Lancôme last night staged the global reveal of its new feminine fragrance, La Vie Est Belle in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, France.
 Living La Belle Vie with Lancôme |
| Last month I interviewed Madonna; on Wednesday I had dinner with Julia Roberts. The fact that there were nearly 300 other people in the room made it no less special, believe me. The event in question was the official reveal of the new feminine fragrance from Lancôme, called La Vie Est Belle. |
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“The launch, at the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, was attended by around 300 international media (including The Moodie Report) and retailers – and the face of the fragrance, actress Julia Roberts.
The La Vie Est Belle fragrance concept revolves around the idea of breaking free from convention and choosing one’s own vision of happiness.
“I’m really delighted to welcome you to this exceptional place,” declared Lancôme International President Youcef Sue Nabi. “I know many of you have travelled a long distance to be here and I really do thank you.”
“Today, we are at a turning point,” she noted. “Women continue to search for more. They have learned that systematic models are not there to be imitated, that happiness is a made-to-measure, not a ready-to-wear experience. ‘Less but better’ becomes a new philosophy of life. And every woman should be free to choose her own path towards happiness.”
Nabi continued: “Far from all forms of excess and the dictates of the mainstream, Lancôme femininity is free and embraces the concept of ‘less but better’, more than ever. Universal yet personal, this femininity is a choice, not an imposed standard. For us this new era can be summed up in just a few words, extremely simple but extremely powerful: La Vie Est Belle.”
She concluded: “La Vie Est Belle proclaims the new fragrance from Lancôme, a fragrance that is more than a scent, a bottle or even a dream. Above all, this fragrance represents a conviction, a point of view of the world around us. It is a fragrance infused with meaning, with both a conscience and a soul. If La Vie Est Belle, it’s because we choose it to be so. That is how life truly becomes more beautiful.”
Nabi described the olfactory juice as an “unprecedented” creation, the work of noses Olivier Polge and Dominique Ropion. Iris is a key ingredient, along with patchouli, Tonka bean, praline, blackcurrant, orange blossom and jasmine. The formula was so complex it necessitated over 5,000 versions and three years of work.
“What if happiness could be captured in a bottle?” Nabi questioned, in relation to the fragrance flacon, which is a reworked version of a bottle Lancôme founder Armand Petitjean requested his then Artistic Director to create in 1949. “That bottle somehow captured the grace of a smile, carved into glass. Now, 63 years later, Lancôme has reinterpreted that “crystal smile’ bottle with La Vie Est Belle”.
Nabi continued: “There was only one person in the world who could embody this new fragrance: an icon of happy femininity and one of the world’s most famous and admired actresses. Of course this woman is Julia Roberts. With Julia, La Vie Est Belle and we have tired to capture this in an iconic [campaign] shot by Tarsem Singh.”
There followed an exclusive viewing of the ad, before Roberts herself then made an entrance to rapturous applause. She said: “The perfume smells so good, which is the only reason I agreed to it. I believe in smelling good, and as my husband said, “people will think this is what you smell like”. “It is a small-town girl’s dream to be in a place like this. Thank you all for being part of it.”
The day after the unveiling, L’Oréal Luxe – Travel Retail Worldwide Managing Director Barbara Lavernos took key retail clients and The Moodie Report’s Martin Moodie by vintage car to a gastronomic lunch at the magnificent Château Saint-Martin & Spa for an informal briefing and relaxed day out. Look out for an interview with Barbara Lavernos in coming weeks.
