I lay on the bed in the sun-drenched suite of Champs-élysées and got one of the best spa treatments I’ve ever had in my life. Just an hour ago, I left the bass in a Paris cafe, hopped onto the subway, and joined a group of tourists to shop to shop, many shopping bags dragged. L’Institut Guerlain hides nearby – a beauty and wellness haven, providing a peaceful retreat along one of Paris’ busiest pathways.
Originally designed by Jean-Michel Frank, the space is light and airy. Amid the marble surfaces on display, French paneling and decadent floral scents, you will find ornate bees scattered. The team reminded me that this theme is at the heart of Guerlain Brand, which was used in the mid-19th century on Cologne Impériale bottles, which were specifically used for Napoleon III’s wife Eugénie Empress Eugénie. After twelve years of research, Guerlain once again paid tribute to the bees with the launch of Abeille Royale in 2010. Its product is made with a combination of Blackbee repair technology, a combination of Blackbee honey and Royal Jelly, designed to enhance the skin’s natural process, thus enhancing for a stronger, stretchy, and younger complexion. Today, Abeille Royale has cemented its position as one of Guerlain’s bestsellers, an important part of the tailored treatments I do; its products featured in my 90-minute face and massage. This star is just a young man who has just accepted the upgrade in 2025.
Dr. Frédéric Bonté, a pharmaceutical physician and director of scientific communications at Guerlain, told Fashion After 15 years of research on honey and royal jelly, the new youth aquatic essence is inspired by the scientific pretreatment ability of honey. “Our research, and recently in collaboration with the French Research Centre Restore-eq4, specializing in stromal cells in regenerative medicine, allows us to better understand and target new biological pathways involved in skin regeneration,” he said. “It all started with our intuitive parallelism between the wound healing process and the mechanisms of skin repair, and was reinforced by a meeting with French surgeon Professor Descottes, who successfully used honey-based dressings in hospitals to treat stubborn wounds.”
The just-conferred serum amplifies the benefits of OG Youth Water Oil (launched in 2013), by combining three honeys from black bees from different regions, and the Guerlain Research team chose its efficacy very carefully. “To correctly select the right honey, we analyzed their composition, tested their biological activities and selected the most effective bee slices – considering that only a limited number of honey has compensation properties,” Bonté continued. “This approach led us to choose the production of a resilient bee species, namely the Black Bee (Apis Mellifera Mellifera), which is Western European. These bees live in a unique ecosystem in isolation and produce honey, with complex ingredients, capable of acting on biological targets related to skin repair and beauty.”
The revival properties of honey are enhanced by four ethylene glycols, adenosine and a vitamin C derivative, which is mixed into a weight-free moisturizing immortality consisting of 99% naturally derived ingredients, suitable for all skin types. What I found most attractive about the formula is that most consumers may remember the oily stuff – its textured golden beads made from propolis ferment oil extracted and enhanced radiation-like complex designed to burst hydration into the skin for immediate nutrition.
