5 Minutes with Dr. Daniel Stangl, Director of Innovation at La Prairie

As Director of Innovation at La Prairie, Dr. Daniel Stangl has one of the most sought-after jobs in beauty.

It should come as a surprise to precisely no one that La Prairie are the creators of some of the Gritty Pretty team’s most beloved products – and we have Dr. Stangl to thank for that.

In a skin care market that is at best cluttered and at worst completely saturated, La Prairie rises to the top time and time again. While the average price point of a La Prairie product is eye-wateringly high, these lotions, serums and creams have one thing in common: they work.

Recently, we sat down with Dr. Stangl while he was in Australia for the launch of La Prairie’s new White Caviar Eye Extraordinaire to talk all-things skin care and learn more about what goes on behind-the-scenes at one of the world’s most advanced beauty brands:

Hi, Dr. Stangl! As Director of Innovation at La Prairie, you have a very impressive job. How long have you worked with the brand for?

“It’s now 27 years. It has seen a tremendous development as a brand in those 27 years.”

I’m sure the science has advanced a lot during that time?

“Of course. It’s moving so fast – there are so many new discoveries every second, every hour, it’s amazing. It’s important to keep up.”

La Prairie products contain a unique Cellular Complex – an ingredient that is so exclusive, production is divided across three separate labs to ensure no one knows the entire recipe. How does the Cellular Complex help to slow down the ageing process?

“You can’t stop [ageing] – that is a fairytale. But you can delay the ageing process.

“When we age, we change our lifestyle. We might move to a house with no stairs or change food because we cannot chew it as well – we do a lot of things to adjust to the situation. The same things happen with cells – they do a lot of things to adjust to their ageing status. They produce a lot of proteins to cope with ageing. Or stop producing other proteins at the same levels as when we are younger.

“[During testing of Cellular Complex], we checked hundreds of proteins and found that many of the ones that are expressed at higher levels during the ageing process are reduced to the normal levels – and vice versa. Those proteins that are not used as we age, Cellular Complex builds them up again.”

So it makes older skin cells act like younger cells?

“Exactly.”

La Prairie White Caviar Eye Extraordinaire was recently released in Australia. How long has this product been in development for?

“Roughly two years. However, contains an ingredient that has been in development for 15 years – so quite a lot of work went into this product.”

As we age, how does the eye area change? And what are the visual differences that most men and women will notice when they use White Caviar Eye Extraordinaire?

“Loss of elasticity, fine lines in the crow’s feet area, drooping eyelids, a reshaping of the face, you lose fat and muscle tissue, under-eye darkness – all those things you don’t want to see. White Caviar Eye Extraordinaire addresses this.

“Dullness is one of the aspects of the skin that is most difficult to deal with – often we don’t recognise how important it is in terms of perceived beauty and attractiveness. These days, we want to age gracefully but get back our vitality and glow. We dedicate a lot of effort to helping clients regain this luminosity.”

What is the best way to apply an eye cream?

“The Ceramic Pearl eye applicator is part of the ritual; it supports the efficacy of the cream. It also allows for a gentle massage because women often apply too much pressure to the skin. The skin is so fragile around the eye area – it’s so easy to apply too much pressure and damage the skin, which is the opposite of what you want. It’s a useful tool.”

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