What is it?
A brand created by Clinique Swiss La Prairie, a cosmetic and general medical centre with a spa in Switzerland known for revitalisation therapy that uses sheep foetus cells. Just to confuse things, the centre isn't connected to Clinique or La Prairie. It uses only Swiss Perfection, because it was created by a scientist who worked for the company. The brand has just been introduced to Hong Kong.
Do the creams contain extracts of unborn sheep?
No. That's a health treatment at the centre, and you have to pay a lot to have it injected. The skincare brand is based on the scientist's research into why iris plants trampled by sheep rebounded the next day. He experimented with the iris and discovered that its root contained proteins and enzymes - far more than other plant extracts. Three years later, the company developed a new extraction method whereby micronised iris cells are freeze-dried and integrated into the creams. Once in the skin, they're said to remain active.
What does the iris extract do?
The company says the extract has been proven to stimulate cell metabolism, provide nutrients for the metabolic process, promote cell survival and reproduction, provide oxygen to the skin, which revitalises it, supply energy for repairing damaged skin and improve hydration levels. Turnover of young, healthy skin cells is 28 days, but 'this slows with age, resulting in thickened, dehydrated skin', a spokesman says. The job of the iris extract is to stimulate skin-cell metabolism to return cells to this healthy 28-day turnover.
What's its best known product?
