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.

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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.

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2026-07-212026-08-06

Recovery mode: repair, nourish, de-puff

Beach, sport, evenings out: summer is an active season, and the skin takes the hit. Salt, perspiration, sun, a few too many drinks, and the face soon shows it. Three ways to recover: repairing the surface, nourishing from within, and easing the puffiness from the features.

1. Repairing after the beach and the gym

The combination of sun, salt, sweat and towel dehydrates the skin and weakens its barrier, which brings tightness, redness and a dull complexion the next day. The instinct should not be to strip the skin, but to repair it quickly. On your return, rinse with cool water, then repair. Panthenol soothes and rebuilds the barrier, which is the whole point of the Cicaplast Baume B5 from La Roche-Posay. Niacinamide, for its part, strengthens that same barrier and calms redness, and you will find it concentrated in the Niacinamide 10% + Zinc serum from The Ordinary. To rehydrate and refresh after the sun, nothing beats a pure aloe vera gel, such as the Aloe Vera 92% from Nature Republic. In the morning, finally, one or two drops of vitamin C revive radiance and neutralise the sun's damage: the benchmark remains the C E Ferulic from SkinCeuticals, or The Ordinary Vitamin C for a gentler budget. One golden rule above all: you never exfoliate skin that is already stressed, you wait until it has calmed.

2. Kefir and kombucha: summer in a glass

Fermented drinks support the gut microbiome, that second brain which converses with the skin and to which we will return this winter. Put plainly, what happens in the gut is often written on the face. Kefir and kombucha make excellent substitutes for sodas when you are out in the sun, provided you choose well. The honest caveat is that many shop-bought kombuchas are very sweet. The right way to read a label is to aim for less than two grams of sugar per hundred millilitres. For kombucha, two names to keep in mind: Remedy, which contains no sugar at all, and the small, lightly sweetened artisanal brands such as Karma Kombucha. For kefir, favour a plain, unflavoured one, bearing in mind that water kefir is lighter than the milk kind, and steer clear of the fruity versions loaded with sugar.

3. Lymphatic drainage: easing the puffiness

Heat, salt, alcohol and short nights: summer tends to swell the face, leaving heavier features, a tired gaze and a less defined jaw on waking. This is fluid retention, and it can be worked on. Lymphatic drainage, through precise manual massage or with a gua sha, revives the circulation, clears the excess water and redraws the contours. At home, give yourself a few minutes of slow movements, from the centre of the face towards the ears and then the neck. In the studio, the result is immediate and visible: a sharper jaw, an open gaze, a revived complexion, ideal before an occasion that matters.

Recovery is part of performance. In sixty minutes, a protocol of drainage and repair erases the fatigue of summer: redrawn features, a rested gaze.
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2026-07-142026-08-06

Coffee, sun and sweat: summer under control

Homme tenant une tasse de café, lumière chaude derrière une vitre

Coffee, sun and sweat: keeping a clear complexion in summer

Summer does not forgive carelessness. A coffee gulped down at the corner of a desk, the sun, the heat that leaves the skin shining: three forces that mark the face if you let them. Here is how to keep the upper hand.

1. Coffee and skin: friend or foe?

Good news to begin with: coffee is not your skin's enemy. It is even rich in antioxidants. The problem does not lie in the coffee itself, but in everything we add around it. There are three traps, in truth: sugar, which dulls the complexion, excess, since caffeine is a diuretic and dehydrates, and timing, when a coffee stands in for a real glass of water. Using it well comes down to a few simple rules: one to three coffees a day, with little or no sugar, always alongside water, and preferably in the morning, since the skin repairs itself at night and it would be a shame to cut your sleep short. Fancy a change? Matcha offers antioxidants with a steadier energy, without the spike or the crash.

2. Sun protection: the number one mistake men make

If you remember only one thing, let it be this: sun protection is the most rewarding step in your entire routine. The sun is responsible for the great majority of visible ageing, whether wrinkles, dark spots, sagging or a dull complexion. And not in ten years' time, but now, with every exposure. The mistake men make is to believe that SPF is for the beach. Yet UV rays pass through clouds and glass, so the commute, the lunch outdoors and the coffee in the sun all count. The right reflex is simple: an SPF 30 to 50 every morning, summer and winter alike. Look for a fluid, matte and non-greasy texture. Three safe choices for this: La Roche-Posay Anthelios (an invisible fluid), Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun (a natural finish, with no white cast) and Biotherm Homme UV Defense. Fifteen seconds to apply, and it is the best anti-ageing investment there is, the one no one ever regrets.

3. Sweat: a clear complexion all day long

Heat makes you sweat: the skin shines, the pores become visible, and the complexion turns dull by the middle of the day. There is no need for a complicated routine, only the right steps at the right moment. In the morning: a gentle cleanser, a light moisturiser, SPF. In the middle of the day, after exertion or a journey, a pass of facial mist works wonders (see last week), or failing that a rinse with cool water, patted rather than rubbed. In the evening, you cleanse to remove sweat, sebum and pollution, and this is not up for negotiation. Three minutes in the morning, three at night: that is all it takes to move through summer with a clear face.

The sun and fatigue mark the face in silence. In sixty minutes, a precision protocol erases the traces of summer and reveals a clear, rested complexion.
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2026-06-292026-08-06

Heatwave: should you drink iced, hot, or lukewarm?

When the thermometer climbs past thirty-five degrees, the instinct is to reach for an ice-cold drink. A poor choice? Not quite so simple. Here is a quick look, with the science to back it up.

1. Iced drinks: a false friend

A very cold drink is refreshing in the moment, there is no denying it. Yet there is a catch: on receiving that signal of cold, the body cuts down its perspiration. And it is precisely sweat, as it evaporates, that truly cools you down. The result is immediate relief, but body heat that is released less efficiently over time. Not to mention the thermal shock, which can be hard on the digestion.

2. Hot drinks: a paradox that holds up

It seems counterintuitive, yet the work of the thermoregulation researcher Ollie Jay, at the University of Sydney*, has shown it: a hot drink can actually help you cool down. By raising your temperature slightly, it makes you sweat a little more, and it is that evaporation which brings the body's temperature down. A word on the conditions, though: it only works if the sweat can evaporate, which means dry air and uncovered skin. In full humidity, or buttoned into a suit, all you gain is the heat. The mint tea of hot countries, then, is no accident.

3. The right compromise: cool, not iced

Between the two extremes, practical sense wins out. Health authorities recommend neither: their message is to hydrate regularly, with cool rather than iced water, and to steer clear of alcohol and excess sugar. Temperate water has one concrete advantage, namely that it is better tolerated, so you drink more of it and hydrate more effectively. And what of the skin in all this? Good internal hydration means a less dull complexion and a barrier that holds firm. In a heatwave, your face is every bit as thirsty as you are.

Heat puts your skin to the test. In sixty minutes, a ritual of freshness and drainage for a clear, rested complexion, even at the height of summer.
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* Bain AR, Lesperance NC, Jay O., "Body heat storage during physical activity is lower with hot fluid ingestion under conditions that permit full sweat evaporation", Acta Physiologica, 2012.