SKIN SAVIOUR
We speak to scientific director for Lancôme, Dr Véronique Delvigne, about the new and improved Lancôme Advanced Génifique, and why it’s targeting the skin’s microbiome.
With one bottle of Lancôme Advanced Génifique selling every six seconds somewhere around the globe, it’s fair to say that the formula has garnered a true cult following since its launch in 2009. A decade later, and the formulation is getting a game-changing makeover to celebrate its 10th anniversary. But why change what’s clearly not broken?
The revamp certainly hasn’t been taken lightly, as Lancôme’s scientific director, Dr Véronique Delvigne, explains. Rather, the reinvention of the Advanced Génifique formula has been 15 years in the making. It is, in fact, the skin’s microbiome that has been the real driving force behind the new and improved formulation. “The scientific community as a whole
agrees on the importance of the discovery … of the impact of the microbiome on each tissue – from the gut, to the lungs and to the skin – on the way the body functions and its interactions with the external environment,” Delvigne says. “The microbiome is a new, exciting and very promising research field which is going to make us rethink everything we thought we knew about human beings, and redefine our reading of biology and medicine.”
When it comes to our skin, Delvigne says the microbiome helps protect the skin, defends it from aggression, and encourages recovery. She explains, “If it gets imbalanced – with a decrease in the number of microorganisms present or an impact on its diversity – by external aggressors such as pollution or UV radiation, or internal factors such as ageing or physiological changes, your skin might become sensitive and even develop atopic dermatitis.”
A probiotic and prebiotic-based skincare formulation like Lancôme Advanced Génifique can help to keep an already healthy microbiome in check, and can also restore balance to a microbiome that’s not at its best.
Because Advanced Génifique already has such an impressive cult following, Delvigne and her team made sure they stayed true to the formulation’s well-known qualities.
“The Advanced Génifique formulation has a unique sensorial identity – which has already seduced millions of women worldwide,” she says. “Our major role was to preserve its unique texture, that melts completely into the skin, while enriching the formulation with seven prebiotic and probiotic fractions,” explains Delvigne.
While probiotics and prebiotics have different benefits in skincare, Delvigne and her team at Lancôme made the decision to use both to power the revolutionised Advanced Génifique formula, as they tend to complement each other. The new Advanced Génifique formulation, says Delvigne, has been enriched with seven prebiotic and probiotic fractions that work in different ways.
Firstly, the formulation enhances the quantity of bacteria on the skin, and secondly, it enhances the quality – or diversity – of the microbiome.
“Each self-loading dropper delivers 30 million prebiotics and probiotic fractions per application,” says Delvigne. “Advanced Génifique hastens skin recovery and allows better quality repair,” she says.
The end result is more resilient, stronger and visibly younger-looking skin.