A leading pioneer in the art of skincare science and the advancement of anti-ageing solutions, Dior reveal their brand new Capture Totale Le Sérum. A complex innovation that’s taken multiple years and various academic collaborations, Dior brings us to the exciting city of Tokyo to learn from the brains behind the coveted new Capture Totale Le Sérum and how this nex elixir came to be.
With Japan being one of the science hubs responsible for birthing pieces to the Capture Totale Le Sérum puzzle, it makes for the perfect destination for their scientific press conference this year. Setting out to the land of the rising sun back in October, we’ve had to keep our learnings under wraps and our lips sealed—until now.
Introducing the latest addition to the Capture Totale family, the Le Sérum works to reactivate the skin’s youth potential. Its powers revolve around the ability to improve skin firmness and correct the major signs of ageing: expression lines, wrinkles, visible pores, unevenness and loss of elasticity, radiance and plumpness.
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Formulated with 98% natural-origin ingredients, this expert serum combines the best of Dior floral science with cutting-edge ingredients. It also marks the introduction of the powerful lipo-fermented longoza and Tuscan iris extract. Cultivated at the Dior Gardens in Madagascar, the longoza extract contains 85 molecules that work in tandem to target the skin’s layer of mother cells to promote regeneration in just four hours.
Finding the keys to youth, the researchers at Dior find the answers within the anchoring system of cutaneous mother cells. LVMH Research reveals that by anchoring the mother cells more strongly in the dermo-epidermal junction, it is possible to revive their youth potential, and thus maximise their power to regenerate a well-built, firm epidermis.
With skincare advancements that even we were struggling to comprehend, we thankfully had the opportunity to speak to three of the minds behind the Le Sérum whilst in Tokyo: Bruno Bavouzet, Knut Woltjen and Anne-Laure Bulteau. They take us more in depth on the incredible science behind the Le Sérum and why it is such a groundbreaking formula.
How would you describe stem cells and their role in the skin in the most layman terms?
Essentially stem cells are there to maintain the tissue. So if you don’t have the stem cells there, then the damage that occurs to the skin, like environmental exposure, can’t be replenished. It has this ability to generate specialised cells and most importantly, it can renew itself. You should have a constant pool of stem cells because they replenish themselves, but as you age, those stem cells lose that potential to create more of themselves. And that’s when you start to see a decline and ageing of the tissue.
What is the smart move when it comes to maintaining youthful skin, and reversing the look of ageing?
Well it’s not just about the typical ageing functions, but a lot to do with the environment you’re in as well. So if you have more severe environmental exposure like UV light, pollution or lack of sleep—all of those things can accelerate those processes. However, prevention and preventing that kind of damage—if you can reduce the exposure then you are ultimately prolonging the life of the tissue. The other thing is training and reprogramming—akin to the philosophy that if you want to keep your muscles toned, you work out consistently.
With the Longoza being able to convert [β] mother cells into high-potential [⍺] mother cells, can you explain more about how this process occurs?
What we discovered is that when we age, alpha cells become beta cells because they lose the capacity to produce integrins and collagen. And we found out that longoza is important as it works to reset the synthesis of this protein into beta cells and then they switch from the beta state to an alpha state. We found that the lipo-fermented longoza is rich in calcium and calcium is important to activate this process.
With Dior being the first few commercial brands to bring stem cell technology to beauty, how did you know that stem cells were the right thing to invest in, in terms of anti-ageing products?
We started working on this maybe back in 1993, and exploring the basal layer of the epidermis. And that’s where we discovered that stem cells were important and based on the potential of these cells—we found that they were essential and key to the process of homeostasis—the maintenance of tissue. We conducted countless research and investigated the different possibilities of stem cells and fortunately, we made many progressive discoveries. Which led to belief that we could create a new generation of anti-ageing products. We’ve always known its potential which is why we couldn’t ignore not doing research in this field. We are the first to do it and we try to stay as advanced as possible when it comes to this topic. And this is what we have to do to bring the most efficient products.
What is the main highlight of this floral science revolution?
With the same as how we feel about stem cells, we have always been convinced that florals have a huge potential as well in terms of biological activity on the skin. We have been exploring a multitude of florals—and longoza is one of those findings. For example, when we were researching the longoza, we had plenty of actives and what is very important is the way we extract those molecules and we transform the raw longoza to an active ingredient. So we made huge progress in the field of transformation, especially when it comes to looking for a specific molecule to do the right job on the skin. But also to be more sustainable when it comes to the way we transform these flowers into skincare ingredients—putting emphasis on a more sustainable extraction process without affecting efficacy and quality of these actives.
Speaking of sustainability, are there any struggles when it comes to formulating sustainably?
There are definitely plenty of challenges when it comes to making it more sustainable. Even if your product is natural, it doesn’t always mean it’s sustainable. We have reconsidered a lot of raw materials to honour a more sustainable process. Based on a life cycle analysis approach, we take greater care for the impact of the process and the culture of the plant and it’s something we’ve been taking more and more into account. But there are still ingredients that are complicated to replace and that is still a big challenge we face but we are progressing a lot and we are quite ahead but there is always space for improvement and whenever we develop a new product, we always look to improve this.
What’s the right age to introduce such products into your skincare routine?
Prevention is always best and no time is too early to think about these things—just like exercise or diet.
Do you think we’ll see more stem cell based products in the future?
Yes, I think there’s a lot of investment in this field—for understanding the cause and mechanisms of these cells. And once you have that information and understanding, you can find the solution or way to act on this level. But it’s definitely long term work and there will be a new generation of this in cosmetics in the future.
Turning our focus now to Virginie Couturaud and Patrick Choisy, the Parfums Christian Dior Scientific Communication Director and Head of Natural Materials and Sustainable Development Innovation at LVMH Recherche, they share more on the make-up of the Le Sérum.
Who is this new Le Sérum for and what are its main benefits?
It is for all skin—the serum works to target and act on stem cells and stem cells are universal. We focused to prove the effectiveness on all skin types and to go into this field of inclusivity. We developed a product for you to have a better quality of epidermis layer—to reveal firmer and plump skin. It is also good to prevent and start application when you are twenty and still have better skin functions. Don’t be afraid to use this everyday as its complex, high technology goes deeper on stem cells with an instant effect that makes the skin appear more plump and radiant too.
Are there any application techniques when applying the serum to boost efficacy?
Yes, massage is super important when it comes to applying the product. The texture of this product is very light, which makes it very easy to massage on the skin. Do drain your skin to activate the microcirculation. It’s always good to enjoy the product and have that skin connection with the serum and the skin.
Dior has introduced a high tech bottle to protect the ingredients of the serum, can you tell us more about that?
We’ve made the bottle of 20% recycled glass, and it is produced in France, for a minimum carbon footprint. And of course we develop all our products with this vision of protection of the quality inside. We have a lot of tests to measure a different step with different temperatures to check the stability of our formula too. We are Dior, so quality has to be maintained every time.
What products do you suggest to pair with the Le Sérum for optimal results?
The whole line of the Capture Totale work efficiently together because there is a first step to clean, and then the lotion to compliment your routine and then your serum. But yes the best combination is to stick to the Capture Totale range for better action of the stem cells with different mechanisms.
