What is the Immortelle flower?
A flower that lives an exceptionally long life
In Corsica, the French "Island of Beauty", grows a plant called immortelle. Its flower never fades, even after it's been picked.
Because it grows in exceptionally sunny conditions, this "Golden Sun" offers the very best from its active ingredients (resistance to time and environmental aggressors). It also contains a high concentration of neryl acetate – a molecule that has an anti-ageing activity and has five patents in France.
For over 18 years, L'OCCITANE has been working on its anti-ageing properties and has already filed six patents in France.
A flower that's grown organically and sustainably
In 2004, L'OCCITANE decided to set up a plantation programme to cultivate this wild species. The Sustainable Ingredients department invited several producers to become involved in the first organic cultivation of this incredible flower.
Cultivation is the only way to ensure a sustainable supply of immortelle essential oil without putting pressure on the natural environment of Helichrysum italicum.
Man's intervention has come at no cost to the environment, and every plot of land is cultivated in the most natural way possible.
Immortelle flower, for younger-looking, radiant skin
In addition to its very fitting name, the immortelle flower has something that others do not: active ingredients giving an exceptional resistance to time and aggressors.
Immortelle is the plant that keeps on giving. It continues to surprise L'OCCITANE, which calls on traditional methods and ancestral skills to extract its essential oil. Our team managed to capture the volatile molecules, so it can reach the core of immortelle. In our modern world, pollution has real impacts on our skin. Within the framework of a comprehensive study on pollution, our immortelle essential oil has shown to have twice the antioxidant power of Vitamin E.*
*In vitro assay on squalene peroxidation induced by singulet oxygen.
Supporting Producing
A STORY OF FAIRNESS
L’OCCITANE discovered this extraordinary plant, in 2001. Immortelle owes its name to its exceptional longevity – for even when the flowers have been picked, they never fade...
In 2004, L’OCCITANE launched a large-scale immortelle plantation in Corsica, using organic farming methods. When immortelle is picked in the maquis in a sustainable manner, this indirectly helps to prevent fires. Until then, this flower had never been successfully domesticated.
Thanks to the advice of Corsican and Provençal technicians, and the funding provided, 50 hectares were planted on the east coast of Corsica and in Balagne.
Today, this project brings together ten Corsican growers/distillers, who use organic farming methods and have contracts that cover five to seven harvests..
Immortelle divine collection
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