2015 Geneva motorshow, key highlights

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Reading Time: 5 minutes

This year, the Geneva motorshow started full speed during the Press day, one day before the official opening. Some key announcements like the car of the year are religiously expected by hundreds of specialized journalists. Here is our highlights of the motorshow or at least the ones that hooked us in more.

First things first, the car of the year

French and Japanese constructors have a long heritage in the prestigious prize of the car of the year. But 2015 will be a different tone, a German one. in deed Volkswagen and its new Passat GTE got the first place in the competition. The 8th generation of Passat is hitting the market already and now Volkswagen proposes a step into the future of Passat.

Passat GTE

Passat GTE

Passat VW GTE

This future is presented via an hybrid version. The hybrid, in this case, stands for the combination of a turbocharged direct injection petrol engine (TSI) with an electric motor, which is supplied with energy from an externally (or in Charge mode) chargeable lithium-ion battery. The car gets an “E” in GTE for E-lectric. The great idea of this car is to blend the sassiness of a sportive Passat (218hp) with the best cutting edge High-tech in terms of electric drive. So the car can basically drive full electric for at least 50km during which zero pollution will be emanated from it. 1,6L/100km and only 37g CO2/km it is the world champion. For all these reasons, the new Passat was elected 2015 Car of the year.

Ferrari and Lamborghini, unvealing the beast within

There are brands that every car afficionado have high expectancies in terms of new cars. or at least, each new launch is like a party or the announcement of the century. 2 iconic brands get this special treatment: Ferrari and Lamborghini. The first one, Ferrari, is presenting the Ferrari Sergio. For a commom person, he might wonder why did the Italian company chose such a strange name for a car but for the fan of beautiful Italian car design, this Ferrari is a thrill. It celebrates the memory of Sergio Pininfarina who shaped the silhouette of amazing cars during more than 40 years. He passed away in 2012 and let a tremendous legacy of sports car design. Ferrari would not have been Ferrari without Sergio Pininfarina. A legendary name for a legendary company. When Ferrari revealed for the first time the Sergio, it was in 2013. As usual it was presented as a special project, which means that potentially there would be just one car. As we never know, sometimes Ferrari can bring surprises and this time it is official, the Sergio will be produced in series. The first 6 are already in production and should hit the ground this year with a few happy owners. Ferrari said there is a tremendous demand for the Sergio based on the symbol that it represents.

Ferrari Sergio

Built on a base of a Spider 458, the car gets a V8 from the Speziale edition. 4.5L for 605hp. The first car was sold to a lucky owner in Abu Dhabi. The price is hard to say because at this level of excellence and customization, it will depend on the options required. Some experts tend to associate the price range with the ones for special editions, which means that you will need to pay something around € 3 Million.
The second beast to be unveiled is the new Lamborghini Aventador. With a strong tradition of SuperVeloce cars (SV), the Italian brand (owned by Volkswagen group) always tries to push the boundaries of car building. This is how they did it with the new Aventador. The basics of the supercar’s recipe remains unchanged: a 6.5-liter V-12 engine, all-wheel-drive, and a single-clutch, seven-speed automated transmission are bolted to a carbon fiber passenger shell and aluminum front and rear subframes. But Lamborghini tweaked the engine’s valve timing, intake system and exhaust, which bumped output to 740 horsepower (the car has 750 metric horsepower, hence its name) from a previous 691 horsepower. The car will literally rocket you from 0 to 100km/h in less than 2.8 seconds. You better have your Seat belt really fastened.

Lamborghini-Aventador

Lamborghini-Aventador-look-red Lamborghini-Aventador-look

In conclusion, the Geneva motorshow has barely started and there are many new cars with extraordinary technologies. In terms of trends, we see that Hybrid technologies and semi-electric engines are reasonable choices for the 2015 consumer. Several concept cars have now integrated the series production catalogs. An interesting area of development is also the combination of luxury brands into a car. Audi collaborates for a while now with brands like Bang & Olufsen and other car companies like Maserati plays the card of ultra-luxury with associations with companies like Bulgari and Ermenegildo Zegna. The ultra luxury pays.

Audi-Bang-Olufsen

Maserati-luxury-partnership

Maserati-luxury-partnership

The Geneva 2015 Motorshow will take place from March 5th until March 15th. You can visit the official website to get more information here: http://www.salon-auto.ch The website gives you loads of information about the “premieres” and also there is a very interesting multimedia section with photos and videos. You can already warm up your engine!
LA

Salon-de-l-auto-Geneve

Info sourced at the official press day in Geneva motorshow, NYTimes,Turbo and Wikipedia. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available

Programmatic – a new reality in Digital advertising for luxury brands.

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Reading Time: 8 minutes

When you work as a digital marketer, one of the most important topic is Audience. Technology is evolving so fast that we can control the entire user online journey by working with tools like Sequential targeting, remarketing or more recently Programmatic. Brands see a tremendous potential in targeting the right people at the right time with the right message. Here is a focus on programmatic, a forbidden topic so far for many luxury houses.

Programmatic, what?

In digital marketing, when you plan a campaign by using programmatic, you basically set an automation protocol to trigger your brand message based on certain events and according a set of rules pre-programmed. The entire process managed by a software and some pretty clever algorithms. So there is a lot of machines talking to machines but initially there is a mandatory human input, especially to set the rules of the game. There are several forms of programmatic:

  • Programmatic buying via Real time bidding and ad exchanges: basically it means that inventory is sold on a per-impression protocol. Thanks to a instantaneous auction, the advertiser can use multiple ad networks and optimize the campaign from a cost efficiency point of view.
  • Programmatic site retargeting: the idea being to serve specific messages to the users based on previous internet behaviors. If these behaviors did not lead to a conversion, advertisers can use retargeting in order to get the desired conversion. So if the user is a returning user to a website, or if the user engaged with the brand social networks, we can deliver an ad dedicated to what he saw
  • Shopping card abandonment emails: this is quite used by e-Retailers. The worst thing that can happen to a ecommerce website is an user who fills his basket with a selection of products and just before paying, he drops the card and leaves the website. Certain brands will send a targeted emailing to this person and according to some figures, brands successfully reconquer 20% of the missed sales.
  • Dynamic Creative Optimization: nowadays advertisers can break ads into pieces. Each individual piece can be customized based on the targeted audience. So the idea is to deliver the right message to the right person. Several companies proposing DCO claim that there is a 100% increase of CTR vs a non-personalized campaign. Of course it requires a complementary effort in terms of assets production and availability.
  • Product Recommendation: these systems or platforms will gather user information in order to propose products and services. Two interesting examples in the music business are Last.fm and Pandora Radio. It is a collaborative process, user generated.

Different techniques and one goal: be the most accurate as possible in terms of media investment. While certain FMCG companies will use Programmatic in order to increase conversions and ROI, what is the deal for a luxury brand?

Programmatic and luxury brands, a love-hate affair

While companies like Amazon became world champions of digital marketing, luxury brands have evolved in the digital landscape quite fast. For some of them, they have been developing digital strategies for almost 10 years now. Today they have the mastery of digital strategies and a few of them have even developed a digital savvy centre within the marketing and communication departments. The aim of these brands is to deliver a consistent message to their customers and potential customers across different platforms. These brands are well represented in Display advertising, Social Media and SEM. They have a strong mastery of their owned, earned and paid platforms and definitely embraced digital as part of their communication strategy. Brands like Cartier, Burberry or Dior  are best practices in many ways. Do they all use programmatic? That’s a tricky question. In general the development model in digital for luxury brands came from a slightly different approach. While FMCG companies were obsessed by audience and ROI, luxury brands built during the years the ideas of exclusivity, uniqueness and partnership. By choosing the right media partners, they would not need to bother with audiences. The right environment means the right audience. Once the environment established or defined, luxury brands would spread their messages by developing strong relationships with media partners. These relationships would allow a better integration of the brand in the media website, more exceptional formats and a certain exclusivity for the brand. All these parameters would bring a perfect translation of the luxury environment that these brands live in. Potentially digital advertising in luxury has a strong correlation with the image of the company. Certain brands will even use some of their “accomplishments” for PR purposes. Would programmatic allow to keep or to improve this approach? Not really. Programmatic skip the partnership part. The main goal is to align audiences and messages. The website or the environment is just a delivery support that generally will standardize formats so it will make the dissemination easier. So what we lack with programmatic is the essentiality of luxury. Today, anyone can buy a banner. You just need to pay the price. The more you buy, the less you pay anyway, so it is not a big deal. When luxury brands started investing the web, their aim was to bring a certain high-level of quality and uniqueness to their campaigns. Is there any good in programmatic for luxury brands? Sure. One interesting side of programmatic would be to address specific messages to specific audiences. Instead of having a homepage takeover with one strong message to everyone who might visit that website page, you could imagine several different messages displaying in the same homepage takeover. Each of these messages would be crafted towards a specific target group (age, revenue, location…). This would allow to maintain the qualitative work done by certain brands but would add an extra efficiency in terms of message delivery. So as we can see it is a love-hate affair between Programmatic and luxury brands. One simple question would be: do luxury brands still have the choice? Can they still cope without programmatic? Potentially the answer to this question would be: “less and less”.

How programmatic is changing the nature of media

Above we described several advantages for advertisers to use and embrace programmatic. But what about publishers and media owners? What is programmatic bringing to them? From an editorial point of view, not much. In deed, as the main focus of programmatic is the audience, there is no correlation with the environment, meaning the same man, 35 years old, earning between $95’000 to $150’000 a year will see the same ad, no matter if it is a news site, a online lifestyle magazine, a sports site or even Social media. So we might see some editorial pressure on the advertising team.
Nevertheless there are great advantages as well. Up to now, a website would sell each placement once a day to one advertiser. With programmatic the publisher would be able to sell each ad format several times simultaneously if each advertiser would target a different audience. This could amazingly increase the publisher’s revenue. That is why more and more publishers are embracing programmatic. Or at least they are dedicating part of their inventory to that. Companies like Condénast started already selling some of their inventory in the Condénast network through programmatic. Certain websites could even become media agencies by selling their audience to you, no matter if their audience will be in their websites or outside.

programmatic-ad-spent-2014-2017
So let’s imagine an online magazine that would place a cookie in its website. By partnering with specialized companies like Radium One this magazine could sell its audience no matter where people will be. The common denominator will be that these people have visited the magazine website. So media owners could potentially sell more impressions than never. And this means more money. If media owners start embracing programmatic more and more, all the brands will need to align or simply they might not have any available inventory.

In conclusion, programmatic is a reality. Publishers and advertisers are step by step embracing this new era of media. Because we can target people in ways that we never could before, this new way of buying is possible today. It is all about the cookies! That is why certain countries require certain law reinforcements because cookie police became in certain cases very intrusive. So far people are pretty happy to give some of their personal information away within a cookie, otherwise we would all stop using the web browser we use and the search engines we search with. Would advertising be more efficient? It depends. People might be annoyed to see some incoherence between the environment they will be and the advertising message they will get in that same environment. Despite a digital life more and more predominant, we are still some how… Just humans.

What-is-programmatic-luxury-brands-ready

LA

Info sourced at Forbes, International New York times, Radium one, Condénast network, wikipedia, Madhable and Techcrunch. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.

How To Dress Like A Man

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Reading Time: 5 minutes

Just because you’re a man, it doesn’t necessarily mean you know how to dress like one. Dressing like a man should not be considered along stereotypical lines — dressing like John Wayne in a Western or wearing army fatigues. Manliness is not about looking tough–it’s about looking elegant, confident, and strong. The opposite of dressing like a man is looking as if you’re still in college. Dressing like a man is all about making you look like a man of the world.

The Dilemma of the Modern Man

It’s one of the ironic facts about life that men are never taught how to dress up by their fathers. The default idea of dressing up for men is to wear a suit and tie. While this may work if you’re the president, it looks a little ridiculous if you dress up for casual occasions, too. As a modern man, you may face the dilemma of wanting to build your wardrobe, but you’re rather clueless on how to start.

Take comfort in the fact that this dilemma is quite common. You only have to look around you to see that most men are somewhat at a loss on how to dress for casual occasions. They either look overdressed, as if they were trying to model for a fashion magazine, or they go to the other extreme and look as if they picked up something from the Thrift store.

In fact, you’d be quite exceptional if you already had a keen sense of the aesthetics of menswear. In all fairness, you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself for not knowing the first thing about casual elegance. After all, you’ve probably devoted most of your time learning the skills necessary to earn a good living. Cultivating a fashion sense was not something on your list. However, now, you may be at a different phase in your life. Perhaps you’ve found the woman who lights up your life. Perhaps you need to improve your networking skills to build your business. Perhaps you’re now at a point where you’re ready to enjoy a more social life.

Unfortunately, looking for information doesn’t quite do the trick. Nor does it help to visit libraries and bookstores. It’s not due to a scarcity of information. It’s due to an overabundance of it. Moreover, there is not enough redundancy in the information to abstract a few core principles. Worse still, much of this information is conflicting.

How Do You Sort It All Out?

Think of your quest to dress well as similar to becoming a student of the martial arts. When you first visit a dojo and speak to a Sensei about signing up for karate classes, he or she will probably invite you to sit in on a class to make sure that this is something you can commit to doing. As you watch various katas and the many variations possible when it comes to blocks, kicks, and punches, you may feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the whole business. However, if you do sign up, the Sensei will start you off with the fundamentals. You’ll only build up advanced techniques over time once you’re grounded in the fundamentals. Think of building your wardrobe with this analogy in mind.

Dress-like-a-man-fashion-guide

What to Wear

Shirts

Consider t-shirts, surf polo shirts and button down shirts. Focus on solid colors before experimenting with patterns. Your first goal is to find the right colors, styles and fit for you.

Bottoms

Again, stay simple. Think of dark blue jeans and camel chinos. Later, you can add variations to the color of your jeans and chinos.

Sweaters and Outerwear

Sweaters can become complicated very quickly. Start with grey V-Neck sweaters before you even think of things like Wind Shredder vests, Westward Long-Sleeve Hooded tees, and Balboa 1/4 Zip pullovers. You’ll need a jacket, too. A Navy blazer one would be a good choice. Finally, get a navy, grey, or brown overcoat for those frosty days.

Shoes

Loafers work well with most outfits. Leather loafers are dressier than sneakers but can still be considered casual wear. Choose brown loafers if you think they work well with your shirts and bottoms. Brown is a softer, warmer choice than jet black loafers. Black will work best only if most of your clothes are dark.

Accessories

In line with keeping things simple, consider a leather belt. If you got brown leather loafers, then a brown leather belt will go with it.

Start Small

After looking over this list, you might be appalled at its simplicity. Remember, this does not mean that these are the only clothes you will need for your wardrobe. These are the just the recommended clothes you should start with. The basic idea is to get a “feel” for dressing well. Before overwhelming yourself with the vast amount of colors, patterns, fabrics, and styles available for men, get good at figuring out what you find comfortable and what looks good on you. Start small and then build up.

Liz

Men-fashion-guide-what-to-wear

Info sourced by the author for Luxuryactivist.com. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. 

La Prairie Anti-aging Rapid Response Booster – New!

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Reading Time: 3 minutes

La Prairie is launching next month a new helper against wrinkles. It is called Anti-aging Rapide Response Booster. When it comes to fight against wrinkles, every day counts. Now, with the Anti-Aging Booster Rapid Intervention, a new dimension is offered to you in terms of timeless beauty in just two weeks. Formulated with a targeted delivery system, it releases next generation ingredients exactly where your skin needs it most, the cells responsible for the production of collagen and elastin, and this from day one. Over the two weeks of treatment, wrinkles and deep lines seem to disappear, revealing a dramatic improvement in the appearance of the skin.

La-Prairie-Anti-aging-rapid-response-booster-moodboard

How does it work? The new Anti-aging Rapid Response Booster has a neuro-calming natural peptide that helps control skin aging, blurring the appearance of deep wrinkles and enhancing the protective barrier of the skin to retain its moisture. In addition, a special plankton extract will exfoliate the surface of the skin and redensify instantly its grain. The botanical brightening complex (a mixture of active ingredients from five different plants) and Silver Vine extract helps the tonicity of the skin.  Combined with the exclusive Cellular Complex by La Prairie, this anti-wrinkle care offers an outstanding youth protection to your skin.

La-Prairie-Anti-aging-rapid-response-booster-flash

as 80% of skin aging signs come from external/environmental elements, La Prairie experts have developed formulas that address all aspects of fine lines and wrinkles. La Prairie developed a consistent and complete range of products that will plump, fill, smooth the surface of the skin and reduce facial expression wrinkles. Each product formula contains a revolutionary anti-wrinkle technology. Your skin will rejuvenate and your look will be much brighter. Each product is quite easy to use and can be applied in different combinations, so each person can have his own beauty protocol.

La-Prairie-anti-aging-range

One of the amazing facet of the new Anti-aging Rapid Response Booster, is its formula texture. It easily penetrates the skin, and you feel immediately a response. Your skin seem healthier and tonic. Another interesting detail is the on-off system that can be controlled via the metal ring placed below the delivery pump.

La-Prairie-Anti-aging-rapid-response-booster-detail-open

To learn more about this great helper, connect to La Prairie official website here: http://www.laprairie.com
After all, few wrinkles can add character; they express an experience. By cons, deep wrinkles only add the weight of years. The Anti-Aging Collection prairie offers a precise advanced Anti-Aging technology and focus to work deep in the fight against wrinkles at their source.

LA

La-Prairie-Anti-aging-rapid-response-booster-featured

Info sourced at La Prairie official communication release. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. 

Sisley 2015, new launches you need to know

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Reading Time: 3 minutes

Sisley is starting the new year with amazing new products. Every year, Sisley innovates and proposes the best of nature at its best within a cosmetic product. Every ingredient is chosen carefully in order to provide you the best elements to improve moisture, youth and purity of the skin. Here is our selection of some of the new launches.

Sisley Intense Dark Spots Corrector

Intensive-Dark-spots-Corrector

Intensive-Dark-Spot-Corrector

Intensive-Dark-Spot-Corrector-applicator

With the Intense Dark Spots Corrector, Sisley help to unify your skin by reducing the intensity and the size of all dark spots regardless of age and skin complexion. These dark spots can be produced either because of age, but also the sun or some skin problems. Sisley Intense Dark Spot Corrector is concentrated in highly-performing assets:

  • The exclusive Brightening Complex by Sisley for a proven lightening action on skin spots,
  • Prickly Pear Cactus Flower extract and Salicylic Acid known for their gentle exfoliating properties,
  • Natural Alpha-bisabolol and Salicylic Acid, with soothing for action on tasks related to skin imperfections.

After 4 weeks the spots associated with aging, the sun and skin imperfections are cloudy. The uniformity of the complexion is enhanced. Please note the applicator is innovative and signs the product with a high premium look.

Sisley Essential Skin Care Lotion

Sisleya-essential-skin-care-lotion

Sisleya-essential-skin-care-lotion-product

Sisleya-essential-skin-care-lotion-details

Sisley is writing an amazing success story with the Sisleÿa line. From the first product launched, Sisleÿa became a true companion to fight anti-aging in beauty. This year Sisley is launching the new Sisleÿa Essential Skin Care Lotion.
Completely different from a perfector up removing tonic, the Sisleÿa Essential Skin Care Lotion is the first act of anti-aging skincare ritual. It contains essential assets (Marshmallow extract, Padina pavonica, and Gingko biloba Phytosqualane) to hydrate and nourish the skin, making it more receptive to the following treatments.

It incorporates anti-aging assets recognized in the Sisleÿa range (White Willow, Chalice Alkekengi, Padina pavonica, Gingko biloba) for radiant youthful skin. This is the first source of acute daily ritual. You will Immediately see the skin plumped, radiant and ideally prepared for the following care. After 4 weeks, the signs of age attenuate and the effect is visible youth.

 Sisley Ecological Compound

There is one product that at LuxuryActivist.com we are all in love: It is the Sisley Ecological Compound. The quote “less is more” is completely aligned with the philosophy of this product. It is an amazing care conditioner and moisturizer. It was developed from a complex of plant extracts (Centella Asiatica, Ginseng, Rosemary, Hops, Horsetail …) selected for their stimulating and revitalizing action. Its composition allows:

  • Moisturize the epidermis, which finds comfort and radiance,
  • To help the skin to fight against external aggressions (pollution, tobacco …)
  • Restore tone and suppleness to the skin to help make the most of other treatments then applied.

Its fluid, non-greasy texture leaves skin matte. Everyone should have this product in each bathroom.

Again Sisley has always true little treasures in its products portfolio to help us fighting all skin agressions. 2015 is just starting and there are already some products that you definitely want to have at home. For more information, do not hesitate to visit the brand website http://www.sisley-paris.com.

LA

Sisley-New-Launches-2015

Info sourced at Sisley official communication releases. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. 

Olivier Polge replaces his father, Jacques, as the Chanel inHouse Perfumer.

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Reading Time: 8 minutes

There are company stories and there are family stories. Sometimes there is a cross-road between both. This is the case of Chanel and the Polge family. This month we got the announcement that Olivier Polge, the child-wonder of Jacques is taking his father place at the head of Chanel perfumery. Olvier Polge, 40 years old become the 4th inHouse Perfumer of Chanel.

Chanel, it is all about passion

Chanel is potentially the most glamorous, iconic and luxury French house of all. Inspired by its creator, Gabrielle Chanel, the philosophy of the company is based on the love of doing things right. Excellence at work can only be accomplished by the best and this is something Chanel knows how to do it. Gabrielle Chanel was a woman-in-love her entire life. All the passion that animated her was placed within the company. Over the years, Chanel became an international company, privately owned, amazingly successful and a true icon of luxury.
Gabrielle Chanel
Not so long ago they published for the first time their financial results and they were great. In 2012 Chanel’s sales were $ 6.3 Billion for a net income of $ 1.53 Billion. This means a profitability of 25%! In comparison, LVMH is 12% and Hermès is 21%. The company valorization multiplied by 3 in the past 4 years. You can read our article about it here:
Chanel Financial Results
This incredible results comes also to the fact it is a very accomplished brand in several domain like Fashion and fashion accessories, Make-Up, Cosmetics, Jewelry and of course Fragrances.

Since the N.5, Chanel is definitely one of the founders of modern perfumery

In 1921, the most glamorous fragrance of all was launched: Chanel N5. At that time, you could not buy it. It was offered only and exclusively to Chanel’s best customers.
Chanel N 5
Several legends are told around the creation of Chanel N5. Some of them are more “real” than others. Here is what we know. It all started with a talented perfumer of the name Ernest Beaux. He was French, born in Moscow and his first steps into Perfumery happened at Alphonse Rallet & Co.
Laboratoire Rallet Ernest Beaux Chiris
In the 19th century, Rallet was the most prestigious fragrance providers of all Imperial courts in Europe. In 1898, Raillet (1’500 employees) is bought by French Perfume House Chiris La Bocca, based in Grasse – France. Ernest Beaux has the chance to complete his training at Chiris with the learning of the amazing naturals extraction techniques. At that time, Chiris was the top leading house for The Grassian flowers: Jasmine, Rose, Mimosa…

Antoine-Chiris-la-bocca-Grasse

They also developed several new extraction techniques and step by step introduced Synthetic notes into the perfumer’s palette. Ernest Beaux became a well known Perfumer as he signed a few hits for the time. He launched Bouquet Napoleon and Bouquet Catherine Both fragrances were remarkable successes and obviously placed him as the hot talent of that time. It was then a logical choice to have him working on the Chanel fragrance. The perfumer’s challenge? To translate the innovative modernity of Chanel into a first signature fragrance. According to Raillet archives, Ernest Beaux benefited from all the beautiful ingredient palette provided by Chiris to build the first modern fragrance. Until the beginning of the 20th century, Floral fragrances were generally rich and natural floral bouquets. In painting we would translate that by “Nature Morte” meaning a loyal transcription of how nature was. Ernest Beaux and Chanel had higher ambitions. With the arrival of all the synthetic notes, found by German chemists at the end of 19th century, perfumers could now revamp nature in order to bring something more to the table of creation. It was like going from Nature-morte to Impressionism. On the Chanel fragrance Ernest Beaux used Aldehydes. It is a strong, sparkling and dazzling scent that would lift up all the floral structure. Several trials were made and the 5th trial was chosen to be the one Chanel wanted in the flacon. It was the birth of Chanel N5. Certain people say there was a mistake in the dosage of the Aldehyde and that Chanel N5 had an accidental Aldehyde overdose. I would place the word “accident” for the beauty of the story. In any case, an amazing fragrance was born. With the help of Marilyn Monroe in the 50’s, Chanel N5 became the ultimate feminine fragrance of all. Check here the full story between Chanel and Marilyn Monroe:

Chanel and Marilyn
The legend was set. Today with more than 1 million flacons sold every year, Chanel N5 is a market leader. Chanel always surprised and innovated in terms of fragrances and most of the creations in their portfolio became more than market best-sellers. They became true icons of masculine and feminine archetypes. Behind these creations there were and there still is great creators, the finest perfumers of their time. Each generation of perfumers get the heritage of the brand as a true legacy and explores new ways to sublime nature.

Ernest Beaux, he dared and became the first Chanel Perfumer

Ernest Beaux Chanel
By the end of the 19th century, Joseph Robert was the Master perfumer at Chiris. Ernest Beaux would not have a chance to get new projects. Being born in Moscow, he tried to get new projects by linking with the Russian nobility that emigrated to France at that time. One of the contacts he got was the Grand Duque Dimitri Pavlovich. The Grand Duque was the companion of Mademoiselle Chanel. By the summer 1920, Ernest Beaux got organized a meeting with her. He succeeded to present his work and Chanel N5 was born as a Christmas gift for Chanel best customers. Imagine if they would have know!
With the initial success of the N5, Bader and Wertheimer, the owners of Galeries Lafayette, bought in 1922 the license for the fragrance and founded Parfums Chanel. They hired Ernest Beaux as the first inHouse Perfumer. From his creative mind, several amazing fragrances were created.

  • Chanel N.22 in 1922
  • Cuir de Russie in 1924 (launched in 1927)
  • Gardenia in 1925
  • Bois des iles in 1926
  • Soir de Paris in 1929
  • Kobako in 1936
  • Premier Muguet in 1955

Henri Robert, legacy in a way

Henri Robert perfumer chanel
Henri Robert, was the son of Joseph Robert, the Chief Perfumer at Chiris. Basically where the all story started. The father never made it to Chanel but in a way the son made it. By the end of the 19th century Henri Robert meets Ernest Beaux at Raillet and get the desire to become a Perfumer. Several years after. In 1954, he replaces Ernest Beaux at the head of olfactory development at Chanel. Henri Robert becomes the new Perfumer inHouse. He launched amazing fragrances for Chanel.

  • Pour Monsieur de Chanel in 1955
  • Chanel N.19 in 1970
  • Cristalle de Chanel in 1974

In 1977, Henri Robert recruits the young and talented François Demachy that developed the technical perfumery to amazing levels at Chanel. Henri Robert did an amazing job until he left the floor to another amazing perfumer.

Jacques Polge, the modern era with Chanel

Jacques Polge Chanel
Jacques Polge was raised in the South of France and he learned perfumery thanks to Jean Carles in Roure. After a solid career at Givaudan Roure, he joins Chanel as inHouse Perfumer in 1978 when Henri Robert retired. His passion for ingredients, his rigorous approach of creation and his beautiful mind as a creator, drove Chanel into a new modernity and secured the brand as worldwide market leader. He created fragrances that will cross decades and still be relevant as if they were created yesterday.

  • Antaeus in 1981
  • Coco in 1984
  • Egoiste in 1990 )originally launched as Bois Noir in 1987)
  • Allure in 1996
  • Allure pour homme in 1999
  • Coco Mademoiselle in 2001
  • Chance in 2002
  • Bleu de Chanel in 2010
  • Coco Noir (with Christopher Sheldrake) in 2012

In 2005 Christopher Sheldrake joined Chanel as Director of Research and Development. He started the collaboration with Jacques Polge since François Demachy left for LVMH. In 2013 Olivier Polge, son of Jacques, join his father at Chanel after a brilliant career at IFF.
Jacques-Polge-Olivier-Polge-Christopher-Sheldrake

Olivier Polge, the new Polge has arrived

Olivier Polge Chanel
During the last two years, Olivier Polge joined his father at Chanel. The family story continues and Olivier could get all the secrets and background of the brand by his dad. His career at IFF was a brilliant one with incredible creations for different brands.

  • La Vie est Belle Lancôme
  • Dior Homme
  • Balenciaga Paris
  • SpiceBomb Viktor & Rolf

On his first 18 month, Olivier Polge took a deep dive into the universe of Chanel. The integration of the Brand heritage and DNA are key to help Olivier translate the aim of a fashion luxury house like Chanel into fragrances. At 40 years old, Olivier Polge takes the place of his father. We wish all the best for Olivier and hopefully he will amaze us like never someone did before.

LA

Olivier Polge Chanel perfumer

Info sourced at LeFigaro, Cafleurebon.com, Boisjasmin.com, Wikipedia, Les Echos, International New York Times and Forbes. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available

Lab/Life, science at all levels. Musée de la Main, Lausanne.

José Amorim
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0
Lab/Life, science at all levels. Musée de la Main, Lausanne.
Reading Time: 3 minutes

The Musée de la Main in Lausanne is a very interesting place . It offers original and quite unique exhibitions and until February 22nd 2015, you will be able to attend to Lab/Life. Two exhibition around Living things: One is about Life Exploration (Exploration du Vivant) and another one is about Stem Cells, the origins of life (Cellules Souches, l’origine de la vie). This weekend, we got to visit the first one. You can discover the life in a scientific lab, different modern techniques to explore, observe, analyse and understand Life.

Musée de la Main in Lausanne: because Science does matter.

As we know, Science and health are two very important components in life. Claude Verdan Foundation, the University of Lausanne and the CHUV (Lausanne Public hospital) have joined forces since 1997. The result is a flexible and interesting place they called Musée de la Main.

Musee-de-la-main

The Museum explores themes around scientific news, medical and social topics. All in an open-mind spirit. Its mission is to generate dialogue and curiosity to the public. Since its creation there were more than 30 exhibitions and several programs of activities. All together represent an unique opportunity to discover, with the head and the hands, general topics that concern us all.
Something that strikes the visitors when you get in the museum, it is the elegance and rigor that exhibitions are displayed. And during our visit of Lab/Life, we could see the great attention given to details.

LAB/LIFE – Exploration of the Living, the science lab.

We got to visit Lab/Life – Exploration of the Living. Fruit flies, diabetes, cress ladies, neurons, bacteria, wolf droppings, DNA, sleep, owls and viruses. What a program! The exhibition is a fun course that reconstructs the day-to-day in a scientific laboratory. Through a scientific approach, it explores the challenges of contemporary research in biology and medicine.

Lab-Life-Musee-de-la-main-Lausanne

Lab-Life-Musee-de-la-main-Lausanne-expo-suisse  Lab-Life-Musee-de-la-main

Throughout the duration of exposure, researchers at UNIL and the CHUV welcome you in their laboratories installed at the Museum. You will discover innovative techniques and novel demonstrations to the public.

Lab-Life-Exhibition-Lausanne-Science Lab-Life-Lausanne-Expo-display Lab-Life-Musee-de-la-main-experiences-enfants

Lab-Life-Musee-de-la-main-expo

LAB/LIFE – Exploration of the Living, Science is an art.

An interesting aspect of this exhibition is the elegant and artistic way to exhibit a science lab. Of course you will see microscopes and cutting edge technology, all true to a day-to-day in a Science lab. But the exhibition also reflects an artistic spirit that welcomes visitors in a very warm hearted ambiance. From amazing screens, to iMacs, white tables and beautiful iconography, Lab/Life is almost an art exhibition about Science. Very beautiful.

Lab-Life-Expo-display Lab-Life-impression-3D Lab-Life-Musee-de-la-main-expo-suisse Lab-Life-Musee-de-la-main-Lausanne-expo-2015 Lab-Life-Musee-de-la-main-Vaud-Lausanne

In our today’s society, there are incredible challenges to face. Some of them can only be achieved thanks to the support of scientific research. For that new generations of researchers are wanted, so this kind of initiative can definitely inspire new vocations. So you still have until February 22nd to visit this very interesting exhibition.

Musée de la main UNIL-CHUV
Rue du Bugnon 21
1011 Lausanne / Suisse
Tél. : +41 (0)21 314 49 55
Fax : +41 (0)21 314 49 63
E-mail : mmain@hospvd.ch
http://www.museedelamain.ch

 LA

Lab-Life-poster-musee-de-la-main

Info sourced at the Lab/Life exhibition and the Musee de la main website. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. 

Why San Diego is So Amazing and Why You Should Visit Over and Over Again

LuxuryActivist
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0
Reading Time: 4 minutes

What attracts you to a vacation destination? Is it a chance to take in the sights at places unique only to that specific location? What cultural landmarks and natural attractions are available for visiting? Do the lodging accommodations make a difference when choosing a vacation destination?
For all these reasons and many more, San Diego, California in the United States is one of the top vacation destinations in the world. From a world class aquarium to fun-filled adventures and miles of breathtaking shoreline, San Diego is truly a must-see on the west coast of the U.S. Let’s learn more about how to plan the San Diego destination vacation of your dreams…

Where to Stay

Don’t let the fact that the Welk Resort in San Diego doubles as a timeshare deter you from considering it as a viable accommodation while vacationing in San Diego. The breathtaking Welk timeshare is located just 30 minutes north of San Diego on 450 acres of the most beautiful coastline. There are several spacious rentals available, from 585 square foot one bedroom suite to two to three bedroom apartments packed with every imaginable amenity.
If you choose to stay at the Welk timeshare in Lawrence, you will enjoy access to eight pools, complete with waterslides and splash zones, five rec centers, and a host of on-site restaurants for everything from casual dining to fine cuisine. Finally, you get all this for a competitive price rivaling neighboring resorts and hotels.

What to See

No visit to San Diego would be complete without a visit to the world famous San Diego Zoo or the aquarium. Each of these popular attractions offers something that everyone in the family can enjoy.

San-Diego-zoo

San-Diego-Aquarium

At the San Diego Zoo, take in the awe-inspiring botanical and orchid gardens. Don’t miss the Safari Park at the zoo, where the entire family can get up close and personal with rare and endangered plants. Perhaps the best part of the zoo is the giant panda exhibit. The San Diego Zoo is one of four locations to host a preservation program for these endangered species. Whenever touring the San Diego Zoo, you can feel good about the fact that you are contribution to the active wildlife preservation efforts headed up by the zoo foundation.

For those who have a greater penchant for sea life, the Birch Aquarium plays host to several colorful and educational exhibits, animal feedings, a cafe, and a souvenir shop. These one-of-a-kind exhibits rotate regularly so that there is something new, entertaining, and educational to enjoy. Past exhibits that made a splash at the Birch Aquarium include There’s Something About Seahorses and Whales: Voices in the Sea. To get the full experience, plan a day hike along the La Jolla beaches that are part of the external landscape of the aquarium.

Take in Some Excitement

There are several options for fun in the sun in San Diego, but two must-do attractions in the area include Six Flags Magic Mountain and Legoland California.

Six Flags Magic Mountain is just a scenic drive from San Diego and offers a litany of family rides, kids rides, and thrill rides to satisfy any degree of desire for an adrenaline rush. But the world’s tallest and fastest stand-up roller coaster and panoramic views atop the Sky Tower are not all that Six Flags Magic Mountain has to offer. There are several restaurants located within the park to quench most any palate. The theme park also hosts regular entertainment events at it’s Sierra Stage and Golden Bear Theatre.

Everybody loved playing with Legos as a kid; that goes without exception. Kids of all ages can explore towering exhibits, ride exciting Lego-themed rides, and even build their own creations, providing hours of simple family fun and entertainment. Parents can take in a Legoland exclusive San Diego Coast Cruise and also view to-scale representation of world famous American cities and landmarks.

San Diego, California is a perfect mix of culture, refinement, and good, old-fashioned fun. Thanks to the majestic beaches, amazing weather, luxurious accommodations, and fun-filled attractions, San Diego has aptly earned the nickname “America’s Finest City”. For a vacation of your dreams, you really can’t go wrong with San Diego. One thing is for certain: there is plenty to keep you busy and keep you coming back for more, time and time again.

Liz

San-Diego-California

Info sourced by the author for LuxuryActivist. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. 

Friday Chronicle #12: Instagram brings Sexy back.

LuxuryActivist
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0
Reading Time: 7 minutes

Instagram is today the perfect challenger for Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. With more than 300 million monthly active users, it has became the strongest alternative to the mainstream social networks. Of course we all know it belongs now to Facebook, which is always a big deal (like WhatsApp) but we can see a true community sharing over millions of images every day. One interesting fact is that Instagram is bringing sexy back. Here is how.

From Self-Portrait to Selfies, a new way of self-expression

The usage of photographs in the internet and the democratization of photography through smartphones and digital cameras, have developed new ways of self-expression. The first of them are the (in)famous Selfies. The first time the word “Selfie” was used is 2005 by Photographer Jim Krause. When MySpace was popular, a new kind of photos appeared, most of them during music concerts and festivals. It was an evolution of the self-portrait that suddenly was democratized. 2013 dictated the word Selfie as the world of the year. Smartphones and digital cameras allow a huge flexibility in terms of photography, so millions of people use it to produce images (a lot of themselves) and publish them in the internet.
You might wonder then, the difference between a Self-Portrait and a Selfie? Well, the Self-portrait is artistic, every single detail is built and managed by the artist. Cindy Sherman is the contemporary reference in terms of self-Portrait techniques.
Cindy-Sherman portrait

Cindy-Sherman-work
Selfies are not Art. Selfies are spontaneous pictures self-made in which the main topic (the photographer) adapts to the surrounding conditions. Of course each Selfie is supposed to give the best image of yourself but there is definitely a big difference between the “work” of Cindy Sherman and Kim Kardashian.
Historically speaking, the first selfie was done in 1839 by Robert Cornelius. So this is not something new.
Robert Cornelius first selfie
Today, thanks to Instagram, Facebook and other snapchat, Whisper, Thumb or Ello, the social media landscape became a field of Selfies. According to stylecaster.com, there are 1 million selfies taken every day and published on social media.
On Instagram, a selfie will perform 38% better (interactions with users) than any picture about something else. So people tend to post more and more pictures of themselves. The more you get “personal” in the content you push online, the more “chicky” things can be. For this, Instagram brought sexy back.

Instagram, Super stars are sexy like hell

One of the most exciting points about Instagram is that celebrities are present in the platform and sharing personal photos. This creates an amazing excitement from fans who can follow more “closely” their idols on a regular base. They also can see pictures of their preferred stars that normally they would never see. If we tend to believe these pictures are all spontaneous, please note that most of the Instagram celebrities have “Instagram managers” taking care of the natural side of things. They do not hesitate to show themselves in any kind of situations like behind the scenes, holidays and many other events. Some of these shots are pretty much sexy and fans get even more hooked in. 2 stars are ruling in the art of sexy selfies: Kim Kardashian and Rihanna.
Ms Kardashian West has more than 25 million followers on Instagram. She is by far one of the most popular celebrities in the platform. She got this popularity thanks to the sexy pictures she started sharing of herself in very sensual postures. Naturally millions of people are pretty obsessed by the way she looks and this is something she cultivates.
Kim-Kardashian-instagram-account
Another huge sexy star on Instagram is Rihanna. The Barbados singer and star has now crossed the line of 14.5 million followers and you can understand why by looking to her Instagram profile. She shares loads of personal moments and most of these are sexy selfies. Rihanna completely understood the power of social networks and the attraction she generates.
Rihanna-instagram-account
Every celebrity is following that route and more and more “personal” moments are shared. Some of them found on Instagram a powerful tool to recruit young generations. It is the case of Madonna. With almost 3 million followers, the ultimate star of the 80’s started a process to recruit young generations. Fans can follow all the hot news from her as well as her sexy pictures and even family photos.
Madonna-instagram-account
Instagram became a dream machine for fans who can follow their preferred fans almost 24/7. The interesting thing about these sexy shots is that anyone can become a celebrity on Instagram. You just need to share sexy selfies from yourself and the fan base will grow. Fortunately most of these people will never meet face to face their fans. Some of them sound a little creepy. A good example is Rosa Acosta. She has more than 640’000 followers on Instagram and you can understand why by looking into her account.
Rosa-acosta-instagram-account
As we can see celebrities do not have the monopole of sexiness on Instagram. Non-famous people can also compete in that league. Here below 2 interesting sexy trends that are big hits on Instagram: #TighGap and #Squat .

Instagram, showing my thigh-gap

What is a Thigh-gap? This is what you can read on Wikipedia: “A thigh gap in women is a space between the inner thighs when standing upright with knees touching. Some women aspire to have a thigh gap because they believe it will increase their attractiveness, with some considering it a sign of femininity and fragility”. Some people also believe that it is the symbol of a perfect body. So several teenagers believe the bigger the thigh-gap is, the better. Some of them became pretty famous on Instagram by just showing pictures of themselves with Thigh-gaps.
Tighs-gap-pictures
To make it very clear, thigh-gaps are part of your body morphology. Some people have them more open than others. Si this has nothing to do with the beauty of your body or that you are too fat or too skinny. Most of these pictures are anyway either photoshopped (remember Beyonce on holidays?) or taken from a specific angle that makes the space between your thighs wider.

Instagram, sports are sexy – the squat team

Another point of interest in this sexinization of Instagram is what we would call the squat team! In strength training and fitness, the squat is a compound, full body exercise that trains primarily the muscles of the thighs, hips and buttocks, quadriceps, hamstrings, as well as strengthening the bones, ligaments and insertion of the tendons throughout the lower body. So when people get pretty proud of their results after squatting, they publish it on Instagram. Female sports fans and fitness teachers became very famous by publishing their buttocks on Instagram during or after a squat session. Some of them are sexy enough to drive people to their profiles and many of them get hundreds of thousands of followers. Sport is sexy!
Squat-butt-pictures
In conclusion, Instagram replaced the old Playboy magazine subscription of grandpa. There is a sexy attitude within the Instagram community and it is all about putting yourself under the limelights. Naturally, pornography is banned by Instagram and everyday hundreds of people are “censured” because of inappropriate content. Just type #Selfie in the Instagram search and you will find loads of inappropriate content.
Sexy-pictures-instagram

LA

Instagram-sexy

Info sourced at the Instagram platform, wikipedia and Forbes. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.

Hotel Evian L’Ermitage, a luxury escapade with style.

José Amorim
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1
Reading Time: 6 minutes

Discover the Evian Hotel L’Ermitage. Located between the Alps and the Leman Lake, it is an amazing place with everything you need to enjoy holidays, or like us, the perfect Sunday afternoon. LuxuryActivist team tried the Sunday Brunch and discovered a little beauty.

Leman Lake region, a precious gem for the pleasure of the eyes

The Leman lake area is probably one of the most beautiful regions in Switzerland. There are amazing cities like Lausanne and Geneva that offer everything you need for a great journey. But there are also other cities, on the French side of the lake that would require your attention, like Evian-les-Bains.
Evian-les-bains

Evian-les-bains-lac-leman
The city was pretty much unknown until the end of the 18th century. Only when the French Empire’s physicians discovered amazing virtues for the Evian’s springs in 1808, the city started developing. In 1809, the Evian Mineral water company was founded and by the end of the 19th century, this little city by the Leman Lake had more than 20 hotels. By that time, thermal water and mountaineering was a huge trend. By 1902, the Evian’s baths were constructed and since then Evian kept its status of a high class Spa destination. Today the city has a beautiful Golf parcours, which holds every year in September one of the most prestigious Female Golf competition: the Evian Masters Championships.
Among the different hotels of the region, there is the Evian Resort, grouping 2 hotels: the historical Royal Evian and the Evian L’Ermitage. These 2 hotels are the most prestigious institutions in this side of the lake. Last Sunday we decided to try the L’Ermitage Sunday brunch and frankly it is all worth it!

Hotel Evian L’Ermitage, Luxury in the heart of French Alps

From Lausanne, it is just 30mn by boat. After enjoying a beautiful boat trip on the lake, L’Ermitage sends you a free mini-bus to pick you up at the “Embarcadaire”. The Hotel is located in the highs of the city, so this generous service is essential and part of a relaxing moment. When you arrive at L’Ermitage, there are 2 things that strikes you immediately: the view and the building itself. Perched on the side of the mountain, the hotel has a perfect location to offer you one of the most beautiful views of the Leman Lake region. The building itself was constructed in the early 20th century and fully renovated by interior Architect Patrick Ribes in 2011. Today you will discover an amazing institution that kept the “caché” from the prestigious past in alliance with the contemporary modernity of a luxury hotel.

Hotel-Evian-L-Ermitage-cheminee Hotel-Evian-L-Ermitage-decor Hotel-Evian-L-Ermitage-games Hotel-Evian-L-Ermitage-institution Hotel-Evian-L-Ermitage-interior Hotel-Evian-L-Ermitage-journey
The ambiance is very authentic. Patrick Ribes used a combination of natural materials in order to bring a obvious harmony with the surroundings: stone, wood and glass. The usage of naturals colors of greens, browns and beige contrasts with deep red furniture, which brings a lot of style.

Hotel Evian L’Ermitage, Sunday is a great day!

Every Sunday, L’Ermitage proposes an amazing brunch. You can choose either a Brunch formula or there are very interesting combos with the Spa:

  • Brunch only 49€
  • Detente Minerale 88€ (Brunch + 20mn relaxing massage)
  • Detente Gourmande 112€ (Brunch + 50mn massage)
  • Detente en Duo 225€ (2 Brunches + 2 massages)

The brunch starts at 12:00 in the restaurant called La Table and lasts until 15:00. The spa opens on Sundays at 14:30 and proposes all types of massages, sauna, hamman, fitness and a Swimming pool (this one only available if you have a hotel room).
In the Brunch, everything is done to make you feel at easy. The room has a calm ambiance where you can chill-out and enjoy a dreamed Sunday afternoon. The personel is polite, efficient, discreet and take good care of you.
In terms of food, it is all fresh, well cooked and everyone can find something to eat. I cannot describe all the different food but here are the highlights:

  • Fois Gras with Gesiers Salad
  • Scallops and Shrimps salad with Olive oil
  • Chicken, White fish and Ravioles in cocotte
  • Sweet potatos and beef puree
  • Homemade Creme Brulée, Cherish pie, fruit and chocolates mousse
  • Fresh squeezed orange, Pomelo and Apple juice

Hotel-Evian-L-Ermitage-brunch-sunday Hotel-Evian-L-Ermitage-brunch Hotel-Evian-L-Ermitage

All the food was presented in a dedicated area that would allow a good variety of choices. There was a person dedicated to check whenever food needed to be refilled. What did we miss? This is obviously very personal but here are some elements we would have expected to find:

  • Yoghurts, fresh milk, Cottage cheese
  • Breakfast cereals like müesli or cornflakes
  • Fresh cut fruit salad (there was fresh fruits but not in salad)

Naturally the definition of Brunch is always very personal from one person to another but by trying several of them around the world we end up with a pretty good definition of it. Make sure you book in advance your table as it is often quite full. The hotel restaurant has a great success on Sundays.
Once the afternoon get along, and your brunch is over, you can enjoy the rest of the services available at the hotel. The spa and the wellbeing area is available from 14:00 to the end of the day. It is a pity that the Swimming pool is not available to external customers (only if you have a room). During this winter season, there is a fireplace working in the bar area where soft chairs and loads of board games are available. There is even a Pool table (billiard) and a baby-football table. For couples with children, there is a small yet complete area with children games. Basically you have enough to enjoy a stylish and relaxing ambiance. Some arm-chairs are also strategically positioned to get you the perfect view while reading your preferred newspaper or magazine. The property in which the hotel is located has a size of 19ha so enough to enjoy a peaceful walk. The professional Golf track is also available under certain conditions. For more information, do not hesitate to visit the Hotel website here:
http://www.evianresort.com

In conclusion we definitely recommend the Evian L’Ermitage hotel, for holidays, a short week-end or just the Sunday brunch. Evian-Les-Bains is only 45mn away from Geneva and 30mn away from Lausanne (by boat). It is a marvelous place to allow you enjoying the relaxing luxury lifestyle of Savoie.

LA

Hotel-Evian-L-Ermitage-institution

Info sourced at EvianResort website and Luxuryactivist experience at L’Ermitage. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.

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