The camellias have been a symbol of elegance and beauty within the House of CHANEL since the beginning of time. While records vary when it comes to founder Gabrielle Chanel&rsquo;s relationship with the flower &mdash; some say she was enthralled by a play of the Alexander Dumas novel,&nbsp;La Dame aux Camelias; some say her lover, Boy Capel, gifted her with a bouquet of camellias at the start of their love story; and some say she was inspired by novelist Marcel Proust, who pinned a single camellia to his jackets as a symbol of sophistication and non-conformity &mdash; it&rsquo;s undeniable that camellias are her favourite.

Defined by a distinct appearance that features symmetrical petals and glossy leaves with a velvety feel, the bloom has adorned many of the House&rsquo;s creations, but in the beauty realm, in particular, the influence of the camellia extends beyond aesthetics. An exceptional botanical treasure, almost every single part of the bloom &mdash; from the petals and leaves to the seeds and shell &mdash; possesses beautifying wonders.

To get an in-depth look at CHANEL Beauty&rsquo;s pioneering vision of beauty, we were invited for an immersive experience at the place where it all started &mdash; Gaujacq, southwestern France, where the camellia conservatory and farm as well as one of its open-sky laboratories are located.
Our journey to Gaujacq
Before arriving at Gaujacq, we first made a pitstop in Biarritz after touching down in Paris. Situated about four hours away from the City of Light, our journey to the seaside town &mdash; and one of the most famous surfing spots in France &mdash; was not only scenic but a relaxing one, thanks to the on-board hand massage featuring the CHANEL La Cr&egrave;me Main Texture Riche.

The camellia conservatory
After spending a restful night at the beautiful Hotel du Palais Biarritz (fun fact: it was originally built by Napoleon III for Empress Eug&eacute;nie around 1855 as a summer villa), we made our one-hour journey to the main destination of this trip &mdash; Gaujacq. The first stop? The camellia conservatory,&nbsp;dedicated to all things camellia.
Since 1998, CHANEL has been spearheading a unique project that revolves around the camellia in this village in collaboration with Jean Thoby, an international camellia expert who has been botanising for five generations. Explaining why this part of southwestern France is ideal for cultivating the camellia, Thoby says, &ldquo;The climate of Gaujacq is known for its rainfall spread over the four seasons. The winds are almost non-existent, the land is deep, and the springs are abundant&rdquo;. Considering the camellia originates from Eastern Asia, the wet and cool weather is perfect for the flowers to thrive.

Spanning nearly five hectares, the conservatory garden houses over 2,000 species of camellia that are collected around the world, including two seedlings from the mother plants that were supposedly ordered by Gabrielle Chanel more than a century ago. Rare horticultural plants help maintain the biodiversity and enable the camellias to flourish. It is also here that the camellia japonica &ldquo;Alba Elena&rdquo; is cultivated &mdash; and this wouldn&rsquo;t happen without the CHANEL project.
During our tour, we learnt that the emblematic flower has more to it than its beauty. The camellia japonica is truly a force of nature, as neither water nor cold has any effect on the petals. &ldquo;Camellias have the characteristics of having no senescence program: genetically, they are not programmed to die. So the more time passes, the more beautiful and strong the plant is,&rdquo; says Jean Thoby.

The camellia farm
Our next stop was the camellia farm located just a few kilometres away, where we were introduced to Philippe Grandry, the crop operations manager. Here, we got a better understanding of virtuous agricultural practices and the preservation of biodiversity. As the flowering season happens in early August until February (we visited during mid-March), after a brief introduction of the 70-hectare land, Grandry showed us how they are preparing the soil for planting &mdash; by covering it with a thick layer of hay, leaves and wood chips.

Around 2,700 plants of the aforementioned camellia japonica &lsquo;Alba Plena&rsquo; are cultivated in the open field in a natural biological environment which is part of the agro-ecological model. &ldquo;Here everything is natural, everything is in harmony with nature, we go along with it, we do not try to tame it&rdquo;, states Grandry. This approach has earned the plantation a level 3 HVE (High Environmental Value) certification &mdash; the highest for farms.
Every single camellia on the farm is handpicked specifically in the morning dew for the flowers to remain dry for optimal extraction. The blooms are then placed in baskets, weighed and immediately frozen to preserve the integrity of the active molecules before being delivered to the laboratory.

The open-sky laboratory
Our itinerary continued with a visit to the open-sky laboratory &mdash; one of two in France &mdash; that&rsquo;s dedicated to the science of camellia. &ldquo;At every stage of the cultivation process, we have to find the most innovative methods possible, therefore we are in a real open-sky research laboratory. We can be pioneers in this field, showing a new path in terms of environmental protection, sustainable development and also new resources to be implemented,&rdquo; explains Grandry, before he leaves us in the good hands of Nicola Fuzzati, Director of Innovation and Development of Cosmetic Ingredients.

After changing into our lab coats and putting on shoe covers, Fuzzati took us through the process of the creation of natural active ingredients that are derived from camellias and used in the composition of CHANEL skincare products. When the plant arrives, chemical analysis is used to identify the interesting molecules that will be extracted and purified to make the most efficient ingredients. By being in close proximity to the plants, the lab has complete control of the supply chain from the plant to the product.

&ldquo;Every part of the camellia is precious&rdquo;, stresses Fuzzati. At CHANEL, the brand adopts a circular economy policy where they utilise everything that they have, and up to 98 per cent of the materials are bio-sourced. As the Maison ramps up on its integrative beauty approach that&rsquo;s nourished by the past, combined with the present and looking to the future, it&rsquo;s safe to say that the future of beauty is in good hands.

A trip to the camellia farm and open-sky lab with CHANEL Beauty

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