Will this cream turn your man into Brad Pitt?

Will this cream turn your man into Brad Pitt? The actor is the latest to enter the skincare market

Brad Pitt is the latest actor to launch his own skincare range – Le Domaine
The range is made from grapes from the actor’s vineyard in Provence, France
Brad says he has never had a skincare regime before and only launched the range because he saw ‘a real difference visually in my skin’

Women in Roman times were known to rub the dregs of red wine on their face as a cheap alternative to rouge.

And 2,000 years later the cosmetics industry has gone full circle — wine has become an increasingly popular ingredient in beauty products. It sounds implausible but there are rosé eye gels, white wine body creams, and pinot noir facial cleansers.

Brad Pitt is the latest to enter the market. His Le Domaine range of skincare, which debuted in September, is made using grapes from his vineyard in Provence, France (a 30ml bottle of serum costs an eye-watering £290).

Brad says he has never had a skincare regime before and only launched the range because he saw ‘a real difference visually in my skin’.

Brad Pitt (pictured) is the latest actor to launch his own skincare range – Le Domaine. The range is made from grapes from the actor’s vineyard in Provence, France

I do little more than occasionally slap on some Nivea in the depths of winter, preferring instead to spend my spare cash on a good bottle of Syrah than a tiny capsule of serum. But if the ageless Pitt swears by a bit of light cleansing and toning, who am I to argue?

Especially as there is increasing evidence to suggest that wine possesses amazing antiageing properties since it contains resveratrol, a polyphenol found in the skins of red grapes particularly (and to a lesser degree white grapes) which acts just like an antioxidant.

Scientists don’t fully agree on how much of a wonder ingredient resveratrol is, but most believe it has anti-inflammatory properties, which would explain why so many anti-ageing creams have embraced it.

So which wine-based beauty products are premier cru — and deserve to end up in the man in your life’s Christmas stocking — and which are the equivalent of Albanian plonk?

PITT’S PRICEY PIPS

Le Domaine, cleansing emulsion GSM10 (£60 for 100ml, le-domaine.com/en-gb)

This is the cheapest of all the products from Brad Pitt’s new Le Domaine range. And to give him credit, the packaging is classy and the fragrance of subtle cedarwood and orange blossom is lovely — suitable for men and women.

All the products contain socalled GSM10, which is made from the seeds of Grenache and Syrah grapes, Pitt’s version of resveratrol.

The packaging claims my skin will ‘regain its radiance and beauty’. I’m not sure about that, but it does a great job of gently cleaning my face and leaving it feeling fresh. It is pricey, however. 4/5

CLASSIC VINTAGE

Caudalie Vinoperfect radiance serum (£48 for 30ml, caudalie.com) Caudalie, a French company based in Bordeaux, can claim to have pioneered the wine-based beauty industry in the 1990s when it branched out from making wine to concocting a serum

Caudalie Vinoperfect radiance serum (£48 for 30ml, caudalie.com)

Caudalie, a French company based in Bordeaux, can claim to have pioneered the wine-based beauty industry in the 1990s when it branched out from making wine to concocting a serum.

The company sells one of these Vinoperfect serums every 30 seconds around the world. The magic ingredient is something Caudalie calls viniferine, derived from grape stalks.

It has a lovely, fresh fragrance almost like cucumber, but it does leave my skin feeling almost sticky. 3.5/5

SICKLY AND SWEET

Patchology Serve Chilled Rosé Eye Gel (£14 for 5 pairs, spacenk.com)

These drop-shaped gel patches are immediately refreshing for tired eyes — but that’s mostly because you store them in the fridge, not because they contain a tiny amount of resveratrol. They smell strongly of fizzy strawberry sweets rather than rosé and don’t feel very grown up. Alas, they did not get rid of the bags under my eyes either. 2.5/5

FIRMING FAVOURITE

Pelegrims Vitamin Boost facial cleanser (£19.55 for 100ml, pelegrims.com) This is made from the stalks, skins and pips of wine grown on the Westwell wine estate in Kent and made just down the road from the vineyard itself

Pelegrims Vitamin Boost facial cleanser (£19.55 for 100ml, pelegrims.com)

This is made from the stalks, skins and pips of wine grown on the Westwell wine estate in Kent and made just down the road from the vineyard itself. It smells gently of rosehip and tea tree oil and my skin does feel genuinely firmer after using it. 5/5

FULL-BODIED WHITE

Irene Forte, White Wine Body Cream Hydrating (£66.75 for 200ml, libertylondon.com)

Irene Forte is the daughter of hotelier Sir Rocco Forte, for whose hotel chain she is the ‘wellness consultant’. Made in Italy, this hydrating cream contains organic Sicilian white wine. It has a nice silky texture without being oily. A decent product that did make my skin feel less dry. 3.5/5

A PERFECT POLISH

Dr. Craft Exfoliating body polish with grape resveratrol and avocado seed (£18 for 200ml, drcraft.co.uk)

Dr Craft is a cosmetics brand created by chemists at Leeds University, who have previously made various lotions using waste food products such as mandarin peel. The latest range uses red pinot noir grapes along with avocado stones that have been pulverised to act as an excellent exfoliator.

This body polish is gently fragranced with mandarin and neroli and it leaves my skin feeling very smooth. 5/5

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