CHINA. Luxury beauty house Guerlain, part of LVMH Group, has opened an ‘Ultimate’ Boutique at the newly-opened cdf Sanya International Duty Free Shopping Complex (cdf Mall) Block C in Haitang Bay. The boutique was opened in partnership with China Duty Free Group (CDFG).
As reported, the ‘Global Beauty Plaza’ housed within Block C was officially opened on 28 December. It offers an array of top international beauty brands, unique design styles, high-quality services and a blend of fashion and artistic elements.
Hive of Wonders
The Guerlain store — described by the Maison as an ‘Ultimate’ door — features the brand’s new merchandising design and offers its full product portfolio including premium lines such as L’Art & la Matière, the Bee Bottles and Orchidée Impériale. It officially opened its doors on 20 January.
The boutique is designed following the brand’s ‘Hive of Wonders’ concept which features striking bee motifs and showcases Guerlain’s triple-axis portfolio.
This bee concept is expressed through pure lines and natural materials and textures. The glass display cases in-store honour Guerlain’s design codes and feature historical motifs such as the gold cord, which is used in the bottle necks of its fragrances.
The boutique also offers a range of exclusive services such as skincare, makeup and fragrance consultations, premium personalisation and gift wrapping. Shoppers can engrave their purchases and customise their fragrance bottles with ribbons and multi-coloured embroidered bottle caps. They can also choose different lipstick case designs for their Rouge G lipsticks.
Guerlain Facialist Suite
Notably, the Ultimate Boutique is home to two Guerlain facialist suites. Here, shoppers can enjoy a curated menu facial treatments and services.
The luxury treatment suites offers Guerlain’s signature 90-minute facial anti-ageing treatment which leverages the power of the Black Orchid with traditional facial massage techniques. The treatment boosts vitality, preserves and prolongs skin youth resulting in glowing and healthy skin.
The suites are designed with a curved wood ceiling and calming lighting fixtures, accented with gold wallpaper finishes. An orchid totem sculpture, which pays homage to Guerlain’s prestige Orchidée Impériale skincare line, is a key motif in the space.
Designed as a place for both celebration and interaction, the boutique is designed to host customer events, makeup try-on, skincare treatments and other luxury beauty experiences.
Notable product highlights include Guerlain’s Exceptional Creations, L’Art & La Matière, L’Art de Vivre and Les Matières Confidentielles fragrance lines. It also offers the super-premium Orchidée Impériale and Orchidée Impériale Gold Nobile skincare lines and Rouge G lipstick range alongside other makeup best-sellers.
Aura of Youth
Guerlain celebrated the opening with a dazzling celebrity event and activation at the cdf Mall.
The Prodigious Aura of Youth event highlighted the Orchidée Gold Nobile collection and was attended by Guerlain Global Brand Ambassador Chinese actor Yang Yang. During the event Yang talked about his own experience using the Orchidée Gold Nobile collection and shared positive sentiment about his partnership with Guerlain.
After the event, Yang together with Guerlain Regional Director Asia Pacific Emma Behaeghel and executives from CDFG officially cut the ribbon of the Ultimate Boutique in Block C.
The Art of Perfumery
Guerlain’s flagship store in Block C showcases the most premium collections in Guerlain’s prestige portfolio. The pinnacle of this is Guerlain’s Parfumerie d’Art Exceptional Creations, which are rare, limited-edition expressions that blur the lines between art and fragrance.
The latest Chinese New Year Millésime 2024, created by Atelier Truscelli, and the Cherry Blossom Millésime 2024, created by Philippe Ferrandis, are showcased in the Block C store.
Guerlain’s L’Art & La Matière collection, described as the crowning jewel of Guerlain’s haute parfumerie offer, was originally launched in 2005 and relaunched in 2021. The revamped range takes inspiration from the art world and features 22 eaux de parfums, which are claimed to use only the finest ingredients in the fragrance world.
The unisex L’Art & La Matière flacons, available in 100ml and 200ml formats, were conceived as ‘objets d’art’. They pay homage to Guerlain’s heritage square bottle, originally introduced in 1870. Like the original square bottle, the new fragrance bottles were produced by French glassmakers Pochet du Courval.
Shoppers can also discover the L’Art de Vivre: Home collection and Les Matières Confidentielles private collection at the Ultimate Boutique. The former, which comprises candles and scented diffusers, extends Guerlain’s fragrance expertise into home scents. It is designed to complement the eaux des parfums of the L’Art & La Matière line. The latter is a collection of fragrances designed to be spritzed during private moments and on fabrics and accessories.
Orchidée Impériale and Rouge G
A dedicated skincare and makeup zone in-store highlights Guerlain’s prestige Orchidée Impériale and Orchidée Impériale Gold Nobile lines alongside its hero Rouge G lipstick collection.
The skincare zone underlines the efficacy and sensoriality of the skincare range and highlights Guerlain’s latest skin-longevity breakthroughs.
Orchidée Impériale Gold Nobile is centred around the Gold Nobile Orchid, which was chosen from 30,000 different species of orchids.
The expression was created applying insights from Guerlain’s latest Quantum Biology discovery into the study of skin cells. The formula, infused with Gold Nobile Extract, works in an infinitely small scale to to restore biophoton emissions in the skin to a level that is similar to a younger cell.
The prestige collection comprises the Orchidée Gold Nobile Cream and Serum.
A limited-edition design for the Orchidée Impériale Black expression is also available at the Block C store. The design reimagines the signature black pot of the cream with a gold illustrated motif. Backed by a decade of research in Guerlain’s Orchidarium, the line’s BlackImmune technology encapsulates the skin-enhancing effects of the Black Orchid to protect against skin-ageing. BlackImmune targets 95% of all epidermal cells involved in the skin’s self-defence protecting and regenerating the skin.
Makeup lovers can discover Guerlain’s makeup collections with a special focus on Rouge G. Guerlain first introduced its hero Rouge G lipstick collection in 2009. Rouge G offers a wide palette of highly pigmented lipstick shades.
As reported, Guerlain opened an Ultimate Boutique in December 2022 at the cdf Haikou International Duty Free Shopping Complex in partnership with CDFG.
According to Guerlain, the Ultimate Boutique concept aims to elevate the customer journey and make travellers feel as if they are shopping in a Guerlain flagship boutique, complete with a range of personalised services.
In the last two years, several Ultimate counters were opened in global travel retail including two doors at Hamad International Airport with Qatar Duty Free in 2022, and one door at Dubai International Airport with Dubai Duty Free, opened in March 2023. Most recently, Guerlain introduced the Ultimate boutique to Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport in partnership with Extime Duty Free. ✈
