ALL NATURAL

Luxury skincare brands are embracing farm-to-face beauty, cultivating their own ingredients for increased control, quality and sustainability.

- JOSEPH LOW

The skincare industry is embracing farm-to-face beauty, prioritising fresh, natural ingredients cultivated on brand-owned farms. This artisanal approach goes beyond sourcing from local partners, but placing a premium on human-centric practices that ensure quality, sustainability, and the extraction of potent active ingredients.

Luxury brands like Chanel were among the early adopters of farm-owned beauty. The brand's emblematic floral motif, the camellia, was well-loved by Gabrielle Chanel and adorned many of the maison's creations. However, the influence of camellia extends beyond the fashion world and into the beauty realm, where every part of the flower possesses beautifying wonder.

Since 1998, Chanel has been cultivating camellias in its 70ha farm, where the blooms are handpicked in the morning then immediately frozen to preserve the potency of the active molecules before being delivered to the laboratory. One of its recent discoveries is the anti-ageing properties of red camellia and this research culminated in the debut of the No.1 de Chanel skincare range in 2022. Furthermore, the formula contains up to 97 per cent ingredients of natural origin, which means the product has a low level of synthetic chemicals and petrol-derived components.

Besides camellia, Chanel is also invested in the beneficial properties of Vanilla planifolia, a species of orchids whose extracts are known to increase cellular rejuvenation threefold for younger-looking skin. It is grown at a farm in Madagascar that dates back to 2002. Here, traditional techniques like hand-pollination ensure the highest-quality harvest, maximising the potency of the vanilla used in their prestigious Sublimage skincare collection.