Image via Chanel

Please read with me, the lead paragraph on the Chanel press release introducing new line Beaute Initiale:

"The not-so-sensible diet. The sleep you skimped on. The SPF you forgot to apply. The long, stressful workdays you couldn't avoid. It's inevitable that a less-than-perfect lifestyle begins to catch up with us."

It's like they know me!

But wait, there's more:

"That's when the first signs of aging appear: Fatigue becomes more apparent, fine lines emerge, and suddenly, late nights seem to take their toll, resulting in dark circles and a duller, less luminous complexion. Enter Beaute Initiale, an innovative new skincare range of five products specifically designed to act during this all-important phase--before it's too late--to boost skin's response-and-rebound process and fend off free radicals with full-spectrum antioxidant protection."

Before it's too late!

By using such persuasive scare tactics in their press materials, I felt compelled to try these out before my face collapsed in prune-like Rachel Zoe like protest. (But hey, let's not forget, Botox fixed her right up in a jiff!) This new Chanel range seems to be targeted for late 20-somethings to 30-somethings apparently desperate to hold on to the last precious signs of youthful skin, like um, me I guess.

The main ingredient that pulls the line together is something called "blue ginger PFA," an antioxidant from Madagascar, and several delivery systems: one product is a serum, another is a cream, and so on. For example, there are three versions of the Energizing Multi-Protecting Fluid SPF 15, a light moisturizer with sunscreen, but I'm digging the Healthy Glow SPF 15 one, because it combines all those skin care benefits with gradual, subtle self-tanning benefits, which for anyone who's ever ended up a crispy critter, maybe subtle and gradual are def the way to go in that arena. Anyway, all the products smell like a dream (crisp, floral, but not overpoweringly so), and I do appreciate the specificity of the targeted demographic, even if I don't necessarily enjoy being reminded that any day now there will be no collagen whatsoever left in my face. Oh boy!