YSL’s New Skin Cream Is Basically Liquid Gold

There are constantly scientific advances being made in beauty, but it seems we turn more and more to the time-honored traditions of healing: crystals, minerals, and the regenerative power of plants, for example. YSL Beauty has released a new line of skin care that gets its power from a floral ingredient truly more precious than gold, and with a price tag to match: saffron.

Now, when we say more precious than the good bling, we mean it: this ingredient is harder to get than Jared Leto's phone number. It blooms once a year in the autumn in Morocco (a favorite inspiration of late designer Yves Saint Laurent) and its source, the crocus plant, has to be harvested before the sun rises. The three crimson pistils that contain the precious saffron have to be plucked out by hand, and it takes 150 flowers to produce one gram of the high-value ingredient. No wonder it's one of the most well-regarded substances in history. Cleopatra mixed it with milk to bathe in, the spice was slathered over the body of ancient royalty as a sign of prosperity, Alexander the Great valued it for its ability heal war wounds. In other words, this stuff is good.

The new cream, called Or Rouge (or "Red Gold"), is loaded with crocin — a compound that soothes skin with powerful antioxidant properties. Creams that contain the ingredient are rumored to make fast work of stimulating skin renewal and cellular turnover, and firming while reducing dark spots, discoloration, and redness.

Aside from stunning packaging, the product comes with a multi-use tool for application. Use the delicate spoon to measure the exact amount for your face, then massage the sumptuous stuff in with the golden sphere on the flip side, and work around your eye area with the red tip. Frequent use will help you get your money's worth out of this investment — and, at $400 a jar for the face cream and $225 for the eye cream, you're gonna want to milk every last drop.