Soaking in the essence of Paris and discovering the new Clarins Treatment Essence in PB’s Parisian Adventure

Treatment essences aren’t something new to us, skincare fans, are they? But what if there was a treatment essence that helps your skin, based on age and skin concerns? Now, that might be something worth investigating. And that was what I headed to discover in Paris with skincare brand Clarins, as part of the Malaysia digital influencer team! W00t!

Clarins’ office headquarters in Paris!

Paris is a beautiful city, filled with eye-popping monuments, historical artifacts, and stunning architecture that makes you want to look upwards all the time, so you don’t miss anything of the beautiful wrought iron balconies and rooftops. Paris is also home to world famous luxury fashion designer brands and international beauty brands, of which Clarins is one. I’ll take you through some highlights of my PB’s Parisian Adventure with Clarins, tell you a LOT more about these Clarins Anti-Ageing Treatment Essences (and how to score some samples) and how I was taught to use them for best effect. Settle in, it’ll be quite a ride 🙂

Learning about the Clarins Treatment Essence at the Clarins Headquarters

How often do I get the chance to visit a major brand’s headquarters and meet the owners? Never! That’s the answer! LOL! I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to skincare or brands in general, and I love meeting the people behind a brand or product. They are always so passionate about what they do, and that is very, very inspiring!

For this new Clarins Treatment Essence, we were briefed by Caroline Camuzat, Clarins’ International Scientific Manager at Clarins’ new HQ offices in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. The spanking new building is bright and shiny and eco-friendly, with a self-cooling system mimicking a beehive, that is also energy efficient, has an internal cafe and staff canteen, and pleasant gardens through which to walk. Wouldn’t I love to work there! 😀

Being the International Scientific Manager, Caroline took us through the what, how and why of the new Clarins Treatment Essence, and answered a couple of burning questions I had about which to pick, since we have 3 to choose from.

New Clarins Treatment Essence

Some of us are by now, familiar with the skin’s natural barrier that protects us against external aggressions. These Treatment Essences, which are applied immediately after cleansing, as the first step of your post-cleansing skincare routine are designed to “unlock” this skin barrier and boost skin hydration, so other products that go on, absorb more effectively into the skin. Think of it like a pre-serum, or pre-essence – something familiar in most Asian skincare lines.

I must say that when you first prep your skin using the Treatment Essence, you will find that any other products go on and absorb into skin more quickly. The logical summation is that this Treatment Essence will help boost the absorption and efficacy of other products that follow. This has been the premise of treatment essences since they appeared on the skincare scene in recent years.

Cruising down the River Seine with Clarins Treatment Essences 

However, realising that our skin ages differently and is unique, and therefore one treatment essence cannot suit every skin type, Clarins came out with not just 1, but THREE different Anti-Ageing Treatment Essences to suit 3 different age groups.

• 25+ Multi-Active Treatment Essence Vitality Booster (pink) (RM200) – targeted at younger skin with the first signs of ageing, this essence boosts cell vitality, radiance and slows down cellulcar ageing. The result would be more supple, moisturized and revitalised skin.
• 35+ Extra-Firming Treatment Essence Bounciness Enhancer (orange) (RM215) – targeted at skin that has noticeable signs of ageing which includes dehydrated skin, this essence helps reinforce the skin structure so skin is more bouncy, smoother and firmer. The result is better hydrated skin, reduction of fine lines and skin that is more plump.
• 45+ Super Restorative Treatment Essence Smoothness Enhancer (red) (RM285) – targeted at much more matured skin that is dull with reduced cell turnover and lines and wrinkles, this essence helps re-energize the skin to boost skin radiance, and exfoliate the dead skin cells to help product penetrate better into the skin. The result would be softer, more supple and radiant skin.

As maybe expected, the 3 different Treatment Essences have different textures as well, ranging from the very light texture of the Multi-Active Treatment Essence, to the slightly heavier Extra-Firming Treatment Essence and to the almost emulsion feel of the Super Restorative Treatment Essence. I’ll share more about this when I post my review 😉

Clarins Herbarium cart at the Jardine Palais Royal 

As Mr. Christian Coutin-Clarins, current Chairman of the Clarins Group told us when he met us, Clarins prides itself on using high quality ingredients, and to take the best from nature to create their products, while protecting bio-diversity and nature. The key ingredients in each of the Treatment Essences are from different plants and sources, to cater to different skin needs:-

• Multi-Active Treatment Essence – Teasel extract to increase cell vitality and boost skin energy, Acerola Seed Extract to boost skin radiance and Myrothamus Extract to slow down cellular ageing
• Extra Firming Treatment Essence – Lemon thyme and Green Banana extract to enhance skin bounciness and smooth and firm skin, Fig extract and hyaluronic acid to boost skin moisture
• Super Restorative Treatment Essence – Pueraria Lobata Extract to stimulate synthesis of collagen, Ginseng & Green Coffee Extract to boost skin radiance and Hibiscus Flower acid to exfoliate skin (I’m particularly pleased about the use of the Hibiscus flower because that’s our national flower! 😀 )

How do you pick which Treatment Essence to use?

I asked Caroline how we’d pick which Treatment Essence to use. Was it based on our calendar age? Or was it something a little more technical?

Answer:

You pick the Clarins Treatment Essence based on the age of your skin, which may or may not correspond to your calendar age. For those of us who take pains to care for our skin, and use sunscreen daily, you will likely find that your skin’s age is far younger than your calendar age. By way of example, I’m 42 this year and based on my age, would be a prime candidate for the Super Restorative Treatment Essence. However, Caroline assured me that the one I should use would be the Extra-Firming Treatment Essence for a while instead (whew! LOL!) as my skin did not display the concerns to be addressed by the Super Restorative Treatment Essence. By contrast, someone who doesn’t pay a lot of attention to their skin, or who displays the skin concerns that correspond to their age group might then need to pick a Treatment Essence from within their targeted age group or perhaps even the next one up. This is most likely to be true for the 20-somethings who may be living the party and late night lifestyle, and find that the Extra-Firming Treatment Essence does more for them than the Multi-Active Treatment Essence will.

GET YOUR SAMPLE! If you’d like to sample this Treatment Essence (I’m only posting my review in about 2 weeks from now so you can try it and share your experience when I share mine) CLICK HERE to get your sample (Malaysia only)!

How to apply the Clarins Treatment Essence

This is where I thoroughly enjoyed the session with Denise Bathe, Clarins’ Skincare International Training Manager, who is a wealth of information about the pressure technique recommended by Clarins and used at all Clarins Spas worldwide during their facials. She was trained by Clarins’ founder Mr. Jacques Courtin and is so passionate about what she does that I couldn’t help being caught up in the wake of her enthusiasm.

With Denise Bathe at Monseiur Bleu, a restaurant overlooking that iconic Tour Eiffel! She has BEAUTIFUL skin!

I also had the privilege to experience a Clarins facial at the Clarins Spa at the Hotel Molitor where we were put up, and I’m going to tell you right now that it feels EXACTLY like the Clarins facials here in KL! I used to frequent the Clarins Spa at BSC and KLCC and guys, it’s EXACTLY the same! You don’t have to go to Paris to experience it haha! 😀

I’m going to save the pressure technique for another day (or we’ll be here all day!) but what I wanted to share was how to use the Clarins Treatment Essence. Denise tells us there are 3 ways, all of which are effective.

• Use a cotton pad – Drop some of the treatment essence on a cotton pad to saturate it, and pat it over your skin. This takes the least amount of time and is good for those who are in a hurry.
• Use your hands – Drop 1-2 drops of the treatment essence in your palm, warm it up between your palms, and pat it on your skin, tapping with your finger tips. This takes a little more time, and is good for your evening routine, or for those who are used to making a little more effort with their skincare routine. I use this method as I abhor wastage 😛
• Use it as a mask – Get a paper mask capsule (you can easily get these at Daiso – Clarins will have some available, but it isn’t their mainstay right now) soak it with the treatment essence and then lay it on skin for about 10 minutes for an intensive treatment.

My personal preference is to use my hands. I do it with all essences, and I don’t see why I should stop LOL! I dislike the wastage on the cotton pad, and I find that with hands, you actually use a little less product (I usually use 1-2 drop at most) and that means your 200ml bottle can last you quite a while!

Meeting the owners of Clarins!

I don’t meet brand owners every day, and even less so when it’s an international brand of repute. Clarins is one of the few major beauty brands out there who are still owned by family of the founder. It is currently helmed by the 2 sons of founder Jacques Courtin – Dr. Olivier Courtin-Clarins and Mr. Christian Courtin-Clarins, both of whom are incredibly friendly and down-to-earth.

How many Chairmans would allow a bunch of strangers into their office? Not many, I warrant, but Mr. Christian invited us in to show us where he worked, and showed us pictures of his family (all the Courtin-Clarins children are involved in the company in one way or another) without batting an eyelid. It was quite an experience!

Mr. Christian Courtin-Clarins is also very passionate about environment conservation and is personally involved in many Clarins’ CSR projects worldwide. For him, protecting nature is protecting our future for our future generation, and the Clarins group is very active in these endeavours. We are assured that they will keep innovating and developing their products to be better and kinder to the environment, as well as moving towards airless packaging and keeping prices affordable.

Dr. Olivier Courtain-Clarins has recently launched his book “Doctor, I want to be the fairest of them all”, a book containing 60 of the most asked beauty questions he receives, one for each year Clarins has been in existence (It’s in English!) It’s adorably illustrated, and proceeds will go towards arthritis research. I haven’t had any information on whether it’s available in Malaysia, but you can get it on the international Clarins websites.

I always end up with weird pictures of me like this all the time haha! Having my book autographed by the author himself, who looks a little perplexed!

It was a humbling experience to meet both these driving forces behind the global success of the Clarins brand, and to realise that they are unpretentious and very personable people who love what they do, who love their work, and who are passionate about their incidental pursuits and the growth of their company.

Grab your sample!

So there you have it. The highlights of the Clarins x MWS adventure with Paris in Paris haha! 😀 I had an amazing time, I learned a lot and I hope I’ve managed to share some of what I’ve learned with you, so you understand a little more about these Clarins Anti-Aging Treatment Essences and what they’re for.

Paris dreaming of Paris while cruising down the River Seine – I loved this shot! 😀 We waited so long for the flag to unfurl properly and I swear I was almost sunburnt! 

I will be posting my review in about 2 weeks so I’d suggest you grab your sample now, give it a go and then in 2 weeks, come and share your thoughts with me.

GET YOUR SAMPLE! If you’d like to sample this Treatment Essence (I’m only posting my review in about 2 weeks from now so you can try it and share your experience when I share mine) CLICK HERE to get your sample (Malaysia only)!

Do these new treatment essences intrigue you?

They are available at counters from now, so go and have a play. Because some of you on Instagram asked, I checked with Clarins Paris and was told that the Treatment Essences are available only in Asia for now, because we are more receptive to a more complicated skincare routine. But who knows, they might expand to the rest of the world later, if people are receptive to the product! Now, go, get your sample and let me know if you enjoyed this post enough to try the product 😉

Paris B