Actor Alexandre Styker was constructing his budding beauty brand La Reine Capricieuse while filming “Jeanne du Barry,” the Cannes Film Festival’s opening night movie.

Obsessed with his recent product, Styker produced special samples for the solid and crew. Star Johnny Depp joked that the honey-based face cream smelled sweet enough to eat; director Maïwenn became so enamored with the scent she made the brand the official partner of the film.

Now special guests on the world premiere might be gifted one in every of only 2,000 bottles produced annually.

“We respect the miraculous work of our black bees and the slow-growth means of plants. We use our spring water sparingly. Our philosophy is to create demanding, authentic and vibrant beauty,” Styker told WWD of the limited quantities. The Luxembourg-ish actor was also keenly aware of the damage harsh products can do after years of sitting in makeup chairs and desired to create a natural product.

The story began when Styker revisited an old childhood cabin to seek out it had change into a beehive over time. He was struck by the scent, and straight away decided to revive the colony of untamed black bees. Situated on a secluded estate within the mountains of the Vosges Natural Park, near the border of Switzerland, the bees feast on wild chestnut and hazelnut trees, in addition to century-old apple, cherry and plum trees on the estate’s organic orchard.

Thyme, arnica and wild roses also grow nearby, and the estate cultivates lavender and poppies. All of those scents are woven into the honey.

At first Styker didn’t even imagine a beauty product. “My first instinct was to know how one can save the colony of untamed black bees and revive this abandoned place,” he said. “The sweet smell of wax and warm honey mixed together were indeed a trigger for me. It was the smell and energy of life and I immediately knew that I needed to step in.”

After producing his first batch of honey, a likelihood meeting with a phytobiologist from the University of Strasbourg led to testing. The honey showed extremely pure levels of B3, and the concept of skincare was born. A 3-year research period, dozens of tries and 4 patents later, the formula was created.

The name comes from the hive’s mercurial queen. “We were working with beekeepers, putting a recent swarm of black bees right into a hive, however the queen kept escaping. We needed to catch her at the very least five times before she finally agreed to settle in her recent, secure home. I screamed, ‘What a capricious queen!’ Since that day, we now have renamed the domain after that phrase,” Styker said.

He created the fragile milk glass and gold bottles with a little bit of royal flair — each is crowned with a gilded metal top inspired by vintage fragrance bottles.

During an extended shoot at Versailles for “Jeanne du Barry,” Styker began talking up his formula with chief makeup artist Tom Pecheux, who used it on set and located it “amazing.” The actor then passed samples to the opposite solid and makeup artists, who provided positive feedback.

Added Styker: “Being named ‘The Capricious Queen’ and partnering in a movie which was largely shot in Versailles — destiny is typically quite amusing.”