French Girl Beauty Gets Clean

Like many details surrounding Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s life and times, The Camellia, one of Chanel’s most iconic motifs, has its own legend. Arthur “Boy” Capel, Chanel’s lover, allegedly gave Chanel a bouquet of these flowers during their early years of marriage. Boy has been immortalized as a top-selling handbag, lipstick shade and fragrance. The camellia was embroidered into evening gowns and encrusted with diamonds. This is the key ingredient of Chanel’s most ambitious beauty campaign in decades.

No. 1 de Chanel is a nine-piece range that includes skin care, makeup and fragrance. It has been kept secret for more than ten years. It even had a code name–Pollux, a reference to the red giant star of that same name. The unscented camellia variety is one Chanel has been studying since 1998, when it opened its first Open Sky Lab, an organic camellia farm on 98 acres. Red camellias have a higher concentration of protocatechuic acids than the white camellia japonica “Alba Plena”. The powerful antioxidant may slow down the onset senescence. This is a biological process where aging cells lie dormant and cause dryness, laxity and dullness to the skin.

This isn’t just another story about exotic ingredients. No. 1 de Chanel is Chanel’s first entry in the clean-beauty segment. The brand’s first entry into clean-beauty is the revitalizing oil (120), which contains concentrated red camellia extract. A powder to-foam cleanser (55), and an ultra-blended foundation (70) both contain hydrating red Camellia oil for smoothness. All products, including Lea Rouge (110), a citrusy red camellia-infused fragrance, are available in sleek packaging or recyclable glass. The refillable jar for the barrier-protecting cream ($110), which features concentrated red camellia extract, and a ultra-blended a which is made from sustainable forestry-certified, and a oil.

The use of single-use plastics has been reduced, so six tinted cheek and lip balms (each $45 each) are shipped without cellophane packaging. Although it may seem insignificant, there are many small gestures that can be made when you have over 100 years of influence. Chanel freed women from corsets by offering them lightweight jersey sportswear, relaxed pants, and the simplicity and elegance of the little-black dress. In 1926, the magazine published an illustration of the original sketch. It claimed that it would “become a uniform for all ladies of taste.”