How A Style Director and Award-Winning Architect Revolutionized Children's Wellness
Paloroma founder and former style director for Architectural Digest, Jane Keltner de Valle created her non-toxic children's skincare and wellness brand out of a dire desire to find a product she could trust for her children and relate to on a personal level, working in collaboration with her husband Giancarlo Valle, an award-winning architect and designer.
With a deep sense that a brand should convey value and lifestyle, Jane and Giancarlo create elegant yet whimsical product packagings that match the purity, quality and sincerity of their ingredients. With an unconditional emphasis on non-toxicity, always prioritizing the wellness of children and family values reflected in the products we choose, Paloroma affirms that there are always healthier choices for our children and seeks to build communities of people who pursue this belief.
Brand name: Paloroma
Founder: Jane Keltner de Valle
Date founded: 09/2021
What was the first product you developed and why did you create it? What was the inspiration for your first line?
We spent over two years formulating our first three products: a hair and body wash, a cleansing bar with colloidal oatmeal, and a lotion for face and body. Paloroma was 100% made for and inspired by our children. Our son Roman had eczema as a baby, and we couldn’t find anything to use on him that was both effective and free of harmful ingredients—or that we related to aesthetically. We wanted to start with the core essentials that make up the backbone of a child’s daily bath care routine and create a whole holistic experience through that.
What is Paloroma’s brand philosophy?
Clean, gentle, cruelty-free skincare for children that’s beautiful inside and out.
What is your bestselling product and why do you think that is?
Our Clean Bean Wash and Cloud 9 Lotion are our best sellers and people often buy them together. In addition to being gentle and fragrance free, they are effective. It’s been amazing to see before and after photos of babies and children with sensitive skin that cleared after using Paloroma. The lotion is ultrarich and nourishing, but absorbs quickly and without any greasy residue. Our whole family uses it. It really is cloud 9 in a bottle!
What's your favorite Paloroma product, and why?
I’m obsessed with all of them. I feel strongly about not adding to the line unless we can offer something new and do it best in class. That said, the hand wash and hand lotion that we launched this past summer are my newest obsessions. After a year and half of pandemic living and obsessive hand-washing, I so appreciate and value a beautiful hand wash that doesn’t strip my skin, and a soothing lotion that leaves my hands feeling soft and smelling lovely. All of our products are fragrance-free, but because we don’t use scent-blockers there is a subtle natural aroma from the plant extracts. Also, the bottles are so divine to look at. We have them at every sink in our home!
All Hands Kit: Hand Wash and Lotion Duo
What makes Paloroma so unique?
I think our approach as a modern baby and child skincare brand speaks to a new generation of parents who don’t want to settle for what previous generations used. Paloroma is a lifestyle brand. We are creating a community, not just through our products, but through our values and our storytelling.
What's one surprising thing people might not know about Paloroma?
We are based in Brooklyn, New York, and proudly make all of our products in Vermont!
What do you want people to think of when they think of your brand?
Family! Paloroma was made for our family and it is the greatest gift to be able to share it with yours.
What was one of the biggest challenges you faced when you launched Paloroma?
I salute anyone who launches anything, because there are sooooo many hurdles along the way. Too many for me to recount here! Once I thought we had finally overcome them all, we set our launch date for spring 2020. We all know what happened next. Given the onset of the global pandemic, we pushed everything back indefinitely and finally decided to go live at the end of that summer. One of the things the pandemic underscored was the importance of family, and here we had something that was born out of love for family and caring for its littlest members. We feel incredibly lucky to have grown and blossomed during such an uncertain time.
When did you know you'd made it as a brand?
We’re still so young. I would describe us as being just past the toddler stage. We’ve just learned to walk! As a burgeoning brand, we don’t take anything for granted—seeing ourselves in Vogue, having retailers like SHEN, who we admire and respect so much, stock Paloroma on their shelves. But the greatest vote of confidence is when customers purchase our products. We’re so grateful for our amazing, growing community.
What can we expect from Paloroma in the future? Any exciting news you can share?
We’re in testing mode for two new products that I’m super excited about. We’ve been wanting to bring each to market from day one, and I think they really complete the lineup.
Why did you decide to launch Paloroma?
We couldn’t find anything out there that we trusted and related to on a holistic level. We wanted something more and something better for our own children, and hoped that others might feel the same way.
What made you want to be in the beauty industry?
One of my favorite times of the day is when the children are freshly bathed in their pajamas, and climb into bed to read books before going to sleep. Washes and creams play such an important role in the rituals that form our experiences. I love thinking about how we can bring more comfort and fun and beauty into those daily care routines.
What has been your biggest struggle as a founder?
The supply chain was a big learning curve for us, but we’ve been lucky to find amazing, collaborative partners.