Culture

Artful Beauty

Since its inception in the 1930s, Swiss luxury skincare brand La Prairie has had an intrinsic link to art. Its latest collaborations uphold that tradition.

BY DEBORAH FRANK

Beauty cognoscenti can instantly recognize the cobalt blue packaging of lotions, creams, and serums as belonging to Swiss luxury skincare brand La Prairie (laprairie.com). And that’s because a chance encounter in 1982 with celebrated feminist artist Niki de Saint Phalle led to a creative exchange that resulted in the artist’s favorite color becoming the inspiration behind La Prairie’s iconic Skin Caviar Collection. Saint Phalle’s striking use of cobalt blue, which she described as “the color of joy and luck,” along with other vibrant primary hues, symbolically represented her modernist, progressive views of femininity, audacity, and strength. This resonated with the skincare brand’s pioneering spirit and its founding belief that the scientist’s creative process is akin to that of an artist.

Maotik’s Sense of Blue installation at Art Basel

Niki de Saint Phalle’s Last Night I Had a Dream (1968–1988) on view at MoMA PS1 earlier this year

In celebration of the collection’s newest addition, Skin Caviar Nighttime Oil, La Prairie generously supported the exhibition Niki de Saint Phalle: Structures for Life at New York’s MoMA PS1 earlier this year, and collaborated with French digital artist Mathieu Le Sourd, aka Maotik, on his Sense of Blue installation at the 2021 edition of Art Basel in Basel, Switzerland. The starting point of the commission revolved around the iconic cobalt blue, which Maotik brought to life through an immersive journey of the senses to plunge viewers into the depths of night. Through motion sensors, video projections, and digital algorithms, the interactive work aimed to transport viewers into, as Maotik put it, “an alternate universe guided by discovery of what the night holds.” The multi-sensory experience proved a fitting tribute to cobalt blue and Saint Phalle, and even to Skin Caviar collection’s Nighttime Oil.

The secret ingredient in the face oil is natural retinol, which La Prairie’s scientists identified as an elusive component of caviar that thrives only at night. Retinol is coveted for its line-effacing efficacy and in Nighttime Oil the caviar-derived retinol is combined with vitamin D, triglycerides, and omega-3, -6, and -9 to eliminate creases, firm skin, and seal in moisture. During the night, the skin’s focus is primarily on regeneration; whereas during the day it is mainly about protection. La Prairie created the oil to work with the skin’s circadian rhythm to help counteract the aging process. The collection’s nightly routine begins with applying Skin Caviar Essence-in-Lotion to cleansed skin followed by Liquid Lift, Eye Lift, and Luxe Eye Cream, then the fast-penetrating Nighttime Oil. When extra indulgence is needed, Skin Caviar Luxe Sleep Mask can be used in place of the oil.

Having wrapped up its fourth year at Art Basel in Switzerland with Maotik’s Sense of Blue debut, La Prairie is turning its attention next to Art Basel in Miami Beach (December 2–4), where it has had a presence in the Collectors Lounge at the VIP pavilion since 2018. In addition to a public artistic peformance yet to be announced at press time, the brand will tease its first skincare launch of 2022.