Wild about wild plants

CHRISTIAN Courtin-Clarins is not a fan of air-conditioning. Casually clad in a button-down shirt sans blazer and tie, the owner of Clarins and president of the Clarins supervisory board gripes about how it's freezing indoors in Singapore and sweltering hot beyond the plate glass windows of his Grand Hyatt suite. After all, preserving and maximising some aspects of one's natural environment lies at the core of his family's beauty business.

"We developed a lot of help for farmers, because we want them to grow the plants in a natural environment, with no pesticides," says Mr Courtin-Clarins, who is said to be worth a combined …