Treasure Your Face

Beauty companies are raiding the jewellery box and pantry to find ever-more-extravagant ingredients for their top-of-the-range skin-care.

Words Lucy Ewen

THE INCLUSION OF PRECIOUS INGREDIENTS such as diamonds and caviar into skin-care products is intriguing, addictive and fosters a pricey culture of haute couture beauty brands. But is the cost justified? What benefits do upper-end, luxury-infused anti-aging creams promise that ordinary products cannot?

The most revolutionary addition to skin-care was the introduction of caviar into La Prairie products more than 20 years ago. The Caviar Collection is now an enormous part of their global business and something La Prairie customers obviously believe in. Costing approximately $1000 per small tub, caviar is a source of nutrients promising remarkable results. Its benefits were discovered during an observation of caviar farmers living by the Black Sea. Those who regularly ate their own product enjoyed remarkably good health. La Prairie wondered if the health-giving effects promoted by the caviar pearls could be successfully transferred to skin-care.

The tenth and most recent addition to the Caviar Collection is the Skin Caviar Luxe Eye Lift Cream. $530 seems rather a lot to pay for eye cream but it’s highly rated by beauty editors. The key substance within caviar extract is vitelline. This is made up of phospholipids to maintain hydration and softness, phosphoproteins to nourish amino acids thereby helping skin tissue growth, and trace elements to help the functioning of enzymes to allow normal cell performance. All these nutrients, when combined with other ingredients, stimulate, regenerate and renew the skin’s cellular structure, helping to deliver youthful, firm skin.

La Mer is also renowned for products using exclusive ingredients. Scientists at the Max Huber research laboratories have now harnessed the power of gemstones and precious minerals to deliver beauty products with extraordinary benefits. Nearly two carats of diamonds (pharmaceutical grade) are included in La Mer’s The Refining Facial, $195, to smooth, brighten and improve skin tone. The diamond powder, with additional ingredients such as polished sea quartz, acts as a physical exfoliant and is remarkably different from the granules found in inexpensive products.

Brazilian malachite is another precious stone found in La Mer’s The Eye Balm, $295. Brazilian malachite is expensive, rare and unusual in a beauty product. However, like caviar, it’s an ingredient that promises to deliver results, bringing back energy and vibrancy to damaged skin around the eye area. The balm also claims to reduce redness and minimize dark circles. La Mer includes the gemstone tourmaline in its The Cleansing Fluid, $175. Combined with marine oils, sea salt, pearl powders and sea algae essences, magnetized tourmaline helps cleanse, energize and nourish.

Finely powdered South Sea pearls are another luxurious addition found exclusively in Estée Lauder’s Re-Nutriv Ultimate Lifting Collection. The indulgent items help even out skin tone and improve clarity. And gold is being used to slow down loss of collagen and elastin in skin, leaving it vibrant

and youthful. Found in La Prairie’s Cellular Radiance Concentrate Pure Gold, $1070, it fights aging while Guerlain’s L’Or Radiance Concentrate, $167, Linden Leaves’ Gold collection and Jane Iredale’s 24-Karat Gold Dust also use gold to create radiant skin.

Crème-de-la-crème skin potions promise the best results but aging is inevitable, no matter how much money is spent. Sun exposure, health, well-being and various lifestyle factors contribute to the skin’s appearance. For many women, skin-care programmes are defined by budget. If you can afford the best on the market, why not indulge? But beware: the moment you cross into the world of couture beauty products it’s impossible to look back. Whether or not this is because women truly see results is uncertain, but surely the continued existence and success of these products proves customers are happy?