Le Prunier: The Superfood of Skincare

Le Prunier, rooted in over a century of family history, is transforming how we view the plum, from summer snack to skin saving ingredient. 

By Sophie Jetzer

Although all brides are glowing on their wedding day, Allison Taylor, co-founder of Le Prunier, looked a little extra radiant at her recent nuptials at San Ysidro Ranch. The secret? Le Prunier’s Plum Beauty Oil, we can only imagine. 

A decade ago, Allison, alongside her sisters Jacqueline and Elaine, discovered that the benefits of plums extend far beyond the palate. Their family farm in Sutter County has been producing organic plums since their grandfather founded it in 1916, and in 2014, the sisters created their skincare line Le Prunier, infused with both plums and heritage. 

From a young age, the sisters accompanied their father on business trips overseas, and it was in skincare meccas across Europe and Asia that they caught on to how highly the prune is regarded as a skin superfood. They’re packed with antioxidants, essential fatty acids, and vitamins, aiding in restoring radiance and maintaining the skin’s natural barrier. In Japanese and Korean skincare circles, the plum is seen as a powerhouse of skin-saving benefits, and it was with this inspiration that Le Prunier was founded. 

When Jacqueline first approached her father with the idea of recycling the unused plum pits into a skincare product, she knew it was something revolutionary. After getting their father on board, Jacqueline bought the pits from him and paid for research out of her own pocket. Partnering with world renowned labs, the sisters worked to develop their viral Plum Beauty Oil, which launched in 2017. Throughout 2018 and 2019, the Taylors focused on expanding Le Prunier’s reach from Neiman Marcus in the States, to Europe and South Korea. In the midst of championing their heritage, as well as pioneering in the skincare world, Le Prunier went viral in 2020 when Chrissy Teigen posted about it being part of her nighttime routine. It sold out around the globe. 

“Le Prunier is not only focused on innovation, it’s rooted in generations of organic and sustainable farming,” says Allison. They are committed to clean, effective ingredients, as well as what Allison calls, “an innate family story of lineage and heritage.” The Taylors have since added a mineral sunscreen, Plumscreen, and their sought-after body cream, Plumbody, to the collection. 

Their ethos is sustained in Le Prunier’s latest creation, launching this January: the Plum Cleanse. This new addition is the sixth product in their tightly curated line. It conveys Le Prunier’s hero product, the Plum Beauty Oil, in a cleanser, complete with a unique oil to lather consistency. The Plum Cleanse is a pH balancing peptide as well as a probiotic, functioning as a two-in-one and eliminating the need to double cleanse. 

Allison, Jacqueline, and Elaine have blended legacy, heritage, and fresh ideas into a skincare line that simultaneously pays homage to their family’s generations of sustainable and organic farming, as well as making a name for itself as an effective skin superfood. Whether in Santa Barbara or Seoul, their plum-powered results are both preserving their roots and blooming into new possibilities in the skincare industry.