Orchidée Impériale Black - Art Edition by Li Hongbo
Guerlain’s ultimate luxury, Orchidée Impériale Black The Cream is revealed in an exceptional edition in which the work of a Chinese artist is brought to life by the know-how of the porcelain manufacturer Bernardaud.
A remarkable encounter takes shape between Guerlain’s high-performance skincare technology, the talent of the contemporary artist Li Hongbo and maison Bernardaud’s luxury craftsmanship.
While the active ingredients derived from the Black Orchid* and the BlackImmuneTM technology are at the heart of the skincare, the flower is revealed in a drawing interpreted by Li Hongbo. The artist has drawn it down to the finest detail and created a three-dimensional sculpture using his technique of choice – paper. Based on the artist’s sketch, Bernardaud has reproduced the drawing in 24-karat gold on the black porcelain jars. A precious project in keeping with the ties that Guerlain has been forging with art for decades.
* Cultivated Cycnoches cooperi
A MASTERPIECE OF FINE COSMETICS
THE BLACK ORCHID RARE, POWERFUL, RESILIENT
Created in 2016, Orchidée Impériale Black The Cream paints a new picture of the art of skincare. An exceptional cream, a high cosmetic care, rare and exclusive, the quintessence of research based on an orchid with remarkable powers.
An astonishing plant, the Black Orchid, Cycnoches cooperi, owes its name to its flower curved in the shape of a “swan’s neck”. An ebony-coloured gown and glowing petals appear when it flowers. Endemic to the Peruvian Andes, it grows practically without any sunlight. At an altitude of between 500 and 1,500 meters, this orchid manages to thrive in a warm, wet forest with little light (the canopy is extremely dense).
Around fifty centimetres tall, the plant is particularly robust; it exchanges with its ecosystem (tree bark, microflora), drawing from it the resources it needs for its development and resilience. A real queen of survival, this rare Black Orchid has developed exceptional capacities for resilience, successfully flourishing in a hostile environment. Discreet and quasi-invincible, it paradoxically reveals its power through its extraordinary resilience. Unisexual, it bears both male and female flowers. To maintain its metabolism, it only flowers for three weeks each year.
A REVOLUTIONARY APPROACH TO SKIN SELF-DEFENSE
Chosen from among 30,000 species, thanks to the Orchidarium’s experts, this orchid with phenomenal capacities of adaptation was selected by Guerlain research to develop a cutting-edge technology. At the heart of the Orchidée Impériale Black line, the BlackImmuneTM technology encapsulates the power of the Black Orchid to help skin to protect itself against skin ageing*. The technology targets 95% of all epidermal cells involved in the skin’s self-defence phenomenon1. It acts both via the acquired defence system by protecting Langerhans cells and via the innate defence system by regulating TLRs (Toll-like Receptors), sentinel proteins in skin that constantly monitor the environment. Skin is protected and can thus devote all its resources to its regeneration.
* In vitro test on ingredients
GUERLAIN’S ART OF SKINCARE
An ode to nature, Orchidée Impériale Black The Cream is made up of 86%* naturally-derived ingredients. Efficacy that boosts the skin’s self-defence mechanisms is paired with a deliciously silky smooth texture, like a balm. A cream with an unprecedented sensory feel that offers an experience whose benefits are quickly felt. Skin becomes smoother, denser to the touch and more luminous. After one month’s use, skin is perceptibly more beautiful, younger and more resistant, for longer.
The quintessence of luxury, the ultimate beauty talisman, the promise of a rejuvenating effect in an exceptional cream and sustainable luxury.
* Calculation based on the international ISO standard 16128, including water. The remaining 14% contribute to the formula's integrity and sensory qualities.
AN INSPIRED ARTIST
" Like the orchid, time stands still for you. " - Li Hongbo
SCULPTOR OF MATERIAL
Today, for the first time, this exceptional cream can be rediscovered, beautifully enhanced by a work of art.
Guerlain turned to Li Hongbo, an artist on the Chinese scene who studied art in Jilin and Beijing and is internationally renowned for his paper creations. Sculptor of material, he meticulously cuts out sheets of paper that are layered to reconstruct an object, a shape with almost trompe-l’oeil effects. It is only on touching it that the magic unfolds, revealing in a concertina shape the precision of exceptional, painstaking work.
The legacy of a traditional custom in China (the country where paper manufacture was invented), paper is a material that can be easily transformed by cutting but is also very fragile. Thousands of sheets of paper are joined with glue and assembled to form a honeycomb structure that is resistant yet flexible.
The sculpture is then created using a sculpting machine to polish the contours, then a small sculpting knife to finish off the details. It often takes one to two months to create a piece, each step requiring meticulous polishing.
A FRAGILITY THAT BECOMES STRENGTH
With scalpel-like precision, the sculptor gives body and density to his works. He uses paper’s ability to transform and turns its fragility into a strength. In a reversal effect, perception is thrown into confusion: the robust becomes flexible and sculpture can begin to move. The material is transformed, forgetting its two dimensions to take on volume and multiply into a precious sheaf. Li Hongbo transforms an age-old technique into a personal and original contemporary practice.
The artist studied the world of this astonishing Black Orchid from Guerlain and discovered a link with paper’s symbolism: the ability to adapt and a fragility that becomes a strength. In tribute, he created a drawing of flowers in full bloom with precisely detailed petals and a spectacular white paper sculpture as a pedestal for the cream’s black jar.
AN EXCEPTIONAL JAR
To transpose Li Hongbo’s drawing onto the cream’s precious jars, Guerlain collaborated with its partner of choice, the maison Bernardaud. A manufacture that opened in Limoges in 1863, this family firm notably developed techniques for ornating its porcelain with gold leaf. While the house offered long service to the courts of Europe, it now creates objects for the tables of the finest restaurants. This beautiful history of tradition and know-how runs alongside Guerlain’s history. Established in 1828, Guerlain served the Second Empire in France and the courts of Europe. Its history is built on five generations of perfumers in every domain of cosmetics.
Daring and creativity unite these two houses, whose combined expertise is revealed in the absolute gem of luxury embodied by Orchidée Impériale Black and its iconic refillable, artisanally crafted porcelain jar. Each jar requires one month’s work and the involvement of 50 craftspeople.
THREE EXCEPTIONAL CREATIONS
THE EXCEPTIONAL PIECE
Summum of creativity and a work of art in its own right, a paper sculpture by Li Hongbo serves as the pedestal for the cream in a version even more embellished with the 24-karat gold floral motif, a quasi-integral creation hand-painted with grand feu painting.
Like the lanterns used during festivals in China, Li Hongbo’s paper sculpture is constructed in a honeycomb shape; a nod to the history that ties Guerlain to the emblematic insect, its symbols and its protection. On this trompe-l’oeil stele, the artiste has cut out multiple sheets of paper to “sculpt” orchids and the Guerlain signature in relief. Layers of sheets of paper stuck together and meticulously cut out orchestrate the volume of the sculpture, which can unfold as a precious fan.
For this artist’s edition, a former Maître d’Atelier at maison Bernardaud, who was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres distinction, returned specially to produce the design of the flower on the porcelain. A virtuoso artisan with a particularly keen eye, he reproduced Li Hongbo’s drawings by hand with 24-karat grand feu painting. Applied virtually tone on tone, the painting only reveals its gold when it is fired. Each piece takes two to three days to create. A high-tech feat with perfectly mastered hand craftsmanship to showcase Li Hongbo’s design.
An exceptional piece in 15 numbered copies.
THE TRILOGY CASE
A precious lacquered wood box offers the Orchidée Impériale Black trilogy for a complete routine: The Cream in its artistic version designed by Li Hongbo, The Symbioserum and The Eye and Lip Contour Cream.
A trilogy case in 500 copies.
THE ART EDITION CREAM
The art edition Orchidée Impériale Black Cream sets off the porcelain jar with the addition of floral motifs designed by Li Hongbo. The 24-karat gold leaf decoration is delicately placed as a contrast on the shiny, deep black enamelling. The precision and perfection of a series of exceptional iconic pieces in a limited edition.
An art edition cream in 1,000 copies.
