In Harry Potter, Professor Snape boasted that he could “bottle glory” and “distill greatness.” A poor performance against Guerlain? The iconic house seems to have enclosed youth and light in a 50 milliliter pot thanks to the “quantum revolution”. At 650 euros, the sesame is almost as inaccessible as a pass to Hogwarts. The most luxurious version, “black imperial orchid”, costs 1,350 euros.
Available since Tuesday, the “prodigious anti-aging light treatment” has caused an avalanche of mocking reactions on social networks and even in consumer reviews on the site, nimbly deleted by the brand. “I’m stuck in a younger version of myself [et] looks like a lost high school student”, laughs an Internet user when another ironically praises the “best cream on the interstellar cream market” and thanks “Guerlain for taking up the torch of glorious French research”, promising him a “Prize Nobel.” Because if the product is not based on incantations, it nevertheless swears to be inspired by “quantum science”.
Guerlain orders a YouTuber to delete his content
“The term “quantum science” is not used: we talk about quantum physics or quantum chemistry. We apply the principles of quantum mechanics to a domain,” simplifies Oihanna*. This CNRS researcher and quantum physics theorist wished to remain anonymous in order to avoid associating her name with this use of scientific words “to sell”. On the product line, Oihanna is clear: “It’s nonsense. Quantum cream doesn’t exist and it doesn’t mean anything. »
A shared opinion by YouTuber G Milgram, “experimenter without a white coat, investigator without a mustache”, according to his channel followed by 163,000 subscribers. “They still say that a cream enclosed in a glass jar stored at Sephora could be quantum even though this science is only at the very beginning. » Accustomed to debunking pseudoscience charlatans, the videographer who describes himself as “skeptical” published an in-depth video of around twenty minutes on Monday to raise the alarm. “Guerlain releases its quantum cream”, it soberly titled. The video is a success and has been viewed nearly 160,000 times since.
Enough to worry the brand which asked the creator to delete its content due to the disclosure of internal documents, sent two months earlier by a source who remained anonymous. “Like all misinformation, no matter the subject, there is always a little crumb of truth. They say they base themselves on studies, theories… they claim that they have something. This is the kind of bullshit I feel compelled to debunk. » Suspecting a financial interest, the videographer also interviews researchers and quantum specialists who validate his hypotheses: “It’s not the first time, but quantum is the perfect thing for selling bullshit. »
A world separates the atom from the cell
In detail, Guerlain ensures that its “Gold Quantum technology helps restore the quantum light of a young cell”. “Light is light,” says Oihanna. Scientists have succeeded in generating quantum light in a quantum dot for the first time [en mars 2023] but I doubt that [Guerlain] have laboratories with these cutting-edge techniques! »
“The term quantum is used to say nothing even if in absolute terms, at the level of a grain of light, therefore of a photon, light has quantum properties,” says Martina Knoop, researcher in experimental physics. “Except in this case, it’s about a cream and its interaction with the skin. We are no longer at the level of a single photon or a single atom, but at the macroscopic level. A cell is several tens of micrometers, which is already very large compared to an atom or a photon,” she explains.
From cream to quantum sausage
Seen up close, everything is made up of atoms – with the exception of the baryonic matter which makes up, precisely, the atoms themselves. And, therefore, the atoms of a sausage, a table or a toucan can have quantum properties. This does not make them quantum sausages, tables and toucans themselves. “It’s a very fashionable word, we’re talking a lot about the second quantum revolution at the moment and there is real scientific progress. Here, it’s a rather clever form of communication, with a pseudoscientific discourse,” analyzes Martina Knoop. Its popularity is such that the French brand Energecia, which combines “quantum science and nature” also offers a “quantum” cream at 63 euros. ” But [jusqu’ici] it was confined to small boxes,” notes videographer G Milgram.
These companies “play with words but it’s hollow behind,” notes Oihanna. Because Guerlain is not the only cosmetics firm to drape itself in the finest trappings of science to reinforce the wow effect of its innovations. While strolling through the online aisles of major brands, L’Oréal night serum claims to be “inspired by the Science of Mother Cells” and the Lancôme melting cream promises that its “regenerative active molecules” are “capable of reactivating the “longevity activator””. Nothing new under the Rimmel, then.
Guerlain decides to “remove all ambiguity”
But “if the pot of cream is a quantum dot that can amplify light, that would be magnificent. They must share their discovery! », laughs Oihanna. Guerlain’s parent company, LVMH, interviewed by 20 minutes, did not respond to our requests. However, the company declared to AFP that it had taken note of “the questions or risks of confusion surrounding the use of the term quantum”. “Guerlain, committed to the good understanding of its messages and its research, has therefore decided to re-specify its communication in order to remove any ambiguity”, explains the brand, which has however not decided to abandon the use of the term “ quantum”.
According to Guerlain, its skincare line “is based on significant scientific advances in the field of quantum biology applied to skin cells, with demonstrated results” in collaboration with biophysicists from Palacky University (Czech Republic), without saying any further. The secret of the “quantum” potion therefore remains intact but Martina Knoop warns with a laugh: “I have been working with lasers in the field of quantum physics for years, I can assure you that it does not make the user any younger. »
*The name has been changed.