Elizabeth Arden: 100 years of beauty
A hundred and two years ago, a girl barely 18 years old named Florence Nightingale Graham worked in an upscale skin-treatment company in New York and, like a sponge, learned everything she could about the business.
Two years later, in 1910, she changed her name to Elizabeth Arden and created her eponymous company. With only $6,000 she opened her first three-room salon on Fifth Avenue in New York and painted the door a bold red — later to become the company’s trademark and a global symbol of beauty and luxury. Behind the red door were Arden’s ambitious goals: to merge science and beauty, to create and market products in ways never done before.
A hundred years later, the company Elizabeth Arden continues the vision of the young woman credited for “inventing the American beauty industry,” the same woman who participated in the suffrage movement which inspired her to create a red lipstick for the marchers, who also once created a lipstick color to coordinate with the uniforms of the women serving in the armed forces during World War II, and was the first to send out teams of traveling saleswomen and the first to offer products in travel sizes.
A century later, on the resort island of Bintan, Indonesia, Elizabeth Arden recently celebrated its hundred years with journalists and trade partners from Asia Pacific and the Middle East with the launch of new and reformulated anti-aging and skincare products.
Prevage, which was first launched globally in 2005 and has won 61 awards since, is regarded as the first true “cosmeceutical,” a product created by scientists rather than beauty experts. They like to say at Arden that not all anti-aging products are created equal and Prevage is certainly one that’s above all others. It is Arden’s most successful brand and boasts the slogan “proof, not promises.” It has also come to symbolize the company’s twin philosophies of innovation and luxury.
Launched in the Asian market at Club Med in Bintan, Indonesia, Prevage Face Anti-aging Serum has got the company all excited about their positioning in Asia. It is a new product that combines both science and material that were practically non-existent 10 years ago.
“With the technology today, the possibilities are limitless,” says Tony Vargas, Elizabeth Arden global vice president of research and development. “Technology and ingredients such as Idebenone, which is one of the most powerful antioxidants for protecting skin from oxidative stress — the leading cause of visible aging signs.”
Said to be the most powerful antioxidant available on the market today, Idebenone — a synthetic ingredient first explored in research for Alzheimer’s disease — was used by Arden five years ago in the first Prevage product line and since then its researchers have been exploring the possibilities of its main ingredient.
Vargas says that Idebenone “acts on all three levels of free radical damage, working deep within the surface layers of the skin to restore skin cells. It prevents further damage and supports the skin’s natural repair mechanisms to help address past damage.”
Prevage Face is the next-generation formula in this research. Vargas explains that “Scientists have long known that certain ingredients attached to a fatty acid absorb into skin and create a reserve to be used as needed. Based on this finding, Prevage researchers developed a new Idebenone delivery technology that fused Idebenone with a skin-compatible ester to provide a time-release reservoir of Idebenone within the skin, resulting in a new, more gentle level of performance.”
Other ingredients in the Prevage Face cocktail are thiotaine, bamboo isoflavones, liprochoman 6, a green tea blend, and lys lastine V, an extract of the dill plant that works to support the skin’s natural protein synthesis for firmer, more toned, younger-looking skin.
Vargas relates that in consumer trials conducted for eight weeks with 102 women, the results couldn’t have been more positive. The immediate effect of Prevage Face was that skin appeared smooth and bright; after four weeks, skin looked firmer and more toned; and after eight weeks, the appearance of lines, age spots, wrinkles and discolorations was significantly reduced and skin appeared to be more radiant and even-toned.
Prevage Face also scored well in EPF, rating 95 out of 100. What is EPF? Just as there is an SPF to measure protection from a suncreeen product, EPF measures the environmental protection factor of a product. It is the highest standard in antioxidant testing because it is the only test that measures the complex, multi-dimensional aspects of free radical damage. According to Vargas, the study — with the findings later published in The Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology — consisted of a five-step test that measured the different aspects of antioxidant capability. For a total of 100 points (each test was given a value of 20), Prevage anti-aging formulas received an EPF of 95.
Prevage Face reduces the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, age spots and discolorations, making skin look firmer and more radiant. In clinical trials 32 women ages 26 to 64 found significant improvements in their photodamaged skin — 80 percent reporting their skin being more radiant and bright, 70 percent in tone, 69 percent in overall global photoaging, 61 percent in skin elasticity, 51 percent in discoloration, and 29 percent in freckles.
Also launched in Bintan was Prevage Day Ultra Protection Anti-aging Moisturizer SPF 30, which completes the line in a woman’s daily regimen.
Prevage Day is the first ever moisturizer with both high-level SPF and Idebenone. Elizabeth Arden EVP for global marketing Elizabeth Park says, “It’s the first time in the history of prestige skincare that one product combines the most powerful antioxidant available, Idebenone, with broad-spectrum sunscreens for the maximum in daily environmental protection.
How well does Prevage Day protect you from sun damage? The product is endorsed by the Skin Cancer Foundation Seal of Recommendation Program, which awards seals to UV-protection products that meet the criteria of the Skin Cancer Foundation.
Don’t be surprised to know that not only women love the Prevage line, but men as well — though Elizabeth Arden doesn’t plan on marketing it to the men; they can just continue cribbing their wives’ Prevage serum.
The Prevage line includes three new products — Prevage Face Advanced Anti-Aging Serum, Prevage Day Ultra Protection Anti-aging Moisturizer, SPF 30, and Prevage Body Total Transforming Anti-Aging Moisturizer — plus Prevage Eye Anti-Aging Moisturizer, Prevage Night Cream.
When the young Elizabeth Arden started her business in 1910, she borrowed $6,000. In six months alone, she was able to repay the loan. She appeared on the covers of magazines previously dominated by men — tycoons and politicians — like Fortune and Time.
With the iconic Elizabeth Arden global flagship store and Red Door Spa at 691 Fifth Avenue in New York, the company has been leading the way in both sales (it sells 3,000 lipsticks globally every single day and has sold 50 million bottles of Red Door fragrance since 1989) and innovation in the beauty industry.
One of these innovations is the White Glove skincare line, which recently introduced the new White Glove Extreme regimen, containing whitening and skin-perfecting ingredients to keep skin smooth, firm and reduce fine lines.
Park expounds on the Arden philosophy: “True beauty begins from the inside and reflects out. We have unlocked the secret to nourishing your skin’s well-being way beyond brightening with the new White Glove formulations. We have enhanced the regimen with a rare and unique marine mineral extract that harnesses powerful defense mechanisms, leaving your skin looking brighter.”
The “marine mineral extract” that Park is talking about is actually a rare extract derived from a sea holly plant that lives on the ocean’s edge. This plant is so sturdy it can adapt to severe environmental conditions such as dehydration, salt water and sun exposure. The Embilica C complex combines the power of embilica (Indian gooseberry) and a vitamin C derivative. Combined, the three ingredients slow down the melanin production so skin looks brighter.
The new White Glove Extreme regimen uses the White Glove Clarifying Foam Cleanser to purify skin without disturbing the natural moisture balance; the Gentle Brightening Lotion to smoothen the skin and remove traces of makeup and dull, dead surface skin cells; Brightening Pore refining Gel to minimize the appearance of existing dark spots and discolorations; Daily Moisturizing Brightening Cream to nourish and provide moisture to the skin; and the Brightening Eye Moisture Cream to minimize the appearance of wrinkles around the delicate eye area.
For night there’s the Skin Brightening Overnight Capsules — each capsule containing enough serum for the face and neck. I have been using this product before going to bed for the past week and I must say my skin feels and looks better. It is also very gentle as I have not experienced redness or irritation.
While Elizabeth Arden continues to reformulate its product lines, there are some products that have remained unchanged because they are as effective today as they were back when they were invented. Take the Eight Hour Cream, which was first introduced in 1930 as the Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant, which became an overnight success. The cream combined petrolatum, a skin-soothing beta hydroxy in one of its first cosmetic uses, and vitamin E.
Why the name? The story goes that a client applied it to her child’s “skinned knee and eight hours later, the skin looked all better.” Fans of this cream include Catherine Zeta Jones, who has been Elizabeth Arden’s global spokesperson since 2000, Cate Blanchett and Emma Thompson.
After a hundred years, Elizabeth Arden continues the legacy of the woman who marched with 15,000 suffragettes on Fifth Avenue for their right to vote — looking beautiful and awfully smart.
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Elizabeth Arden Prevage is exclusively available at Rustan’s Department Store. The White Glove line is available at Rustan’s.
