be delivered to our customers without compromise.

Regarding the Infinity Eye Serum it would take me six pages to elaborate on the formula and ingredients but suffice to say – the original brief stated “make this the best eye serum out there. It needs to be natural, ultra lightweight and with none of the nasty chemicals. If you can’t do it let me know and we will not do it”. Luckily they could, it also has a wonderful dermatologically tested ingredient, called “Revital-Eyes” and that is the miracle worker behind Infinity Eye Serum’s near magic ability in diminishing small lines from the corners of your eyes. The other organic ingredients were picked for their healing, reinvigorating and their cooling effect. In essence, our eye serum is very very close to organic, the only reason we can’t call it organic, is because it is too technical.

One key aspect of our process is that when we pick out the ingredients for our products in the research & development phase – we go straight for the best. Since we are a small company, we have the luxury of using the best there is and never once has anyone uttered the phrase “yes, but what is a cheaper alternative for this…”. Well, maybe the accountants have, but we don’t invite them to product related meetings for that specific reason.

How did you change while becoming a founder / successful?

I’ve definitely grown as a human being. When Vestige Verdant got launched, it took us a mere six months to become the market leader in face masks in our domestic market, that success and growth definitely came at a cost.

For me, personally, it felt as if I had been thrown into a maelstrom in a tiny tiny sailboat – it took me a while to get a hold on my life and to balance work and personal life – relationships suffered, I suffered; but it was one of those moments in life when one either rises to the occasion or becomes crushed by the occasion, I like to believe I managed to rise to the occasion. This said, I am still learning to this day and hopefully until the day I die.

As a human being, I’ve learned to be more responsible – for the people that work for me, for my products and for the world surrounding us. Having more power and privileges to me means that I have more responsibility to deal more kindly with people I come in contact with and to help my fellow men whenever given the chance. We are a small company but we engage in charity as much as we can.

Could you give us a glimpse behind the scenes: what does a day in your life look like?

I wake up, I drink a protein shake, eat 3 raw eggs and a porridge. I shower for a ridiculously long time, contemplate on life and the day ahead and drive to my office, there I will have my morning coffee and spend the nine to five taking care of the daily business – meetings, e-mails and such. Once that is over and I have had my late lunch, I can get to actual work – developing and furthering the company, planning the future and taking preliminary steps for it. Around seven in the evening I get a bit tired so the usual remedy is to either hit the gym or go for an evening jog in the forest. Depending on the day I either retract to reading or plan the day ahead – creating “to do lists” in my trustworthy black Moleskin. Dinner for me tends to be quite late – around ten or eleven in the evening.

Also music is a huge part of my day – whenever I need to really focus and zone out of the meandering activities of the every day office I listen to some seriously loud music.

I love working at night, because I can hear myself think when the surrounding world is quiet and over the years I’ve become accustomed to four and a half to six hours of sleep. Except one day in the weekend when I just remain in bed until early noon.

What are your hobbies besides your job?

I love sailing and I do that whenever I have the time. I read as much as I can because I strongly believe that it is every human beings duty to learn and grow internally as much as possible in this given life. Theatre is a wonderful pastime and I try to spend as much time as is possible with friends and loved ones. Also, I recently tried skydiving and fell in love immediately.

Going into the future: what inspires you?

What inspires me most is the way Vestige Verdant has a soul as a company – it can be lead, grown, supported, but at the end of the day it evolves organically, that is the coolest aspect about it to me – if that weren’t the case, we would not have been nominated for the Gala SPA Awards a mere 2,5 years after launching the brand.

Also I cannot stress enough how much my team inspires me – the people that work at and with Vestige Verdant are the most dedicated lot I have ever met. It is they who give me the strength to bring my A-game every single day.

The combination of the two gives me more and more confidence that not only was Vestige Verdant born to be a global brand, it is stepping towards that goal in bigger steps, decidedly with every passing day.

And what do we have to look forward to when it comes to the future of your brand?

We will continue to do two things: firstly we are ever improving our existing products and secondly we will be launching new and wonderful organic alternatives to many beauty products. Plus, as I’ve said – the destiny of Vestige Verdant is to bring luxury-organic skincare to every corner of the globe – we truly believe we can make a change and we are working very hard for this.

Ich Liebe Deutschland. My aim for the near future is to bring Vestige Verdant and the values we hold to the good people of Germany on a scale as big as possible.

Regarding dreams… Goals are dreams, with a deadline and the vision is for us to keep doing what we do, only exponentially better with every passing day.

How is the world of organic cosmetics evolving in general?

I am pleased to say it is outpacing the conventional skincare market. With every passing year, people are paying more and more attention to what products they use and what ingredients they have. People are becoming more aware and more inclined to use natural, healthy, organic products. So, in short, I can say with confidence, the world of organic cosmetics is evolving in the right direction.

What is the best advice you can offer anyone looking to transition from conventional cosmetics to natural products?

Well it is the same logic as choosing an evening jog instead of watching TV on the couch or having fresh fruits and vegetables instead of fast food; you just have to do it. After a short transitional period you will notice the difference and you will feel good about it. At the end of the day it is a question of lifestyle. To the best of our knowledge, we have only one life and it would make sense to live a fulfilling life. Healthy decisions are a part of it, a very big part.

The truest luxury in life today is time. What we are giving to our customers is more time; more time in life to look and feel youthful, energetic and thus truly alive.

This week only you can get 25% off all Vestige Verdant products. Already at a reasonable price, this offer is a real steal. Don’t miss out! Head to amazingy.com right now to get in on this sweet deal.