Chanel’s New Blue Serum Has a Surprising Plant Focus

According to Chanel’s new Blue Serum marketing campaign, “the world’s best-kept longevity secret is located in the regions where people live longer: the blue zones”. Blue Zones are the five geographic areas of the world where people statistically live the longest: Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Icaria, Greece, and Loma Linda, California. According to the National Geographic story that first proposed this correlation in longevity, many of the secrets to healthy living have to do with the diet of people who live in these regions.

Accordingly, for their new Blue Serum, Chanel has incorporated three natural ingredients commonly found in the diet of people in blue populations: green coffee, bosana olives, and lentisk (aka mastic bush, which belongs to the same family as the pistachio nut).

Chanel’s turn toward the “natural” spectrum is unsurprising given that everyone from Vogue to the New York Times has acknowledged that the natural-skincare movement has taken to the mainstream as consumers are increasingly wary of the chemicals they put on their bodies (we’ve been on this train for a while now, so we’re not surprised).

Green coffee, for what its worth, has “heightened antioxidant properties” to “shield the complexion” while olive boasts “essential fatty acids and higher-level skin-fortifying polyphenols” to protect the skin’s surface. Lentisk, the lesser known of the three key ingredients, is a naturally-occurring oleanolic acid purified through CO2 Supercritical Extraction that “helps reinforce skin’s natural restorative abilities”. Like any serum, Chanel’s Blue Serum can be applied to cleansed skin morning and night, either before or in place of a moisturizer.

While the notion of natural skincare is not new, the fact that big brands like Chanel are embracing the trend bodes well for the future of mainstream natural skincare as we know it– when bespoke brand make a statement like this, its a good indicator that what once appeared as a “trend” is actually here to stay.

Watch the video above for more insight into Chanel’s Blue Serum concept.