May's Paris Diary
“How nice that you have time to join.” I am on the Thalys with one of my favorite PR women, Belinda. I almost spit out my tea. This ‘outing’ has been marked in my agenda for weeks in big, bold letters with lots of exclamation marks. And Paris, and Sisley, and sleeping at Le Bristol (where we turn out to be staying at the same time with Ryan Gosling but I didn't know that then) and getting a treatment at the new Sisley spa on Avenue Friedland and having lunch at Mrs. d'Ornano's home on the Quai d'Orsay. I'm just short of needing a ventilator, but it's not far off. Moreover, my travel companions are my former colleague Claudia Straatmans (when I was editor-in-chief of Marie Claire, she did that for Cosmopolitan and we regularly met for discussions and chats) and when I left Marie Claire, she led the title for years with passion and determination. In short, a cozy time. The other travel companion is Marjolein, the beauty editor of Beau Monde and Marie Claire with whom I had a great time in Greece. Proof.
No clouds for the sun. Literally not, because Paris is giving us the most beautiful Indian Summer. My room at Le Bristol is of dance size and I have a Carrie balcony, overlooking le piscine. As my feeling of happiness is catapulted to great heights, I discover the Sisley bag. Inside, my hope from days gone by, the Sisleya Integral Anti-Age cream, the Lotion de Soin Essentielle, a Phyto Eye Twist (waterproof so ideal when I take that dive later) and a Phyto Lip Twist. I don't have much time to sniff everything, because we need to have lunch before heading to the headquarters to meet the product developer from Sisley.
We have lunch at Market, where Claudia and I had a bite exactly six years ago during Fashion Week after the Chanel show. “I think you were just pregnant then, May.” You should know Claudia has an incredible memory. “You were only sipping your champagne.” I remember it again. She was right. To compensate for that sipping back then, we order a nice glass of white. Quickly a beet salad on Greek yogurt (lovely) and off we go towards Sisley HQ.
Jose is a charming chemist who has worked with a team of a hundred people for ten years on his new product Sisleya Integral Anti-Age for the eyes and lips. We are presented with the chemical formulas, the ingredients, and especially the problem areas that are being addressed. The blue whale, the dark whale, the crow's feet, the drooping eyelid, the frown, and the ‘barcode’, you know, those terrible vertical lines above the upper lip. To make the cream work even better, they developed a small rolling device that prepares the skin and allows the cream to be absorbed even better.
After this session, I get to go to the salon. Designed by Mrs. d'Ornano herself. With art from Elzbieta Radziwill and furniture and art from her own homes in Paris and Miami. Creative luxury where I was particularly touched by the painting made by street children in South Sudan. Or the lamps made from plastic bottles by an artist in Cambodia. After the tour, we receive an Anti-Age treatment. I fight against sleep because I am so relaxed. Due to the heated bed, the classical music, the play of light around me that keeps changing, the scent, and the texture of the products. I believe I didn't win against sleep, but according to Jose Cinestra, sufficient sleep is also an important step in combating aging. So let's see it as a double win. And a Sisley treatment, and sleep.
’In the evening we go to the trendy Peruvian Manko for the best ceviche in the city. And then quickly diagonally lie down in that ridiculously large bed. With the curtains open (nothing is more delightful than looking at the Parisian rooftops) and dreaming of tomorrow.
