Show notes
We are featuring Clemence von Mueffling who comes from a family of beauty experts. Both Clemence’s mother and grandmother were beauty editors at French Vogue. Her grandmother also started her career as a model and was on the cover of French Vogue, and guess who was the photographer? Irving Penn! Clemence is the founder & editor of Beauty & Well Being. Clemence worked at Clarins, Puig, and Dior before starting Beauty & Well Bring. Clemence grew up in Paris (she is French) and now lives in NYC. She has recently written a book called, Ageless Beauty: the French Way that gives us the secrets of 3 generations of beauty editors from French Vogue. What was it like growing up in Paris? Incredible! Especially having my mother and grandmother as examples because they are the perfect example of French women not looking for perfection, but trying to become the best version of themselves. Beauty requires a ritual. Self care is about self confidence. If you feel good, you look good. Maintenance and prevention are important. It is never too late to start a good routine, Describe what the Vogue Paris offices are like. All the editors were running around. There was perfume, cosmetics, makeup, they let Clemence try out the different things. Women were elegant. There is a Vogue style, called "The Woman of Vogue." The Woman of Vogue was incredibly chic, elegant and always with a signature perfume. She would know when each person would be there by their scent. Her grandmother wore Guerlain, and now wears Chanel. Her mom wears Sisley, and loves to try new ones as well. What is Beauty & Well-Being? After working for beauty companies, she wanted to have more her voice. She launched her online magazine. She gathered a team of freelance writers in the beauty & wellness field. Every month, they provide in-depth stories, interviews, high profile people and more. It is a platform for women of all ages from teenager to grandmother at accessible price points. It started in 2014. When did you start Beauty and Well Being and how did the idea come about? After she had her twins, she felt was a great time to start a new company, almost like a third child. She wanted to talk about beauty & wellness because it goes together. She wanted to bring to women solutions, because people talk about the problems, but they don't give you the solutions. Wellness - how to choose the best skincare products - respect your skin and hair. They don't address fads. Only tried and true beauty tips. How did you build your team at Beauty and Well-Being? From years working at Clarins, Puig and Dior, she had worked with a ton of journalists and beauty experts. Have to be confident that everything will work out, and need to test it to make sure it will work. How do you come up with story ideas? Every month there is a theme. She can build the series of interviews, articles, stories. She reads the news, magazines; internationally We grew up in similar ways with our elders telling us to make sure to have on mascara, lipstick, etc when we were around them! How did this shape the way you think about beauty? Her grandmother would say for Sunday night dinner, Rendez-Vous with mascara. She taught her granddaughters to be feminine. Femininity and self-care is about self-confidence and not vanity. As she gets older, taking care of herself is about giving a positive image about the passage of time to younger generations. She is 88 and looking great! The importance is not to look like someone else, but to look like the best version of yourself. When you get older, the idea is to look good for your age, not younger. Good skin doesn't have to be flawless. We should enhance our best features, work with what we've got. What we were born with. Try to age gracefully. It is better to look our age than to look no age at all. We have to treat our skin to our favorite silk blouse. We should hydrate the skin and keep it i