Guerlain's obsession with orchids has bloomed a series of skincare products, with the fourth-generation Orchidee Imperiale cream recently launched in Thailand at the Okura Prestige Bangkok.
For more than 15 years, the French brand has conducted research on plants under the Orchidaceae family. Extracts from Dendrobium chrysotoxum (gold orchid), as well as Vanda coerulea and Vanda teres were featured in previous formulations whereas the 2017 reinvention contains an extract from Gastrodia elata used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Gastrodia elata and other herbs are traditionally used to treat wind-related syndromes or illnesses such as dizziness, convulsion, hypertension or stroke.
Latest research on Gastrodia elata at Guerlain's Orchidarium basic research laboratory in Strasbourg, France, associated the white orchid with cell protection and respiration in improving cell longevity.
It was recently discovered that low oxygen levels insufficient for skin's needs will have negative consequences, and the more so as hypoxia increases with age. Controlling the cell's natural use of its oxygen in order to maximise energy production and regeneration thus was proposed as another mechanism besides combating free radicals (an unstable, highly reactive form of oxygen) in fighting skin ageing.
To increase the supply of oxygen, breathing exercises have been combined with massages in applying the new cream, which combines anti-ageing Gastrodia elata and nasturtium extracts with a radiance-boosting diamond powder.
The first Orchidee Imperiale cream was introduced in 2006. Each upgrade is based on findings from the Strasbourg research lab, as well as the Experimental Garden in Geneva, where orchid species are studied, and at the Exploratory Nature Reserve in Tianzi, Yunnan, China, where wild orchids are protected and reintroduced into their natural environment.
Guerlain's support of orchid research has extended locally to the Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden as the Bangkok launch event included an auction of orchid-inspired clothing and accessories by Thai designers and a painting by Khemupsorn Sirisukha to raise funds for the botanical garden in Mae Rim, Chiang Mai.
An actress and environmental activist involved in reforestation projects in northern Thailand, Khemupsorn has assumed a more glamorous role as Guerlain's Imperiale Woman and the face of the luxurious skincare range.
Orchidee Imperiale face treatment, eye serum and fourth-generation cream. Guerlain
