Pure Altitude, beauty born in Megève

Some brands could have been born anywhere. Pure Altitude is not one of them. Its story begins in a very specific place, at a very specific altitude: Megève, in the heart of the Alps, where the mountains set the rhythm, the seasons and the plants.

To understand why the brand breathes cold, snow and edelweiss, you have to go back to where it all began. A story of place, of perspective and, above all, of a gentle obsession with mountain botany.

Megève, a starting point that was no accident

Pure Altitude was born in Megève in 1989, at the Spa des Fermes de Marie, championed by the Sibuet group and its founder Jocelyne Sibuet. The brand's very name says it all: purity, altitude, the crisp air of the summits.

Choosing Megève as its birthplace was not about scenery. It was a conviction. Since 1989, every winter, the spa's therapists have welcomed thousands of skins exposed to the mountains' extreme conditions: cold-induced redness, dehydration, sensitivity, loss of radiance. This day-to-day observation has shaped the treatment protocols and inspired the formulas.

From this life at altitude came a simple conviction. If skin suffers in the mountains, then perhaps the answers lie in the mountains too. The plants that grow up there face, every single day, everything our skin dreads: cold, UV rays, wind and dryness.

The Alpine garden at Fermes de Marie, an open-air laboratory

In Megève, the brand draws its inspiration from a very real place: the Alpine garden at Fermes de Marie. A mountain garden where the plants that define the identity of the Alps grow.

This garden is not just pretty to look at. It works as an open-air laboratory, where we observe how plants adapt, how they protect themselves and how they survive in conditions very few species can withstand.

This is where the founding idea took root: what if skincare drew on this plant intelligence? Not by recreating the mountains in a lab, but by listening to what the mountains had already perfected, season after season.

This observation gave rise to a way of working. First, we look at the plant in its natural habitat and understand its survival strategy; then we seek to translate that strength into a treatment.

The plants that stand up to altitude

The star of this story is edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum). This small, white, velvety flower grows where almost nothing else survives, at high altitude, exposed to intense UV rays and cold. To defend itself, it develops its own protective shields.

It is precisely this resilience that won the brand over. Edelweiss has become a signature, so much so that it lends its name to one of the house's iconic treatments.

But edelweiss is not alone. Arnica, gentian, génépi and mountain pine have also developed natural defence mechanisms against cold, wind and sunlight. All of them are Alpine plants that inspire our formulas.

Edelweiss and arnica come together in Lait des Alpages with Edelweiss & Arnica, a gentle cleansing milk designed to cleanse without stripping, even sensitive skin.

The Ferme de Beauté's tip
In the mountains as in the city, never skip your evening cleanse: it prepares the skin to receive its treatment. A gentle cleansing milk, applied with warm hands, respects the skin's natural protective film and leaves it soothed and ready for the night.

What the mountains really change in our formulas

Starting from the mountains is more than a story to tell. It shapes the way we formulate. The guiding idea: to support skin that must stand up to external aggressors, with efficacy combined with sensoriality and comfort.

Edelweiss N°1 Cream embodies this philosophy. Now one of the house's best-sellers, this velvety moisturiser protects the skin from everyday aggressors and restores its suppleness and comfort.

The other great chapter is extreme cold. For skin exposed to the harshest days, Cold Cream, with Alpine beeswax and Mont-Blanc glacier water, works like a down jacket and protects the skin of the whole family.

One common thread runs through every treatment: prepare, protect, repair, enhance. Four verbs that echo the needs of skin exposed to mountain life, and that remain just as relevant in the city, in the face of pollution and central heating.

A story still being written

Born in Megève, developed at the spa, inspired by Alpine botany: Pure Altitude remains true to its roots. The mountains are not a selling point; they are an origin.

This botanical obsession, seeking out the most resilient elements of mountain nature, continues to nourish every formula. A reminder that the most meaningful skincare is often inspired by what nature has taken millennia to perfect.

Keen to trace the story of this Alpine adventure? Discover our story and let the mountains tell you where each of our treatments comes from.