Image Courtesy – Chanel

“La Beauté Se Cultive” (or “Cultivating Beauty”) runs from Sept. 23 to 27 and focuses on how the French luxury brand sustainably grows plants used in its beauty products

Chanel is hosting a botanical exhibit in Paris’ vast Natural History Museum’s Mineralogy Gallery, located in the 17th-century royal garden of medicinal plants, now dubbed the Jardin des Plantes. “La Beauté Se Cultive” was formerly meant to run from March 28 to 29, but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This whole experience is a reflection of the French beauty giant’s various “open-sky” laboratories that are cultivated across the globe, where Chanel sustainably grows and studies specific plants that then might be used in its skin-care formulas. The brand, for instance, established an open-sky laboratory in the southern French Alps in 2010 for medicinal plant sources that had been overlooked since the second half of the 20th century. In 2002, it set up another one in Madagascar to focus on Vanilla Planifolia.

This immersive experience is a perfect opportunity to discover rare plants cultivated all over the world (Madagascar, Costa Rica, France) and see how they are transformed to create beauty and skincare products. With this exhibition, the Maison de Beauté wishes to showcase its social, cultural and environmental commitments. A great opportunity to link picturesque walks and botanical science.