Bougeoir is here to tell you that your ten-step skincare routine is not over the top; in fact, there's always another expensive skincare product to try that promises shocking benefits. Here are a few of the newest and classic cult favorites to try.

While some prefer to keep their routines quick, simple, and affordable, skincare lovers often seek out high-end, luxury skincare lines with eye-opening price tags. And that's not to say that either one is better than the other—the whole point is to stick with whichever works with your preferences and needs. Still, if you're getting sick of being told your ten-step routines are "too elaborate" or "over the top," Bougeoir has rounded up the most expensive skincare products to make you feel otherwise. So, the next time someone criticizes how much you spend on skincare, or even makeup, pull out some of these examples.


Dior L'Or de Vie La Crème - Métiers D'Art Limited Edition: $7,500

​Though Bougeoir's beauty experts were expecting to find some jaw-dropping price tags, nothing could have prepared us for the cost of Dior's limited edition face cream. It's one of the most expensive moisturizers in the world, if not the most expensive skincare product. How can they justify four figures on a 1.7-ounce moisturizer? Well, for one, there are only 130 of these in the world. But if you're wondering about the key benefits, Dior claims that this eliminates signs of aging, thanks to its Yquem sap.

La Prairie Platinum Rare Haute-Rejuvenation Face Cream: $1,690     

While this is a lot cheaper than the Dior L'Or De Vie cream, $1,690 on a moisturizer is still incredibly hefty, even for La Prairie. Among the most expensive skincare products in the world, this La Prairie moisturizer claims to rejuvenate the skin from the deepest layers, but its key selling point is its ability to reduce wrinkles and fine lines through its heavily researched Platinum Multi-Peptide.

​Guerlain Orchidee Impreial Black Cream $1500

The Cream succeeds in the prowess of conciliating high-efficacy and high-sensorial experience thanks to its fine and generous formula that wraps the skin in a luxurious cocoon of protection. Made with ingredients with different fusion points, it offers a soft balm touch that triggers a cascade of melting sensations upon application. Continuously protected, skin can thus devote all its resources to its regeneration, for skin that is more beautiful and younger-looking, for longer.

​Clé de Peau Beauté Synactif Cream: $1,125

Similar to the La Prairie and Dior moisturizers, this moisturizer from Clé de Peau Beauté promises to reverse signs of aging. However, it claims to do more than just that. (I mean, if it's one of the most expensive skincare products in the world, it should). The Synactif cream nourishes and repairs the skin barrier, and, thanks to its unique formula that includes retinol, neem leaf extract, and double hyaluronic acid, to name a few, it also helps the skin look more lifted and contoured. 
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Chanel Sublimage L'extrait De Nuit Ultimate Rejuvenating Night Concentrate $720

Composed of 91% naturally derived ingredients*, its innovative formula rejuvenates the look of the skin and helps to protect its moisture barrier. From the very first morning, the complexion has a rested, radiant appearance. Its formula features a transforming texture and contains millions of micro-droplets, for the perfect balance of freshness and nourishment. It offers a unique sensory experience enriched of all the beneficial fractions of Vanilla Planifolia, combined with Swertia extract. 


​La Mer The Renewal Oil: $285

La Mer might have some of the most outrageously expensive skincare products ever, but if there's one thing you should consider purchasing from them, it's their Renewal Oil. Though its price mostly comes with the luxe feel of using a La Mer product, this facial oil literally does it all: it softens lines and wrinkles, and nourishes and protects your skin from environmental stressors. Plus, it helps you achieve a natural glow from within. When you really think about it, $285 on a face oil might break the bank, but sometimes you need to treat yourself. 

Lemon Myrtle from Australian Native Products is the innovative answer for those seeking a new citrus alternative. Indigenous to Australia, this native ingredient meets modern consumer preferences offering a unique citrus aroma and taste, elevating products across a variety of applications.

Lemon Myrtle with its vibrant citrus aroma, stands out in the world of botanicals, enhancing flavor and fragrance profiles. The unique citrus notes offer a refreshing and uplifting lemon scent, consistent taste. Boasting a staggering 90-98% citral content, Lemon Myrtle oil surpasses traditional citrus in intensity, fragrance and functional benefits.
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A standout ingredient in the Kerry 2023 Taste and Nutrition charts, Lemon Myrtle has been included in several flavor categories as well as in the nutrition category as a natural flavor enhancer and ingredient in the natural, organic, healthy mood support, microbiome, plant-based, prebiotic, anti-aging, well aging, calm, sleep, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory sections. This inclusion demonstrates Lemon Myrtle’s versatility as an ingredient that can be used to create delicious food that is packed with nutrition, not to mention an alternative solution to traditional ingredients.
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It's unique fragrance, embodying the crisp, clean air of Australia's subtropical rainforests, is not just a sensory delight but also a versatile note that enhances perfumes, personal care, home care, flavors and wellness products. Lemon Myrtle's versatility is boundless. In perfumery, it adds a fresh, lemony zest that can transform a fragrance, giving it a bright and invigorating edge. In aromatherapy, its soothing properties make it a favored choice for relaxation and rejuvenation. What’s more it also acts as a natural preservative. 

Back in 2015, a hilariously perceptive Instagram account called @NightLotion appeared on our feeds, capturing a growing trend. “Women on TV applying lotion before bed,” read the account’s bio. Featuring the common trope, which is often accompanied by an important plot point (such as an argument, a steamy sexual encounter or a mental breakdown — sometimes all three!), these particular scenes involved the show’s female lead applying a copious amount of a nondescript cream to her hands and limbs, often aggressively.

As it turns out, these A-list lotioners were onto something. Almost a decade later, body-care products have become integral parts of our beauty routine. (Thank you, Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, for your contributions.)

In fact, a May 2020 report by McKinsey & Company documents a 65 per cent increase in bath- and body-product sales. By 2027, body lotions are expected to be a nearly $150-billion market — a staggering 50 per cent jump from where the category sits today. And that’s just body lotions; the figure doesn’t include products and treatments that go beyond a washing-and-moisturizing routine. Thanks to serums and masks that tackle specific body skin concerns (like bacne and keratosis pilaris), post-shower routines are becoming more targeted and elaborate.

And why shouldn’t the gold-standard ingredients that are traditionally used on the face for brightening and tightening find their way into body care? “I’m seeing more clients asking to extend their facial treatments down to the décolletage to better address signs of aging below the neck,” says Dr. Amanda Lau, an aesthetic doctor and the medical director at Skinfolio in Vancouver. She explains that popular in-office procedures such as resurfacing lasers, IPL (intense pulsed light) and microneedling can be used on the body to address skin laxity, wrinkles and hyperpigmentation and have become especially popular for areas like the hands, neck and chest. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to more expansive body care. “Ninety per cent of your skin is on your body; it’s short-sighted to only take care of one small part,” says Dr. Mona Gohara, a Connecticut-based dermatologist.

With its affordable price points and easy-to-understand labelling, the Body Proud line focuses on high-performance products, including a vitamin C-enriched oil and a body wash formulated with niacinamide, that target body-care concerns such as skin brightening and smoothing. “We’re seeing consumers asking for more from their body-care products,” says Sarris. “They’re looking for a routine that can be tailored to their specific skin type, concerns and preferences for a personalized experience.”

Retinol is another prime example. One of the most data-backed ingredients available in skincare, it now plays a starring role in body creams and masks, where it’s able to work its smoothing and collagen-boosting magic on crepey-skinned knees and keratosis pilaris-speckled upper arms. Hyperpigmentation and dark spots can be treated with melanocyte-targeting actives like alpha arbutin and kojic acid, while the popular antioxidant vitamin C is another top choice for skin that’s regularly exposed to the sun, such as the hands, neck and chest, to help minimize UV damage. And buzzy niacinamide’s benefits go beyond the face, tackling a host of issues, including dull skin, a weakened skin barrier and inflammation from bacne.

If these ingredients sound familiar, that’s because they are. “Ingredient lists for body-care products should be similar to those for face-care products because you experience similar external factors on all of your skin, including environmental stressors like ultraviolet light,” says Gohara. For example, Dove’s new line of body washes are formulated with hyaluronic acid, vitamin C and collagen.

​So, while we eagerly await body care’s next much-deserved starring role on the silver screen, can we make one small suggestion to screenwriters? Ditch the same old no-name cream and swap it for an AHA-packed serum or an antioxidant-rich mask that’s more befitting of the A-list stars we love.

Haircare routines have become a particular focus in the beauty world, with new practices designed to ensure moisturised, shiny, healthy-looking hair. But, in the end, it’s a totally unexpected product that could be the latest must-have in your daily haircare routine: micellar water.

CLEANSE, TONE AND REMOVE MAKEUP IN ONE FELL SWOOP
A staple of beauty routines for many years, micellar water is a versatile product that removes makeup and impurities from facial skin, cleansing it while acting as a toner. Suitable for all skin types, it offers the double advantage of saving time and money, which has enabled it to make a lasting impact in the bathroom. A new, more surprising use is now emerging, designed to rid hair of dirt and impurities without the need for shampoo.

With almost a billion views on TikTok, the hashtag #micellarwater is proof of users’ enthusiasm for this all-in-one product. But in recent weeks, videos tagged with the term have shown users applying the product to their hair, rather than to their skin. One TikTok user sprays her hair with a micellar water solution, claiming that it cleanses her hair and scalp and regulates sebum production.
It’s a trick that hasn’t gone unnoticed, winning over followers looking for tips on how to get rid of greasy hair.

MORE TIME BETWEEN WASHES
The battle against greasy hair began long before the age of social networking. As we’ve all noticed, hair starts to feel greasy two or three days after being washed, or sometimes less for those who suffer from overproduction of sebum or use too much shampoo or conditioner. As a result, we tend to increase the frequency of washes, which in turn increases sebum production, leading to that greasy film returning even more quickly. This phenomenon has given rise to a host of fixes, from baking soda and apple cider vinegar to scalp massage and cold water rinsing.

As for micellar water, while it seems to be a hit on the Chinese social network, it is by no means an innovative solution. In fact, many cosmetics brands have been offering shampoos and hair lotions enriched with micellar water for several years now. The reason is simple: micellar water contains micelles, surfactant molecules that act a bit like magnets for dirt and impurities. They therefore act in the same way on the scalp as they do on the skin.

Incidentally, this is not the first time that users of the Chinese social network have seized on this trick.
Last year, another TikTok user created a buzz by brushing her hair with micellar water, massaging her scalp and then shampooing her hair twice, the post extolled the virtues of using this makeup remover as a hair product, stating that hair was better cleansed and, above all, softer and shinier. A tip that has long since proved its worth, and which continues to find a place in many a beauty routine.

Chanel has given us a glimpse into its Edinburgh pop-up, which is set to open this March in celebration of its latest lipstick launch – Rouge Allure Velvet Nuit Blanche.
Edinburgh, "a city that Gabrielle Chanel adored", will be home to the boutique where the new lipstick will be available to purchase. Here, Chanel shoppers are invited to discover Rouge Allure Velvet Nuit Blanche - a limited-edition matte lipstick that comes in eight shades, one for every hour of the night.
The concept of the pop-up is designed to make the visitor feel like they are heading off for a night on the town. At No. 8 Charlotte Square, night owls and partygoers can uncover the world of Chanel Beauty.

Set over two floors, the pop-up starts in the cinema, where clients will be invited to watch the Nuit Blanche campaign film starring ambassador Margot Robbie. The next stop is an interactive digital clock, where beauty advisors will be on hand to help customers discover their new favourite lipstick shades.
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In the backstage beauty area, Chanel School of Makeup Masterclasses will be available to pre-book for guests to learn how to create show-stopping evening looks inspired by those worn by Margot Robbie in the campaign.
Finally, customers can capture their perfect pouts, as well as browse the brand’s iconic fragrances, in a celebratory interactive space.

Although we’re seeing more “real skin” in advertising these days, the overall lack of reality and the use of social-media filters are major factors in the harming of skin confidence everywhere. Dr. Julie Mireault, dermatologist and co-founder of Montreal’s Clinique de Dermatologie Rosemont, finds the increase in the use of these filters unfortunate given how they gloss over natural skin texture and imperfections, altering our perception of reality. “An increasing number of patients are coming to my office and asking me to make their pores disappear—even though pores are totally normal and important as they allow skin to excrete sweat and sebum,” says Mireault.

San Francisco-based certified aesthetician and Benefit Cosmetics global brow and beauty expert Jared Bailey is on the same page. “We’re seeing a lot of the glass-skin trend lately, but it’s really hard to achieve without a filter or unnatural enhancement,” he says. “But that’s not how we want to live our lives, right? We want to feel good in our own skin—literally!” After four years of research, Benefit launched its first collection of six treatments just for pores, adding to its already very popular The POREfessional line of primers and setting sprays. “[We want to] change the way we talk about pores, which is usually negative—calling them ‘clogged’ and ‘yucky’ and [talking about] how we need to erase them,” says Benefit’s global beauty authority Maggie Ford Danielson, who is also Benefit co-founder Jean Ford’s daughter. “That’s not what it’s about. We want to provide solutions instead of problems and give people tools. It’s about clean, healthy skin, but ‘healthy’ doesn’t mean perfect.” For this collection’s campaign images, the brand made the conscious decision to not airbrush the models’ skin.
In reality, our pores are our friends. From head to toe, we have about 5 million—some 20,000 of them just on our face! They can be divided into two main categories: sweat pores, which, via perpiration play a vital role in regulating body temperature and waste removal, and sebaceous pores, which, on top of housing hair follicles (minus a few exceptions like both sets of lips, areolae and eyelids) and allowing you to rid yourself of dead skin cells, are connected to your sebaceous glands and aid in the production of sebum. Although sebum in higher quantities (a.k.a. hyperseborrhea) is no one’s favourite, the substance is an integral component of the precious hydrolipidic film—the layer over your skin that protects it from outside threats like cold, dry weather or sun, and keeps it supple and comfortable.

So how do you distinguish between a healthy pore and one that’s clogged? “Healthy pores lack an accumulation of sebum and keratinocytes,” says Mireault. When you keep your pores free of sebum, debris and dead cells, you can usually avoid pimples and blackheads. To do so, Mireault suggests that younger people—and those who are dealing with acne—use products that contain salicylic acid, which is well known for its keratolytic properties, which break down the outer layers of the skin and get rid of dead skin cells. For more mature skin, she steers people toward either retinoid products—which encourage cellular regeneration and the synthesis of collagen fibre in addition to targeting signs of sun-induced aging—or products that contain alpha-hydroxy acids, like glycolic acid and lactic acid, which have exfoliant properties that dissolve the dead cells that clog pores. “With the right blend of ingredients, you don’t have to torture your pores,” says Ford Danielson. “Your skin deserves your respect.”
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So what’s the takeaway? A simple routine that’s tailored to specific needs along with healthy habits will have a much more noticeable effect on skin than any “miracle” product. “I often compare pores to bed sheets,” says Bailey. “When the threads are not tightly woven, sheets have a low thread count and they’re loose, unlike with a higher thread count, which [makes for] much nicer, tighter sheets. It feels different, and you sleep better with the latter, right? So when you consider that pores are what weave your skin together, it’s really important that you take excellent care of them.”