Four By Valenti skincare serum bottles with droppers on a light gray background

About By Valenti®

Northern Italian Heritage. Scientific Precision. Minimalist Skincare.

By Valenti® is a Northern Italian skincare brand founded in 2007 by international contemporary artist, former profiler and cosmetic chemist, Manuela Valenti. The brand formulates minimalist, science-based Italian skincare designed specifically for sensitive and reactive skin.

Heritage & Origin

Rooted in the formulation traditions of Trieste and the Northern Adriatic, the brand draws from over 150 years of family knowledge centered around soapmaking, herbal preparations, and the longstanding relationship between botanical ingredients and everyday skincare in that region — a restrained approach to caring for the skin that predates the broader industry's turn toward minimalism by generations.

Raised between those cultural roots and modern cosmetic science, By Valenti® developed the brand around a minimalist philosophy that prioritized formulation integrity and sensitive skin compatibility over excess and trends. What began with small-batch soapmaking evolved into an independent skincare company recognized for its focus on sensitive and reactive skin, functional ingredients, and a longstanding commitment to cruelty-free and environmentally conscious practices.

Today, By Valenti® continues to formulate and manufacture its products in the United States while preserving its Northern Italian identity, heritage, and formulation philosophy.

Explore the By Valenti Timeline

The Founder

Chronic dermatitis and severe skin reactivity led Manuela Valenti to find a solution for her 35 years of irritation and discomfort. Resurfacing a long standing family knowledge and soapmaking traditions, Manuela began reformulating traditional family soap recipes after years of unsuccessful experiences with conventional skincare products marketed for sensitive skin.

Working from inherited family knowledge, botanical ingredients, and a growing interest in skin physiology and ingredient function, she began developing formulations designed to prioritize skin compatibility, restraint, and long-term skin health rather than trends or unnecessary complexity.

Many of the principles that shaped those earliest formulations continue to guide By Valenti® today.

Meet Manuela Valenti
Manuela Valenti founder of By Valenti in a white shirt sitting on a couch with one of her own colorful abstract painting in the background

Cruelty-Free

By Valenti® has maintained independent cruelty-free certification since 2012 through both the Leaping Bunny Program (United States) and The Naturewatch Foundation (United Kingdom).

 Cruelty free standards

Environmental Standards

By Valenti®'s environmental philosophy extends beyond ingredient selection into formulation restraint, reusable glass packaging, refill-oriented systems, and a longstanding effort to reduce unnecessary environmental accumulation wherever possible.

 Sustainability

Awards & Recognitions

Over the years, By Valenti® formulations have received recognition from independent organizations and international industry awards for ingredient standards, formulation quality, and treatment-focused skincare development.

 Awards & recognitions

Formulation Philosophy

By Valenti® was built around a restrained approach to formulation long before minimalist skincare and “clean beauty” became broader industry trends.

Rather than following marketing cycles or ingredient trends, the company’s philosophy has consistently focused on formulation integrity, skin compatibility, ingredient function, and long-term skin health — particularly for sensitive and reactive skin.

From its earliest years, By Valenti® prioritized transparency, ingredient safety, and environmentally conscious formulation practices — years before “clean beauty” became a broader marketing category within the cosmetics industry. In 2011, the company became one of only 321 cosmetic brands out of more than 1,500 participants to meet and surpass the requirements of the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, receiving “Champion” recognition from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and the Environmental Working Group (EWG).

By Valenti®’s formulation standards continue to emphasize ingredient compatibility, stability, and product safety. Product batches are tested through independent third-party laboratories prior to release in order to help verify stability, microbial safety, and formulation integrity before products reach customers.

At a time when discussions surrounding ingredient transparency and cosmetic safety remained limited within the beauty industry, initiatives such as the Compact for Safe Cosmetics helped establish many of the early conversations that later contributed to the broader “clean beauty” and the broader ingredient transparency movements within the cosmetics industry.

While many newer brands would later popularize the language of “clean beauty,” By Valenti® had already established its formulation philosophy around ingredient restraint, transparency, skin compatibility, and environmentally conscious standards years earlier.

Today, By Valenti® continues to formulate according to the same principles that shaped the company from the beginning: ingredient restraint, skin compatibility, functional formulation, and long-term respect for both skin health and the environment.

Ingredient Standards

The Role of Lavender

Lavender has remained closely associated with By Valenti® since the company’s earliest formulations, representing both a connection to Northern Italian family traditions and a longstanding botanical presence within everyday life across the Adriatic region.

For founder Manuela Valenti, lavender also carried a deeply personal significance through her mother’s influence, herbal knowledge, and longstanding use of botanical preparations within the home. From lavender sachets placed in closets to essential oil blends used throughout daily life, the plant became part of the sensory and cultural foundation that would later help shape the identity of By Valenti®.

Many of the company’s earliest formulations, including the original Lavender & Almond Bar Soap, were developed around this connection — not only for lavender’s traditional role in skincare, but also for its longstanding association with balance, familiarity, and botanical simplicity.

Today, lavender continues to remain a symbolic thread throughout the By Valenti® collection and formulation philosophy.

Lavender at By Valenti
By Valenti Lavender field with a blurred background

Since 2007

By Valenti® continues to formulate and manufacture minimalist skincare products guided by Northern Italian formulation traditions, and long-term skin compatibility.

What began with small-batch soapmaking to treat chronic dermatitis, remains a founder-led company built around the same principles established from the beginning: functional skincare formulated with purpose, balance, and restraint.