If sports have long influenced fashion – as can be seen with the Fall/Winter 2017 Louis Vuitton collection – the same could not really be said for beauty…. Until this spring! It all started – most logically – with slimming products.
On the one hand, there is Clarins and their Body Fit Anti-Cellulite Contouring Expert (200ml, €54), clearly renamed ‘your anti-cellulite slimming coach’ (‘coach’ and ‘coaching’ are trendy words right now!).
On the other, Esthederm has developed a slimming innovation: Morpho Fitness Slimming Activator Serum (100ml, €45), which ‘mimes the effects of a sports training session by increasing the need and production of energy in fat cells.’ To put it more plainly, it releases fatty acids and uses them in the form of energy to fight against restorage.

Sports, the religion of modern times

Now, here is an unprecedented example (a big cheer for the marketing team!): the latest face care product by Lancôme (Visionnaire Crescendo Progressive Night Peel, 30ml, €85) is a liquid peeling product whose two progressive intensity phases are successively used for a whole cycle of 28 nights to create a new skin.
As a real skin training, it is clearly inspired from sports, and more specifically HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), the concept of interval training that is very popular among marathon runners, which consists in alternating between phases of effort and recovery. That is how two-phased SIIT, Skin Interval Intensity Training, was born. Phase 1 acts in 14 nights, similarly to an endurance phase. It aims to remove dead cell superficial layers, thanks to 5% of fruit natural acids and a quinoa bran extract with newly-revealed exfoliating virtues. Then, this phase of preparation to exfoliation helps the actives penetrate the skin more easily. Phase 2 is the acceleration phase. It concentrates 10% of salicylic acid and glycolic acid (maximum percentage authorized in cosmetics). This two-phased protocol ensures more efficient cell regeneration and optimum benefits, as well as better skin tolerance.

In March 2017, it is Biotherm’s turn to launch a new body care line dedicated to sportswomen for sports benefits to last longer. They have created three products:
• Purifying & Cleansing Body Foam (200ml, €15), a shower foam rich in plant-derived AHAs, a spirulina extract (revitalizing), and Plancton de Vie™ (Biotherm’s founding regenerating ingredient), which removes toxins, impurities, and dead cells
• Instant Smoothing & Moisturizing Body Treatment (200ml, €41), an over-moisturizing skincare product (Padina Pavonica alga, urea, hyaluronic acid, and Plancton de Vie™) specially designed to practice sports
• Firming & Recovery Body Emulsion (200ml, €38), a revitalizing skincare product which helps the body get filled with electrolytes after sport and tones up the skin (sodium, magnesium, L. Ochroleuca alga, and, again, Plancton de Vie™)
Curiously, these product names are in English in France: are all sportsmen and women bilingual? The brand relied on simple findings: runners, swimmers, and generally speaking, all the people who regularly practice a physical activity, tend to have a dry skin. In fact, the more active the body is, the drier the skin gets. While practising sport, the body loses water and electrolytes. According to Biotherm, physical activity has three consequences on the skin: it is more often exposed to UV rays throughout the year, and drier because sportsmen and women have a shower more often, and sports outfits and sweat create a rubbing effect on the skin.

How to remain irresistible, even in action!

MAC launches the Work It Out makeup line (as from March 25), intended for gymnastics enthusiasts, in which fitness and colours become one. Its shades are resolutely funny and adapted to the bright, acid colours of sportswear. These ‘highly resistant’ cosmetics were designed to last longer on the face than most other MAC products.
For example, there is the Mascara In Extreme Dimension (€23.50) available in 16 shades, including a few absolutely unique shades like pure white (Muscle Tee), lime green (Hottie With A Body), bright yellow (Energized), fuchsia (Abs of Steel), and reddish orange (Warm Up).
This collection for adventurous women does not take itself seriously… You will also find the Crystal Glaze Gloss (€24, six shades), and the Work It Out lipstick (€19.50) with explicit colours: Testosterone, Muscu-Linity… (four shades, all in all), in a packaging with black graphic strips.
Or, you can be tempted by the Waterproof Chromagraphic Eyeliner (€16.50, six shades), the Quiktrik Stick (€35, three duos), double-ended sticks for highlighting, contouring, or bronzing, or Prep+Prime Fix+ with lavender, coconut, or rose (30ml, €10), a water mist infused with a cocktail of green tea, camomile, cucumber, vitamins, and minerals, to refresh the skin after sport and/or fix makeup.

Champions of sun protection in motion!

Already more widely used, sunscreen products designed for sportsmen and women have already existed for quite a while.
The latest Shiseido creation in the Wet Force sunscreen range should also be highlighted (as a reminder, Wet Force reinforces UV protection when it comes in contact with sweat): Water-Resistant Sports BB Broad Spectrum SPF50+ (30ml, €32, three shades: Light, Medium, Dark), a hybrid skincare product combining sun protection and BB cream.

Lancaster has developed other sunscreen innovations in their new Sun Sport range, which both adapts to the environment and effort (Invisible Mist Wet Skin Application SPF50, 30, or 15, 200ml, €36.90 each; Invisible Face Mist SPF30 Water & Sweat Resistance, 100ml, €28.90; Invisible Face Gel SPF30 Water & Sweat Resistance, 50ml, €28.90).
The ‘Full Light’ formulas protect the skin against UVAs, UVBs, infrared rays, and visible light (whole sun spectrum), while the ‘protection in motion’ technology provides products with a better water and sweat resistance. As soon as they are applied on the skin, a wave of freshness triggers a decline in the skin temperature of 10 °C on average. The second ‘kiss cool effect’ results from the polymers that release a menthol active under the effect of the heat to generate a second spate of freshness. A new family of ‘smart’ polymers contributes to making the formulas react to the outdoor conditions, which is especially interesting for sunscreen products designed to accompany your efforts.
According to Olivier Doucet, Research Director, ‘when they come in contact with the skin or sweat, these polymers get reorganized, change structures, and fluidify to guarantee theo microscopic rearrangement of the texture, which can then ideally mingle with all the contours of the epidermis. These structural changes modify the film on the surface and optimize water and sweat resistance, which helps enhance the protection.’
Now, let’s make a special mention to invisible, non-oily, non-sticky textures… Alcohol- and oil-free body mists offer an instantaneous dry skin feel and are to be applied on dry or wet skin. The face sun gel with a matte finish (alcohol-free too) is fully transparent. A real technological feat!

Lastly, we should mention the new sports self-massage workshop offered at Espace Weleda, a really trendy workshop ideal for optimum sports preparation and recovery…

Ariane Le Febvre