The flower that Dior utilises for its Prestige skincare line.

Dior utilises the wealth of nutrients in its rose de Granville flower to power its potent Prestige skincare line. Nicolette Wong looks at the high-tech potions

The rose de granville was born of a particular species of wild rose that blooms on the cliffs of Normandy. As you can imagine, growing in rough conditions, the rose must have had a particularly robust constitution. Over the course of 15 years, the scientists studying the flower at Dior Science confirmed their suspicions: the rose has 20 different micronutrients that aid in maintaining the skin’s youth and integrity. Vitamins E, B3, B5 and C, for instance, act as antioxidants, while Omegas 3, 6 and 9 contribute to strong epidermal structure. Certain minerals and trace elements, phytonutrients and an amino acid also aid in protecting the skin’s matrix, strengthening its natural repair systems, and boosting the skin’s vitality. In order to extract the micronutrients from the rose, however, Dior had to use a new cutting-edge process that is extremely gentle on the flowers, obtaining the hydrophilic (water-loving) and lipophilic (lipid-loving) components separately. These nutrients then had to be packaged into tiny micro-pearls, a process that took five years of research and over 150 trials to perfect. These slow-formed

pearls comprised the highly concentrated lipophilic micronutrients, and are suspended in a solution that contains hydrophillic ingredients. When dispensed, the pearls burst and combine with the solution to deliver a concentrated boost of nutrition to the skin. And thus the Dior Prestige La Micro-huile de Rose (pictured above) was born. The oil and water formula absorbs quickly into skin, leaving it soft, nourished and plumped. When used over a prolonged period of time, the product promises to reduce the effects of fatigue, inflammation and ageing, allowing skin to maintain its radiance and youth for longer. Dior later released a second product, which also contained the rose de Granville’s powerful micronutrients—only this time, they were extracted from the fruits of the rose plant. The result was Le Micro-sérum de Rose Yeux, a serum specially formulated for the eyes. Our eyes, on average, blink some 10,000 times every day, activating 22 muscles in the face. This means that the eye area is more susceptible to the effects of fatigue—so is it any wonder that the eye area can look dull when we miss out on sleep. With the serum, however, the eye contour becomes visibly invigorated, with puffiness and dark circles diminished significantly.