This fall, Guerlain has called upon Li Hongbo, a contemporary artist inspired by ancestral Chinese art, to transform Guerlain’s iconic masterpiece into a modern work of art. An homage to the rare, powerful and enduring Black Orchid, encapsulated in Orchidée Impériale Black: The Cream.
Guerlain Orchidée Impériale Black The Cream by Li Hongbo is available for a limited of time at Guerlain boutiques and selected stores worldwide. Come into the beautiful world of Guerlain.
Guerlain has been inspired by nature since the Maison’s founding in 1828. Almost two centuries later, they celebrate fifteen years of pioneering commitment and actions to preserve the wonders of nature for future generations, spearheading change at the forefront of the beauty industry.
Home to some of the world’s rarest orchids, the Tianzi Exploratory Reserve in China is a haven of orchid biodiversity – the inspiration behind the Orchidée Impériale collection. Working alongside conservationist Minguo Li-Margraf, over the last 10 years the French Maison has replanted close to 10,000 orchids as part of a vast reforestation program, illustrating our commitment to combining luxury with ethical and responsible production.
Nature has long been intertwined with Maison Guerlain’s past, as well as being inextricably linked to its future.
They are proud to begin this New Year with a new chapter in their story, through new bold initiatives and ambitious targets to deliver a sustainably driven tomorrow and beyond. As Guerlain welcomes 2022, they recommit to to the four key pillars of their sustainable development promise: biodiversity, eco-innovation, climate, and social impact.
Guerlain perfumes, skincare, make-up are available at Guerlain boutiques and selected stores worldwide. Come into the beautiful world of Guerlain.
One of Guerlain’s most cherished partners, Maison Bernardaud has crafted Orchidée Impériale Black’s iconic jars since the collection’s launch in 2018. The Maison’s artisans worked for months to perfect the delicate black lacquer and gold leaf design, creating the ultimate in luxury sustainability for this limited edition Kintsugi masterpiece.
With intentional home curation and aesthetically-pleasing design bleeding into all aspects of modern life – from the kitchen pantry to the entryway gallery wall – a carefully curated and design savvy assortment of skincare products has become the natural next step to a consistently visually pleasing home…. and while many skincare products may come to mind when visualising a pretty powder room pantry display, there are certain potions that rise to the top; the ones you actually want to display front and centre not just because they nourish your skin the best but also because they’re the ones your eyes are naturally drawn toward for their thoughtful design aesthetic.
That’s why Guerlain Orchidée Impériale Black Cream Bernardaud Kintsugi Limited Edition reigns supreme in our books. An exceptional jar inspired by the traditional Japanese art of Kintsugi, combining the genius of modern day science, the healing powers of natural ingredients, and the skill of hand craftsmanship, this limited edition Guerlain Orchidée Impériale Black was made to foster a unwavering sense of sophistication and finesse while working in tandem with the surface of the skin to hydrate and nourish well beyond the top layer.
With a botanical name, Cycnoches Cooperi, inspired by its ebony color and swan-long neck, the Black Orchid is an orchid like no other. Formulated by an executive team of scientists in order to harness unmatched anti-ageing power that goes beyond skin deep, Guerlain Orchidée Impériale Black puts into play an extraordinarily unique Peruvian black orchid extract is considered to be one of the world’s most precious plants.
Native to the Peruvian Andes, its natural habitat is rare that it sees sunlight. To survive in such extreme circumstances without direct light, Black Orchid has developed unusual features. For example, unlike other plants whose flowering periods last from two to three months, the black orchid blooms only for three weeks a year to preserve its metabolism. Even more remarkable, is that plants carry both male and female flowers so that their reproduction can constantly adapt to external conditions.
For Guerlain Scientific Research, these unique and rare features have made black orchid a precious raw material, allowing it to become the very essence of Blackimmune™ Technology heart of the Orchidée Impériale Black line. At the heart of this technology, which affects 95% of the cells involved in the self-defense mechanisms of the skin, is Cycnoches cooperi, chosen from 30,000 species of orchids.
Guerlain Scientific Research combined it with a combination of ingredients specially selected for their total protection response and their ability to allow cells to play their defensive role. As a technology, it works on two levels: first on the level of the defense system through the protection of Langherans cells, then at the level of the innate immunity system by regulating TLR* proteins, sentinel proteins found in the skin that continuously monitor the environment. It is on this second level that black orchid extract intervenes, as pointed out by the Orchidarium® by Maison Guerlain for its proven effect on TLR proteins.
To celebrate this anti-ageing talisman, Guerlain commissioned French Maison Bernardaud to create a limited edition jar for the Impérial Orchidée Black Cream. Since 1863, the prestigious porcelain manufacturer Bernardaud has embodied French excellence and shared numerous values with Maison Guerlain. In particular, a rich savoir-faire fusion of creativity and audacity handed down through generations.
For this special edition, Bernardaud House took inspiration from Kintsugi, the traditional Japanese art of decoration from the 16th century, that uses gold up to fill and enhance porcelain slits and crevices. Once enhanced, each creation becomes even more beautiful and takes on a new life.
Here, artisans from Bernardaud have adapted the Japanese art of Kintsugi to the expertise of French porcelain. Each Kintsugi Orchidée Impériale Black edition jar is made entirely by hand and embellished with 24-carat gold. In France, just as in Japan, precision and excellence in the execution of gestures are unalterable. From modeling to cooking, from glazing to decoration, each stage of processing depends on the perfect techniques used by each craftsman,since each move isdetermined and influences those that precede and follow.
Each jar required a month of work by 50 artisans. Entirely covered in glossy black lacquer and embellished with a gold leaf, the jars echo two key elements in the Orchidée Impériale Black cream.
A texture as soft as a balm that offers an exclusive sensory experience. After a month of use the defensive barrier of the skin becomes stronger. The skin is more elastic and is visibly more beautiful and durable. The skin looks smoother, denser to thetouch, brighter and incredibly radiant. As protected from the inside, the skin can concentrate all its revitalization resources.
Guerlain Orchidée Impériale Black Cream Bernardaud Kintsugi is available at Guerlain boutiques and selected stores worldwide. Come into the beautiful worlds of Guerlain and Bernardaud.
When it comes to decoding the ingredients in all the flacons and jars on our top shelf of beauty elixirs, even the help of a beauty glossary can leave us a little confused. But understanding the components in the products we religiously slather on our faces can’t hurt.
Native to the Peruvian Andes, the Black Orchid is very rare for its ebony colour and blooms for three weeks only, unlike similar breeds of its kind which flowers for months. This rare variety of orchid is incredibly valued for its ability to adapt its metabolism through understanding its environment and optimising its fertilisation and fruition.
Thankfully, French Maison Guerlain has done most of the homework for us. As one of the oldest cosmetics and skincare houses in the world with almost 200 years of experience, they know a thing or two about ingredients and how to engineer them in a way to create solutions that make us look and feel our best.
Specifically, Guerlain has dedicated its last 15 years into the study of orchids. Beyond interior floral décor, the flower has been the Maison’s key ingredient in its Orchidée Impériale Black collection. Native to the Peruvian Andes, the Black Orchid is rare for its ebony colour and blooms for three weeks only, unlike similar breeds of its kind which flowers for months. This rare variety of orchid is incredibly valued for its ability to adapt its metabolism through understanding its environment and optimising its fertilisation and fruition.
Today Guerlain introduces a new product to its Imperiale Black collection. Continuing in the vein of Orchidée Impériale Black The Cream, Guerlain’s skincare masterpiece, the famous upscale brand is launching the Orchidée Impériale Black Eye & Lip Contour Cream.
The entire Orchidée Imperiale Black range is based on rejuvenating powers of the Black Orchid, which is known for increasing its longevity by successfully adapting to any environment. Harnessing the powers of the precious orchid, Guerlain’s research and development team has developed the special Blackimmune technology, which targets 95% of cells involved in the skin’s defensive system.
The very same technology has been used in the production of the new Orchidee Impériale Black Eye & Lip Contour Cream, which is developed to target the visible signs of aging in areas around the lips and eyes. The Blackimmune technology helps to minimize the visible signs of aging, making the skin smoother, more defined, and better protected from environmental stressors.
Guerlain’s Blackimmune Technology, the precise extraction of these precious black orchid qualities is made possible, and is said to be the closest thing to a drink from the fabled fountain of youth.
The inclusion of Spilanthes Extract smooths the appearance of expression lines, while the genuine 24K Gold particles help to illuminate the skin. The skin around the eye and lip is left stronger, and more resilient, with minimized signs of aging, less pronounced signs of fatigue, the upper eyelids enhanced, and the lip contours sharply defined.
Directions for use:
Take a dab of Orchidee Imperiale Black Eye & Lip Contour Cream with the small-tipped end of the applicator. Then, using its rounded part, apply to the undereye and lip contour areas.
The eye contour area
I. Smooth:
Trace a ‘figure eight’. To make the first loop, start applying at the inner corner of the eye, continue under the brow to the temple, then return – under the eye – to the starting point. Repeat for the other eye to complete the ‘figure eight’.
II. To help smooth the eye contour area:
Using the rounded end of the applicator, slowly and gradually apply firm pressure to each of the ‘acu-pressure points’ (see below) for 5 seconds, then release pressure for another 5 seconds.
To relax the entire eye contour area:
1. Apply pressure midway between the eyebrows.
To tone the skin:
2. Inner corner of the eye
3. Sweep from the ‘head’ to the ‘tail’ of the eyebrow.
4. ‘Tail’ of the eyebrow
5. Temples
6. Proceed from the ‘tail’ of the brow to the inner corner of the eye, patting gently under the eye. Repeat for the other eye.
Lip contour
III. Smooth:
Press firmly and smooth, sweeping along the natural lip contour line, first in one direction, then the other. Perform a similar maneuver, but replace the sweeping motion with gentle patting to plump up the lips.
IV. To gently stimulate the skin:
Apply pressure to a point between the Cupid’s bow and the nose.
All the wonders of time travel can be found in one sumptuous jar. Guerlain’s new Orchidée Impériale Black Eye & Lip Contour Cream is presented in a reusable and refillable black porcelain jar, hand-made by Maison Bernardaud, a prominent French family-owned porcelain maker since 1863. The Cream jar is now available in a refillable version, the ultimate expression of sustainable luxury. Same as its predecessor, the Eye & Lip Contour Cream features a floral scent that blends notes of rose, white musk, and cedar wood.
The luxurious and lavish Guerlain Orchidee Imperiale Black Eye & Lip Contour Cream is available in 20ml refillable jar, and is available at Guerlain boutiques and selected stores worldwide. It comes with a price tag of $580.00. Come into the beautiful world of Guerlain.
French Maison Guerlain extends its iconic Orchidée Impériale collection with a luxurious antiaging oil. Same as the rest of the range, The Imperial Oil is formulated according to the latest discoveries in skin longevity. It features a unique, sensorial formula built around the most precious and rare raw material – the orchid.
The Imperial Oil absorbs instantly, without any oily residue.
Guerlain The Imperial Oil combines orchid’s longevity with no less than 20 different botanical oils. Designed to help restore skin’s firmness, this silky, nourishing elixir promotes the skin’s natural lipid content, reinforces its supporting fibers, and brings comfort and nourishment without a trace of heaviness or any oily residue.
The soft, gliding oil, instantly fused with the skin and penetrates deep within to deliver a potent toning action and make the skin appear more elastic, firmer, and youthfully invigorated.
Formulated with +98% natural ingredients, The Imperial Oil uses Cell Respiration Technology to deliver more oxygen to the cells and boost their regeneration. 20 different botanical oils, rich in essential fatty acids, provide nourishment and restorative action, supporting the pillars of the skin – its fibers. A blend of lipids increases the production of collagen as it provides potent anti-inflammatory action that deteriorates the collagen fibers.
The oil should be applied morning and evening as a pre-serum. The Imperial Oil by Guerlain is presented in a luxurious, eco-friendly bottle with a massive gold-colored stopper.
Guerlain Orchidée Impériale The Imperial Oil is available at Guerlain boutiques, counters and selected stores worldwide.
Eleven years after its launch, Orchidée Impériale has been reinvented for the fourth time, offering the best of research in the field of cell longevity. Capitalising on its previous innovations, Orchidée Impériale The Cream is not only exceptional complete care, but it has also been designed to limit its environmental impact. Orchidée Impériale offers women a new way of perceiving time.
A time of innovation
Because Guerlain, the world expert on research into orchids and their secrets of longevity, has been constantly innovating for over 15 years. A new technology based on the Orchid Gastrodia elata, whose properties were discovered thanks to a one-of-a-kind platform – the Orchidarium* – delivers an age-defying complex that acts on cell respiration.
* The platform consists of three centres, the Tianzi nature reserve (China), the experimental garden in Geneva (Switzerland) and the research laboratory in Strasbourg (France).
A time for yourself
Because women require much more from a skincare product than fighting the visible signs of ageing, Guerlain offers them a real moment to breathe. A special time to reconnect with yourself and restore inner harmony. Orchidée Impériale The Cream offers the same sensory experience as previous generations but with a new application technique.
A time of luxury
Because protecting the environment is an absolute necessity, Guerlain has embraced a sustainable luxury approach, in particular by reducing Orchidée Impériale The Cream’s carbon footprint by 58%. As sumptuous as ever, the jar has been reworked, its glass lightened and its packaging eco-designed.
A time for the earth
Because, more than ever, Guerlain is affirming its commitment to protecting orchids with the Tianzi nature reserve, where ‘rainforestation’ takes place, in other words the reconstruction of an entire ecosystem prioritising biodiversity, to the orchids’ benefit.
Cell respiration: A new longevity mechanism
Within the framework of its research into cells’ functional longevity, which it has been carrying out for 15 years, Guerlain Research discovered a crucial new mechanism: a cell with good control over the natural use of its oxygen will have better longevity. We know that an excess of free radicals (an unstable, highly reactive form of oxygen) promotes skin ageing.
To combat these free radicals, cosmetic science uses antioxidants. However, it has recently been discovered that, on the contrary, oxygen levels that are too low compared to the skin’s needs – known as the phenomenon of hypoxia – will have consequences on ageing. And all the more so because hypoxia increases with age.
The effects on the skin take several forms:
A major innovation: An exclusieve new technology to cobat hypoxia
Skin that stays youthful for longer is skin that has good cell energy, in other words a good communication network between the mitochondria. Summarised in this way, the results of these scientific discoveries are behind three generations of Orchidée Impériale The Cream. Guerlain Research has now made a major advance in preserving the cell bioenergetic network. To increase vital energy and improve cell longevity, it is essential to regulate cell respiration: not too much, not too little.
To combat chronic hypoxia, the skin naturally possesses a system to control its oxygen levels. This system, known as HIF-1 alpha, is based on a protein produced during hypoxia. It is a smart sensor in the sense that it does not merely measure the level of oxygen but regulates the control of its use, which is essential for energy production and good cell function.
Dr Frédéric Bonté, Director of Guerlain Research
An exclusive technology based on a star orchid to combat hypoxia
As part of the Orchidarium, the Strasbourg laboratory headed by Professor Annelise Lobstein lists and studies the phytochemical properties of orchids to isolate their most active molecules that are of greatest interest for Orchidée Impériale skincare. Within the scope of the Orchidarium’s work, Guerlain Research has developed an exclusive new technology based on a star orchid – Gastrodia elata (a key orchid in traditional Chinese medicine), which acts on factor HIF-1 alpha, a natural ‘cell respiration’ regulator, in addition to its protective action on the cell bioenergetic mitochondrial network.
By combining it with a glucan-rich natural nasturtium extract, which encourages the supply of oxygen to the cells, this new age-defying technology offers the skin exceptional complete care that acts on all of the visible signs of ageing: firmness, density, radiance, wrinkles and fine lines, evenness and elasticity. As well as fighting against hypoxia, this new technology will boost the cells’ vital energy.
Diamond powder for an instant sophisticated glow
A specific new ingredient is making an appearance in this fourth generation: diamond powder, a rare raw ingredient chosen for its photoluminescent properties capable of capturing the invisible luminous energy received and then visibly diffusing it in all directions thanks to the diamond’s ‘facetted’ appearance. The result: an instant effect on the skin’s radiance.
A time for yourself
In a stressful world dominated by hyperconnection, women need to take a break and make time for themselves in order to restore a kind of inner harmony.
Orchidée Impériale The Cream offers a unique sensory experience. With its subtle scent and silky feel, all of the senses are awakened thanks to the new application technique developed by Sophia Kremser, Design and Training Manager at the Institut Guerlain, 68 Champs-Élysées, which for the first time combines massages and breathing exercises to take best advantage of the benefits of the New Orchidée Impériale The Cream.
A time of luxury new eco-designed pack: A model of environmental excellence
It took Research & Development’s engineers over a year to design and manufacture the new packaging for Orchidée Impériale The Cream. From the shape of the jar to the sleeve, everything has been redesigned, except the capacity, which remains the same (50 ml).
As a result, 4th-generation Orchidée Impériale The Cream has the first eco-designed Guerlain packaging for a premium skincare product.
A time for the earth
Implemented by Guerlain in 2007, the reforestation programme has restored the orchids’ endemic habitat in the Tianzi region in the Yunnan province of China. Minguo Li-Margraf, who now heads the Tianzi nature reserve, grows the orchids over more than 400 hectares, and protects and reintroduces endangered plants by reconstructing their ecosystem.
As orchids require numerous microorganisms to live and reproduce, protecting biodiversity is fundamental. Over 12,000 wild orchids in total and over 25 different species have been reintroduced.
In 2006, following seven years of research of orchids and their power over cellular longevity, Guerlain created the first generation of Orchidée Impériale care creams. Since the launch of the Orchidée Impériale, the range has undergone several formula updates including the most recent addition of Gold Orchid technology.
Now in 2016, Imperial Orchid goes even further with the creation of Orchidée Impériale Black. Through a revolutionary technology than involves ‘cellular immunity’, the new Orchidée Impériale Black aims to optimize the self-defense capabilities of the skin.
Guerlain presents Blackimmune™ technology, its first technology to address skin aging by acting on the set of cells involved in the self-defense mechanisms of the skin. It relays on the two types of defense system that skin naturally posses and that enable it to fight against the various factors responsible for aging: Keratinocytes and Langerhans cells.
Orchidée Impériale Black Cream is a light, soft and elegant formula that surrounds every cell in a deluxe protective cocoon, consisting of a combination of highly moisturizing elements to help maintain flexibility and comfort of the skin. With rich cupuaçu butter and jojoba wax, it works with other ingredients to melt into the skin without it feeling greasy. With regular application, the skin regains its resilience; its defensive barrier becomes stronger and more resistant.
Quality, touch, appearance – all the criteria of a beautiful skin are said to improve day by day: wrinkles and blemishes fade, the skin texture is refined, the complexion illuminates, the contour of the face is better defined. Perfectly nourished and hydrated, the skin is firmer, more elastic, and incredibly radiant.
To make each application a unique experience, the experts of the Guerlain Institute have designed and tested a new 4- steps application tool inspired by ergonomic touch-roll. Equipped with two mini rollers (easily removable for cleaning after each use), this tool fits more closely the curves of the face, operating a massage into the heart of the skin.
La Crème Orchidée Impériale Black will be available in a 50 ml jar at the price of 980€ from October 2016
Guerlain Orchidée Impériale Masque
Guerlain, the miracle worker in beauty treatment is bringing the best anti-aging treatments to the masses. Next to the now legendary Orchidée Impériale range, they treat us with the Orchidée Impériale Mask wich is the prototype of professional skincare. The molecular make up of the mask and its active ingredients help defy age, over prolonged use. Tried and tested results include firmer, toned yet supply skin that also shows signs of ample nourishment and strong hydration. The Imperial Orchid Mask is very easy to use creme mask and an intensive treatment that takes care of fatigue that dulls complexion, bringing back a youthful glow. Wrinkles, be gone!
For me the whole Guerlain’s Orchidée Impériale range is a true Holy Grail. And thats for a reason! It’s true… it doen’t comes cheap.But using it in the right way, it’s an investment!
Guerlain’s Orchidée Impériale Masque for smoother, energized skin comes in the famous gold and royal blue pack (2.5 oz.), and can be bought for $380.
With skin 38% finer than the rest of the face, the eye contour is exceptionally fragile, especially as it suffers some 30,000 blinks every day. Despite a very dense network of blood vessels, blood flow is slower in this area. With the passage of time and our lifestyles, shadows begin to appear. It is no surprise that this area is the first to show the signs of ageing. To combat this unavoidable reality, Guerlain has devised an exclusive product. The new Guerlain Orchidée Impériale Eye Serum combines advanced Gold Orchid technology (which fights all the visible signs of ageing) and the exclusive Bright Eye complex.
Guerlain Orchidée Impériale Eye Serum
The serum contains:
Soon I’ll start testing Orchidée Impériale Eye Serum for a longer time. Last year, I tested Guerlain’s Orchidée Imperiale Eye and Lip Cream. The Orchidée Impériale Eye Serum and the Eye and Lip Cream work wonders when combined. I applied it only around the eye area and liked it very much. It was one of my two favourite eye creams in 2015. It’s a vèry good moisturizer for the eye area. Moreover, it’s the perfect base for make-up (concealer or foundation).
Yakymour 