Hermès Plein Air is made for the natural beauty of women

A century ago in the 1920s, the pleasure of the open-air was known to have inspired the house’s director, Émile Hermès, who fervently encouraged his four daughters to lead active lives.

“He created clothes that enabled women to participate in outdoor sports, to travel, drive a car and even fly an aeroplane,” says Hermès Artistic Director Pierre- Alexis Dumas. “Hermès Plein Air is entirely consistent with this approach, revealing the natural beauty of women through their freedom.”

From the debut of the signature Rouge Hermès to the follow-up launch of Rose Hermès last year, the Maison’s burgeoning beauty métier fortifies its arsenal by now shining the spotlight on the complexion.

The new Hermès Plein Air chapter is encapsulated by beauty in the open air in the way the pigmented cream adapts to the skin to reveal its natural beauty and character, sans any disguise in the midst of movement, life and light. Its innovative texture was formulated in partnership with a Japanese laboratory, impeccably lasting for eight hours while blurring tiny flaws and lines with an even, translucent and luminous finish.

Infused with active ingredients such as hyaluronic acid complex, evening primrose oil, Baikal skullcap and extract of white mulberry, the natural-enhancing complexion balm works to hydrate skin and defend it from external aggressors and pollution, replete with mineral sunscreen protection and an original scent of regenerative arnica, sandalwood and green tea specially created by Christine Nagel.

Available in diverse shades to suit every skin tone, it eschews concealing instead revealing skin with a mere whisper of colour and caress of fresh air. A masterstroke in letting the skin breathe, it liberates it with an invigorating burst of air and light.

Housed in a white archetypal tube, the Hermès Plein Air complexion balm is also fundamentally an Hermès object that complements others of its beauty métier. Its minimalist and meticulously proportioned design is affirmed by an indented screw cap, a coloured band as a shade indicator and the engraving of the ex-libris created by Émile Hermès in 1923 on the end of the cap in white on white.

“Rouge Hermès and Rose Hermès are all about colour; they represent beauty almost in the sense of construction, while Hermès Plein Air provides the foundations,” says Pierre Hardy, creator of Hermès Beauty objects and Creative Director for shoes and jewellery.

“Through its shape and colour, the object must be able to express demonstrative moments of drama, or on the contrary make basic gestures clear, self-evident and simple. It is a little like the stage and wings of a theatre. The complexion balm is the part that remains unseen, an object that is not ‘exposed’. The tube is functional, simple, fundamental.”

To elevate the skin’s natural beauty further, Hermès Beauty unveils two new powders that also soften the skin with ingredients such as extract of white mulberry and emollients. Firstly, the Radiant Glow Powder is a delicate, weightless and silky universal illuminator that imparts a golden, light- reflecting finish.

The other Radiant Matte Powder imbues the skin with a light, translucent yet mattifying finish that leaves its radiance intact. To house the powders, Hardy has created a refillable, portable object with pure slender proportions and practical details like a magnetic clasp for easy opening and a large inner mirror.

In addition, he also designed a special brush with a generous, rounded shape, hand-assembled by a French brush-maker— also a precious object featuring a lacquered wooden handle in three colours and ultra-soft natural goat hair fibres. Used with the Radiant Glow Powder, which can also be applied manually with a finger, the skin is beautifully highlighted. The Radiant Matte Powder is to be applied with the brush, be it at the start of the day or for touch-ups.

To cap off the repertoire are blotting papers, presented in a small orange box in recyclable cardboard holding 30 pieces of paper. Made from hemp fibres, wood pulp and soft Kozo fibres from the paper mulberry tree, they easily absorb shine without adding powder for utmost convenience and to preserve the skin’s sheer and natural beauty.

Perhaps, what’s best is the effortlessness it takes to apply all three natural skin-enhancing products. Simply smooth the complexion balm on bare skin even, thanks to its skincare properties, increasing coverage where and when needed. The powders can also be used alone on clean skin or layered over the balm for a more refined finish.

The creation of the Hermès Plein Air complexion balm and the accompanying powders are truly a celebration of the freedom of natural beauty, just like one’s second skin.