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Aÿsse Founder (and descendant of Empress Josephine) Baroness Pascale Baudin de Saint Quentin |
Aÿsse Haute Cosmétique has revealed an ambitious plan to expand into travel retail, initially in China and South Korea. The skincare brand is currently available in France, Italy and Russia.
Based in the Champagne region of the country, Aÿsse’s founder is Baroness Pascale Baudin de Saint Quentin, a descendant of Emperor Napoleon’s wife Josephine.
Historically, Napoleon had Champagne included in traditional pharmacopeia as it was believed to have therapeutic benefits in the treatment of digestion, migraines and depression. Now, Champagne’s cosmetic benefits have been verified by the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne and the CNRS (French National Research Centre).
As well as expanding into travel retail, later this year Aÿsse will open Maison Aÿsse, a 250sq m, three-storey flagship store in the centre of Paris with a sales area, treatment rooms and a Champagne bar.
During her childhood, Mme Baudin (now herself a mother of four) spent time with her grandmother in French Guyana. Here, her grandmother would blend her own beauty lotions using sparkling wine, and passed on her knowledge and recipes. Mme Baudin verified her grandmother’s traditional formulations and along with a team of scientists discovered that the sparkling wine did indeed have a beneficial effect on the skin.
Whereas most wines are made from one type of grape, Champagne is made from three types (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier). Grown in clay and limestone soil, these grapes provide concentrations of mineral salts, trace elements and vitamins. Champagne is created in a process called double fermentation which further concentrates these components giving Aÿsse Haute Cosmétique its signature base.
Legislation dictates that the term “˜Champenois vineyard extract’ is used in this context instead of Champagne. At Aÿsse, this Champenois vineyard extract is combined with an extract of grape leaves rich in polyphenols, together with grape seed extract, highly concentrated in essential fatty acids. This formulation is the key ingredient of Aÿsse.
Aÿsse claims that the effect of the Champenois vineyard extract when used in skincare is to stimulate the skin’s natural defence mechanisms and to slow the aging process.
Aÿsse comprises two product ranges: Millésime for “˜young women under the age of 40′ and Prestige for “˜young women over the age of 40′. Packaged in white and gold, the products are infused with up to 5% Champenois vineyard extracts. The Millésime range has a toning lotion, moisturiser, eye cream and a radiance-boosting Sérum Éclat Immédiat.
Prestige offers Temps Jeunesse, a moisturiser and make-up base, along with Sérum Absolu Définition, a concentrate that stimulates skin to promote firmness, and Élixir de Jeunesse, an ultra-fine revitalising skin oil.
Also in the collection is a range of cleansers designed to hydrate and maintain the biological balance of the skin, two anti-aging face masks and an anti-aging body line including a spray-on body moisturiser.
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Aÿsse skincare specialises in anti-aging | |
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The products come in two ranges: Prestige for women over 40 and Millésime for the under 40s | |
