Forget Chanel No.5. The French fashion house just launched a fresh skincare line, No.1, powered by founder Coco Chanel's favorite flower: the camellia.
A comprehensive routine — cleanser, serum, face cream, and eye cream — puts research conducted at Chanel's very own laboratory in the South of France to practice.
A decade ago, researchers working with the house began investigating senescence, a process in which cells age, losing the ability to divide and grow (this translates to less radiant skin).
Here's where the camellia comes in — after years of experimenting, Chanel's lab found that the antioxidant-rich plant helps slow senescence, thereby improving the appearance of skin.
Available at Chanel's website, the line is formulated with red camellia extract harvested from blooms grown on the company's own fields in the South of France. Eschewing the use of chemicals, the company's harvesting methods keep the environment in mind.
"This approach earned the farm a High Environmental Value (HVE) level 3 certification, which is the highest of all agricultural environmental certifications," a press release purports.
Flower power also fuels a selection of accompanying makeup. Foundation and dual-use lip and cheek tint are enriched with red camellia oil, a lightweight moisturizer. Chanel even dreamed up a fragrance mist that imagines what exactly the camellia, a uniquely odorless flower, would smell like.
That's not all — Chanel worked with a neuroscience lab to ensure that products in the No. 1 range evoked positive emotions in users. Talk about covering all your bases (and bouncing back from that advent calendar disaster.)
A beauty line that improves your skin and mood? Promising, indeed.
