With retail prices for a mid-sized jar typically running into the high hundreds, La Prairie is famously one of the most premium brands in skincare. And within the Swiss skincare brand’s offerings, one range sits right at the top, where prices start at four digits — Platinum Rare.
The brand likens the range’s loftily named “haute-rejuvenation” process to haute couture and haute horlogerie, citing the know-how required in these fields.
The Platinum Rare range bears a similarity to fine watches in another way: Its key ingredient is platinum. Not just for making weighty, stealth-wealth timepieces, the rare precious metal is also an antioxidant that helps to reduce inflammation and protect the skin.
Now, the Platinum Rare line gets an upgrade with a new Platinum Multi-Peptide, “a tight complex of three different peptides attached to spherical platinum particles that are designed to trigger rejuvenating activities”.
This works in tandem with La Prairie’s signature Exclusive Cellular Complex, a highly guarded formula based on the cellular-therapy research of Dr Paul Niehans, whose rejuvenating therapies were developed at the Clinique La Prairie in Montreaux, Switzerland more than 80 years ago.
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According to the brand, the new Platinum Multi-Peptide improves on the previous version of the active ingredient – which mainly boosted collagen production – by also helping to “strengthen the skin barrier and improve its moisture balance”.
The Platinum Rare Range now comes with “a tight complex of three different peptides attached to spherical platinum particles that are designed to trigger rejuvenating activities”.
Contained in silky-smooth serums and creams with a floral-piney scent and an instantly illuminating subtle shimmer, the updated formulations apparently address a host of interconnected rejuvenating processes in the skin: Strengthen the skin’s barrier, renew epidermal cells, protect against external stressors, improve the cell’s environment and stimulate cell communication.
The new formulas are used in the Platinum Rare Haute-Rejuvenation Elixir, Platinum Rare Haute-Rejuvenation Eye Elixir, Platinum Rare Haute-Rejuvenation Eye Cream and Platinum Rare Haute-Rejuvenation Cream, which come in reassuringly heavy purple jars or bottles. Prices range from $1,510 to $2,340.
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With these products, a little goes a long way. While sampling the Haute-Rejuvenation Cream, there was once I got a little too generous with the application, and it felt a tad heavy on my oily/combination skin.
All was well when I cut back to using a tiny amount on a fingertip (the Cream comes with a gold- and silver-coloured spatula, but using and cleaning such tools requires a patience I don’t have).
After using the Cream and the Elixir for a few days, my skin felt tauter and smoother, and the fine lines that have been trying to set up shop on my forehead in recent years appeared finer. Not too shabby for someone with a 3am-bedtime habit and a diet of too much caffeine and sugar.
This article first appeared in The Peak