Energy and skin: recharge from within

Yellow and orange autumn fruits and vegetables around a golden frame, energy and glowing skin

Open pomegranates and their red seeds, rich in antioxidants, an autumn fruit good for the skin

You have probably noticed it: every autumn, the face changes before we do. The complexion dulls, shadows settle under the eyes, energy runs out faster, and we reach for coffee to make up for the fading light. What if, this year, we took the problem the other way round? It all plays out well before the morning cream, on the plate first, then with two or three well-chosen reinforcements.

It starts on your plate

Autumn, thankfully, has everything we need. A roasted squash, a beetroot, grilled sardines, the first clementine perfuming the kitchen: what the season brings to the table is also good for the skin. I have a soft spot for oily fish (sardine, mackerel, herring): twice a week, their omega-3s (EPA and DHA) slip into our cells and calm the low-grade inflammation that dulls the complexion. Brightly coloured vegetables (squash, beetroot, sweet potato, cabbage) are treasure troves of antioxidants, and the beta-carotene in squash turns into vitamin A, the one that helps skin renew itself. The first citrus fruits give us back vitamin C, without which collagen simply cannot be made. And then there are the fruits we cook with less often. Persimmon, melting when fully ripe, is likewise rich in beta-carotene and vitamin C. Pomegranate, scattered over a salad or a bowl of yoghurt, concentrates rare polyphenols, the punicalagins, among the most studied antioxidants for protecting cells. Add grapes and the last figs, sweet and rich in antioxidants, and the autumn fruit bowl becomes a true beauty ally. Nothing complicated: the more colour on the plate, the better.

A word about freshness, because it truly matters. Vitamin C, the most fragile, vanishes within days. As a result, a seasonal vegetable bought at the market, picked nearby, often keeps more of it than an organic one ripened in cold storage before crossing the planet. I am fond of organic, fewer pesticides, better-treated soil, but it says nothing about the distance travelled. Between an organic apple from the other side of the world and an apple from the orchard next door picked the day before, I choose the latter, for the skin as much as for the taste.

The right support

When the light drops, the plate is not always enough. Micronutrition starts from a simple idea: rather than taking a bit of everything, you target what is really missing, ideally identified by a blood test. First in line is vitamin D. At our latitudes, the winter sun is too low for the skin to produce it: the Esteban study by Santé publique France found that nearly 80% of adults are deficient, even more so in winter. Yet it does far more than protect the bones, it plays on immunity and mood. A blood test, a little vitamin D3, and the deficiency is corrected within a few weeks.

Magnesium is burned through under stress, precisely when we need it most; what doctors know is that a bisglycinate or a citrate is absorbed far better than the oxide. Zinc, for its part, regulates sebum and supports immunity. Omega-3 capsules are worth taking mainly for their EPA and DHA, the ones that count, all the more so as our modern diet, saturated with omega-6, tends to drown them out (Simopoulos’ work made this clear). And iron, in many women: low ferritin, which you only see if you ask for it, is enough to explain lingering fatigue, a grey complexion, hair that falls. As for brands, the ones doctors prescribe, such as PiLeJe or Nutergia, are safe bets.

And then, the hands

Nourishing from within already changes a great deal, but one link is missing, and it is my favourite: the hands. Seasonal fatigue always ends up showing on the face, the complexion veils over, features set, the gaze grows heavy. Where no capsule acts from the outside, massage wakes up the microcirculation that carries oxygen and nutrients to the surface, revives the drainage that de-puffs, releases the tensions that harden the features. Nourish within, awaken without: it is this pairing that best prepares the skin for the cold season. And that is, quite precisely, what we do together in the treatment room.

Book your Rituel sur mesure (1h30), for him or for her.

2026-09-282026-08-06

Eternity, the new obsession

Cryonics tanks preserving bodies at -196°C in liquid nitrogen — Cryonics, the embalming of the 21st century: preserving bodies at -196°C in liquid nitrogen, in the hope of a future awakening.

A fortnight ago, we left Egypt and its quest for an eternity in the afterlife. Our own age wants eternity here below: no longer preserving a body for the great journey, but holding on to youth for as long as possible. We barely even say anti-ageing any more. We say longevity, and the word has made its way into our very creams.

Skin longevity, the new watchword

The shift is not merely a matter of vocabulary. Anti-ageing corrected the signs, the wrinkle, the spot; longevity claims to tackle skin ageing itself, deep inside the cell. Biologists have described twelve hallmarks of ageing, popularised by Carlos López-Otín. Among them is cellular senescence: those “zombie” cells that stop renewing themselves and give off a dull, smouldering inflammation, slowly undermining the collagen and the radiance of the skin.

From the bottle to the freezer

A few names are emerging. The house of OneSkin, founded by scientists, presents itself not as a skincare brand but as a skin-longevity company, built around a peptide, OS-01: a study published in npj Aging (Zonari, 2023) showed, on human skin models, a halving of senescent cells and a revival of collagen. In luxury, Augustinus Bader, born of stem-cell research, has made regeneration its entire signature. Around them orbit spermidine and NAD, those longevity molecules everyone talks about, yet whose evidence comes mostly from yeast, worms, mice, or swallowed capsules, rarely from a cream.

And the quest does not stop at the bottle. It has become a billion-dollar industry. At Alcor, in Arizona, the blood of the deceased is replaced with a protective solution and the body is cooled to -196 degrees in liquid nitrogen, in the hope that the future will know how to revive it: cryonics, that embalming of the 21st century the Egyptians would not have disowned. Further still, laboratories such as Altos Labs, funded to the tune of three billion dollars by some of the greatest fortunes on the planet, are seeking to reprogramme our cells to reverse age; elsewhere, organs are already being printed in three dimensions. The pharaohs’ old dream has put on the clothes of Silicon Valley.

Eternity is not a bottle

So should we expect everything from a molecule, a freezer or a billionaire? No. The true longevity of the face rests first on gestures no technology can replace: restorative sleep, a living diet, sun protection kept up over time, skin that is not mistreated. The rest is regularity, that quiet discipline which, month after month, sustains the microcirculation, supports the production of collagen and elastin, and genuinely slows ageing. Egypt understood it before anyone else: eternity is not an object you possess, it is a treatment you repeat.

In the treatment room, I do not sell eternity in a bottle, still less in liquid nitrogen. I awaken the microcirculation through massage and drainage, I revive the exchanges, I help the skin do what it does best, regenerate. And because longevity is a matter of regularity, it is the repeated appointments that write the real difference. For him, Récupération. For her, La Parenthèse.

2026-09-222026-09-22

What your coffee does to your skin

Coffee being poured into a cup, warm and intimate atmosphere

Preparing matcha whisked with a bamboo chasen

In September, the day often begins with a coffee. A first cup on waking to get going, a second in the afternoon when focus fades: nothing more ordinary at the start of the season. Yet we rarely ask what this daily ritual does to the skin.

Coffee is often wrongly accused of being bad for the health. It is, in fact, one of the greatest sources of antioxidants in our diet, thanks to its polyphenols, chief among them chlorogenic acid. A Japanese study published in the International Journal of Dermatology (Fukushima, 2015) found fewer sun-related pigment spots in the women who drink the most coffee. Other work shows that the polyphenols of the green bean improve skin quality and microcirculation. Drunk without sugar, a good coffee does no harm to the complexion.

The real problem is sugar, and the swing in blood glucose it causes. The mechanism is simple: a sweetened coffee, or the pastry that comes with it, raises blood sugar quickly; the body releases insulin to bring it back down, and it then falls below where it started. Fatigue and cravings follow, then a rise in cortisol and adrenaline to correct course. The skin feels two effects. First, excess sugar binds to collagen and stiffens it: this is glycation, linked to skin ageing by the dermatologist F. William Danby as early as 2010, which dulls the complexion and slackens firmness. Second, cortisol also breaks down collagen, weakens the skin barrier and stimulates the sebaceous glands. Coffee has nothing to do with it; sugar does.

Quality matters too. The antioxidants in coffee are fragile and fade in supermarket coffee, roasted and ground months earlier. A specialty coffee, freshly roasted and ground to order, preserves them. Paris roasters such as Terres de Café or Coutume select traceable, freshly harvested beans. A good coffee, fresh and without sugar, remains a pleasure that benefits the skin.

Then there is matcha, held up as the virtuous alternative. It is a Japanese green tea ground to a powder: the leaves, grown in the shade, are stone-milled, then whisked into water and consumed whole. Pure matcha is genuinely worthwhile: alongside caffeine, it provides L-theanine, an amino acid that brings a calm alertness, without jitters or an energy crash, as well as antioxidants. But the matcha latte served in most cafés, or made with already-sweetened powders, is often very high in sugar: the same flaw as coffee. The rule does not change, it is without sugar. You can find a beautiful, ceremonial-grade one at a house like Anatae, in Paris.

Behind coffee and matcha lies a wider trend, that of nootropics, substances meant to sharpen focus. The caffeine and L-theanine pairing is its most sensible version; we are also seeing a rise in adaptogenic plants, ashwagandha foremost, said to temper cortisol. One caution, though: natural does not mean risk-free. In 2024, France's ANSES advised against it for pregnant women and for people with thyroid, liver or heart conditions, and stressed the importance of respecting doses. Many take it with no trouble at all, but an adaptogen should be chosen with discernment, ideally on a doctor's advice.

So the new season does not force a choice between energy and complexion: a good coffee or a real matcha, without sugar, wake you up at no cost. But the season's fatigue is not only in the cup: the light dims, the pace quickens, and it ends up settling on the face, in drawn features and a dull complexion. That is where massage takes over, when no drink is enough: it revives microcirculation and drainage, relaxes the features and brings back radiance. That is the very purpose of a Récupération treatment or a Parenthèse.

Book your ritual.

2026-09-152026-09-24

Beyond the mask: in praise of the hand

A man receiving a facial treatment, a translucent hydrogel mask on his skin, while hands massage his scalp in soft, warm light

Autumn announces itself, taking up residence as early as September 21, and the skin senses it before the calendar does: the sun withdraws, the air turns dry, the heating resumes its rights and the pace quickens, until that morning when the face feels tight and the complexion has lost its light. The temptation would be to strip everything away and start from scratch; that is precisely where we go wrong. Skin worn by the season does not ask to be scoured, but to be nourished and protected. On this ground, two gestures are worth more than a shelf of bottles: the mask, and the hand.

The mask, and the serum it seals in

Of all the masks, only one truly works in depth: the occlusive one, the one that seals. The gesture is soon told. First you lay down a serum, concentrated and chosen for what the skin needs that evening, then you seal it beneath a reusable silicone mask. Silicone, on its own, brings nothing; but the airtight film it forms hydrates the stratum corneum and carries the active deeper still, occlusion increasing the penetration of many active ingredients, as science has established.¹ A quarter of an hour, and the serum gives its full measure, where, applied alone, it delivered only a part. Fine ones can be found at Typology or The Ordinary, and, for men, at Horace or Bulldog. Clay, for its part, pursues the opposite design, absorbing sebum and drying to unclog oily skin, so that a rich serum slipped beneath it would make no sense.

Yet the mask, precious as it is, signs only a glow, real but fleeting: truly rebuilding the barrier takes weeks of regular care, not the span of an evening. We devoted a whole Carnet to it at the end of summer.

The plate, too, changes with the season

Radiance is also nourished from within, and the autumn plate bears little resemblance to the summer one. We set aside raw vegetables and water-heavy fruit for a denser, more colourful table: squash and sweet potato, whose beta-carotene warms the complexion, beetroot, the last figs and grapes brimming with antioxidants, walnuts and their good fats. Nothing compulsory, but skin nourished from within weathers the turn of the seasons better.

The hand that doubles the mask

The mask, through its occlusive film, does carry the actives in; but it does not revive circulation, does not drain, unknots no muscle. That is where the hand takes over, and it is my craft. Under its pressure, the face awakens: the vessels release nitric oxide, dilate, blood flows in, bearing oxygen and nutrients, and the complexion revives within the hour. The same gesture rouses the lymphatic drainage, that pumpless network that moves only at the fingers urging, and lightens features the new season had weighed down. It finally loosens those muscles that stress locks without our knowing, the jaw, the temples, the brow. A recent clinical trial even measured it: in women devoted to gua sha, regular massage redrew the contour of the face and eased muscle tone.² The division is limpid: at home, one nourishes and covers; in the treatment room, I massage, I drain, I release, for a full hour. Far from replacing one another, the two gestures answer each other. Book the Récupération for men, or La Parenthèse for women, and leave to the hand what no mask will ever do.

¹ Zhai H, Maibach HI, Effects of Skin Occlusion on Percutaneous Absorption: An Overview, Skin Pharmacology and Applied Skin Physiology, 2001.
² Ahn et al., Comparative Effects of Facial Roller and Gua Sha Massage on Facial Contour, Muscle Tone, and Skin Elasticity: Randomized Controlled Trial, Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 2025.

2026-09-142026-08-07

Eternity, the oldest obsession

Anubis preparing the pharaoh for the afterlife, an ancient Egyptian rite — Anubis watches over the pharaoh and performs the sacred rite of preparing him for the afterlife.

Long before our creams and our promises of youth, an entire civilisation had turned the conquest of time into a matter of state. Ancient Egyptian beauty was never mere vanity: Egypt did not simply dream of eternity, it organised it, ritualised it, perfumed it. And part of that knowledge has never quite left the way we care for our skin.

Preserving for the afterlife

For the Egyptians, death was not an end but a passage, and the body had to remain intact for the soul to continue its journey. Thus was born embalming, that patient art of preserving the flesh against oblivion, which the Greek historian Herodotus described in detail as far back as Antiquity. The aim was never to stay young on earth: it was to prepare an eternity elsewhere, in the beyond. Isis watched over them, she whose outspread wings breathed life back into the departed, while the Ankh, the key of life, promised that nothing ever truly faded.

The ingredients of immortality

What is striking is that the substances of eternity were also those of the beauty of the living. Natron, the mineral salt that dried and purified the body, also cleansed the skin. Myrrh and frankincense, the precious resins burned in the temples, soothed inflammation and closed wounds, a reputation modern science has not disproved. Moringa oil, in which these resins were left to infuse, nourished the face as much as it accompanied the rites. And these gestures have never entirely disappeared. In Egypt itself, Nefertari has spent a quarter of a century crafting entirely handmade skincare with frankincense and myrrh, the very essences that once adorned the dressing table of the queen whose name the house bears. Elsewhere, the method itself lives on: at All Moringa, frankincense resin infuses for thirty days in cold-pressed moringa oil, exactly as it did on the banks of the Nile; Ellie Bianca blends frankincense and myrrh in its facial oils. The skin of the living now receives what was once reserved for eternity.

Eternity changes shores

The obsession itself has never faded. It has merely changed shores: where Egypt prepared the eternity of the afterlife, our own age tries to hold on to it here below, in skin that ages more slowly, in that very contemporary quest we call longevity. That is the story we will tell you in a fortnight. For Egypt understood something before anyone else: caring for your face has never been a trivial act. It has always been a way of holding a conversation with time.

In the treatment room, I bring that conversation to life. I awaken the microcirculation through massage and drainage: blood flows in, the tissues take in oxygen, and the fibroblasts, the cells that produce collagen and elastin, are given what they need to work again. Preserving, here, does not mean freezing time, it means regenerating. For him, Le Protocole Signature. For her, le Rituel sur mesure.

2026-09-082026-08-08

Back-to-work tension: what stress imprints on the face

Tense man in black and white, hands on his head, stress marking the face

The return to routine sounds like a call to order. The pace picks up, the days fill, the nights grow shorter, and the body absorbs it all in silence. The face, though, keeps the ledger. Long before the set wrinkle, there is tension. Let us see how stress works, from the bone to the surface, and how to answer it.

Stress sculpts the face

Under pressure, the body releases cortisol. In the short term it is precious: it wakes us, mobilises energy, sharpens attention, sustains drive. It is when it settles in over time that it turns against us, and the face bears the trace, from the framework to the skin.

The bone first, because it is the foundation. We forget it, but a face rests on a bony architecture, and that architecture moves too. Over the years the facial skeleton resorbs: the orbits widen and the gaze hollows, the maxilla recedes, the jaw loses height while its angle opens. The cavities deepen, and everything covering them, muscle, fat, skin, finds itself less supported. Chronic stress does not help, for cortisol, in high doses and over time, slows bone formation.

The muscles next. Stress freezes expressions: we frown, we clench, we squint. Yet an expression line is born of repetition. With each contraction the muscle folds the skin in the same place; as long as the dermis is young and elastic, the fold fades; past the late twenties, collagen and elastin grow scarce, the skin no longer springs back, and the crease sets, visible even at rest. This is how the frown line forms, between the eyebrows. The jaw, for its part, often clenches without our knowing: the masseter tightens, sometimes thickens, and becomes a stubborn seat of tension. With age the lower face does not harden, it sags: the oval loosens, the jawline blurs.

The dermis, closer to the surface. Fibroblasts produce less collagen, elastin fragments, the supporting tissue thins. Stress adds its share through a quiet mechanism: cortisol raises blood sugar, and this excess sugar binds to the collagen fibres. This is glycation, which stiffens the fibres, makes them brittle, hardens the skin and dulls the complexion. More stress, more available sugar, more glycation.

Circulation, finally. With age and stress, microcirculation slows: blood supplies the skin less well, oxygen and nutrients arrive in a trickle, waste clears poorly. The complexion turns grey, dull, tired.

A word on collagen supplements, since the question comes up often. Recent studies show a modest but real benefit of hydrolysed collagen peptides on hydration and elasticity. It is no magic wand, but if you want to try, look for clinically studied collagen peptides, of low molecular weight, from 2.5 g a day, with vitamin C. The quality marker is the Peptan peptide. Two safe choices: Collaregen (hydrolysed collagen, with vitamin C) or Greenwhey (marine Peptan hydrolysed to 2000 daltons, hence well absorbed). As a support to good sleep and well-treated skin, never as a replacement.

Sleep, the treatment we neglect

The night is not a pause, it is a workshop. It is in deep sleep that the skin repairs itself: cells renew, collagen is synthesised, cortisol finally recedes. Cut the night short and the whole mechanism derails: cortisol that stays high, aborted repair, a leaden complexion, hollowed dark circles, features puffy on waking. Science has measured it. In a landmark study¹, faces photographed after sleep deprivation were judged, blind, more tired, less healthy and less attractive than the same faces rested. "Beauty sleep" is not an old wives' tale: it is a measured fact. Sleep remains the first treatment, and the only free one.

The tension we do not feel

Here is the paradox of the face. A knotted shoulder, a stiff back, a heavy leg: the body warns, the pain rises, we know where it hurts. The face, though, stays silent. We do not know that the jaw is locked, that the temples are hard, that the brow never quite lets go, until a hand reveals it. It is often during the treatment, and even more after, that the truth surfaces: "I did not know I was so tense". And this tension is sometimes so deeply set that it resists, that it rises again under the fingers, so far has it lodged.

In the treatment room, I go where the fingers stop. Through cranial massage and intra-oral work, I loosen the jaw from within, I calm the nervous system, I release what stress has knotted in the skull, the neck, around the eyes. You leave with the face relaxed, open, rested, often surprised to have carried so much tension without even noticing. Book Récupération for men, or La Parenthèse for women, and give your face the release it dares not ask for.

1. Axelsson J. et al., "Beauty sleep: experimental study on the perceived health and attractiveness of sleep-deprived people", British Medical Journal, 2010.

2026-08-172026-08-06

Jawline: what the science really says

Portrait rapproché d’un homme au teint frais et net

Ultra-hard chewing gums, silicone bite trainers, mewing apps: never have so many jaw-sculpting methods been for sale. Behind the craze lies a simpler, more demanding truth. Here is what matters, free of myth and bias.

What shapes a jawline

Three things shape it: bone, fat and muscle. Bone provides the foundation, inherited through our genes and hormones, with testosterone broadening the jaw at puberty. Yet it is not set in stone: according to Melvin Moss's functional theory, function influences form. Breathing, chewing, swallowing, resting the tongue in place, all of it moulds the face, above all during growth. Fat, in turn, reveals or veils that structure: a leaner face lets the bone show through. Muscle, finally, redraws the contours, and in time its strength even acts a little upon the bone itself, the celebrated Wolff's law. Nothing, then, is entirely fixed, at any age.

Function, your greatest ally

It is the most powerful lever, and the most overlooked. Social media calls it mewing, yet it is in truth a genuine discipline, myofunctional therapy, rooted in that functional theory. Everything begins with the tongue, and with its rightful place: the tip resting on the retro-incisive papilla, the small ridge behind the upper front teeth, never touching the teeth, the body of the tongue against the palate. And you swallow by pushing upward, not forward. Correctly placed, the tongue supports the maxilla, the bone at the centre of the face, and, through the tone it sustains beneath the chin, it keeps the line of the jaw sharp, that famous jawline. In a child, it even guides the growth of the jaws, hence the importance of consulting an orthodontist early and, where needed, beginning re-education with a speech therapist or a specialist physiotherapist. In an adult, the tongue no longer reshapes the bone, yet its role endures. Forever pressing against the teeth, a poorly placed tongue ends up shifting them and can open a gap at the front, an open bite in which the upper and lower teeth no longer meet. This, indeed, is why so many orthodontic treatments relapse when the tongue has not been re-educated. Lacking tone, it also lets a double chin settle in. A well-placed tongue, lastly, encourages breathing through the nose, whose benefits for sleep and oxygenation are the best established of the entire subject. One caveat, however: it does not work for everyone. In some people the tongue is tethered too tightly beneath, a frenulum too short to let it reach the palate; better then to seek a specialist's opinion.

Gums, gadgets and the truth

They are the darlings of social media: the ultra-hard chewing gums, from natural mastic de Chios to the Turkish Falim, and on to so-called fitness gums such as Jawliner, along with the silicone bite trainers in the vein of Jawzrsize. They all work the masseter, the muscle that lends definition to the lower face. In a man, a slightly stronger masseter enhances the volume and the line of the jaw, which is rather an asset. So yes, exercise does transform the face, yet let us keep a clear head: some are selling a fantasy, while the studies tell another story. The only serious study on the subject called for around thirty minutes of facial exercises a day, over several months, for a genuine but modest result. No miracle, simply consistency. And beware of excess: overworked, these devices harm the joint, at times lastingly, and weaken the teeth. The most effective approach remains the gentlest: a few daily movements, focused on the floor of the mouth:

Tongue pressed to the palate and held firmly for ten seconds without touching the teeth, repeated ten times.
Tongue extended forward, stuck out and held for around thirty seconds, to engage the floor of the mouth.
Fist beneath the chin, try to open the mouth against the resistance of the hand, ten times.

Add to this the right functional habits: chewing on both sides, since always chewing on the same side eventually throws the face off balance, breathing through the nose, and swallowing correctly. The face, like the body, rewards only consistency.

To learn these movements properly and weave them into a genuine routine, the facial yoga workshop awaits, for men as much as for women.

2026-08-112026-09-24

The face can be trained too: consistency, jawline and drainage

Rouleau de jade et gua sha sur marbre, en noir et blanc

Jade roller and gua sha on marble, in black and white

The face has around forty muscles. Like those of the body, they tone up when they are used and slacken when they are forgotten. Caring for it is then less a matter of the occasional treatment than of a routine: a few regular gestures that, week after week, sustain the tone, refine the features and preserve firmness. Three levers to get started, and to keep it up.

1. Facialism is like sport: consistency makes the result

No one expects a single weights session to transform a physique; the face follows the same rule. Manual work, whether massage, sculpting or mobilisation, acts on the muscles, the circulation and the fascia, those tissues that wrap and connect. Called upon regularly, they keep their tone, the skin firms and the contour sharpens; neglected, they stiffen and slacken. The treatment room and daily gestures complement each other. In the cabin, a drainage treatment such as Récupération in the Cercle Privé, or La Parenthèse in the Cercle d'Isis, sets the direction and works in depth, where one cannot act alone; at home, a few minutes of self-massage each day, morning and evening when time allows or at least one of the two, maintain that work between appointments. As in training, it is not the effort of a single day that counts, but the habit that takes hold: consistency always wins over intensity.

2. A sharper jaw: the gestures that sculpt the jawline

A clean jaw has become a mark of allure, but it is revealed more than it is worked: its shape depends first on bone structure, and what the gestures truly change is the crispness of the line. The first lever is to release the masseter, that powerful muscle which closes the jaw and which stress and bruxism often leave clenched; relaxing it comes through a deep massage, with the fingertips at home, or through an intra-oral massage, which I practise in the cabin, that loosens the tension and frees the contour. Next comes the platysma, that sheet of muscle running from the chin down to the neck and supporting the whole line: with the head tilted slightly back, one draws the corners of the lips downward until the cords of the neck tighten, holds for a few seconds, then releases; repeated, the gesture firms the area beneath the chin. Tongue exercises, the tip pressed against the palate, also support the structure of the lower face. Finally, the gua sha, drawn firmly along the jaw, from the chin towards the ear, drains and sculpts the line. Three minutes a day are worth more than an hour once a month.

3. Drainage: de-puff, revive, and know how to do it

Lymphatic drainage is undoubtedly the most valuable gesture of the routine, provided one understands what it does. The lymph flows just beneath the skin, where it carries away waste and excess fluid; reviving it de-puffs the features, softens bags and dark circles by waking the microcirculation, revives radiance and even supports the body's defences, the lymphatic system being one of the pillars of immunity. The best moment remains the morning: on waking, after a night lying down, the face is puffy and the circles marked, and drainage restarts the circulation at once. The evening works too, but if one had to keep only one, it would be the morning. Several schools coexist as to the order, and many recommend draining first, to clear the waste, before massaging or sculpting. The gesture should be slow and light, without forcing, from the centre of the face towards the ears then the neck, where the lymph nodes sit. The fingers are enough, but a few tools* refine it: the jade or quartz roller for the larger areas, the gua sha to follow and drain the jawline, the little massage mushrooms for the most delicate zones, the eye contour and the nape. Cold, straight from the fridge, de-puffs and firms; heat relaxes the muscles and loosens tension, precious on a clenched masseter. After the session, as after sport, drink enough water to support elimination.

The face, like the body, rewards only constancy.

These gestures are learned quickly and well: I pass them on in my automassage workshop, so that everyone leaves with a routine that is right, suited to their own face.

→ Book your place at the automassage workshop, on the second Saturday of each month at 6pm.

* A curated selection of bespoke tools will soon join the Mimisis boutique.

2026-08-042026-08-08

At the height of summer: fade, soothe, release

At the height of summer: fading spots, soothing heat, releasing tension

In the depths of summer, the skin takes a beating: spots that the sun settles in, a complexion that flushes quickly over a long lunch outside, and tensions that do not always let go. Three ways to keep the upper hand.

1. Fading dark spots: age spots, melasma, and what can be done

Not all spots are alike. The most common in men are lentigines, or age spots: years of accumulated sun, combined with an age at which repair slows down, settle them mainly on the forehead, the temples and the upper cheeks. There is also melasma, more diffuse patches triggered by both the sun and the hormones, more frequent in women, though men are not spared, with roughly one case in ten. And in those who shave, an irritation can leave a post-inflammatory mark. In every case, rule number one remains SPF: without it, all the rest is pointless. To fade them, you target the pigmentation with dedicated actives: azelaic acid, which evens out the complexion, alpha-arbutin, and above all tranexamic acid, the rising benchmark of high-end brightening care. Vitamin C and niacinamide, already seen in previous issues, round out the picture, and you will find them at The Ordinary, SkinCeuticals or Paula's Choice. And for an established spot, a melasma, or a mark that changes in appearance, you do not play doctor: a dermatologist's opinion is essential.

2. Soothing the heat: what spices really do to the skin

A well-seasoned dish, enjoyed outdoors, and the face heats up. It is not merely an impression: spices, and the capsaicin in chilli, dilate the blood vessels and trigger what is called gustatory sweating, hence the flushing and the rush of heat. For most people this is harmless, and that sweat refreshes as it evaporates. But on reactive skin, or skin prone to redness, an excess of spice, often paired with alcohol and heat, sustains a flushed complexion and visible vessels. The answer is not to cut everything out, but to find the right balance: notice what makes you flush, and go lighter on heatwave evenings.

3. Releasing the pressure: the scalp massage

Even so, summer does not erase the stress: nights too short, the heat, the screens. Tension lodges in the face and the scalp, with a furrowed brow, tight temples and a clenched jaw. The scalp massage unties these tensions, eases the pressure and, by reviving the microcirculation, brings the complexion back to life. A few minutes with the fingertips are enough at home, while in the studio it is the heart of my Recovery treatment.

Summer fatigue shows on the face. In sixty minutes, a protocol of massage and drainage releases the tension and revives the complexion: relaxed features, a rested gaze.
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2026-07-282026-08-06

Pollution and heat: the summer that suffocates the skin

Pollution and heat in the city: protecting the skin in summer

In the city, summer brings two assaults at once: the heat, which dilates the pores and drives up sebum, and the pollution, whose microparticles cling to skin that is already oily and damp. The result soon shows: a grey complexion, visible pores, small blemishes and that dull veil by the end of the day. The good news is that all of it can be neutralised with three simple habits.

1. Why the heat and pollution combination is worse in summer

When it is hot, the skin produces more sebum and the pores dilate. At the same time, the fine particles from traffic and ozone settle on the face, where they find an oily, moist surface, ideal for embedding themselves. These particles generate oxidative stress: in concrete terms, they accelerate ageing, both wrinkles and dark spots, and sustain a low-grade inflammation that dulls the complexion. A single day in the city is enough to deposit them on the face, between the metro, an open-air lunch and journeys on foot. There is no need to be in full sun: pollution marks the skin all on its own.

2. Antioxidants, your shield (on the plate and in the bottle)

Against oxidative stress, the countermeasure has a name, antioxidants, and it plays out on two fronts. On the plate, go for colour, from red berries to green vegetables and cooked tomatoes, without forgetting green tea and omega-3s, which arm the skin from within. As for skincare, apply one or two drops of an antioxidant serum in the morning, under your moisturiser. Vitamin C remains the benchmark, with the C E Ferulic from SkinCeuticals or The Ordinary Vitamin C, and niacinamide complements it beautifully by regulating sebum.

3. The right cleanse: simple in the evening, and what the treatment adds

There is no need to overcomplicate things. In the evening, a good cleanser removes the pollution, the sebum and the SPF of the day, and that is the essential part. On heavily exposed days, after public transport, sport or a thick SPF, add a cleansing balm or oil just before: this is the double cleanse, nothing more complicated. Among the brands, simple men's ranges do the job very well, such as Horace (French) or Lab Series (premium). In the studio, my approach is different: I do not strip the epidermis, I work the muscle, the lymphatic drainage and the microcirculation. The drainage helps the skin clear what the city deposits on it, while the massage re-oxygenates the complexion, and skin that is better irrigated defends itself better and looks clearer.

The city marks the face in silence. In sixty minutes, a protocol of drainage and massage revives the microcirculation: the skin breathes, and the complexion is clear and rested.
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