After wine, Brad Pitt launches into anti-aging cream

Never did a Marseille laboratory director like Frédéric Bénéton think of one day meeting the world-famous actor Brad Pitt in the course of his work. Never had the president of ProGeLife surely imagined being a collaborator of the star of Top Gun. Yet this is what is happening to this small Marseille company. In mid-September, Frédéric Bénéton and his teams met the star furtively on the occasion of the culmination of a project lasting several months.

In early 2021, the small Marseille laboratory was contacted by the Perrin family, associated with Brad Pitt for several years in the production of a rosé that is very popular today. The two founders of ProGeLife are known for having discovered in 2003 a gene responsible for a rare disease which causes accelerated aging, and which affects 300 people in the world, including two in France: Progeria.

A little Brad’s vine in your cream

“It’s a terrible but fascinating disease, because it is emblematic of aging, says Frédéric Bénéton. We therefore set ourselves the objective of bringing a drug to market. But you have to find a shorter-term resource for that. »

So, on the strength of this expertise on the subject, ProGeLige decided in 2018 to use this scientific knowledge in the cosmetics field. Already crowned with success with the Miraval wine, the Perrin family nourished the same ambition a few years later. “Marc and Pierre Perrin are passionate about the benefits of the vine,” says Frédéric Bénéton. They had been working in this area for years. And on our side, we were in the process of developing an anti-aging based on natural molecules. The Marseille laboratory is developing an active against skin aging, based on three natural molecules present in plant extracts. “In particular, we use oil extracts from residues of three different grape varieties from the Miraval vines”, specifies Frédéric Bénéton.

In September 2022, Brad Pitt, his winegrower partners and the Marseille laboratory launched “Le Domaine”, their first cosmetics brand, online. “The presence of the actor in this project has allowed enormous media coverage, rejoices Frédéric Bénéton. We were able to sell over 1,000 items. To afford them, you still have to pay between 70 euros for the cleansing emulsion and 350 euros for the serum.

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