What is beauty?

Do some places where we live deserve to be beautiful more than others? Are there more legitimate times than others to live with beauty? And what is beauty, ultimately?

For Charles Pépin, a contemporary philosopher, "beauty saves us when it pulls us away from our fears, our negative thoughts, our ego. When it connects us to the world." Beauty, according to him, is what anchors us here and now: a suspension of the mind.

Beauty, for Victor Hugo, is that thing which doesn't need to be justified, and yet justifies our presence in the world. It allows us to feel, if only for an instant, that life is worth living.

Baudelaire stated that "beauty is always strange." 🧠

For science, exposure to beauty, in nature, art, objects, relationships, places, stimulates areas of the brain related to pleasure, reward, and motivation. Beauty reduces stress, calms the heart rate, and promotes relaxation. It sometimes heals. It balances. It reconciles. It has also been shown that a patient recovers much better when they are in a room with a beautiful view, of a garden or trees, than in a room with a window overlooking nothing or gray concrete.

"Beauty is that which has depth," said Simone Weil. No pretense.

At Domaine Singulier, beauty is not just superficial: it is also expressed in the composition of each of our exclusive formulas, and in our commitment to using high-quality raw materials.

Isn't beauty also, ultimately, a matter of attention? Of details. Of presence. The one we are willing to grant ourselves, and to grant to others. No matter the place. No matter the moment.

Photography: Elixir Bien Élevé arranged on a ceramic tray by Gabrielle Lenoir