Chanel's new and extremely exciting approach to skincare: Le Jour, La Nuit, Le Weekend

Chanel's new skincare programme: Le Jour, La Nuit, Le Weekend (the day, the night, the weekend)

Now this is definitely one I'm super excited about!

There's a bit of reading associated with this post, but I think it's worth it if you're interested in a genuinely new concept in skincare.

The preamble

As most people will be aware, it's a good idea to moisturise and treat your skin in accordance with its type, its age, its specific needs.  So for oily skin, one skincare regimen (and range of products) would be recommended.  Ditto, for normal skin.  Same again pertains to dry skin.  If you have teenage skin, or hormonal skin, or mature skin, you'll have different needs again.  And most people will have heard of Day skincare products and Night skincare products.

What most people don't understand is that there's a reason for these different products; there's simple science behind it - it is categorically not a gimmick.  Good day products and night products usually contain ingredients that aim to work with the skin's needs and its function at a particular time - for example, good night time products often contain ingredients that help your skin to relax, to de-stress, to plump up, to regenerate, in other words - to work with what the skin does at night-time; healing, regeneration and detoxifying.  Good day-time products often contain SPFs and other barrier ingredients along with other ingredients that work synergistically with the skin's daytime functions of protection and breathing.

What Chanel have done is to take this one step further with an entirely new range (a trio) of Reactivating, Recharging and Renewing skincare products, designed to work in synergy with Day-time, Night-time and Weekend-time, in order to help re-synch and reset the natural biorythms of the skin.

The Study

Life is becoming increasingly more hectic, resulting in a phenomenon known as "social jetlag".  Chanel have conducted a landmark study on the effect of this busy lifestyle; the constant activity, the never-ending multitasking, the increasingly early starts and late finishes, the lack of sufficient sleep and rest, on the state of our skin.

Maintaining a hectic pace frequently takes its toll on minds and bodies.  If this is the case, then it is not a stretch to realise that the skin's natural biological rhythms are similarly out of synch.  Skin that is out of tune is frequently less well moisturised - or more to the point, it seems to stop holding its moisture, despite escalating usage of various creams and potions.  It can lack elasticity, tone, luminosity.  It is not unusual for it to look grey and uneven, less smooth, more prone to breakouts, pale and wan.  The skin needs its down-time too, it needs a day-time regime and a night-time regime, and a weekend regime.

The result of this one-of-a-kind study is a programme of three universal products which have been developed to re-sync the skin.  These products are designed to complement any usual skincare, irrespective of age, irrespective of skintype, irrespective of brand or range, and to turn back the clock on this "social jetlag".  They're designed to work in tandem with what most people would naturally do; treat their skin one way during the week and another way at the weekend (how often do you exfoliate/mask/deep cleanse your face and when would this be likely to happen - when you have time, at the weekend!)

The Products

Le Jour de Chanel €75 is the day-time treatment and is designed to re-activate the skin.  Based on jasmine extract (for energy) and salicylic acid (a gentle exfoliator, for radiance and to tighten pores), it has a fresh green jasmine scent.  One to two pumps should be used in the morning, after cleansing, and before your day-time skincare regime.

La Nuit de Chanel €75 is the night-time treatment and is designed to recharge the skin.  This is based on a frankincense extract (known for its soothing properties and to help repair the skin at a cellular level) and sustained-release hyaluronic acid (assists in gradual skin-plumping).  It has a relaxing scent of roses and should be used at night-time, after cleansing and before the rest of your night-time skincare regime - again, one to two pumps should do.

Le Weekend de Chanel €90 is the weekend-specific treatment.  This is designed to renew the skin, and aims to give it balance, hydration, comfort and a gentle purification treatment.  It is based on may rose water (known for its skin softening qualities) and a controlled-release AHA/glycolic acid (which helps to eliminate dead skin cells and refine the skin's texture).  It carries the scent of fresh rose petals.  This one is slightly different - it should be used once or (maximum) twice in a week, in the morning and the evening, after cleansing and before the remainder of your day-/night- time skincare regime, whenever your "weekend" happens to fall (which may or may not be Saturday and Sunday!)  Note that because this contains glycolic acid compound, it's recommended that you always use a product containing SPF over it during the day.

Some Q&A on these products

Q    Are these moisturisers or serums?

A    These are neither moisturiser nor serum, they are intended as a first step immediately after cleansing and before normal skincare products, so whether or not you use serum, or moisturiser, this is the first step after you have cleansed and toned your face.

Q    Can/should they be used with other Chanel products?

A    These are designed to be used with any range of products, whether Chanel or otherwise.

Q    Are they based around any other Chanel skincare range or completely new?

A    These are not based on any particular range or existing products - these are a completely new programme of products based around re-synching the skin and turning back the clock on the "social jetlag" phenomenon.

Q    Which age group/skin type are they targeting?

A    These are skin- and age- agnostic, they don't target any particular age group or skin type, they can be used by anyone.

---

These became available from the 19th of July (so already on counter).  These are all new products and prices are as above.  There is also a once-off LE collection of the three at €220 (a saving of €20 on the three products bought separately) available while stocks last.  Look here for more information.

I plan to trial these and report back on their efficacy and compare my experience with Chanel's own survey results.  Watch this space, I'll report back in a couple of weeks...