PARIS — Sisley is venturing into the sensitive skin — and dermocosmetics — arena.
Its new product, called Sensitive Skin Soothing Care, launches this month and will serve as the basis of a Dermatological Responses sub-range within the brand’s skin care line. It was created to soothe skin and enable users to apply other products for a more expansive routine.
“It’s dermatology-grade in terms of efficacy,” said Marie-Laure Pons, international marketing director of Sisley, who underlined the product’s high level of tolerance and sensoriality.
Related Articles
“That is not only because it’s Sisley’s signature, but also we know that when a product is nice to apply, then you are more keen on using it on a regular basis,” she said. “If you want to fix an issue, [regularity] is really important, because it is a part of the solution.”
Sisley worked with dermotolgists to develop the product billed to raise people’s skin tolerance threshold so that other cosmetics, such as antiaging products, can be used. Typically, that’s difficult.
“All of a sudden, you open a field of opportunities that they had no access to before,” said Pons. “This is a very complete approach to sensitive skin.”
Sensitive skin, which reacts abnormally to external and internal stimuli, is a condition growing worldwide, due to lifestyle and pollution, among other factors. More than 60 percent of women and 50 percent of men alrady suffer from sensitive skin, according to the study “The Prevelence of Sensitive Skin,” by Miranda A. Farage.
“Not everybody reacts in the same way,” said José Ginestar, head of R&D at Sisley.
But each person with sensitive skin has neuron fibers with hyper-reactivity, causing them to release pro-inflammatory substances.
“This inflammation sends a message to the brain, and the brain itself provokes more inflammation of the skin,” said Ginestar. “So we are in a vicious circle between the skin and the brain.”
It’s this perpetual retro-feedback that results in skin’s barrier function disruption, making it more permeable to aggressors than “normal” skin. Blood vessels become increasingly fragile, allowing for the leakage of the likes of inflammation mediators and some immunity cells, like monocytes or macrophages. A new sensitivity results.
Ginestar and the team delved into the physiology of sensitive skin, looking at the discovery of the TRPV1 receptor for temperature and touch, which won a Nobel Prize in 2021.
“It’s a kind of channel that is involved in all the processes of sensitive skin,” he said.
Sensitive Skin Soothing Care’s formula, produced in a white room, has active ingredients from plants and no preservatives, since those can be irritants.
“It is a minimalist formula,” said Ginestar, explaining fewer raw materials minimize possible skin reactions. Overall, Sensitive Skin Soothing Care was conceived to counteract keratinocytes, or skin cells, to reduce sensitivity.
Nine out of 10 women said there’s immediate comfort with the product’s use, and after one month an in-depth difference is felt, according to Pons.
“Our objective was: Can we then open a new field of possibilities to these women?” she said.
A test conducted among 105 women with sensitive skin proved that the answer is yes. After one month of usage, they also applied Sisleÿa L’Intégral Anti-Âge, which contains 50 active ingredients, with no resulting problems.
Sensitive Skin Soothing Care will first be sold first in Sisley’s own maisons and on its website for two weeks starting Wednesday, then through the brand’s traditional retailers, including perfumeries and department stores starting Feb. 1. A 40-ml. bottle goes for 170 euros.
Sisley executives would not discuss projections, but industry sources estimate the new product will generate 30 million euros at wholesale in its first 12 months worldwide.
It could be possibly become available in a new channel looking ahead.
“Because it’s such an innovation, we are ready to approach dermatologists,” said Pons.
