Oprah’s facialist shares her skin tips
The Canadian guru says less is more, skin requires surprises and wrinkles are beautiful
There’s something to be said for a fluff-free success story: the kind where no marketing ploys are involved and everything comes down to real-deal quality and word of mouth.
That’s Jennifer Brodeur’s story.
For years, Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama flew the Montreal facialist to their homes (which at one point meant the White House) to receive her custom facials and she stayed totally mum about it. It was actually Winfrey who convinced Brodeur to launch her own line and then promptly included it on her famous list of “Favorite Things.”
Brodeur stopped by the Kit office to chat about her unique approach to skin care. A former chemistry and biology teacher, she’s as no-nonsense as it gets.
“I don’t believe in instant gratification,” she says. “My thing is getting skin healthy and vibrant.”
She told us how she does it.
“For me, skin is like CSI. I love being a detective and figuring out what someone’s skin is trying to tell me. If I have a new celebrity who comes to see me, I’ll ask them a million questions: ‘Where did you live between zero and 20? How much sun exposure did you get as a child? What do you eat?’ Skin is alive and you have to treat it that way — it wasn’t conceived to have all these products on it. Often, when a woman tells me her skin is sensitive, I’ll have her stop using all products for two weeks and then reintegrate them one by one. It’s about getting skin in a healthy state — the healthier it is, the less you need to put on.”
Once you ask a celebrity all these questions, what’s the next step?
“I make them an SOS kit so they have a step-bystep routine. Then, every couple of weeks, I switch it up. And they say, ‘What? But it’s working!’ But I want the skin to be surprised. It’s sort of like working out — you can’t just do ab crunches all the time. You need to change it up so the muscles will keep responding. I suggest switching products depending on the season. In the summer, a gel or mousse cleanser is great, especially if you have oilier skin, but then come fall, you might want a more hydrating cleansing milk.”
What are your favourite skin-care tools?
“I do micro-needling and I’ve been jade-rolling for more than 15 years. Everyone is talking about jade rollers now, and it’s hilarious to me because when my daughter was a teenager and her friends would come to the house and see all my jade rollers, they thought it was so weird! It’s all about blood flow. The more you get the blood flowing in the skin, the healthier it is and the better your products work.”
What’s your take on aging?
“Aging is a privilege. I say to my clients, ‘I don’t care about your wrinkles because I think they’re beautiful.’ What I do is beyond fine lines and wrinkles. I think the whole self-care movement is very fascinating, but then behind closed doors, people are like ‘I want Botox!’ I’m not necessarily against it, but I think you should take the time to get your skin super healthy first. Once that’s done, I’ll even go with you (when you get injections) and hold your hand. If it makes you feel good, that’s all I care about. And sleep is more important than anything. That’s when your body rehydrates itself. Sleep deprivation is the worst thing for your skin.”