In 1989, Jacques Courtin-Clarins founded the Polyarthritis Research Association. Under the presidency of his son, Dr. Olivier Courtin-Clarins, it became the Courtin Arthritis Foundation in 2006. The Foundation has a three-way goal:
- Promote and support Research on the causes of the most severe forms of arthritis.
- Encourage the discovery and the evaluation of innovative therapies for these diseases.
- Participate in circulating information about these diseases, their prevention and how to improve the quality of life of those affected. This is done via communication campaigns and training sessions (in a partnership with the French National Medical Research Institute).

Today, 20 years after its creation, the Foundation is still a unique source of private financing for arthritis research. The Foundation is widely recognised as having paved the way for a quality level of French research.

Look Good… Feel Better was set up by the Cosmetic Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA) and gained its charitable status in 1993. They hold free skincare and make-up workshops to help combat the visible side effects of cancer treatment which in turn, boosts confidence and wellbeing. Clarins has continued to support the Look Good… Feel Better programme since 1994 through the donation of beauty and skincare products and by recruiting Clarins specialists from all over the UK who give up their time to share their expertise by attending workshops around the country.


With numbers of workshops continuing to increase, at present there are over 60 Look Good… Feel Better programmes throughout the UK in both hospitals and cancer care centres. At the beginning of each workshop, patients are given a goody bag which contains products that are donated by large beauty companies as well as Clarins. The volunteer beauty consultants take a group of women (up to 12 per workshop) through a specially designed 12-step skincare and make-up regime and at the end of two hours of learning, fun and laughter, the ladies leave feeling relaxed and with a fully renewed sense of confidence in their appearance. They are then able to enjoy their goody bag in their own time, and put into practise the beauty advice and make-up tips they have been taught. Many women have said that the Look Good… Feel Better workshops have helped them to regain a sense of control and normality at a time when diagnosis and treatment can make everything feel overwhelming.

Clarins supports the missions of Jardins du Monde in Honduras, Guatemala, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Tibet and Mongolia:
- Ethno-botanical studies and the development of herbariums
- Planting of medicinal plant gardens for the communities
- Training of health workers about the culture, use and transformation of plants
- Developing community pharmacies for medication based on the plants grown in the gardens
- Accompanying plant growers and teaching them about fair trade.