For many years, the world of mass-market beauty has indulged in gender tropes and stereotypes. From colours to names, the way beauty and grooming products are marketed to women and men differs dramatically. Think about thick blue disposable razors vs. dainty pink ones; masculine leathery aftershaves vs. feminine floral scents in rose-tinted bottles. Similarly, cosmetics brands have been guilty of ignoring darker skin tones when launching new products; a sea of mostly white faces staring back as you scrolled down their grid.
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The Lady 95.22 bag, price upon request
But as skincare-obsessed women share their products with their male partners, makeup mavens like Jeffree Star are dubbed the face of global beauty campaigns, and advertising that reflects diversity in race increases, the traditional lines of exclusivity in the industry are blurring, if not disappearing altogether. And at the front of that conversation is Dior Beauty, who have just released its most inclusive product yet.
The line of products in the current Capture Totale range —all recyclable—includes a cleanser, milky toner, eye cream, and face cream, but the hero product is the new Le Sérum, the young sibling to the Super Potent Serum, targeted at, well, just about everyone. The aforementioned complex is derived from the Longoza flower, which Dior Science has been studying for 30 years. It is designed to penetrate deeper into the heart of the skin, at the dermoepidermal junction, to act on the “mother” cells in just four hours. This latest launch from the French Maison also boasts a genderless, ageless, and skin-toneless formula.
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Capture totale, Le Sérum, AED 560
Capture totale, Super Potent Eye Serum, AED 322
“During our research, we discovered that the anchorage in our stem cells decreases across all skin tones, all genders, and all the types of ethnicity including Caucasian, Asian, Hispanic, and Black skin,” Patrick Choisy, Head of the Department of Innovation Natural Materials and Sustainable Development LVMH Recherche, tells Cosmo. “This product is perfect for people living in a country with a lot of humidity and high temperatures, like the Middle East, because the formula is very light but very efficient. It’s not a question of gender or country, it’s just about improving the quality of the epidermis. And this product does exactly that.”
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Dior Fall 2023 men’s collection
Virginie Couturaud, Scientific Communication Director of Christian Dior Parfums, adds, “We all share the same stem cells – whichever city we live in, wherever in the world we are – which is why we approached this formula with inclusivity in mind.”
For Le Sérum, Dior Beauty developed an avant-garde testing platform, equipped with revolutionary technologies capable of pushing the limits of inclusivity. This unique approach demonstrates the benefits of one cell, for every skin type. The formula was tested on over 600 people including 110 different skin colour tones, men and women aged 18 to 70 years old, worldwide locations, and every skin type – even the most sensitive.
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Dior Backstage Face & Body Foundation, AED 194
“We recommend starting to use the product from the age of 18,” says Virginie. “We want to protect the degradation and damage to skin from an early age. If you maintain the quality of your epidermis as soon as possible, the signs of ageing won’t appear until much later in life. It’s all about prevention.”
The mother cells, which are divided into alpha [⍺] or beta [β], are universal, and what affects them therefore concerns all skin. By acting at the source, Le Sérum targets a multitude of skin types, ages, and nationalities. The result? Just four hours after application, the appearance of wrinkles is reduced and the skin is visibly smoother by 33%. After 30 days of use, 80% of the signs of ageing are corrected, leaving the skin looking firmer, more plump, and luminous. Sounds like a win all round for us.
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Dior Prestige, La Micro-Huile de Rose Advanced Serum, AED 1500
Dior Prestige, La Crème Lumière, AED 1995
Dior Beauty’s commitment to creating more socially responsible products doesn’t end there. Sustainability is also at the very heart of this release, from the ingredients to the packaging. The fermentation process is a 100% plant-based one; the ingredients obtained are biodegradable and recyclable with a composition containing a natural origin of 98%; and the bottle, which is produced in France to minimise the carbon footprint, is made of 20% recycled glass.
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“We’ve done a tremendous amount of work collecting information on every ingredient that is in our portfolio – and that is a lot of ingredients!” explains Patrick. “We asses everything from the biodegradability to the toxicity levels. We really look at the footprint we’re leaving on the environment, measuring it against the standard European Commission. This product has really pushed the barrier as much as possible in terms of what is achievable from natural ingredients – to create such an extraordinary serum of this quality with 98% of naturals is really amazing. We also thought that it was more sustainable to use a packaging with pure glass because glass is recyclable, and the plastic cap on the top is made out of 20 different types of recycled materials.”
Product efficacy, gender expression, and sustainability are undoubtedly the foundation for new product revolutions. And while it may be a touch too soon to tell whether men will embrace skincare with the same fervor as their female counterparts, one movement is obvious: beauty brands are pivoting towards more inclusive products.
Via @DiorBeauty on Instagram
Dior Backstage Face & Body Foundation, AED 194
Le Sérum highlights the dazzling limitlessness of what happens when science meets beauty — stripped from the boundaries and labels. As traditional gender norms and whitewashing in the cosmetics industry are increasingly questioned, is there still a need for age, race, and gender-specific skincare, or is the future, in fact, neutral?