The new age of enlightenment

MANILA, Philippines - In the world of beauty, aging is not just about lines and wrinkles anymore but also firming, lifting and brightening.

Multi-tasking products are the holy grail, preferably “one product to rule them all,” but technology is such that at present, we’ll have to settle for a holy trinity.

La Prairie, sold exclusively at Rustan’s, has just released its White Caviar Illuminating Systeme, a three-product range that not only lightens but also lifts, treats and prevents all the visible signs of aging (age spots, loose skin, fine lines and wrinkles, dryness and lackluster complexion be gone). If these aren’t multi-taskers, I don’t know what is.

“Whitening is not just an Asian concern; now it’s for everyone,” observes Charlotte Turner, La Prairie international trainer for Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. “We’re using golden caviar in our products, which is the most exclusive form of caviar. It’s three times richer in essential fatty acids than the original, so you can use less of it and get very significant firming.”

I sampled the three products and they are the height of luxury, with silver-and-white packaging, extremely refined formulations that instantly sink into the skin and a soothing unisex fragrance that should appeal to women and men alike.

La Prairie White Caviar Illuminating Serum

What it is: This lightweight fluid dispensed from a glass dropper is the most concentrated formula in the system.

What it does: An innovative whitening complex arrests all three stages of melanin production (before, during and after) to prevent pigment formation. Other ingredients like resveratrol boost the lightening effect, while caviar nourishes skin and antioxidants prevent further aging.

White Caviar Illuminating Eye Serum

Charlotte Turner, La Prairie international trainer for Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia: “We’re actually trying to lock into the youth code of the cell.”

What it is: This pearly concentrated serum acts as the perfect accessory to La Prairie’s top-selling product, Skin Caviar Luxe Eye Lift Cream.

What it does: Actives like garden cress sprout extract lighten dark circles under the eyes, while caffeine deflates puffiness and advanced peptides lift and firm sagging skin.

White Caviar Illuminating Cream

What it is: A luxuriously silky cream that delivers La Prairie’s collagen-building Exclusive Cellular Complex in addition to the Clarifying Whitening Complex.

What it does: Slows down pigment formation to even and brighten the skin as it firms and hydrates. The list of antioxidants — white truffles, white wine extract and Tremella mushroom — reads like a gourmet dish designed to delay all visible signs of aging.

Upon application, Turner says you can see very rapid results: “Three days and you see initial brightening, three weeks you see more significant evening of the skin, and three months, that’s when you see the maximum benefits.”

The blonde Brit who’s now based in Sydney thinks that the Philippine market is more sophisticated than many others in Southeast Asia. “The shopping experience here is incredibly beautiful and very aesthetic,” she says. “In the luxury malls, Rustan’s is like a resort with resort-style shopping. Australia and Europe could learn a lot from them about making shopping more of an experience and a destination, like you could spend the whole day and not just a few hours.”

She notes that Filipino women take care of themselves no matter what their social standing, and that these days, skincare and dermatology go hand-in-hand. “People are very serious about their skin and they’re undergoing all different procedures, and skincare has to follow that. Laser surgery, even Botox, is being thought of as a brightening procedure because it gives the skin plumpness.”

La Prairie’s holistic approach includes diet and nutrition, which research has found is equally important to skin health. Known for the science and technology behind it, the Swiss company is going in the direction of stem-cell research, developing new products that actually change skin at the cellular level.

“It’s not enough to try to make the cell stronger and more resilient but actually trying to lock into the youth code of the cell,” Turner says. “For example, in May, we’re launching a renewed Pure Gold serum. We’ve learned new things about whitening in the last two years, so we’re taking that technology and rolling it into the gold serum so that it’s even more effective and fast-acting.”

From La Prairie, we would expect nothing less.

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La Prairie’s White Caviar Illuminating Systeme is exclusively available at Rustan’s.