Olive Tree People unfurls a history-making installation in LA, rolling out what may be the longest red carpet for ancient olive trees, as the waterless beauty movement surges into the spotlight.
Angelenos will get a rare red carpet experience this weekend — one not filled with celebrities, but with ancient olive trees. Olive Tree People, the waterless beauty company under Oliveda International, is transforming South Broadway in downtown Los Angeles into a living art installation, unfurling what is expected to be the longest red carpet in history.
With permission from the City of Los Angeles, the entire stretch outside the Million Dollar Theatre will be closed to traffic, replaced by hundreds of olive trees. Visitors will walk among them in a sensory experience heightened by a live performance from two-time Grammy Award winner Colbie Caillat.
“When we first made our olive trees and their frequencies available to everyone in 2015, I dreamed of holding such a concert in downtown LA,” said founder and CEO Thomas Lommel. “With this unique event at the Million Dollar Theatre, the oldest theater in Los Angeles and the world’s only olive tree art installation, we want to honor the 7,000-year history of olive trees and celebrate our 69,000 waterless beauty pioneers who, in less than two years, have launched the waterless beauty movement in North America on its way to Europe and the rest of the world.”
Beauty without water
Oliveda says its mission is tied to a fast-rising trend in beauty: waterless formulations. Conventional creams and serums can contain up to 70 to 90 percent water, which requires bulkier packaging, added preservatives, and a heavier environmental footprint. Waterless products, by contrast, use concentrated actives in powders, balms, or oils.
The market reflects that momentum. Industry reports valued the global waterless cosmetics sector at roughly $11 billion in 2024, with forecasts projecting growth to more than $23 billion by 2033 as solid skin care and waterless formats are becoming key sustainability plays, particularly as only about ten percent of beauty packaging is ever recycled.
For Lommel, the category is more than an environmental gesture. “Waterless beauty is much more than just the new clean beauty. It’s where self-love begins and is, therefore, the fastest-growing sector in the entire global beauty industry with Olive Tree People as the pioneer and leading company,” he said.
From olive groves to Los Angeles
Oliveda International started more than two decades ago with organic olive tree cultivation in Spain. The company’s portfolio today stretches from extra virgin olive oils to skincare powered by hydroxytyrosol, a potent antioxidant derived from olive leaves. Lommel has also developed products like olive matcha and an olive-based coffee alternative, as well as sound bath meditations using tree frequencies.
Through the Thomas Lommel Foundation, the company underscores its conservation work: stewarding more than 30,000 one-hundred-year-old olive trees and directing the water it saves from its production into building wells in African communities.
The company’s commercial reach now spans Europe and the United States, with flagship stores in Berlin and Düsseldorf and retail networks across thousands of outlets. In North America, its ambitions are bolder still. Lommel said Olive Tree People expects to “exceed our projected hypergrowth of 3000 percent in 2024 and 2025,” with a valuation topping $1 billion this year.
The Olive Tree Convention runs October 3 & 4 at the Million Dollar Theatre, 307 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90013.
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