Armani anti-aging skin care: Crema Nera

In case you're like me and didn't get the invitation to join Georgio Armani for dinner last week in Paris at the Musée d’Art Moderne, be assured that it was far too crowded.  This "fifth couture collection" event included 600 guests including Cate Blanchett, Tina Turner, Katie Holmes (shown at right), Rosamund Pike, Lady Helen Taylor, Princess Mafalda Von Hessen, Amanda Hearst, Zani Gugelmann and Tinsley Mortimer.

The main attraction for the glam event was not a celeb or new pant suit.  It was a 1.7 ounce wrinkle cream.  Ok, not just any wrinkle cream, but Armani's first anti-aging skin care product.

Armani (Giorgio Armani Parfums and Cosmetics) partnered with L'oreal to develop a new anti-aging skin care line called Crema Nera.  Armani also announced a new men's skin care called Skin Minerals for Men; Skin Minerals arrives sometime in 2008.

Despite the name, Crema Nera is not black in color; rather the white cream is infused with volcanic obsidian rock which contains silicium, sodium, iron and potassium.  L'oreal researchers must believe that these properties ward off wrinkles and signs of aging.
 
Crema Nera will be sold this Fall for $350 in Armani outlets.  This price puts Crema Nera in competition with Chanel Sublimage, Creme de la Mer and several other prestige skin care products that are edging closer and closer to $400. 

Would you expect less from Armani?