This desert plant is the star ingredient of YSL’s Pure Shots Night Reboot Serum, which promises to reduce signs of fatigue by the very first morning.
Did you know that the urban lifestyle accelerates skin aging by 40 per cent? This is the finding of YSL’s Scientific Advisory Board, comprising not only dermatologists, but scientists, botanists and lifestyle experts, as part of this innovative perspective on skincare. Fast living is a global phenomenon in major cities, and this exposes our skin to pollution, stress and fatigue, accelerating aging and leading to a dull complexion, rough skin and enlarged pores.
Since its inception in 2013, it has brought together a co-operative of 32 local women, promoting their skills and ancestral craftsmanship, while creating job opportunities. As of last year, more than 12 million of YSL Beauty’s product units contained at least one ingredient from the gardens.
Since some women may not want to change their lifestyle, or can’t easily do so, a skincare solution needed to be found. Cue the moonlight cactus. Native to Morocco and known as “the queen of the night”, it bears magnificent, sweet-scented flowers that bloom for only six hours every year. The plants need to produce 35 potent anti-oxidant and saccharide molecules in order to power this blooming. It’s these molecules that hold exceptional benefits for our skin.
Caroline Negra, YSL’s international scientific director, explains that it has been compared to melatonin in an avant-garde in-vitro test. A key molecule secreted during the night, melatonin regulates the skin’s metabolism and regeneration. However, an unbalanced lifestyle and a deregulated body clock inhibits its secretion, weakening the skin’s capacity for renewal.
The moonlight cactus used in YSL’s Pure Shots Night Reboot is hand-harvested in the Ourika Community Gardens in Morocco, a special site devoted to growing cosmetic ingredients that’s located in the sun-soaked Atlas Mountains region. YSL Pure Shots Night Reboot, 30ml | $120, 30ml refill | $96
New tests have shown that moonlight cactus extract works at the sub-cellular level to boost the skin’s recovery, by protecting new skin cells, recharging the skin’s energy by 43 per cent and stimulating skin-cell regeneration. This extract is combined in a breakthrough bi-phase formation with a precise dose of 3.4 per cent glycolic acid, perfectly matching the skin’s daily requirement, to gently eliminate dead skin cells overnight. With one-third soothing oil and two-thirds exfoliating water essence, Pure Shots Night Reboot penetrates faster and deeper, visibly smoothing fine lines, improving radiance and reducing skin roughness after just one night—and delivering significant improvement in 28 days.
Just like the cactus fights its extreme environment, this serum equips us to face another challenging day.
