The French Face, as I’ve been instructed by many a Parisian facialist, starts at your hairline, goes to the bottom of your décolletage and includes the backs of your hands. (This, they say, is where your skincare products should be applied.) On a recent trip to Zurich, I met with Jacqueline Hill, Ph.D., director of strategic innovation and science at La Prairie, who described to me what I’m hereby calling the Swiss Eye: It extends from the outer corner of each eye toward the hairline, swoops up across the crease of the lid and cradles the brow, both above and below.

The area is the focus of the luxury Swiss brand’s new Skin Caviar Eye Lift ($625, at holtrenfrew.com), a cocktail of its signature cellular complex (found in nearly every La Prairie product ever created, the formula is so proprietary that it’s made by three different labs so no one chemist has the full recipe) and Caviar Premier (a potent “remastered” version of its long-time ingredient), swirled together with each pump of the product. The result is the most firming and lifting you can get without involving someone with a medical licence. (Blepharoplasty, or eyelid surgery, is one of the most commonly performed cosmetic surgical procedures worldwide, Hill told me.)

Treating this zone is a strategic move. “The eye-contour area is the very first to show signs of aging,” she said. The 22 muscles that control eye activity are engaged throughout our waking hours—and that takes its toll. As we age, our orbital bones recede, which can increase puffiness and sagging (and accompany the appearance of dark circles and fine lines). Skin Caviar Eye Lift is formulated to tense the skin on application, creating an immediately lifted look while also firming over time—which, if you continue to use the serum, we can safely say is on your side.

 

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This article originally appeared in the October 2019 issue of ELLE Canada.