Lancôme New Advanced Génifique serum

Hey lovers!

Just yesterday, I had the exciting opportunity to be part of the exclusive reveal of the Advanced Génifique serum. The informative press event held at the L’Oréal South Africa Head Offices was led by Namate Moyo [ Marketing Manager for Lancôme ] , Ashley Fernandes [ National Education, Retail & Services Manager, L’Oreal Luxe ] and Dr Heidi [ Advanced Research Manager Sub-Saharan Africa at L’Oréal ]

I must say, the best thing about this session was having Dr Heidi in the room. Dr Heidi’s portfolio covers South Sub Saharan Africa, which includes raw portfolio ingredient and technology support towards skin and hair. She is also in charge of the incubator and the open innovation L’Oréal does within her region. She did a great job at helping us understand all the scientific terms and how the skin works beyond what meets the eye.

Now back to the product. Advanced Génifique serum is an existing product, initially launched back in the year 2009. With the growth in trends and the world evolving, L’Oréal decided that it was time to renovate and enhance the product to meet the current skin concerns of people.

Lancôme was launched in 1935 by Armand Petitjean, a Frenchman who loved his wife dearly. He owned a rose garden from which he’d pick a rose each day for his wife, this beautiful gesture, accompanied with words telling her how beautiful she is.

What I love about L’Oréal as a company at large is that they don’t launch products unless they’re above the market standard, and this applies for all of their brands. This is one of the many reasons why I’m even more excited by Lancôme’s latest offering.

With women becoming more invested in their health and skin, an important share by Dr Heidi was that our health goes beyond just our skin but extends into our environment. The fact that natural organisms were used was yet another reason that got me excited about Advanced Génifique serum. This means that there aren’t dangerous chemicals seeping into the ground – yes to sustainability!

Thanks to a collaboration with Pr. Hattori, from Waseda University, Sōdai, Japan, our Research has been able to make an unprecedented discovery, revealing that the skin microbiome changes as we age.

By comparing the microbiome of young and older subjects, we have identified 38 differentiated bacteria species, demonstrating that both groups have a different microbiome signature (Cutibacterium is for example less abundant in the older group). Moreover, the microbiome diversity has also been shown to increase as we age.

Both the classic and all new Génifique serum have probiotics which act on the microbiome. Well, what is a microbiome? “It is the beneficial ecosystem of micro organism living in and on our bodies. It’s mainly composed of bacteria which influences everything from our gut, to our immunity and even our skin health and appearance. Microbiome helps support our skin ability to defend and recover. Basically, it acts as the first line of defense of our skin from the world around us.” I think that’s a great and simple way to understand what a microbiome is. It should be noted as well that just like a signature, each individual has a unique microbiome. However, our microbiome changes according to our lifestyle, age and environment we live in. Think UV rays, pollution, nutrition, stress, medications, hormonal changes and physical manipulation. Ultimately, what we’re striving for is the balance of our microbiome, which is what’s essential for our health and appearance.

So just in case you were wondering, no, the microbiome is not another layer of your skin. The organisms live on top of your skin and are an additional layer which can protect your skin.

The 3 Roles of microbiome:

PROTECT

A balanced microbiome provides antimicrobial defense against pathogens and liberates antioxidant proteins.

REGULATE

It modulates excessive inflammation.

REPAIR

Then enhances epidermis cohesion and strengthens the skin barrier to build resilience.

Now, to just touch on the prebiotic and probiotic technology. The probiotic is the good bacteria, and the prebiotic is the food for the probiotic.

When you apply the classic Génifique, you’re applying the prebiotic. From there, the probiotics begin to grow, multiply and replenish the outer layer of the skin.

The new Advanced Génifique serum now has 4 probiotics and 3 prebiotics

PREBIOTICS

Provide a vital source of nutrients for beneficial bacteria to grow. New Advanced Génifique contains 3 plant or biotech-based prebiotics.

PROBIOTICS

Probiotics are live microorganisms providing overall health benefits to their host.

For those who currently take probiotics , Dr Heidi confirmed that it’s safe to say that you can only do good!

To wrap things up, it was great to hear the insights shared by Dr Heidi on research conducted on around 750 women across Sub Saharan Africa. The skin research was conducted in Nigeria and Ghana for West Africa, Kenya for East Africa and South Africa for Southern Africa. When shown pictures of different types of skin and asked on their preference, even tones and glowing skin came out as the top preference.

For those interested in the product, you will notice that the new Advanced Génifique has slightly different packaging, with the signature rose no longer on the packaging but on the bottle inside the packaging. The new Advanced Génifique maintains the same bottle as the classic, as well as the subtle scent and easy texture many who use it have come to love!