Beauty, according to French beauty house Parfums Christian Dior, is more than skin deep. The latest in its Capture Totale range promises to 'reawaken light deep within the skin' so as to restore radiance and youthfulness.

The four additions - a serum called Multi-Perfection Concentrate Radiance ($170 for 30ml or $230 for 50ml), face cream Multi-Perfection Concentrated Creme Radiance ($205), Multi-Perfection Eye Treatment Radiance ($120) and High Definition Radiance Loose Powder ($92) - were unveiled in Tokyo last October.

They went on sale here on Jan 1.

All are enriched with a new compound called aminolumine. Touted to be six times more potent than vitamin C, it is said to stimulate a longevity enzyme and restore radiance.

In young, healthy skin, light is diffused from deep within to the upper layers, hence giving skin a glow, Dior's scientific communications director Edouard Mauvais-Jarvis, 40, explained.

Dior researchers, however, have identified 'protein oxidation' as the party pooper. Known as the body's building blocks which control cell functions, among other things, proteins oxidise with age.

Skin damage by UV rays also speeds up this process. So the skin loses tone and firmness, dark spots appear, and the complexion becomes dull and less even.

Aminolumine curbs the oxidation by repairing protein functions. It also boosts the efficacy of existing star compounds in the Capture Totale formula. The result? 'The product not only acts on wrinkles and firms skin, it also gives an inner glow,' said Mauvais-Jarvis.

Launched in 2006, Capture Totale is Dior's highly successful anti-ageing line.

When sales of its perfumes and cosmetics division in the first quarter of 2006 jumped 18 per cent, Dior's parent company LVMH group cited the 'extraordinary' success of the Capture Totale range as one of the key factors, reported Women's Wear Daily.

A year later, the Capture Totale Creme became the best-selling anti-ageing skincare product in France.

Louis de Saint Michel, 39, Dior's business unit director for skincare, said the challenge in the latest round of tweaks was to make an already very effective skincare even more efficient.

Fronted by Hollywood actress Sharon Stone, 50, Capture Totale is known for its tagline: More beautiful today than you were at 20.

'We are not fighting the years, but trying to add beauty to the years,' said de Saint Michel.

This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times on Jan 16, 2009.