GET LIT THE LA PRAIRIE WAY
Getting lit means something completely different nowadays, but La Prairie’s way is beautifying, not age-ifying. For the ultimate in skin that’s lit the old-fashioned way, there are brightening creams, and then there’s La Prairie’s Crème Extraordinaire.
The Swiss luxury skincare company spares no effort in creating its exclusive formulations from the best ingredients, usually involving years of research done by scientists in its laboratories.
To find the extraordinary ingredient in its White Caviar Crème Extraordinaire, La Prairie screened — count ’em — 50,000 ingredients to find the single most powerful brightening active, according to Twinkle Ochanine, La Prairie’s education manager in the Philippines. “Lumidose was identified by the scientists at La Prairie as the standout among 50,000 ingredients,” she says. “It’s a molecule of light that promises luminous skin.”
La Prairie believes we were born with spotless skin that becomes dull over time with age spots and pigmentation caused by the production of melanin. Lumidose’s main action inhibits tyrosinase, the enzyme that controls the production of melanin, thereby disrupting skin darkening and the formation of age spots and pigmentation.
“In two weeks you can measure a lightening and brightening effect,” Ochanine says. “Results are visible after four weeks, and dramatic after eight weeks.”
In addition to Lumidose, La Prairie included even more brightening ingredients in Crème Extraordinaire like Smart White Crystal, salicylic acid to exfoliate, and Golden Caviar peptides — the signature ingredient of La Prairie’s White Caviar collection — to firm.
La Prairie’s complete skincare ritual starts with cleansing of the face in the morning and evening, followed by White Caviar Illuminating Clarifying lotion as the first step in brightening. To lighten dark circles and smooth wrinkles in the eye area, follow with White Caviar Illuminating eye serum. Then, over your face, neck and décolleté, apply White Caviar Illuminating Pearl Infusion, a serum that also targets age spots, redness and grayness, which La Prairie identified as the three chromatic light barriers to a luminous complexion. Then you can apply your White Caviar Crème Extraordinaire, which comes in a container fit for royalty.
Open the silver box and you’ll see a pearlescent jar ringed by a border of sculpted caviar beads. The shiny silver cap opens like a jewel box to reveal a light-reflecting mirror and silver dispenser. The cream itself is contained in an airless chamber underneath to prolong its lifespan. One press of the inverted button dispenses just the right amount of cream, which I loved the texture of. It melts into the face without becoming greasy, and smells really good, too, with an uplifting fragrance I can only describe as luxe.
But you’re not done yet: to protect the crème’s benefits La Prairie encourages the use of strong sun protection in the morning, like its Cellular Swiss UV Protection Veil SPF 50.
The end result: firm, even, spotless skin that’s lit — not slang lit, but lit from within.
La Prairie White Caviar Crème Extraordinaire will be available at Rustan’s The Beauty Source in March.