Dior Launching Next-Generation Capture Totale Serum
PARIS — Parfums Christian Dior is launching a next-generation Capture Totale serum, called Le Sérum, and for its development created a new, inclusive skin classification platform.
The last major platform catagorizing skin, dubbed the Fitzpatrick scale, dates back almost 50 years. It was conceived in 1975 and divides skin color into six photo types.
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Fast-forward to today, however, and for Dior that wasn’t broad enough. Virginie Couturaud, scientific communications director at Parfums Christian Dior, said the brand “reconsidered completely the classifications of skins in the world from a scientific point of view.”
Dior Science and its parent company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton worked with external dermatologists and scientists worldwide to come up with a new system. They combined the Fitzpatrick classification with the Pantone SkinTone Guide, which is more commonly used for color cosmetics.
“It is the first time that we use it in the skin care field,” said Couturaud.
The result is the T.O.T.A.L. Platform, which is more wide-ranging and inclusive. (The acronym T.O.T.A.L. literally reflects that, standing for “tones,” “omnigender,” “types,” “ages” and “locations.”)
The new testing platform includes 110 skin tones, dubbed “Pantones,” from more than 600 men and women, with five skin types, aged between 18 and 70. They were located in the U.S., Europe and China.
“Skin color is a complex parameter that can vary within the same shade — from beige to pink, for example,” said Couturaud.
Le Sérum’s formulation was tested on each of those skin Pantones to measure consistent efficacy. The new testing protocol proved that the product works for all genders, age groups, skin types and tones with record results, according to Dior.
Le Sérum is billed to act on the principal signs of aging, causing skin to become firmer, plumper and brighter. The product’s actions are said to intensify over time.
“We wanted to develop a product for all skin,” said Couturaud.
Such a finding could help bolster Dior’s skin care business, which remains smaller than its fragrance or makeup activities in terms of sales. In 2021, Dior skin care rang up $916.5 million, while Dior fragrance generated $1.89 billion and Dior makeup, $1.39 billion, according to market research provider Euromonitor International.
Mother cells, or stem cells, are key to Le Sérum’s effectiveness. Dior said it has proven that the regenerative potential of epidermal firmness can be revived by consolidating the anchorage of mother cells, which loosens with age, more firmly in the dermo-epidermal junction.
“We demonstrated that the biology for all skin is the same,” said Couturaud.
That’s despite its diverse aging patterns.
“There are many aging signs which appear, but differently according to the the color of skin,” explained Karl Pays, global research director at LVMH.
The serum’s formula was updated with fermented longoza and Tuscan iris extract, which “superactivate” the mother cells’ anchorage.
“We have been working on longoza for many years, and we are exploring the potential of this flower,” said Pays. “It gave several generations of actives that we have introduced in many generations of Capture Totale serum and cream products. For this generation, we have been exploring a new way to catch molecules from longoza.”
Dior Science studied longoza in Madagascar, culled from the Dior garden there. The brand used a multi-fermentation process on it.
“This technology is much more advanced than usual fermentation,” continued Pays, explaining it’s a mixture of 10 microorganisms, rather than one, working in a symbiotic way.
It is a clean technology that’s wholly plant-based and sustainable, to boost the flower’s regenerative power to target mother cells.
Dior said a high-tech, double encapsulation allows the longoza to delve into the skin’s dermo-epidermal junction to act on the mother cells in four hours.
The Tuscan iris also comes from a protected Dior garden, in Italy. That ingredient creates a surface shield on skin against UV rays, to protect cutaneous mother cells. Le Sérum contains an H.A poly-filler, as well, for a long-lasting plumping effect.
Ninety-eight percent of the serum’s formula ingredients come from natural origin and are biodegradable as well as recyclable.
Dior redesigned the product’s bottle, which is now made of 20 percent recycled glass, leading to a reduced carbon footprint from packaging manufacturing.
Le Sérum will launch exclusively on dior.com on Monday and on counters worldwide starting Jan. 1.
Meanwhile, Dior researchers plan to continue to develop and use the T.O.T.A.L. platform.
“We want to go further,” said Couturaud.
