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Only the BEST of the BEST can be found under one roof at the Paul Labrecque Signature Skincare Apothecary and paullabrecque.com! Seven of our most popular products are among WWD Beauty Inc’s picks for The 2024 100 Greatest Skin Care Products Of All Time. We are constantly curating the best in skincare, haircare and makeup to offer our clientele the most effective and innovative beauty products on the market.
To compile the list, WWD Beauty Inc polled over 600 beauty industry insiders, executives, financiers, creators, professionals and founders in an open-ballot format and asked them to submit responses. Voters were asked to consider the following criteria: product efficacy, formula innovation, sales performance, packaging design and market impact. WWD Beauty Inc tabulated votes and, accounting for multiple duplicate votes from the same organizations, culled the top 100 products that garnered the most votes.
What brands are included in The Greatest Skincare Products of All Time?
Biologique Recherche Skincare, Augustinus Bader, Dr Gross Skincare, 111Skin, Cle de Peau Beaute and Vintner's Daughter.
Which of The Greatest Skincare Products of All Time can I purchase at www.paullabrecque.com
Biologique Recherche Lotion P50 ( all formulas), 111Skin Rose Gold Facial Mask, Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream, Dr Gross Skincare Alpha Beta Peels (3 formulas), Vintner's Daughter Active Botanical Serum, Cle de Peau Beaute La Creme, Dr Gross Alpha Beta Peels and the Dr Gross 15% Vitamin C Firm + Bright Serum.
Here are our winners:
Biologique Recherche Lotion P50 ( 6 custom formulations)
Half a century old and still cleaning up! Biologique Recherche, the French brand founded in the 1970s, opened for business with a small array of products, including a toner called P50 designed for daily exfoliation. Born out of that single toner came Biologique’s approach to skin care — highly specialized and customizable regimens following a framework rooted in a preparatory stage called initialization that starts with Lotion P50. That those routines required a trained aesthetician to prescribe only added to the brand’s allure. “Biologique grew by word of mouth,” said Dr. Philippe Allouche, Biologique Recherche’s head of creation, “There was no internet at that time.”
Today, P50 is available in seven strengths for varying skin types, including the original formula, Lotion P50 1970. Lotion P50 has become the cornerstone of many a brand fanatic’s daily ritual. “The fact that we have an initialization phase is deeply rooted in P50, and each regimen needs it,” said Margot Humbert, the brand’s U.S. general manager. “The entire methodology of the brand came from P50.” It also set the bar for all of the brand’s product development thereafter. “Skin isn’t about trends, it’s about physiology,” Allouche said, adding the formula has barely been touched since launch. “Biologique Recherche follows science and it follows skin,” Humbert said. “It’s not even about one holy grail product. P50 is part of a system that works, it’s the first step, and any consumer can use it.”
Launched: 1970
Results Oriented: One Lotion P50 is sold every 2 minutes in the U.S.
Vintners Daughter Active Botanical Serum
More than a decade ago, Vintner’s Daughter founder April Gargiulo struck oil — literally. The entrepreneur set out to create, as she put it, “a high-powered, multi-beneficial serum in an oil format. Most serums at that point were very targeted, and they were about a single product and a single concern. I wanted something that could tackle many skin issues in a single step.” The resulting Active Botanical Serum came to be after Gargiulo experimented with brewing whole plants, a process that drew inspiration from the world of winemaking. Still today, the key ingredient complex takes 21 days to make — enough time to drive from Gargiulo’s home base of Napa to New York City five times.
While Active Botanical Serum helped kick off the craze for face oils, it took Gargiulo nearly a decade before launching another product, the Active Treatment Essence, and eventually, a cleanser. She’s taken the same painstaking approach for each. “I was new to the beauty world, and I didn’t know I was being revolutionary by launching one product,” said Gargiulo. She may be a beauty outsider, but the industry has embraced her approach. “This makes anyone’s skin look and feel better — there’s absolutely nothing like it,” said one voter in The Greatest. “April is devoted to making the best product as opposed to scaling, so her quality surpasses everyone else’s.” Said another, “It’s a serum; it’s an oil. Lots of companies have tried to copy; no one has come close.”
Launched: 2013
Results Oriented: The product’s Phyto Radiance Infusion takes 21 days to make — 66 times longer than competing formulas and enough time to drive from Napa to New York and back five times.
Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream
A moisturizer that started a movement. 30 years of research led to the brand’s hero ingredient, TFC8, which, coupled with celebrity backers, has made Augustinus Bader one of the biggest names in skin care. The Rich Cream is an intensely luxurious, super hydrator that stimulates skin’s natural processes of rejuvenation to dramatically improve the complexion’s appearance. Best suited for normal to dry skin types. The Rich Cream offers the ultimate protective shield against dry climates. Ideal for your night time routine. Replenishing argan, avocado and evening primrose oil, rich in omega 6 fatty acids and anti-oxidants, help to protect skin from free-radicals.
Launched: 2018
Results Oriented: One unit of the Rich Cream is sold every 90 seconds.
111 Skin Rose Gold Face + Eye Mask
111Skin Rose Gold Brightening Facial Treatment Mask boasts Bulgarian rose, colloidal gold and pomegranate seed cell culture for brightening benefits. Originally created as limited-edition item, this mask has grown into a global cult product and a staple in the 111SKIN collection. Containing 24k Gold and Damask Rose, this mask works both to illuminate and calm the skin for a party-ready glow. A makeup artist fave, and used by supermodels, celebrities and influencers – this is a must-have in any skincare arsenal.
111Skin Rose Gold Illuminating Eye Mask is the sister to the best-selling Rose Gold Mask. This hydrogel mask was designed specifically to provide dramatic radiance to the delicate under eye area, and is infused with potent ingredients that work to illuminate the under eyes, as well as brighten the complexion over time by targeting areas of pigmentation. It unifies overall skin tone and delivers a hydrated, skin-smoothing effect.
Launched: 2013
Results Oriented: A pioneer of sheet masks in the Western market, 111 Skin has sold 18 million masks to date — roughly one every 26 seconds.
Dr Gross Alpha Beta Peel (3 versions)
Call them the original launch pads. Dr Dennis Gross, debuted in 2000 with a daily, at-home answer to its namesake founders’ in-office chemical peels. It became the keystone to a brand that ended 2023 with more than $300 million in sales — and an acquisition by Shiseido. “The original beauty influencers were editors, and Dennis’ practice exploded because of organic word- of-mouth buzz,” said Carrie Gross, chief executive officer of the brand. “I thought we had to bring the peel to everyone. I started working on a version for aestheticians and then a home kit. And that was the original strategy.” Though the peel pad business has since become larger-than-life, Gross said what resonates about the product is fairly simple. “It removes hyperpigmentation and discoloration, it balances your oil complexion and it takes away dry skin,” she said. “It’s just an iconic product that everyone loves to share because you can see your skin transform.” Since the brand’s inception, it’s kept customers coming back. “It builds so much loyalty. People stop
using it and realize they need them,” Gross said. “I tell clients to put it next to their toothbrush and do it every morning — it’s loaded with antioxidants and it’s protecting you throughout the day, and it also works as a makeup primer.” The formula follows Dr. Gross’ ethos of pairing higher levels of actives with anti-inflammatory ingredients to mitigate irritation. The brand has expanded into full-fledged franchises around ingredients like vitamin C and retinols. But Gross said that keeping the buzz alive has been key to driving the business. It’s got such a loyal following, and it’s our reason for being.”
Launched: 2000
Results Oriented: One Alpha Beta Daily Peel is sold every 2 seconds globally.
Dr Gross 15% Vitamin C Firm + Bright Serum
Dr Dennis Gross 15% Vitamin C Lactic Acid Firm + Bright Serum is an antioxidant-rich lightweight serum that visibly improves signs of sun aging, dark spots, uneven tone, fine lines, wrinkles, and dullness. Best suited for normal, dry, combination, and oily skin. This serum contains vitamin C, an essential vitamin that helps visibly improve skin density and elasticity, and is associated with healthy collagen levels. It also includes lactic acid which serves as a powerful delivery vehicle for other ingredients, as it increases their penetration into the skin, and thus their efficacy.
Launched: 2022
Results Oriented: In 2023, the brand sold enough Vitamin C Serums to wrap around the earth’s equator 1.8 times.
Cle de Peau Beaute La Creme is a groundbreaking anti-aging night cream targeting the skin's innate potential for self-regeneration at its most active—while you sleep. With the highest concentration of breakthrough Skin-Empowering Illuminator, skin looks smoother, brighter, firmer, and more lifted. When used nightly, La Crème promotes hydrated skin that resists signs of aging and evolves in radiance day-by-day. The ultra-luxe La Crème employs ceraferment extract to boost capillary activity overnight while green tea extract protects against oxidative stress.
Launched: 1982
Results Oriented: Formulating the product takes 60 ingredients and more than 100 steps over three days.
For more information and to Shop the Greatest Skincare of All Time 2024 visit www.paullabrecque.com or visit our Signature Apothecary's in New York City and Palm Beach.
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