Oh, Chanel.  I love everything about Chanel accessories: the hidden compartments in the bags; the lasting sheen of the shoes; the way the items are classically styled, yet somehow subtlely modern enough to hint at their never-used naïveté.

And then there’s Chanel skin care.  Sadly, adding a luxurious ingredient to a moisturizer does not necessarily add the same oomph of 2 extra C’s on a handbag.  In the case of Chanel Precision Sublimage Essential Moisturizer ($364.88, Amazon.com), that special ingredient is vanilla planifolia.  Also known as “flat-leaved,” “Tahitian,” or “West Indian vanilla,” vanilla planifolia is the plant from which vanilla extract is most commonly derived.  It is also, according to Chanel, “an ethnobotanist’s paradise…filled with polyketones – the most powerful anti-aging molecules.”

Um.  For the sake of being polite, I will simply make this statement:  If you believe this statement, please consult a dermatologist, look her square in the face, stare into her eyes, and tell her that you believe polyketones are the most powerful anti-aging molecule known to man.  I am pretty sure that you will either be gently laughed at or politely corrected.

However, maybe all is not lost here.  Polyketones are thermoplastic polymers which are known to have excellent mechanical strength and temperature-resistant properties.  In the case of Chanel, the C.E.R.I.E.S. lab in Paris was attempting to find a polyketone that would send messages to the cells that stimulate growth factors in older women’s skin, boosting moisture, evening the complexion and spurring regeneration in the epidermis.  The company believed that Xavier Ormancey, the head of Chanel’s Cosmetic Research Center, had found this polyketone – in the wilderness!

And perhaps Ormancey has found this polyketone – I will attempt to be open-minded.  However, where the company fails is in establishing this polyketone in peer-reviewed, published scientific research.  Certainly, if the polyketone does in fact stimulate growth factors, moisturize, even the complexion, and spur regeneration in the epidermis, this would be a new retinoid-grade ingredient, and I am sure dermatological experts would love to hear about it.  Furthermore, if this polyketone is as promising as it seems, its performance needs to be compared in independent peer-reviewed research to other skin care ingredients, like retinoids, niacinamide, etc.

The bottom line:  It’s a hard world in skin care.  In the twenty-first century, you can’t get away with introducing a new ingredient unless you have the research to back it up.  From established research, the big 5 in anti-aging skin care right now are sunscreen, retinoids, antioxidants, peptides, and niacinamide – and until vanilla planifolia is proven effective in even one peer-reviewed, controlled, non company-affiliated study in a reputable scientific journal, I’m sticking to the other ingredients.  Product Rating: 3/10 (High concentration of proven effective ingredients: 1/3.  Unique formulation or new technology: 2/3.  Value for the money: 0/3.  Sunscreen: 0/1).