This Dior Serum Proves That You Are What You Eat
Souzan Michael Galway travelled to the south of France to get to know Dior Prestige La Micro-Huile de Rose — the nutrient-dense oil-serum that your skin's been craving.
I’m in the south of France watching a dozen luxury yachts float by on the Mediterranean Sea (confession: and obsessively Googling who each one belongs to) when Brian Kennedy, director of the Center of Healthy Longevity at the National University Health System, asks, “You know the saying ‘You are what you eat’?” I flash back to the previous night’s glorious cheese plate and Champagne dinner. I guess that makes me delightful and indulgent? Guilty! “Where does the science behind that saying come from?” he continues. A member of Dior’s Reverse Aging Board, Kennedy is presenting at a skincare conference hosted by Dior Beauty, alongside many of the other global skincare experts and dermatologists who make up the board.
What does food have to do with skin, though? While the link between food and internal health is well researched and understood, beyond “too much chocolate or cheese = pimples” (editor’s note: sigh), our eating habits’ connection to our complexion is a bit more of a mystery. “Many people think about nutrition in the context of body aging, but the role of nutrition in maintaining skin health is equally as important,” says Kennedy. “Nutrients and micronutrients impact skin properties at three different levels: strengthening the skin barrier, ensuring the skin’s defence system and promoting youthful skin structure. And some, like omegas, are not produced in the skin so they need to be acquired externally.”
Enter: Dior’s latest launch, Dior Prestige La Micro-Huile de Rose ($590). A reformulated version of the brand’s beloved oil-serum, the new product features Nutri-Rosapeptide, a micronutrient concentrate extracted from the Rose de Granville that is six times more potent than the original. “It’s the most concentrated nutritive anti-aging ingredient at Dior,” says Karl Pays, global research director at LVMH Recherche.
The Nutri-Rosapeptide is “the most efficient supplement for youthful, plump skin,” says Dr. Patricia Ogilvie, a dermatologist and the founder of SkinConcept in Munich. Indeed, Dior Prestige La Micro-Huile de Rose has been shown to visibly improve skin’s plumpness by six times after one month of use. But perhaps its most impressive quality is its ability to aid in skin recovery rather than just skin repair.
Wait — what’s the difference? “Recovery is the ultimate step in erasing the consequences of damage,” says Kennedy. “To explain it simply, if you break your leg and get it fixed, that’s repair. If you break your leg, go to physical therapy and learn to walk again as if your leg had never been broken, that’s recovery.” Because of this ability, Dior Prestige La Micro-Huile de Rose produces particularly incredible results when tested on skin that has been damaged by lasers, making it an excellent post-cosmetic-procedure option.
“Skin is the last organ to receive nutrients from our food, therefore this is where nutrient deficiencies are most apparent,” says Kennedy.
“It’s like being invited to a party where there’s a buffet, but you get the invitation last and by the time you show up, everybody has already eaten,” adds Ogilvie. “Every other organ has taken everything it needs, and what’s left over is what your skin gets. We found a way to provide essential nutrients directly to the skin, so it gets served first.”
This article first appeared in FASHION’s September 2024 issue. Find out more here.
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