Water may be essential to life, but OLIVE TREE PEOPLE is making the case that it doesn’t necessarily belong at the center of your skincare routine.
The German-founded waterless beauty company has opened its first U.S. flagship at 1335 Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, California, creating an immersive retail experience built around its signature “From Tree to Beauty” philosophy.
Founded by Thomas Lommel more than two decades ago, OLIVE TREE PEOPLE has developed its approach around the belief that skincare does not need to rely on water as its primary ingredient. Instead, the company uses olive-tree elixirs derived from olive leaves and rich in olive polyphenols, including hydroxytyrosol, as a foundation for its formulations.
The new Venice location takes that philosophy beyond the products themselves. Approximately 45,000 pounds of soil from Spain and Los Angeles were combined using the ancient rammed-earth construction technique to create architectural elements throughout the space. Sculptural olive trees further connect the flagship to the Andalusian groves where Lommel’s journey began.
The result is what Lommel describes as a “cathedral to Waterless Beauty.”
One of the most distinctive elements is Olive re, an immersive experience designed to connect visitors in Venice with a living olive tree in Spain. Technology captures the tree’s changing biofeedback and translates it into an evolving soundscape, creating an unusual sensory connection between the California flagship and the olive groves thousands of miles away.
Lommel’s relationship with olive trees dates back to 2001, when he acquired his first mountain olive grove in Andalusia containing approximately 120 century-old trees. He built a Treehouse among the trees that became an experimental laboratory for developing olive-leaf preparations. The Treehouse still stands today.
OLIVE TREE PEOPLE now maintains more than 30,000 organically certified mountain olive trees in Andalusia. The company says the trees remain central to its products and philosophy rather than simply serving as inspiration for its branding.
The Abbot Kinney flagship also showcases the company’s family of brands, including OLIVEDA, LA DOPE, OLIVE ROSE, OLIVE MUSH and IS THAT MATTY?, with product discovery, consultations and beauty rituals available to visitors.
The company’s U.S. expansion follows its 2023 market entry. According to the company, it generated $6.5 million in first-year revenue and $104.5 million in its second year, while its community has grown to more than 70,000 Waterless Beauty Consultants.
For Lommel, the Venice flagship represents a full-circle moment: an idea that began among olive trees in Andalusia now has a physical home in one of Los Angeles’ most recognizable creative neighborhoods.