Our Beyond Skin Deep series amplifies individual skin stories, encouraging exploration and sharing of all experiences and journeys. Discover how founder and CEO of skin care brand Odacité, Valérie Grandury, chose to reinvent her relationship with her skin – along with her approach to caring for it – following her diagnosis with breast cancer…
So many of us have a complex relationship with our skin (and our body), and we can tend to focus on only the things we don’t like. Of all our organs, skin is the one we tend to scrutinize the most and least appreciate, despite all the hard work it does to protect all our other organs! Born and raised in France, I always grew up with beauty philosophies that emphasize skin care as opposed to make up. The key was to embrace your years and focus on taking care of your skin instead of hiding your imperfections.
So, what if we celebrated our skin and our body instead of focusing on what we don’t like?
This is what I realised after I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. After my diagnosis, I embarked on a journey where I paired clinical treatments with integrative therapies of nutrition and vitamin infusion, supported by a complete change of lifestyle.
LEARNING FROM THE JOURNEY
Parallel to the medical treatments, I committed myself to a deep integrative, holistic approach to healing. I set out to detoxify everything from my food to my thoughts to my environment. For food, I adopted a raw vegan diet. For my thoughts, I practiced meditation and yoga twice daily. For my environment, I sold the big party house in the Hollywood Hills and moved to the beautiful Topanga Canyon to change the air I was breathing, but also the people I was seeing. I quit my job and dedicated myself to studying the healing powers of plants while training as a health and wellness coach. I started to look at cancer as an opportunity to become more of who I really wanted to be.
This was my inspiration for Odacité: to create formulas inspired by my healing journey. I wanted to fuse the efficacy of clinical science with the power of nature to create skin care formulas that would support the skin’s natural repair and regenerative cycles (this is where Odacité’s Biocompatible Performance formulas comes in).
And, ultimately, what I learned from this journey is: be respectful of your skin and be consistent with your routine! I find there is this strange belief that when it comes to beauty that in order for something to work, it must hurt. But anything that is going to be that aggressive to the skin could damage the delicate skin barrier. Long-term, this can result in irritation and inflammation, or dry and dull skin that’s prone to lines. My French upbringing always taught me one important lesson: do no harm.
The skin barrier is a fragile complex of cells that is essential for protecting the skin against bacteria, pollution, allergens and other environmental aggressors. So, treat your skin with respect and be consistent (consistency is key).
HOW I FEEL ABOUT MY SKIN NOW
I’m 65 and have eight grandchildren, and my goal is to look and feel my best for the many years to come, so I can enjoy this whole new family tribe that has blessed my life in the last five years.
What I love about my skin is that it looks even better now – even more so than when I started using my own products! And yes, the loss of volume is inevitable with age, but I get more compliments about my skin today than I ever did before. My skin is always well-hydrated and plump, making wrinkles a lot less visible. My complexion and texture always look healthy, without blemishes and it has a beautiful glow.
Looking at myself in the mirror now reminds me of the way I used to look at my two grandmothers, Jeanne and Madeleine, when I was a child. While they couldn’t be more different – Jeanne, a nature-loving spiritual soul, and Madeleine, a sophisticated and elegant Parisian always in haute couture – they were both so unapologetically themselves. Both of them probably have had the biggest influence on my life, my perspective on beauty, and the DNA of Odacité.
SKIN CARE TIPS FROM MY FRENCH HERITAGE
After many years of learning from timelessly beautiful French women (and growing up to become one myself!) these are my top beauty recommendations that I think everyone can learn from:
- There is no good routine without sun protection. I created the SPF 50 Mineral Drops Flex Perfecting Tinted Sunscreen so that wearing sunscreen could become a true pleasure, from the sensation on the skin to the beauty benefits to the skin care ingredients to the absolutely stunning finish that looks like your skin, but better.
- Exfoliate on a regular basis – at least three times a week – to remove dullness and allow for all your products to work better. I actually use the Jojoba Pearls Daily Hydra-Exfoliant every day because it is formulated with perfectly round Jojoba pearls in a cream base, so it doesn’t strip the skin barrier, but it leaves my skin super smooth and hydrated at the same time.
- Use vitamin C in the morning and retinol at night! With our clinical encapsulated formulas, you can use the Vitamin C and E and Hyaluronic Acid Brightening Serum in the morning and the Retinol and Hyaluronic Acid Renewing Serum at night every single day. This is the best duo to address collagen decline, lack of glow, and uneven skin tone.
- Double cleanse at night. This is a non-negotiable in order to optimise your whole skin routine. First, cleanse your skin with an oil-based cleanser to break down impurities such as SPF, make up, and pollutants. I like to use the Montana Harvest Omega Oil Cleanser for this step. The second cleanse (traditionally a water-based cleanser like the Black Mint Clarifying Cleanser) serves the purpose to actually cleanse the skin so your pores are thoroughly cleared and ready for your serums and moisturiser.
- Start using an eye cream in your 20s. Your eyes have the thinnest skin on your face and are most sensitive to show first signs of aging. I swear by the Edelweiss Extrême Intense Repair Eye Cream because it is ideal for crow’s feet wrinkles.
- Use a night cream! There is a reason we formulate night cream differently. The temperature of the skin rises at night, making it more permeable to any products you apply – but this also means your skin loses more moisture at night. After a long day of environmental stressors and aggressors, nighttime is the perfect opportunity for your skin to rest, recover, and recharge. Restorative Night Cream infuses the skin with super antioxidants CoQ10, hyaluronic acid, pomegranate and ashwagandha to help support this nocturnal process so that you wake up with a more radiant, youthful, healthy-looking appearance than you went to sleep with.
- Seal all the benefits of your night routine with an oil or balm. My Le Blue Balm Chamomile & Shea Butter Repair Balm is also the perfect multi-tasking beauty product for dry lips, dry cuticles, dry patches of skin, any signs of irritation – I always keep one in my purse and I always travel with it. Le Blue Balm can even take off your make up!
- Never forget about the art of facial massage! It is a French woman’s best kept secret to smooth the appearance of wrinkles and relieve facial tension, sculpt, and lift the facial contour – combining facial massage with the many benefits of cold therapy, the Cryo-Tech Facial Tool is my go-to for daily face massage.