Putting on a white lab coat, Syida Lizta Amirul Ihsan takes a peek inside Chanel’s research facility in France
IN the increasingly complicated and highly lucrative beauty industry, looking good has moved from a simple form of art to a rigorous scientific pursuit.
The concept of good skin and looking younger than your biological age that used to satiate the demands of women a few decades ago no longer work today.
As women get better education and hold higher career positions with bigger disposable incomes, their requirements for beauty have increased exponentially.
The demands for tests, scientific research and that singular elusive exotic ingredient to fight the wear and tear of the skin have made up the backbone of the modern beauty business.
In other words, the more complicated the Press release sounds, the more convincing the product appears to customers.
Chanel senior vice-president for research and technology, Christian Mahé, a biochemist by qualification, says: “Beauty is a complex ecosystem, a complex science and a result of multi-disciplinary approach.”
Mahé holds a doctorate in Physical Sciences (University of Rennes), specialising in chemistry. He joined Chanel in 2005 and is in charge of research and technology worldwide.
He says beauty — whether keeping your skin healthy, battling eye bags or having radiant skin — is a result of many factors and that one single beauty product is never the magic bullet for achieving a sustainable effect.
On his side, he says, he is responsible for making sure that Chanel rolls out not only effective but also safe products with a holistic appeal.
They must be effective, have a pleasurable scent and texture, and housed in solid packaging for ease of handling and protection of the ingredients.
“This is where beauty begins,” he says, comfortably seated on the long sofa at the Chanel research and development centre in Pantin, 40 minutes away by car from Paris.
RARE PEEK INSIDE
Last June, Chanel opened the doors of its research centre in Pantin to a handful of writers and editors from all over the world. That was the first time that anyone, other than Chanel employees, had been allowed inside.
The move was made to convince customers of the strong scientific practices the company enforces in its cosmetics production. After all, the brand’s scientific endeavours started in 1924 with fragrances and three years later, with skincare and make-up.
The Pantin premises, like Chanel’s iconic fashion products, epitomises the monochromatic philosophy of the brand.
There is no grey area here. The tables near the patio are lacquer black with not a single fingerprint mark visible. You can see your reflection as you nibble on canapés. The walls and the sofa are white, while the chairs are black.
The choice to operate from Pantin, Mahé says, has a historical element. “In the 19th Century, Pantin was the centre of soap production and animal fat was transferred via the river and soaps sent out via railways.”
The centre began operations in 2013, integrating two other Chanel international laboratories — in Piscataway, United States and Funabashi in Japan.
LABYRINTH OF BEAUTY
For a writer, walking along the corridors of the building to get from one department to another is like taking a journey along a science labyrinth — meeting chemists, physicists, forest explorers, anthropologists and dermatologists.
It is like an Alice in Wonderland adventure in a quest for the next beauty product. For the purpose of this event, the guests were shown the back story in the making of Chanel Sublimage serum, to be launched in November.
In one room, experts on plants and biodiversity explain polyfractioning — a separation technique to acquire the priceless molecules from a plant to incorporate them into the serum.
Many steps are needed to separate the molecules, turning flowers into translucent liquid in a chamber covered in glass. It takes tonnes of flowers to get 1kg of extract.
“There has to be an audacity is cosmetics research and an improvement in natural ingredients. For polyfractioning, we work with the scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology,” says Mahé.
“We must be innovative in understanding biological processes and the spirit of audacity must come from everywhere.”
Understanding how the skin works is paramount when it comes to developing beauty products and at the skin cells lab, human skin cells are studied and certain enzymes are added to see their activity on the skin.
MATTER OF PERCEPTION
But beauty is also a matter of perception and the human sciences department in the centre studies the anthropology and ethnology of beauty, from all corners of the world.
“Generally, someone with skin luminosity — clear, unblemished and radiant — is considered beautiful, compared to someone whose face is ‘red’,” a spokesperson explains.
The formulation lab, meanwhile, uses the active ingredients which have been identified to make an emulsion, to get the right scent and texture fit for commercial purpose. All products need to have both the efficacy element and fit customers’ sensorial expectation before they can be rolled out.
“Beauty is a holistic field... it’s in the brain and in the skin. It is always an integrative approach and that’s the same way we approach skincare. It must not only work, but also has sensorial appeal,” he says.
Mahé himself uses the products before they hit the counters.
“We take an integrative approach to cosmetics. We balance the desire of customers from around the globe to fit what they demand from a beauty product,” he says.
“The end result is simplicity... just a potent cream in a jar. But the process of getting there is complicated.”
TRACEABLE ELEMENTS
The centralisation of the research facility has also allowed the company to monitor its supply chain.
“Grouping the research facility under one roof allows us to control our supply chain and meet the challenges of a sustainable development,” says Marie-Helene Lair, international scientific communications director.
“We also help women earn a living where we operate,” she says.
Lair, who has a doctorate in pharmacy, says modern skincare is a difficult field due to the multiple “aggressors” which include pollution, stress and unhealthy food intake.
“Skin is only our envelope. Our feelings, emotions and state of mind contribute to how we look on the outside. Pollution and climate change, which urban women face daily, also impact the skin. Use good products to counter the damage the environment and your lifestyle are doing to you,” she says.
Looking after your skin, she says, is like a race. “It’s better to use good products earlier than paying a lot more to reverse the damage, later”.
In the end, the best defence is cleansing, moisturising and sun protection — with the most effective skincare products, of course.