"Even sick, I love myself, they love me" is the motto of the brand SAME, just launched in early February, the fruit of the imagination of Judith Levy and Juliette Couturier.

SAME, it's a mother-daughter story, a story of friendship, a story of women. But it is especially the name of a beautiful project carried for long months by these young entrepreneurs, aged 24 years.

Originally, two girls and two mothers ... affected by cancer

Both have been touched by cancer closely: the first lost her mother in 2010, swept away by breast cancer. The second saw (and still sees) most of the women in her family, including her mother since 2015, affected by the same illness.

From their friendship came SAME, a line of cosmetics specifically designed for women with cancer. The goal ? Restore confidence to those whose femininity is put to the test during treatment; make them feel beautiful and desirable to help them fight the disease on a daily basis.

To be beautiful as a snub to the disease

"During her illness, my mother wanted to be more beautiful than ever, to appear less sick in the eyes of all. It was her way of fighting cancer, being stronger and coping with treatment, "recalls Judith.

For more than three years, the young woman's mother has been battling a cancer whose treatment-related side effects are physically devastating: "Her hands and feet were very dry, so much so that she could no longer walk or simply hold a pen. She says, referring to the hand-foot syndrome (an undesirable effect that causes extreme dryness of the palms and soles of the feet).

To help her mother cope with this pain and suffering, Judith tries to find suitable beauty products for her, and as anyone would have done, she goes to the pharmacy. "I found myself in front of pharmacists totally helpless in front of what I told them while this disease concerns lots of women. "

An idea begins to trot in her head: why not create your own brand to help women with cancer to feel better and regain that part of femininity, even pleasure related to cosmetic care, stolen by the disease ?

EVEN, a graduation project hailed

It was during her studies at a design school that Judith began to draw this dream.

"To graduate, you had to work on the project of your choice for a year. The opportunity to embark on this project that was close to my heart. As a designer, I thought about products, use gestures and a whole universe that I wanted to be feminine ".

SAME is born and wins all votes. Pupils and teachers push the young woman to launch her project. "At the time, I was not very entrepreneurial at heart," she says.

Shortly after, the young woman enters an internship with the L'Oréal group and meets another intern: Juliette Couturier, freshly landed from Sciences Po and HEC.

During a luncheon, Judith even evokes: "I did not need to do drawing, she immediately understood the idea and found it awesome," she remembers. This interest is due to the fact that many women in Juliette's family have also been affected by cancer.

After carefully reflecting on the project and completing their respective internships, the young women decided to put the project on track in January 2015.

A brand with advanced expertise thanks to strong support

The beginning of a long journey to develop very demanding products, but also very expensive.

"We had the chance to meet Laurent Dodet, leader of P & B Group, a subcontracting company for dermo-cosmetics. He decided to trust us by putting his R & D teams at our disposal and offering to pay him back once we found funding. "

Judith and Juliette also benefit from the invaluable (and indispensable) help of a large Scientific Committee, composed of leading specialists from prestigious cancer-fighting institutions (Institut Gustave Roussy -Villejuif, George Pompidou European Hospital - Paris, Center Léon Bérard Lyon ...).

Products with formulations that do not make "not afraid"

The new entrepreneurs leave nothing to chance, and certainly not the ingredients that will compose their products. "Given that we are talking to weakened women, that would have been a shame that we find in our formulas endocrine disruptors or ingredients harmful to health. It was absolutely necessary that we be transparent on this to offer the healthiest and safest products possible.

Young women know what they want: simple care products, with minimalist formulas and assets on which there is a setback; issue of safety.

With the help of the laboratory, they develop a range of 7 products: a mist for the scalp, gloves and slippers care, a cream for the face, a care of the nails, a cream and a washing oil for the body. All are composed of ingredients of 96% of natural origin: organic calendula extract, apricot kernel or sweet almond oils, shea butter, allantoin, organic linden honey ... All, served in elegant packaging subtly tinted with powdery pink.

Accompanying sick women beyond aesthetics

In parallel, the girls launch "Les Ateliers SAME", a sort of incubator that allows them to directly integrate women with cancer into the development process.

"We offered to test samples made by our laboratories and after their tests, they gave us their feedback," says the duo.

On a dedicated blog , they also cover a lot of practical topics related to the disease, full of advice. One way to take over medical teams. A Youtube channel completes their project. "The idea is to accompany them as broadly and broadly as possible on this topic to try to have all the answers to their questions. "

While the brand's e-shop has just opened, the two friends still have plenty of plans in mind to grow SAME.

Next steps: a range of makeup and canvassing pharmacies. "We do not want to be everywhere, because in the same way that we bring our advice via the blog, we want to provide listening and solutions to our users. It is imperative that the pharmacists to whom we will be referenced can also do so. The idea is to choose them because they want to listen to their patient and they are aware of what is done in the treatment of cancer treatment ", underline- they.

Icing on the cake of this solidarity company? The payment of 1% of the turnover of sales to projects and associations of fight against cancer.

A vast program that we wish them wholeheartedly to carry out.