Chanel’s new No. 1 Collection launches with skincare, makeup and a fragrance mist
In recent years, clean and sustainable beauty has been a topic of interest within the industry. In a bid to kickstart 2022 with a bang, Chanel has announced its brand new beauty collection that celebrates ‘skinimalism’ and eco-consciousness: No. 1 de Chanel.
This new line includes skincare, makeup, and fragrance featuring innovative formulas that support anti-ageing. Its key ingredient? None other than the maison’s iconic camellia, founder Gabrielle Chanel’s emblematic flower.
For over 20 years, Chanel has been applying the same production rules to its skincare products: by cultivating and observing the riches of nature, and by carrying out scientific research in its four open sky laboratories, established in different climate zones worldwide to create effective ingredients.
It was in the South-West of France, in the heart of Gaujacq village, where Chanel has been leading a large (and secret) project around Mademoiselle Chanel’s emblematic flower, the camellia, since 1998. It was established in collaboration with Jean Thoby, an international camellia expert, who has, for several decades, been cultivating an incomparable botanical conservatory garden, in this little village in the Landes region. Dedicated to plant conservation, the garden contains 2,000 camellia varieties collected worldwide, among which are two mother plants of Camellia japonica ‘Alba Plena’.
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In the Gaujacq open sky laboratory, camellias are grown in the ground, using demanding agricultural practices that respect the environment, without chemical input. A combination of unique expertise and practices led Chanel Research to reveal the remarkable properties of a red camellia flower extract, from ‘The Czar’ variety of Camellia japonica. This highly delicate odourless flower is so powerful that neither water nor cold has the slightest effect on its petals. At the heart of its petals is a concentration of protocatechuic acid, a powerful molecule previously unseen in the camellias analysed by Chanel scientists. This flower is capable of helping to protect skin vitality by addressing the first stage of skin ageing.
And that is what led to the creation of No. 1 de Chanel, a new generation of anti-ageing skincare.