Noto Botanics Opens A Store In Los Angeles While Looking To Expand Its Reach Well Beyond The City

Three months after opening its first brick-and-mortar store in Los Angeles, Noto Botanics is ready to see if its line is as “universally sexy” as it intends it to be by introducing a slew of new products, and expanding to Australia, the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe.

This month, the company will unveil The Wash, a multiuse cleanser for face, hair and body combining organic aloe leaf juice with essential oils from cedarwood, bergamot and other ingredients. Priced at $35 for 8.4 ounces and bottled in 100% post-consumer recycled plastic, the formulation has been in the works for over a year.

“It’s the one key thing that will make our line a full body line,” says Gloria Noto, an LA-based makeup artist who founded her namesake cosmetics and skincare line in 2016. Inspiration came from her diverse and growing circle of customers. “A lot of our customers want an oil cleanser, a lot of them want a soap,” she says. “What I made is something that is split down the middle, that is between a soap and an oil cleanser.”

Concentrated between the ages of 18 and 37, Noto’s clientele also spurred her to take the steps to finalize regulatory compliance so her brand’s products can be sold abroad. While Noto Botanics originally launched directly to consumers via its website, it’s now carried by 250 stores in the United States and Canada, including La Garconne and Mohawk General Store.

Noto hasn’t lined up foreign retailers yet for her brand. She wants to nail down the requirements to sell overseas before nailing down partners. Some products will be fully compliant in the next couple of months, she anticipates, mentioning the Multi-Bene stains and highlighters ($18.50 to $26.50), Deep Serum for the face and neck ($30 to $50), Rooted Oil for body and hair ($26.50 to $55.50), and Agender Oil for hair and body ($40 for a 2-oz. size).

“We get asked on a daily basis if we’re available in Paris, Italy and Denmark,” says Noto. “The cool thing about that is there’s already a demand for that. I feel good about entering spaces where the customers already know who we are.”

“I don’t want to live my life on a computer, and I really felt that it was necessary for me to connect to our customer in a physical way.”

Of course, there are still people yet to learn about the line, and its store in the Highland Park neighborhood is important for enabling discovery. “I don’t want to live my life on a computer, and I really felt that it was necessary for me to connect to our customer in a physical way,” says Noto. “Not only that, there are cosmetics. You’re using your full senses with these. You have a space where you can come and experience the product.”

The 750-square-foot store is housed in a former auto body shop that was recently renovated on a corner of Avenue 50 across from a McDonald’s and a Food 4 Less grocery store at the juncture before Figueroa Street curves toward a park. Through the floor-to-ceiling arched window, passersby can catch a glimpse of green spindly plants, crushed tile flooring and a curved tan couch that reflects the bend of a gray wall with built-in shelves showcasing the minimalist design of the products. Customers can test Noto’s The Wash at a sink. Behind the scenes, there’s a back-office space that’s separated from the retail section with a cream linen curtain.

Guided by conversations with Noto regarding fluidity, inclusivity and so-called uni-sexiness, local architecture firm Venn Studio created the store to double as a gathering space for Noto Botanics’ community. New York ceramicist Laura Chautin held a pop-up there in early February. Chautin is among approximately 20 third-party vendors featured in the store. Within the beauty and wellness category, it sells items from J. Hannah, Zizia Botanicals and The Wax Apple.

Noto Botanics’ neighbor is Shaina Mote, a fashion designer who alerted Noto to the vacant storefront. Initially, Noto says, “I was pretty hesitant about [opening in] Highland Park because there’s major gentrification there.” She concluded it made sense to locate her brand’s store there since the Detroit native has lived on L.A.’s East Side for the majority of the 13-plus years she’s been in Southern California and because her landlord has owned the building for 25 years.

“I don’t make anything unless it resonates with me personally.”

“It’s something I wanted to do that felt personal, authentic and [for] my community that I’ve been in a while,” says Noto. With her brand’s entry-level price is set at $18.50, she adds, “I feel pretty good about offering a luxury product at a very affordable range in the community.”

Casting an eye toward Earth Day in April, Noto will soon establish a refill station in the store for customers to replenish containers with everything except color cosmetics. “That would be a great way to create our community,” she says. “For us, [refills have] always been part of our business plan. We always get questions: ‘Can we recycle your bottles? Can we send it back to you?’ I knew I wanted to include that once we had the structure for that.”

Noto has other ideas, too. For instance, she says, “A multipurpose balm that is colorless but for the eye and lip area. Another area I’d love to work on is face masks. I’m kind of playing with both ideas [for a physical mask and a topical product], but there’s so much waste with that. I’m trying to come up with an idea that is waste-free or less waste.”

Plus, Noto wants to build a scent bar in the store and introduce a pink tint for the Multi-Bene palette. “Not a bubblegum pink but a blush pink,” she points out. “I don’t make anything unless it resonates with me personally. When I formulate, I think of the undertones that work with a lot of different skin tones.”

What’s certain is that Noto Botanics will continue to be gender-fluid. “We even graduated [unisexy] to universally sexy,” says Noto. “Our customers are within the full spectrum of identity and where they come from.”