After selling Kiehl’s to L’Oréal, the Heidegger family is ready to scale Retrouvé

After immigrating to the U.S. as a child, Jami’s grandfather Irving Morse apprenticed for John Kiehl, the founder of Kiehl’s Apothecary in New York City. In 1921, when Kiehl retired, he allowed Morse to buy the brand and, for the next eight decades, it was Morse’s family business. For Jami, Kiehl’s Apothecary was a second home. 

“I would go there after school and just play,” Jami told Glossy. “My father was wonderful. … He would let me take different ingredients and experiment with them … and I had control of a whole bathroom. That was my laboratory, and I used to mix things in the sink.”

Years later, Jami turned bathroom mixing into innovative formula development when she joined the business. Jami created more than 100 formulas for Kiehl’s, many of which still anchor the brand’s top franchises like Ultra Facial Cream and Calendula Toner. Other bestsellers, like the Blue Astringent, were created by her father, who ran the business after her grandfather passed away. 

Jami and her family sold Kiehl’s to L’Oréal in 2000, a bittersweet decision that ultimately allowed the brand to scale to what it is today. At the time, Jami was in her 40s and signed a 10-year non-compete with L’Oréal. With three small children at home and a payout that was estimated to be over $100 million, she thought it was her retirement from beauty, but the passion didn’t fade. 

In 2015, Jami and her husband, Klaus Heidigger, ended their retirement from the beauty industry and launched Retrouvé, a line of luxury skin care formulated by Jami and her favorite longtime chemist collaborators. Inspired by Jami’s “boosted” visions of products she would have made just for herself back at Kiehl’s, the brand is based on clinically proven actives and a patented triple airless pump system to safeguard each formula’s efficacy. 

Today, Jami and her daughter Hannah are working hand-in-hand to build Retrouvé into a luxury skin-care leader. The formulas, which top out at $215, sell direct-to-consumer and at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Revolve, Shopbop and Bergdorf Goodman. 

A decade in, Jami and Hannah are looking for a strategic partner to scale. Today, the family is challenged with stock issues: At the time of publication, three of eight of the brand’s skin-care products were running a waitlist.

Jami Morse Heidegger and Hannah Heidegger join the Glossy Beauty Podcast to discuss the early days at Kiehl’s, the decision behind selling to L’Oréal, the ins and outs of product formulation, the ways the beauty industry has changed through the years, and the future of Retrouvé. 

On selling Kiehl’s 

Jami Morse Heidegger: “It was wonderful for Kiehl’s, but it was sad for us as a family. Kiehl’s was never built to be sold. Nowadays, so many people start [with a] business plan of how they’re going to grow it and unload it in three to five years. … My older daughter worked in Kiehl’s as a child the same way I had when I was young: giving out samples to customers. … So, for her, this was part of what she just thought was [going to be] her life. And so, I was giving that up for my family, but it was something that we felt at that time was the best thing for Kiehl’s to grow, and it really was. There’s no way we could have enabled Kiehl’s to grow the way it has now under L’Oréal with their network. … Leonard Lauder [the owner of Estée Lauder] had said to us, ‘You’re holding the tiger by the tail.’ In order for it to grow, it needed [to be under a conglomerate like L’Oréal or Estée Lauder].”

On starting Retrouvé as a vanity project

Jami Morse Heidegger: “At Kiehl’s, I was making boosted versions of my favorite formulations, and [after we sold], I continued [to do so] with our same chemist. He continued to work with other companies, like L’Oréal and Estée Lauder, but I still worked with him on making things just for myself. It was the ultimate vanity project, if you will, because it really was just for myself. I wanted the best skin care possible for myself and my skin.”