La Prairie Steps Into The Refillable Skin Care Category With $850 “Replenishable” Moisturizer

Luxury beauty has not always been at the forefront of all things eco-friendly. In the past, when a cosmetics house launched a new prestige product, it was sold with the idea that it was gorgeous enough to sit on your vanity well after you used it, or perhaps you’d be able to recycle it, if you lived where such a thing is possible. (Hint: Many don’t.) The refillable beauty category has offered a new alternative though, and brands like La Prairie and its new Pure Gold collection have embraced the trend. Rather than throw out or recycle the entire skin care product once you’re through with it, just pop in a new refill. Or, as La Prairie calls them, “replenishments.”

Pre-launched this April via LaPrairie.com, the Pure Gold collection features the refillable Pure Gold Radiance Cream ($850), Pure Gold Radiance Eye Cream ($635), and Pure Gold Radiance Concentrate ($850), a first for the prestige Swiss beauty brand. The replenishments are already available to browse on La Prairie’s website, as well, and will retail at the same prices.

“Each creation’s brushed metal casing and cap are designed to be kept indefinitely. Only the delicate glass vials containing the formulas, once empty, are meant to be replaced by new ones,” noted Greg Prodromides, La Prairie Chief Marketing Officer, in a press Q&A. Moreover, La Prairie blacklists certain problematic, unsustainable ingredients from its entire supply chain that go beyond just packaging: “Our code of conduct covers areas such as environmental protection, labor conditions, prohibition of child labor, occupational health and safety, discrimination, and corruption,” Prodromides continued. “Sustainability is an important topic for us and an extremely complex one, where all is not necessarily as it seems. We consider it to be a journey.”

But onto the actual formulas. As is normal for La Prairie skin care, the Pure Gold collection is luxury at its finest — it uses a new Pure Gold Diffusion System to instantly scatter gold particles across the skin and then infuse skin with actives attached to the teensy, tiny submicron particles.

“Gold under white light appears with a warm tone of yellow to human eyes, creating the magic of the golden hour on the skin,” noted another press Q&A with La Prairie’s Dr. Jacqueline Hill, Global Director of Strategic Innovation and Science, and Dr. Daniel Stangl, Director of Innovation. “The two replenishing ingredients attached to the submicron gold particles will be gradually released from the gold particles over time when they interact with specific biomolecules on the skin surface.”

Leading to a golden hour glow, 24/7. Ahead, shop the new Pure Gold collection from La Prairie.

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