On the Chanel Open-Sky Lab in Gaujacq, the camellia (considered one of Gabrielle Chanel’s enduring sources of inspiration) blooms. This flower was mentioned to be her favorite of all, embodying the couturier’s signature fashion by means of easy magnificence and clear, graphic traces.
In 1924, Chanel introduced its first make-up line to the market, which was quickly adopted by skincare in 1927. Every lotion, cream or cleaning soap contained floral extracts from the horticulture planted within the fields at Grasse, the place substances for the home’s signature fragrances – ‘Chanel No.5’ and ‘No.22’ – have been additionally cultivated. One such product was the ‘Huile de Jasmin’ facial oil, liked for its revolutionary non-greasy texture and delicate scent designed to evoke the rolling pure panorama of the world’s fragrance capital.
Chanel skincare on the Chanel Open-Sky Laboratory in Gaujacq
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Chanel)
Contained in the Chanel Open-Sky Laboratory in Gaujacq
Nonetheless offered in the present day, the oil additionally comprises camellia extracts. Nevertheless it wasn’t till the late Nineteen Nineties that Chanel scientists started exploring the complete beauty potential of this flower. They have been significantly intrigued by its skill to thrive in harsh winter situations. Analysis quickly commenced into its ‘senescence program’, or lack thereof. (To place it in layman’s phrases: the camellia will not be genetically programmed to die). Right here, they found that the Camellia Japonica variant particularly, comprises a veritable goldmine of restorative and revitalising compounds that may very well be harnessed in skincare.
Camellia Japonica is now the principal ingredient in Chanel’s ‘Hydra Magnificence’ and ‘N°1 de Chanel’ skincare collections. It’s the powerhouse behind merchandise just like the ‘Hydra Magnificence Crème’ (which I’d describe as ‘a facial in a jar’) and the brand new ‘N°1 de Chanel Revitalising Eye Serum’, which visibly tightens and brightens the pores and skin. The consequences of mentioned merchandise are moderately miraculous. And that is in thanks to put they’re made – Chanel’s Open-Sky Laboratory in Gaujacq – the place science and magic really feel like one and the identical.
Camellia flowers are researched on the Chanel Open-Sky Laboratory in Gaujacq
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Chanel)
Situated in a small village in Southwestern France, The Gaujacq Open-Sky Laboratory is a spot the place 3,000 vegetation are grown, harvested, and researched; the place scientists and farmers are always collaborating on new strategies of sustainable agriculture; the place species have been saved from extinction and reappeared within the area having vanished for many years. It’s made up of three primary websites: a conservatory backyard that homes 2,000 types of camellias; the on-site phytoanalysis laboratory, the place the Chanel Analysis crew research the camellia; and the farm, which contains of 70 hectares of farmland, 40 hectares of that are dedicated to camellias.
Right here, Chanel has created a mini-ecosystem and analysis centre in a single. ‘This is essential for us, as a result of it permits us to be close to the plant, to review intimately the results of the seasons and the [different] agricultural practices we’ve,’ says Nicola Fuzzati, Director of Innovation and Growth of Beauty Substances. (Chanel has 4 different open-sky laboratories, in Madagascar, Bhutan, Costa Rica and Grasse. However Gaujacq is exclusive in that the farm and laboratory are on the identical premises).
Crimson camellia flower extract to be used in Chanel ‘N°1 de Chanel’ skincare
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Chanel)
The Camellia Japonica is farmed with none chemical inputs, based on a fancy, experimental cultivation technique developed by the Crop Operations Supervisor, Philippe Grandry. This consists of making a symbiosis between the vegetation, the soil and the water that nourishes them, by means of surrounding the camellia plant with a strategic community of bushes, shrubs, bushes and floor cowl vegetation. ‘We wish to make our surroundings higher.’ says Fuzzati. ‘In typical agriculture, you kill the organic life dwelling within the floor. Our apply permits us to revive dwelling organisms within the floor, and consequently develop [healthier] vegetation.’
As soon as the camellias are able to be harvested within the spring, they’re picked by hand after which instantly frozen to protect the integrity of their energetic molecules, earlier than being delivered to the laboratory. There, Fuzzati and his crew interact in an limitless strategy of analysing each side of the camellia, formulating patented substances unique to Chanel Magnificence.
Crimson camellia flowers harvested on the Chanel Open-Sky Laboratory in Gaujacq
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Chanel)
‘From the camellia, Nicola and his crew have the chance to create completely different energetic substances,’ says Chanel’s Worldwide Scientific Communication Director, Armelle Souraud. ‘With the expertise in his lab, Nicola has created a sort of ID Card of the plant that permits him to see precisely what’s inside; to know precisely what we wish to give attention to and to get rid of all the weather we don’t. In the long run, moderately than utilizing the overall plant, we get hold of a pure focus of the molecules we’re concerned about. It’s a personalized, tailored course of.’
These substances embrace ‘Camellia Alba PFA’, a pure extract of the white camellia flower that has a novel skill to assist pores and skin preserve an optimum moisture stage inside its cells. (This is among the foundational elements of the ‘Hydra Magnificence’ vary). There’s additionally the purple camellia flower and its ‘The Czar’ extract, the core of the ‘N°1 de Chanel’ line. Throughout each, Camellia yeast extract is a patented energetic ingredient Chanel co-developed with consultants in Japan, which protects and hydrates by reinforcing the pores and skin barrier perform.
The Chanel Open-Sky Laboratory in Gaujacq
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Chanel)
The Gaujacq undertaking started in 1998, however it was not till 2009 that Chanel had its first harvest of Camellia Japonica. While persistence is essential to its success, so is longevity. Creating an atmosphere that endures is paramount to these on the Gaujacq Open Sky Lab, who’re already wanting ahead to the following 20 years, not less than.
‘Our goal is to encourage the youthful era and to point out tips on how to profit the area by doing issues in a different way. This is the reason college students typically come to the lab at Gaujacq to find out about our practices and analysis,’ says Fuzzati. ‘The identical is true of the farmers round Gaujacq who we converse to about alternative ways to reap and to think about, all collectively, the way forward for this land. We don’t wish to preserve shopping for increasingly land; we wish to work with what’s already right here, to develop a brand new sort of agriculture, to develop a neighborhood.’
The Chanel Open-Sky Laboratory in Gaujacq
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Chanel)
Uncover extra about The Chanel Open-Sky Laboratory at chanel.com.
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