The woman who changes your life
She is already waiting for me in the foyer of the Amsterdam Waldorf Astoria. A civilized yet beautiful tower of macarons in front of her, two slender orchids, and of course her new wonder child; the Rénergie H.C.F. Triple Serum from Lancôme. My compliment that she travels the world like a pop star to showcase her latest creation, she waves away. She feels anything but like a pop star, but she does have the best job in the world. Who is this woman? None other than Annie Black.
‘I studied biology with a specialization in tissue engineering. In this field, you look at how to replace deficient organs with cultured tissues. That I eventually became International Scientific Director of Lancôme, I would not have dared to imagine as a young student.’
The fun part of her job is that she both peers through the microscope and leads a team that deals with marketing, product design, launching, and so on. So from deep in the material to the (also so delightful) outside; Annie's job covers the entire spectrum.
What struck me most was that all the involved doctors and researchers shown in an online presentation I watched a few weeks ago were all women. For several reasons, this is very important to Annie.
‘Lancôme is a company that has a lot of women on board anyway. Our board of directors consists largely of women; I can't even count them, there are so many. But besides that, a woman understands the needs of women better, and I find it important that we take the female skin and our hormonal system as a starting point. For too long, medical science assumed the male body, while we clearly have differences. Men can certainly use the Triple Serum too, you know. It is gender-fluid, but I wanted to put women at the center.’
The golden trio behind the serum is hyaluronic acid, vitamin C, niacinamide, and ferulic acid. Not newcomers in the field of improving skin quality, but they still get the label of being revolutionary.
‘It is indeed true that we already knew the good effects of these ingredients, but it was impossible to incorporate them into a product where the effect remained equally powerful. If you mix these ingredients, the effect will diminish after a short time. That’s why our bottle has three separate ‘chambers’ in which the different ingredients are stored. They only come together when you press the pump. Also unique to the serum is that we have determined the perfect dosage, so aside from the three things you need for skin improvement and combating wrinkles (hyaluronic for moisture and volume, vitamin C and niacinamide for an even skin tone without spots, and ferulic acid that neutralizes free radicals and thus counteracts skin aging) in one bottle in the right doses, they enhance each other.
Two pumps a day and you are a different person. Annie asks me how I fared in the Lancôme skin test a few weeks ago (just take a look here at how that was and how you can experience it too) and I tell her that it was reasonably okay, but that I mainly had a lack of moisture. Annie looks at me reassuringly. ‘And that is the easiest to remedy. Twice a day two pumps and I would say: drink your tea!’
