French maison CHANEL is back to making headlines – in a good way – with the launch of its first beauty collection of 2022 and we are absolutely smitten the moment we laid eyes on the press images.
Called N°1 de CHANEL, the brand dubs it “a new generation of skincare centred on a return to essentials” that offers an innovative, global, and sustainable approach to beauty.
Combining skincare, makeup, and a fragrance mist, this new line is big on sensorial textures and is designed to preserve the radiance of youthful-looking skin by supporting sources of vitality with the camellia, Gabrielle Chanel’s emblematic flower.
The flower that started it all, the camellia
Those who are familiar with the iconic N°5 fragrance would definitely have heard of the camellia, which CHANEL has been leading an extensive project around the flower since 1998 in the heart of Gaujacq village found in the southwest of France.
It was established in collaboration with Jean Thoby, an international camellia expert, who has been cultivating an incomparable botanical conservatory garden for several decades 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’. They were the starting point for establishing the CHANEL crops 10 years ago, and more recently, for the camellia farm that’s situated close to this garden.
In the Gaujacq open sky laboratory, camellias are grown in the ground, using demanding agricultural practices that do without chemical input so as to respect the environment.
This was the unique expertise that led CHANEL Research to reveal the remarkable properties of a red camellia flower extract from ‘The Czar’ variety of Camellia japonica – so named in the early 20th century in tribute to its imperial beauty.
CHANEL scientists discovered this highly delicate odourless flower to be a force of nature, as neither water nor cold has the slightest effect on its petals.
With its winter blooms and evergreen leaves, this plant is remarkable in more than one way and is a genuine botanical treasure.
That’s because, at the heart of its petals, it contains a concentration of protocatechuic acid, a powerful molecule previously unseen in the camellias analysed by CHANEL scientists – and it was found that this flower is capable of helping to protect skin vitality by addressing the first stage of skin ageing.
The complete N°1 de CHANEL lineup
With this discovery, the N°1 de CHANEL collection was born, with one single aim – to preserve the look of skin’s vitality.
In the eyes of Gabrielle Chanel, there is no duality between the mind and the senses, no distinction between reason and sensitivity, no separation of the body and the emotions – which is why the N°1 de CHANEL line was created on a global vision of beauty that incorporates three dimensions: skincare, makeup, and a fragrance mist.
In other words, the N°1 de CHANEL line wants to be a new way forward for you to look after both your body and soul, from the skin to mind.
All the formulas are developed to create optimal affinity with the skin and provide unequalled effectiveness and sensorial feel.
Their performance was clinically evaluated according to rigorous protocols incorporating the five major concerns of women who want to preserve the look of beautiful and youthful skin: lines and wrinkles, pore visibility, loss of elasticity, lack of comfort, and radiance.
Skincare
The hero of the skincare axis is the Red Camellia Revitalizing Serum, S$175 (30ml) and S$233 (50ml).
Meant to be the first skincare step in the N°1 de CHANEL beauty ritual, it is concentrated in red camellia extract that preserves the look of vitality.
Formulated with 95% ingredients of natural origin, 76% of which are derived from the camellia, its transparent gel texture with a refreshing effect is immediately absorbed by the epidermis.
With continued use, it visibly reduces the appearance of wrinkles and pores, improves skin elasticity, comforts the skin, and provides a radiant-looking complexion again.
Up next in the beauty ritual is the Red Camellia Revitalizing Cream, S$167 (50g) and S$142 (50g refill).
Concentrated in red camellia extract and oil, this scented whipped cream is designed to visibly smooth the look of lines, comfort, and restore radiance to the skin while forming a protective barrier against urban pollution.
Then, it’s time for the Red Camellia Revitalizing Eye Cream, S$118.
Thanks to its formula enriched in plant-origin squalene and in hyaluronic acid, this pearlescent white cream hydrates, refreshes, and illuminates the eyes instantly.
In addition to its fresh texture, the eye cream combines red camellia extract, which has revitalising properties, with a “light-complex” that’s anti-dark circles and anti-puffiness.
For your cleansing routine, start with the all-new Red Camellia Powder-to-Foam Cleanser, S$76.
This ultra-fine powder texture is enriched with red camellia oil and transforms, on contact with water, into a soft, light foam to wash away impurities and pollutants.
Follow up with the Red Camellia Revitalizing Lotion, S$100.
This fresh and transparent lotion is powered by camellia water to help tighten the look of pores, making the skin feel more comfortable while improving elasticity.
For a quick pick-me-up any time of the day, reach for the Red Camellia Revitalizing Serum-in-Mist, S$125.
Thanks to its bi-phase formula, this mist achieves the feat of providing a red camellia extract that is as concentrated as in the Revitalizing Serum.
Sprayed on the entire face with or without makeup throughout the day, it effectively helps protect the skin from pollution and preserve its youthful appearance.
Enriched in protective red camellia oil and refreshing camellia water, it enhances radiance, comforts skin, and revives makeup so that your skin glows with health.
Makeup
In the makeup range, you’ll find the Red Camellia Revitalizing Foundation, S$114.
On top of providing a long-wearing second-skin effect that evens out skin tone and corrects the appearance of blemishes, this foundation is also enriched with red camellia oil and hydrating agents to help protect the epidermis from external aggressors.
Available in 10 shades, the formula leaves you with optimal buildable coverage with a luminous finish so that your skin looks naturally more beautiful day after day.
There’s also the Red Camellia Revitalizing Lip and Cheek Balm, S$72.
Boasting a combination of red camellia oil and plant origin wax, this creamy multi-use balm can be applied using the fingertips to lips and cheekbones for a natural shine.
Its smooth, non-oily texture melts instantly on the skin to nourish and plump lips and cheeks while providing hydration. Comes in six shades.
Fragrance
Rounding off the N°1 de CHANEL collection is the L’Eau Rouge, S$179 (100ml).
This is a fragrance mist that perfumes, refreshes, and revives, making it the perfect product to start or end the N°1 de CHANEL ritual.
To create this formula, CHANEL’s perfumer-in-chief Olivier Polge used a skincare base enriched with refreshing camellia water and a revitalizing red camellia extract as the medium for this fragrance mist.
Since the actual bloom is odourless, Polge concocted an original floral bouquet of what he imagines the sensual camellia would smell like – a cocktail of jasmine, orange blossom, and rose laced with sparkling red fruit notes for freshness.
Wear the L’Eau Rouge alone or with your usual perfume.
The sustainable packaging
With nature in mind, the full range of packaging for the N°1 de CHANEL is eco-designed.
The weight of the jars and bottles has been reduced through a streamlined design, and 80% of the products in the range are made of recyclable material, glass.
The Red Camellia Revitalizing Cream is housed in a refillable patented jar, and the use of single-use plastics was limited when CHANEL was designing the packaging.
The inks used to decorate the bottles are all organic, and you won’t find any paper leaflets in any of the packagings too.
Inks have been replaced by the use of engraving on the packaging lids and all of them are made of 90% bio-sourced materials stemming from renewable resources, wood shavings that are by-products of the paper industry, as well as camellia seed shells.
Shop the brand new N°1 de CHANEL line at all CHANEL standalone boutiques and counters across Singapore as well as CHANEL’s official e-store from 6 January.
