Virginie Couturaud
Every day we are overloaded with messages from beauty companies promising ‘effective results,’ ‘visible effects,’ ‘instant radiance,’ and so on. It goes without saying that many of us are looking for beauty products that work, but how can we know which ones truly do when we are given so many mixed messages?
In a world of messages and marketing, Dior is one of the few brands to not just follow the crowd, but develop its own research and methods to ensure scientifically proven outcomes. The brand is strongly focused on not only implementing science but promoting effective results, the innovations and the ingredients behind its products that, based on scientifically proven methods, offer true, honest outcomes. Dior’s skincare products are developed over years of testing and combine new innovations and technologies with the finest ingredients from nature, helping to provide solutions for some of the most pressing skin issues.
The Dior Science department is in place to ensure the research and development behind the brand’s products is shared with the world and explained in a way that allows women and men to understand the visible results of their products. As pioneers in the industry, the Maison is constantly developing new ways to bring effective results to its products and to reassure customers of their commitment to the brand. Virginie Couturaud, DIOR Scientific Communication Director, is one of those hoping to share the message, ensuring transparency and credibility from Dior’s skincare offerings. We find out more about how science and innovation combine with nature at Dior to produce some of the most ground-breaking products in the industry.
Can you tell us in your own words what your role entails?
As the Director of Scientific Communication, my role is to make the science behind the products is visible and to explain the purpose of this science on the skin so that the consumer can choose her product according to her needs. Today, science is omnipresent and tends to reassure consumers that it is understandable. The accessibility of this science allows us to have the information (maybe too much information) and allows the free choice of its positioning. At Dior, our positioning is one of transparency, legitimacy and credibility. We work for the future of the skin and develop products to bring one or more essential benefits to it.
What are some of the latest innovations in the beauty industry that you are particularly excited by?
Subjected to strong efficiency stakes, the skincare market has been able to appropriate many aspects of scientific research, in particular human health research, to study skin physiology in-depth and provide ever more effective and credible solutions. Thus, measurement tools allow us to prove the effectiveness of our products. Vectorization galenics are becoming more and more advanced, as are the actions. For example, the use of a confocal microscope allows us to perform optical biopsies and to see collagen in a non-invasive way! For the Dior Prestige skincare line, we used a new skin model with 3D Bioimpression. We created skin (the same one that is now being experimented on for burn victims) to measure the effects of UV rays and propose active ingredients at all levels.
Another notion that pushes us to better know our ingredients and their effects on the skin is the ascension of natural and clean. Indeed, we are in a continuous process of researching ingredients that can bring sensoriality and efficiency from nature.
Dior Prestige
How have developments in technology aided the creation of new, more accurate products in skincare and beauty?
Technological development makes it possible to implement three essential aspects in the design of a powerful skincare product. Firstly, it allows us to explore skin physiology in greater depth, and to decipher the biological mechanisms of ageing with greater precision. This is the purpose of our partnerships: since 2019, we have been working with CiRA to discover new cosmetic applications for the science of stem cells and cell reprogramming, based on a Nobel Prize-winning discovery from Pr. Shinya YAMANAKA. With Professor Vadim GLADYSHEV of Brigham & Women’s Hospital. We are interested in measuring and quantifying biological age, intending to reverse it. All these discoveries allow us to address new issues by targeting fundamental mechanisms of skin ageing.
Based on these discoveries, the design of new active ingredients is necessary to target these new mechanisms. As experts in floral science, it is clear that technological development is helping us capture the full power of our flowers, using extraction methods that are both more efficient and more responsible. The best example to date is the new fraction of Rose de Granville, used in the Dior Prestige La Crème, obtained by electromagnetic separation after extraction of fresh flowers is performed in situ in our Dior Garden. The extract obtained is made solely from the cellular content of the Rose, without chemical solvents, and thus presents a concentration of active molecules never reached before.
Finally, technological evolution plays a key role in the development of new galenic products. For example, vectorization and encapsulation are at the origin of ever more effective formulas in terms of penetration, bioavailability and, particularly at Dior; sensoriality. We were the first to integrate liposomes into our cosmetic products (Total Capture). This galenic approach is key in the development of a product, to allow the active ingredients to reach their target and deliver maximum action in real conditions of use.
How do you think science and nature complement each other when it comes to skincare products?
Nature is an immeasurable source of molecular wealth. Life itself is the result of chemical complexity and performance unequalled by human science. It is therefore a constant source of inspiration, both in health and in cosmetics, and even more so at Dior, where flowers are at the heart of our innovation. On the other hand, science is necessary to go from the flower to the formula, starting with the extraction processes. The better we can extract the power, and therefore the molecular richness of plants, the better we will be able to shape a powerful active ingredient, capable of making real changes within the skin.
Science also allows us to better understand nature, and to see how ingeniously flowers develop resistance mechanisms that are not so far from those of our skin. For example, by deciphering the cellular mechanisms and molecules involved in the resilience of the Granville Rose, we were able to extract these molecules and infuse them into ROSAPEPTIDE, the flagship active ingredient of the new Dior Prestige Cream. From the flower to the skin, there is only one step, but this step cannot be taken without state-of-the-art science and the most advanced technologies.
With technology changing so quickly how does Dior ensure it keeps up with new developments and innovations?
Dior is a house imbued with the pioneering spirit of its founder, which is why innovation is at the heart of our ecosystem. Dior science comes first and foremost from LVMH research, which has one of the largest cosmetics research centres in the world, Hélios, in Saint-Jean de Braye, where more than 600 researchers work together. In addition, LVMH research makes it a point of honour to initiate and develop strong partnerships with the greatest and most renowned research organisations in the world, such as CiRA, the CNRS, and the Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. This way, we are not only aware of state-of-the-art advances but also participate in scientific advances in cutting-edge sectors of the life sciences, such as stem cells, inflamm’aging or Age Reverse.
At the same time, LVMH research has three innovation centres in Asia (Tokyo, Shanghai, and Singapore), whose objective is to be as close as possible to the expectations of our consumers and market trends and to generate an innovation dynamic that is relevant to our Asian customers.
Finally, the development of our floral science is also the subject of prestigious partnerships, to continue to uncover the fascinating power of Dior flowers and develop new extraction techniques that allow us to access their full skincare potential, and infuse it in our skincare products.
What is the biggest challenge you face in your role?
With the advancement of biological science, the biggest challenge is to make the effectiveness of our products credible. Dior science is a pioneer in research and we are the first in cosmetics to enter an innovative research territory, Age Reverse. Indeed, our life expectancy has been considerably extended thanks to recent advances in the medical field. Today, enabling the human body to maintain good health for as long as possible is a major research challenge. In this quest for good health, ageing, defined by the scientific community as a continuous process of alteration of the different functions of the body, seems to be a hindrance. Recent discoveries have shown that this process is not inevitable and that it is possible to slow it down and even partially reverse it. This awareness has led to the development of a new research area, whose objective is to explore the different ways to reverse the ageing process, offering new perspectives on human health: AGE REVERSE. In the long term, this work will make it possible to significantly extend life expectancy in good health.
For Dior, Age Reverse is part of a holistic approach to beauty, which involves above all, healthy skin. The goal is not to regain a disproportionately younger appearance, but to restore the functional balance and quality of youthful skin, at all levels. The new Dior Prestige High Repair Cream is the perfect start to this process: The structure of the skin as well as its organization are necessary to maintain its health. By targeting the essential structural biomarkers, Dior Prestige cream delivers a global action on the three levels of the skin (stratum corneum, epidermis, dermis) and allows it to regain the optimal functioning of younger skin. It defends itself better against aggressions and synthesises the key molecules to regain its structure, vitality and youthfulness. It is visibly more beautiful, stronger and regains a younger appearance.
What is something you would still like to do?
To go further in the demonstration of the Reverse Age and of course, apply it to our products. It is already possible to do it in our structure, but to be able to do it at the source would be a huge opportunity to see the number of diseases decrease. This is an incredible period of scientific research that is opening up!
