Chanel likes neat little numbers: Surely the 2.55 must count as one of the most covetable bags in fashion. For us beauty people, the French house has released an equally seductive serum, complete with its own dossier of quotable figures.
How lovely is Le Blanc Whitening Concentrate? Let us count the ways:
NINE YEARS: The amount of time it took for Chanel to concoct the very impressive sounding TXCTM molecule – that’s tranexamic acid cetyl ester, a cosmeceutical that the brand claims will “freeze” the cascading sequence of events leading to the forming of dark spots for 12 hours (there you go, another nice number).
TXCTM is also billed as – take a deep breath before plowing ahead! – “the only poly-functional and poly-active molecule capable of normalising melanin production by regulating the key factors involved before and during the hyperpigmentation process.” Translation: This is potent stuff.
TWO YEARS: The span of time required for Chanel-commissioned fishermen in Uwajima, Japan to nurture the oysters that yield the region’s legendary Akoya pearls. This pearl extract is said to prevent the “yellowing” of proteins that lead to skin sallowness and fatigue.
Glycine in the extract also acts as a moisture magnet, drawing water deep into your epidermal cells for visibly plumper skin. (Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the extract dovetails nicely with Mademoiselle Chanel’s profound affinity for pearls as decor for her decolletage.)
ONE DAY: The devastatingly brief window in which the One Day Flower, a plant of the Commelina genus, is said to bloom. This creeping vine has been found by the good folks at Chanel’s secretive labs to be exceptionally rich in antioxidants.
Like salting apple slices to prevent them from browning, this floral extract helps to halt “lipid peroxidation” in the skin, coaxing your face to show itself in all its glowing glory.
And now for a final flurry of figures. Twice-daily application over a two month period has been clinically proven to boost skin translucency by 30 per cent and luminosity by 26 per cent. “Count” us impressed!
Chanel Le Blanc Whitening Concentrate Double Action TXC, $175 for 30 ml, is available at all Chanel counters. For more information, visit www.chanel.com/en_SG and follow the brand on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.