A couple of weeks ago, at the same time as the Muse & Heroine launch at Le Bon Marché, I received a message from the team behind the brand Adipeau. They told me the brand’s founder, Ivan, would be in Paris for a few days and wondered if I had time to meet him.
It was an unusual request (although in reality it shouldn’t be). After recording more than 100 podcast episodes and working alongside countless founders, I’m used to PR teams reaching out to arrange interviews. But this wasn’t that. There was no ask, really. Just a personal connection.
I didn’t know what to expect, but went with it anyway.
Ivan was super accommodating of my annoying schedule, and came to meet me at my office with my team.
The truth is, I had never heard of Adipeau before. A few days earlier, I’d stopped by Le Bon Marché, as I usually do on a Sunday, and one brand on the beauty floor immediately caught my attention: Adipeau. The sales associate walked me through the before-and-afters, and I was genuinely taken aback by the results. I didn’t connect the dots. Not kidding.
After our meeting with Ivan, one thing became crystal clear: he has genuinely remarkable products. But understanding why requires a level of explanation most people never get, or never take the time to think through. Definitely not doable in a 30-second TikTok or a single Instagram caption. It needs translating. It needs context. And, perhaps most importantly, it needs someone willing to ask the right questions.
That’s where our collaboration really began.
So why did this hit differently for me?
Becoming a mother changed my relationship to skincare more than I expected. Before, it was almost recreational, quite simply I liked discovering things and testing treatments because it was fun. Now, with considerably less time, I care about results.
Most skincare conversations live on the surface, collagen, wrinkles, exfoliation, hydration. Adipeau is asking about the fat cells underneath the skin instead. Not body fat. Skin fat, the thing we’ve spent decades trying to eliminate, inject away, or freeze off.
I don’t think one product, or one theory, explains everything we see happen to our faces over time. But this conversation made me more interested in understanding what’s happening underneath the surface.
Could this be the most modern version of anti-ageing? Not fighting the face, but helping it function better?
What follows is our conversation. Enjoy.
xx,
JJ
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