Skin to Skin

When you slice a pear or an apple in half, that gentle blush of brown that spreads across the surface after a few minutes is called oxidation--a form of organic rust. And just like a sweet slice of fruit, our faces are oxidizing, albeit at a slower rate. The culprit behind this process is the highly reactive free radical, a molecular structure that interacts with skin cells and sets off a chain reaction that leads to the telltale signs of aging: wrinkled, sagging and stressed skin.

Antioxidants slow down or stop the free-radical-induced chemical reaction and may help skin cells regenerate. Their value is nothing new in the beauty biz. For the last 20 years, cosmetics makers have been adding antioxidants, along with vitamins, enzymes, amino acids, peptides and UV absorbers, to their products. The latest twist, though, has brought together oenophiles and cosmetics junkies. It turns out that the chemical contents of grapes, grape seeds and dark fruits, particularly the compound resveratrol, are effective antioxidants. Three French companies and one in California are now marketing wine and vine as the latest skin saver.

Their corporate hype is backed by numerous studies that tout resveratrol's antiaging qualities. Dr. David Sinclair, director of the Paul F. Glenn Laboratories for Aging Research at Harvard Medical School, published a study in 2003 showing that resveratrol helped increase a yeast cell's life span by 70%. Dr. Johan Auwerx of the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology in Illkirch, France, found that resveratrol improved muscles in mice. Of course, there's no guarantee that resveratrol-rich products will do for human skin what the compound apparently does for mice muscles, but Auwerx is enthusiastic about the possibilities. In a 2006 interview he claimed that "resveratrol makes you look like a trained athlete without the training."

The original grape-based skin-care line, Caudalie, was the brainchild of Bertrand Thomas and his wife Mathilde (her parents had purchased the expansive Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte estate in Bordeaux in 1990). In 1993, the young couple met Joseph Vercauteren, an expert on polyphenols--plant-based antioxidants found in grapes, berries, olive oil and peanuts--while he was touring the winery. "He stopped in front of the big vat full of grape seeds and told us that we were throwing away the most important part of the vine," Mathilde says.