Learning a little more about Darphin...

I recently spent an afternoon in the Ponsonby branch of the WORLDbeauty stores, which is always a sensory overload of the most delicious kind. As well as being there to tuck into a few macaroons and swill some iced tea with their dashing PR man Matt, my visit was also timed to coincide with a very exciting beauty announcement. The occasion was to mark the expansion of the super luxurious Darphin range into all of the WORLDbeauty stores, which is a cause for a celebration if ever I heard one. The WORLDbeauty stores are Darphin’s only retail presence in New Zealand, which speaks wonders for the credibility the WORLD brand has in the sphere of beauty as well as fashion. The Darphin team are a very choosy lot, and their presence in WORLD is largely down to Francis Hooper’s persistence in proving their mettle.
If you haven’t heard about the brand before, here is a little potted history. In 1958 , French skincare authority Pierre Darphin launched an innovative, holistic skincare programme that relied on smell and feel as much as it did on high performance. He realized that the beauty of a woman was not only about how her skin or body looked, but also how she felt about herself. He dedicated his research to women's well being, offering them only the best of plant and aromatic technology to create a state of inner and outer beauty, harnessing the powers of essential oils well before it became de rigeur in the beauty industry. In addition to carefully selecting ingredients, he believed in treating each skin condition with a unique custom care approach. After a thorough analysis of a client, he would give her an individual tailor-made recommendation to match her particular needs at every stage. Today the Darphin approach to skincare continues to be centred around the use of carefully selected plant extracts and botanical aromas to provide an extraordinary feeling, and extraordinary results. Whilst at the Ponsonby store, resident Darphin expert and oracle when it comes to all things beauty, Mary Castles gives my skin the once over, before recommending some products that would work wonders on me. One is the dreadfully exotic and fabulously fragranced 8 Flower Nectar Aromatic Dry Oil (pictured), a delicious mix derived from eight exotic flowers around the world and enriched with essential vitamins and Omegas 3 and 6. Its goal in life is to rejuvenate, nourish and detoxify skin, as well as minimise the appearance of lines and wrinkles and restore the skin’s own natural radiance, suppleness and resilience. Suitable for all skin types as a serum, it is simply amazing on the nose as well, being as fragrant as they come. But enough words, get into a WORLDbeauty store near you and have a sniff – I guarantee that you’ll be charmed.