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Origins has extended its Plantscription collection with the new Powerful Lifting Cream, which makes its debut this month. It is being introduced in selected travel retail doors in Asia Pacific and the Americas from January, and will roll out to Europe, the Middle East and Africa from February. The suggested travel retail price point is £42.50 for 50ml.
Plantscription Powerful Lifting Cream was unveiled late last year at the Leica Gallery in London, at a presentation hosted by Dr Lieve DeClercq, Origins Global Spokesperson for Plant Physiology and Molecular Biology, and Akira Yokozeki, Executive Director of Origins Global Product Development, Asia Pacific.
As its name suggests, the product was created to tap into the growing popularity of lifting products, now a key segment of the anti-ageing category, which is forecast to grow considerably given the world’s ageing population. Every three seconds someone in the world turns 50 – by 2020 25% of the world will be over 50 years of age.
Plantscription Powerful Lifting Cream is described as a high-performing, plant-powered formula that works deep within the skin’s surface to help visibly lift and re-volumise skin, ultimately restoring youthful facial definition. A slackening of facial contours and the appearance of sagging skin are a common consequence of ageing, as over time skin naturally produces less collagen and elastin, which are essential to maintaining firmness, elasticity and pliability.
Plantscription Powerful Lifting Cream features ingredients that are said to support natural collagen and elastin, to create a visibly firmer, more lifted look, along with the appearance of a slimmer, sharper chin. It is also said to boost moisture, pushing out folds and depressions to redefine youthful facial contours, soften marionette lines and restore the appearance of volume. In a clinical study, 92% of panellists showed visibly lifted and re-contoured skin in just two weeks.
At the London launch event, Origins presented several key beauty trends which originated in Asia and which helped to inspire the new Powerful Lifting Cream.
“Asian women often have up to 15 steps in their beauty regimen,” noted Yokozeki. “They are not afraid to use complex regimes to achieve a beautiful face. And Asian trends are becoming increasingly important worldwide, for example BB and CC creams originated in Asia.”
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Dr Lieve DeClercq explains the science behind the new Plantscription Powerful Lifting Cream |
A more recent emerging trend is the pursuit of a heart-shaped face, an important component of both the “Ulzzang” and “Gyaru” looks. The former – a Korean word – denotes a pure, innocent look, often achieved with much artful though subtle make-up application. The latter means “girl” in Japanese and refers to a much more obvious make-up look and style.
“A heart-shaped face, with plump cheeks, a sharp jawline and no loose or sagging skin is now the ideal face shape in Asia,” underlined Yokozeki, “and is set to become a global indicator of beauty. However, a heart-shaped face is something that deteriorates with age, so lifting products are set to become very important.”
DeClercq explained how Origins travelled the world looking for new ingredients and inspiration for new skin care solutions. “We bring traditional ingredients into our lab to study them, and we also talk to people about what they consider to be beautiful.”
She continued: “In Asia people look at beauty in a much more holistic way. They look at the shape of the face and make a huge effort to recreate what they consider to be beautiful and youthful looks. In the West we look at more isolated, specific things, such as wrinkles or lines, and target those instead. With this product Origins has brought together these two approaches.”
DeClerq echoed how a contoured face with plump cheeks and a sharp jaw-line resonated everywhere as a marker for youth and beauty.
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The Asian desire for a heart-shaped face was a key inspiration for the product | |
“Yet we know that a slackening of facial contours happens to everyone sooner or later, depending on certain factors. The mid-forties is usually the turning point, although it does happen earlier in Asia. To counter this, we have created our most advanced lifting formula to date, which features three key natural ingredients.”
African Anogeissus is the first, obtained from the leaves and bark of the sacred Anogeissus tree native to Ghana, where it is harvested as a potent wound healer and antimicrobial.
“It is amazingly effective at stimulating new fibrillin anchors,” DeClerq explained. “We combined this with raspberry plant stem cells, which help to stimulate cellular repair and regeneration. These are complemented by a new ingredient, Indian Commiphora, derived from a bark of a native Indian plant, which is commonly used in Ayurvedic medicine. It helps to re-plump skin and restore lost volume and definition.”
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The new Origins flagship concept store in Shanghai, which opened last year |
Plantscription Powerful Lifting Cream can be used as a day or night cream, and should be applied to the face in an upward motion, concentrating on the jaw-line and the cheek area. The product has been clinically proven to deliver a +69% improvement in overall lift; a +47% improvement in the jowl area; boost skin’s barrier strength by +68%; and instantly increase moisture levels by +71%.
By region, the US is the biggest market for Origins, followed by China, Hong Kong, travel retail and the UK. The brand has recently opened a new flagship concept store in Shanghai, which showcases the story-telling and explorer credentials of the brand. That retail template will subsequently be rolled out to other locations, both domestic and in travel retail, from 2014 onwards.
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