Chantecaille’s Save the Bees compact

Sky blue, honey gold, hive brown and nectar pink eye shimmers

It was only after Sylvie Chantecaille, founder of the eponymous French cosmetics and skincare company, installed a hive in her garden that the endangerment of bees struck home. “I lost my first colony despite my garden being completely organic,” she says. “The failure of that beehive taught me a great deal about their plight.”

Since 2006, Chantecaille has created limited-edition make-up compacts to raise money for endangered animals such as elephants, turtles and tigers. This year it is the turn of the bee, and with very good reason: the winter of 2012-2013 led to the worst loss of honeybee colonies since records began six years ago, according to the British Beekeepers Association. Because of freezing weather beforehand, bees couldn’t forage enough, which led to a reduction in honey production of 70 per cent compared to 2011. Such falling figures are a veritable environmental disaster, according to the Xerces Society, a non-profit organisation dedicated to invertebrate preservation, as bees and other pollinators enable 70 per cent of all flowering plants to reproduce.

“We always choose to help with a problem that is urgent,” continues Chantecaille. “All pollinators are under distress and it has been becoming more of a world phenomenon in the past two years.”

In response, her firm has created an exquisite palette called Save the Bees (£74), with 5 per cent of proceeds donated to the Xerces Society. Perfect for spring, it is of course inspired by bees, but also by colourful fields full of wild flowers, bright sunlight as winter beats a retreat, and honey-filled hives. The four shades are each embossed with a beautiful golden bee; Sky is a blue sheen to brighten, Honey a shimmery highlighter, Beehive a grey/light brown shade to a sweep across the eyes, and Nectar a blusher to give a hint of spring on a winter’s day. “We always find colours that match well with the particular animal we’re focusing on,” says Chantecaille.

Bees have also stopped buzzing due to disease outbreaks, she continues, thanks to the increase in farms growing only one crop (such as corn or soy) and the repeated use of harmful pesticides. Despite all these factors, says Chantecaille, “I will start again this year with another beehive.” She is putting her money, or honey, where her mouth is in more ways than one.