Vanities Beauty
M
akeup is for the
mercurial—the quick-
change artists who
swap their neon liner
with every shift in weather or
mood. But skin care stirs fidelity. At
a time when optimized health is
the greatest luxury, a radiant visage
is the clearest indicator. Multistep
routines and individual needs
suggest there’s no single fix, but
whispers still swirl among Reddit
beauty diehards about this fabled
cream or that. Indiana Jones had an
easier time finding the Holy Grail.
Even with a glut of competition,
La Mer—that 1990s cause
for devotion (and sticker shock)—
still has its tribe. Now a new
collaboration foretells next-gen
fandom. Photographers Mario
Sorrenti and his 18-year-old
daughter, Gray—a rising phenom
in the family trade—have created
a salt-sprayed campaign for the
cultish Crème de la Mer. In Spain
and St. Barts, the two took turns on
both sides of the lens, resulting
in black-and-white shots, 16-mm
footage, and custom jars. “I grew
up in the ocean,” Gray says of their
holidays, confessing that she also
grew up dipping into her mother’s
La Mer as a little girl. (It soothed
her problematic skin.) It wasn’t
hype but word-of-mouth praise at
Zitomer, the iconic Upper East
Side pharmacy, that turned them
on to it decades ago, recalls Mario.
“The most important thing is that
the product works,” he says.
If a so-called “miracle broth”
of potent fermented kelp is La
Mer’s secret sauce, the proprietary
stem-cell technology TFC8 is
what powers Augustinus Bader,
the German face-cream line that
has much of Hollywood in thrall.
(For those who can’t get enough, a
body cream launched in July via the
beauty site Violet Grey.) “We joke
around that we’re drug dealers, and
technically we kind of are,” says
the boutique’s founder, Cassandra
Huysentruyt Grey, of the science-
backed skin care, which young
people have been springing for “like
they used to invest in shoes.” The
cost, she concedes, “is the only issue
with recommending it all the time.”
Pairing efficacy with accessibility
is what Olay aims to do with its
Retinol24 moisturizer—easy on the
wallet and on skin. Retinoids
(the class of vitamin A derivatives
used to treat acne and signs of
aging by revving up cell turnover)
can cause irritation, but this blend
of retinol and retinyl propionate is
gentle enough for daily use. While
a prescription retinoid offers the
most bang, says dermatologist
Heidi Waldorf, M.D., “it doesn’t
have to be all or nothing.”Switching between the strong stuff
and over-the-counter options can
be a good balance.
For dermatologist Macrene
Alexiades, M.D., Ph.D., hero
ingredients come by the dozens.
Her original skin-care debut—a
multiaction cream with a natural-
leaning ethos—kicked off the
label 37 Actives. (Sienna Miller has
cast her vote.) Ten years and six
products later, she’s set to unveil
Macrene Actives, a reformulation
and refresh “to raise the bar even
higher,” she says, citing DNA–
repair enzymes and recyclable
packaging. She’s growing feverfew
and mint in Rhinebeck, New York,
for future use in the line; olive
extracts from her land in Greece
are to follow. It’s a next-level doctor
brand, she says: “health for the
earth, for the human, for the skin.”
—LAURA REGENSDORFSKIN DEEP
In the booming beauty game,
the quest for the dream
cream is driving creativity,
in and out of the jar
ACE OF
FAC EMacrene
Actives
High Performance
Face Cream, £276.
(macreneactives.com)La Mer
Crème de la Mer
by Sorrenti, £230.
(lamer.co.uk)Augustinus Bader
The Rich Cream,
£205.
(violetgrey.com)Olay
Retinol24 Night
Moisturizer, £23.
(olay.co.uk)Gray Sorrenti, captured by her father, Mario
Sorrenti. The fashion photographers have
partnered with La Mer on a new campaign.38 VANITY FAIR OCTOBER 2019
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOSEPHINE SCHIELE(PRODUCTS); FOR DETAILS, GO TO VF.COM/CREDITS