PARIS — Groupe Clarins is planning to introduce a futuristic treatment product, called Expertise 3P, worldwide in January.
The French beauty firm will unveil Expertise 3P, a facial spray said to protect skin from electromagnetic waves and urban pollution (the three p’s stand for Poly Pollution Protection), as part of its Clarins brand.
Clarins executives said the company has demonstrated through a six-year study in collaboration with an unnamed university research institute that exposure to electronic items, such as cell phones and microwaves, can accelerate skin aging.
“Artificial electromagnetic waves from say the telephone and the television are an additional factor in the aging process,” said Lionel de Benetti, director of research and development at Clarins laboratories
“More and more people are concerned about the effects of our environment, what using a cell phone or a BlackBerry does,” added Caroline Pieper Vogt, the Clarins brand’s senior vice president of marketing. “While we can’t comment on health, we can comment on skin.”
De Benetti’s team studied the effects of 900 megahertz waves — the type most commonly used worldwide for communications, according to Clarins — on the skin. The firm’s laboratories found that when exposed to such waves, the skin’s free radical production increased, its protective barriers deteriorated and cellular renewal slowed by 26 percent. The subsequent visible effects include a less smooth surface and dehydrated and more sensitive skin, factors that contribute to skin aging.
“These waves can travel through walls,” said de Benetti. “If we consider our skin as being like a brick wall, these waves loosen the concrete and lead to weaker skin.”
He added just six hours of exposure to electromagnetic waves daily can accelerate skin aging, however, most people are exposed for longer than that.
Clarins turned to natural ingredients to counteract the effects of new technology. The product’s formula includes a magnetic defense complex comprising Rhodiola rosea, a plant that survives in freezing Siberian temperatures, and Thermus thermophilus, a marine organism that thrives 2,000 meters beneath the Pacific Ocean’s surface. The complex protects the skin from pollutants and safeguards skin cells, according to Clarins.
A second formula, dubbed Anti-Pollution Complex, includes white tea for its anti-oxidant benefits, succory dock cress, which grows near motorways despite car emissions, and glycofilm, said to protect the skin’s surface.
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“We are not going to stop waves from penetrating the skin,” said Pieper Vogt. “But we can help it to be more resistant and more in control of its response.”
James McCoy, a senior consultant at London-based tracking firm Mintel, lauded Clarins’ opening of a new niche product category.
“I’m sure no one’s even heard of electromagnetic waves damaging their skin but they will now and they’ll see this product and they’ll think ‘I need to have that,'” he said.
Expertise 3P comes in a light blue glass bottle, priced at $40 in the U.S. for 100 milliliters.
While executives declined to comment on sales forecasts, industry sources estimate the product could generate first-year retail sales of between 15 million euros and 20 million euros, or between $18.8 million and $25 million at current exchange.
An advertising campaign is planned but details are yet to be confirmed. A sampling drive is also scheduled, and Clarins will launch a mini Web site attached to its main Internet site to generate buzz.
Clarins sees the item, which can be used two to three times daily on top of or underneath makeup, becoming part of healthy lifestyles.
“It’s like a healthy drink you have in the morning,” said Pieper Vogt. “Now you mist your face as well.”
Pieper Vogt noted the product rounds out Clarins’ skin protection portfolio.
“Clarins has a long-standing commitment to protecting the skin, not only sun protection but anti-pollution protection in day creams and foundations,” she said, adding Expertise 3P targets men and women of all ages as well as children. “This is one more product in a series of innovations.”
“We wanted to focus on Clarins’ expertise,” said Veronique Dumas, Clarins’ director of development, referring to the firm’s choice of a formula-like name for the product.