Chloé's Clémence Poésy on French Beauty Habits & the Power of Perfume
This week French fashion house Chloé debuted their newest scent, Love Story, a fresh, sophisticated floral fragrance with notes of orange blossom, Stephanotis jasmine, and cedar. It’s one of those perfumes that make you smile the moment you smell it. Chloé’s Caroline Javoy, Vice President of Chloé Fragrances, compares it to the feeling you get when you see a blue sky. “Even if you’ve seen it thousands of times in your life, it puts you in a good mood,” she says.
The bottle design was inspired by the padlocks that are latched onto the Pont des Arts bridge in Paris. Thousands of couples have clamped locks onto the bridge as a symbol of their love, in the most romantic city in the world.
The face of the new campaign is actress and model Clémence Poésy, who has been the face of Chloé fragrance for nine years, beginning with Chloé Signature. Yahoo Beauty had the chance to sit down with the face of Love Story star to talk about all things French beauty.
Yahoo Beauty: Scent is known to be a powerful memory trigger. Do you have a first perfume memory?
Clémence Poésy: My mum used to spray a little bit of her perfume on little handkerchiefs that whenever we would leave for a school trip or summer holiday to see our grandparents, we’d have her perfume on that. She still kind of wears it in the summer and it always brings me back to that. And then there’s the perfumes of people that you’ve loved and you smell in the street and all of a sudden it takes you back immediately to that.
YB: When did you first start wearing perfume?
CP: I must’ve been 13 or 14 years old. It was a Cacharel one. I wore it for a very long time, until the end of high school.
YB: Are you someone that likes having a signature scent or do you switch it with the seasons?
CP: I love it when a scent really reminds me of someone specifically. My friends always joked that if they take the stairs ten minutes after me, they can still smell my perfume. I love leaving a little bit of a trace of you.
I only ever switch it if I’m playing a part that’s a bit more masculine. I was playing Joan of Arc a while ago and it just felt wrong to have something so feminine on.
YB: What is your daily beauty routine like?
CP: I wash my hair [every day], which is probably not what you are supposed to do [laughs]. I don’t feel awake otherwise, I feel like a zombie if I don’t [wash it]. If I have to go on set at 5:30AM, then I’ll get up at 5AM to wash it.
YB: When you’re going out at night, do you do anything makeup wise?
CP: A bit more perfume! If I do my own makeup it’s a nightmare. I’ll always end up doing that and the mascara will be on my cheeks or get lipstick in really sort of stupid places. I like red lipstick. I find that red lipstick in the middle of winter is a nice thing because it sort of brightens your face.
YB: You’re right on trend with your low-key routine. We saw all of this no-makeup makeup on the runway last season.
CP: What is no-makeup makeup? Is that makeup pretending not to be makeup?
YB: [Laughs] You look like you’re not wearing makeup but you still have perfected skin, it’s not noticeable, it’s very neutral. At Marc Jacobs last season there was actually no makeup on the models.
CP: I love seeing girls without makeup.
YB: There’s a pretty big obsession with the French pharmacy here. When I go to Paris, I bring back a suitcase full of beauty products. What do you think are the must haves?
CP: Anything by Avène and La Roche-Posay. Nuxe products always smell really lovely. What is really good to get in France are these little glass containers that are doses of zinc, magnesium, and selenium and you can put it on your skin directly.
YB: Oh wow, that’s so cool. What do you use them for?
CP: Zinc is good if you’ve got little pimples or breakouts, it fights infection in general so it works on your skin as well.
YB: Who in your life most influenced your view of beauty? Do you have a beauty role model?
CP: My mom kept telling me you know you have to wear makeup soon enough, enjoy not wearing it while you can. I still don’t really wear makeup if I’m not working. I feel really weird today because I’ve got foundation on and it feels strange.
My mom always said, “I don’t understand why people cover the circles under their eyes. I think that’s a very beautiful thing and it gives character to a face.” And I think it’s true and I find it really moving so I sort of grew up with the idea to be OK with whatever you are like.
YB: Do you feel like that is a French mentality when it comes to beauty?
CP: I’m sure some Americans are exactly the same. I know French girls who get up in the morning and do their makeup before their boyfriends see them.
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