Can you tell us what Chantecaille products you are loving right now?
Because I’m now menopausal, my skin appreciates the basics more than it ever did. Which actually means that Chantecaille skincare really suits me sort of down to the ground because it’s so gentle but so effective. My favorites have always been the Bio Lifting Cream+ and Vital Essence, but now that I’m simplifying I’m also really loving Vital Essence and Water Flower Fluid. My skin right now is… so not so much temperamental, but it certainly does not like being overstimulated. I’m going to go easy and just give my skin a good moisturizer, maybe with some Pure Rosewater underneath. 

You’ve always loved our Retinol Intense+ — it’s been sold out for ages but is finally back in stock! Can you tell us what you think is so special about this formula?
I prefer to advise people to shop for a formula as opposed to sort of a key ingredient. I don't want just a straight tretinoin or a straight, super strong retinol, I need something in it to cushion what the retinol was designed to do, which is to well, let’s face it—it aggravates your skin, right? I don’t have the time for downtime and I don’t want  my skin to go all flaky, I'd rather not be bright red. So I want something that will work as a retinoid on my face, but also appreciate the importance of maintaining my skin barrier, which you can get with Retinol Intense+.

You are always so knowledgeable about key ingredients, can we chat about those? So many of our skincare formulas feature superstar peptides—they can be hard to explain! How do you talk about them with your followers?
I tend to talk about peptides as cell communicators—they’re like building blocks of your collagen. I use the analogy of putting scaffolding on a building: Peptides will act as like the screws that lock scaffolding together. So as we get older, as we lose estrogen—and therefore collagen, estrogen is directly related to losing collagen and losing tone and elasticity in the skin. Peptides are designed to fill the gap. It’s almost like having two family members that don't talk to anyone anymore. And peptides are the intermediary, ha!