ELLE Exclusive: This Lancôme Serum Is Basically A Personal Trainer For Your Skin

Let’s be honest: skincare language has hit saturation point. We’ve been told to protect our barrier, hydrate our microbiome, and fear free radicals like they’re Voldemort. But when Lancôme drops a serum that promises to train your skin to repair itself—suddenly we’re listening.

Enter: Génifique Ultimate. A serum so resilient it sounds like the skincare version of personal trainer. But instead of cold plunges and cortisol drops, its secret weapon is Beta-Glucan-CM, a next-gen active that boosts the skin’s natural healing response and outperforms hyaluronic acid. Yes, really.

“We always assume that the higher the concentration of an ingredient, the better,” says Dr. Annie Black, Lancôme’s Global Scientific Director. “But skin doesn’t need to be overwhelmed to perform. It just needs the right support system—smart formulation, efficient delivery, and a little nudge to remember what it’s capable of.” Call it skincare with a memory.

Let Your Skin Do the Work

While most products focus on surface-level fixes, Génifique Ultimate dives deep into what Dr. Black calls “skin coaching.” As we age, our cells get lazy—slowing down their natural repair function. This serum basically slaps them awake.

At the centre of it all is a molecule called Nrf2 (don’t worry, there won’t be a test), which tells your skin how to defend and rebuild itself. Génifique Ultimate knows how to activate it. “It’s like teaching your skin to do Pilates,” says Dr. Black. “The changes may be internal—but the glow-up shows.”

Sci-fi Meets Serum

Dr. Black’s work sounds more Black Mirror than beauty counter. She works with reconstructed human skin in labs that simulate real-world conditions, and regularly finds herself wading through rose fields in rubber boots to source ingredients.

“People think my job is all lipstick and lighting,” she laughs. “But it’s more often lab coats, mud, and long nights decoding molecules.”

Her favourite skin myth to bust? That oily skin doesn’t need hydration. “If anything, dehydrated oily skin produces moreoil. You’re just feeding the fire.”

The Real Flex: Resilience

What makes Génifique Ultimate feel like a step ahead isn’t just the science—it’s the sensibility. It doesn’t promise glass skin in 30 seconds. Instead, it gives your skin the tools to bounce back—faster, stronger, and on its own terms.

If that’s not the beauty equivalent of lifting heavy in silence, we don’t know what is.