The Ocean, You, and La Mer

Where does the world's most famous moisturizer actually come from?

- KATHLEEN HOU

The alarm blares at 5 a.m. Shaelynne Bood pulls her long brown hair into a thick braid, jams her feet into gum boots, and heads out in an aluminum skiff, armed with a small knife, to begin hand-harvesting giant sea kelp for fans she'll probably never meet. Beyoncé, waking up after a sleepless night with the kids and slathering some of her favorite lotion on the dry part of her ankle-she'll have Bood to thank. John Waters, who loves the kitsch of a giant moisturizer jar, should be throwing a party in her honor.

If you never believed in La Mer, no one would blame you-it has always sounded too crazy and too good to be true. Too crazy, because German-born aerospace physicist Max Huber originally created the seaweed-based cream to treat burns from a work-related accident (you can sort of picture Chris Pine playing that Marvel role, can't you?). When Estée Lauder bought the company in 1995, its people couldn't perfectly replicate the original recipe, and so they had its scientists those who believe in logic above all else-use a psychic to try to communicate with Huber from the beyond. (It supposedly worked.) Too good, because La Mer costs $200 for one ounce-even Jennifer Lopez had to debunk a rumor that she slathered it all over her body.