For all of my adult life, I didn’t own a scale. I didn’t weigh myself at the gym. I had a history with the scale, so I decided it was better to not engage with it at all.

When I was a teenager and suffering with legit gastrointestinal issues, we tried elimination to understand what was going on. The result was pretty extreme weight loss. So many foods made me sick, so out of fear, I ate less and less. And at one point or another, it turned into anorexia. The scale was truly my enemy at this moment, I remember filling my pockets with loose change when my mom forced me to get on it. I was followed by a medical doctor and a psychiatrist to recover. For so many years the number carried too much importance, so I decided to eliminate the scale entirely. I think I was weight 2-3 times from 20 to 30.

While the anorexic noise quieted and slowly disappeared, I still didn’t feel safe with the scale. So I actually avoided any weight ins.

The day I decided to announce my pregnancy to a group of friends, we were actually at another friend’s baby-shower lunch. Two of the girls were talking about their postpartum weight loss. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but at some point I mentioned that I never weighed myself.

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One of the girls very gently suggested that I tell my doctor I was sensitive about being weighed. She told me there were even people who specialized in nutrition during pregnancy who could help make sure I was getting enough of what I needed, and, more importantly, that the baby was getting everything it needed, without having to focus too much on weight.

She was trying to be helpful. And looking back, she was being incredibly considerate.

But I remember feeling terrible.

Suddenly, something I had thought of as a healthy boundary felt like a problem. Was I going to have to deal with this again? Worse, could my own issues somehow affect my baby?

At that lunch, came to the bathroom with me. She told me something that really stayed with me: she was so happy after having her baby that she didn’t even think about the weight she’d lost.

I loved that.

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And then I had my baby.

I was incredibly happy.

But, I still wanted to lose the pregnancy weight.

I wanted my clothes to fit again. I wanted to recognize my body again. I wanted, in some ways, to feel like myself again.

So I decided to finally try Luxopuncture. I had heard a lot about it and thought it might be the solution to my pretty straightforward goal: to get my body back.

But what if feeling better in your body actually starts with finding balance on what’s happening on the inside?

Luxopuncture is a gentle, non-invasive method inspired by the principles of acupuncture, but without needles. It uses infrared light to stimulate specific reflex points along the body’s meridians, with different protocols designed around things like weight management, menopause, relaxation, smoking cessation and facial rejuvenation.

Vanessa Zerbib’s approach is even more interesting than the method itself.

Vanessa is the founder of Experimental Place, an intimate space in the 16th arrondissement dedicated to an “In & Out” approach to wellbeing and beauty, bringing together different holistic practices and practitioners. Trained as a psychologist, Vanessa has developed a much more 360-degree approach to wellbeing.

Vanessa didn’t just focus on weight loss. She wanted to understand what might be preventing my body from letting go.

So we worked more on what was happening underneath it all than on food itself. Eating well and putting tougher a balanced meal wasn’t the issue.

Stress, anxiety, hyperactivity, control and difficulty letting go were what I needed to work on.

Sometimes knowing what to do isn’t enough. You also have to understand what might be preventing you from doing it.

The body doesn’t operate entirely independently from the mind.

Ultimately, what surprised me most was that I managed to lose the weight without feeling frustrated.

My weight was no longer taking up so much mental space. Food wasn’t a constant subject. I wasn’t controlling, calculating or feeling guilty.

I reconnected with hunger cues, emotions and needs. For the first time, I learned to listen to my body truly, rather than according to rules or automatic habits.

Beyond reaching my initial goal, I felt an overall sense of wellbeing, calm and lightness.

It was almost as though, by stopping myself from focusing exclusively on my body, something finally shifted.

Part of the process involved a weigh-in. While it is not required, I thought maybe this was my opportunity to make peace with the scale.

To my surprise, I started to realize that how I felt in my body wasn’t related to the number on the scale.

For the first time, the scale started to feel like information rather than a judgment.

I started looking at myself differently, too. I started feeling satisfied with what I saw in the mirror, in a way I never had before.

I went to Luxopuncture because I wanted my old body back. What I got instead was a sense of peace with the body I have now.

When I was home in August, I came across an article in The Wall Street Journal written by . It brought me back to our podcast together, where she spoke openly about her own struggle with an eating disorder, and the non-profit she co-founded dedicated to eating disorder advocacy in fashion and entertainment.

I remember how heard I had felt after this interview.

Ruthie recently wrote a piece in The Wall Street Journal about Ariana Grande, thinness, and the complicated conversation we are currently having around women’s bodies. It made me think about how impossible this subject sometimes feels.

When I first had my baby, I thought getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight would feel like an accomplishment. And of course, I’m happy to feel more like myself again.

But I’ve realized there’s something else I’m much prouder of.

I can step on a scale, look at the number, and step off.

I weigh myself now.

And it’s just a number.

I’ve always had a strange relationship with my period… or lack thereof. In fact, I don’t really remember ever having a normal one.

It was irregular from the start, which was quickly “resolved” by going on the pill at 15. I basically only went off it once during my adolescence, when my gallbladder stopped working, and went straight back on. My gynecologist at the time told me it was a precaution of sorts: keeping the machine working so that I could one day have a baby.

About five years ago, when Ronan and I started talking about having a baby, I finally went off the pill. And then… nothing. No period.

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We tried one round of stimulation, but it felt too early. I wasn’t ready for it. So I decided to take a break from Western medicine and give acupuncture a try. Over the course of a year, going once or twice a month, my period came back maybe once or twice. But nothing significant enough to try to get pregnant naturally.

Finally, I felt ready. We went to a different gynecologist, started stimulation again and three months later, I was pregnant.

After giving birth, I had absolutely no expectation that my period would come back on its own. So much so that we made an appointment with my doctor to understand what trying for another baby would look like.

And a month ago, the morning of the appointment, I got my period.

Naturally.

For what felt like the first time in my life.

So how did this happen?

It is entirely possible that, for the first time in my life, my hormones are regulating naturally after pregnancy. But I couldn’t help thinking aboutthe external factors that could have contributed to me getting (or not getting) my period naturally.

Contrast therapy?

It’s popping up everywhere, so naturally its benefits and dangers have become hot topics. And I had been hearing a lot about its potentially negative effects on female hormones.

The argument is that cold plunging is a stressor on the body, resulting in a cortisol spike. Too much stress can interfere with female hormones. So, women should be careful about cold plunging.

Except, in my case, this didn’t really add up.

When I started doing contrast therapy regularly, I got my period on my own for the first time.

So I decided to investigate.

Last month, The New York Times Magazine published a piece by Taffy Brodesser-Akner called “I Survived a Cold Plunge and All I Got Was Everything I Ever Wanted.”

Taffy goes into the experience deeply skeptical. Her friend tells her cold plunging has essentially “cured” everything, while Taffy points out that there really isn’t much compelling or comprehensive science behind all the benefits attributed to it.

But quickly, she gets it.

After her second session, she describes feeling extraordinarily good: energized, happy, alive. A month later, though, the skepticism creeps back in. She still can’t really explain what happened or prove why it made her feel the way it did.

The Wall Street Journal has also written about cold exposure, but from a different perspective.

In a piece about therapies moving from elite athletics into mainstream wellness, the Journal spoke to Dr. Sawalla Guseh, a sports cardiologist.

When we’re exposed to extreme cold, blood pressure and heart rate rise and the body enters a fight-or-flight response. Guseh compares brief cold exposure to a sort of “microdosing” of stress. The theory is that by exposing the body to a controlled stressor for a short period of time, it may adapt and become more resilient to other stressors.

Neither story is as simple as “cold plunging is good for you” or “cold plunging is bad for you.”

And yet we have become obsessed with turning wellness into a set of rules, many of which contradict each other.

Wake up at 5 a.m. But prioritize sleep.

Take supplements. But don’t take too many.

Track your sleep. But don’t get obsessed with your sleep score.

Cold plunge. But it may be bad for your hormones.

To me, wellness is personal.

The fact that my period arrived while I was doing a lot of contrast therapy does not necessarily mean contrast therapy gave me my period. Pregnancy and postpartum alone are enormous variables.

But I do think the more wellness information we consume, the easier it becomes to mistake information for instruction.

We hear that something is good for us, so we do it. Then we hear that it might be bad for us, so we stop. But along the way, we forget to ask ourselves the most basic question: How does this actually make me feel?

Wellness isn’t universal.

What makes one person feel incredible might make another person feel terrible. What works for me today might not work for me five years from now.

Wellness isn’t about finding the perfect set of rules to follow; it’s about listening to the experts while still remembering that we are all uniquely different.

So did cold plunging give me my period?

I have absolutely no idea.

But I know how I feel when I do it.

And I’m definitely going to keep going back.

I thought I was summer-proof.

I thought that even though I was working, summer meant operating under a lighter version of intensity or anxiety. I was wrong.

Last week, I found myself more stressed than I had been in a long time.

Half of my inbox is out of office. Most of our clients are away. No major crisis… And yet, I felt as though things were imploding and found myself questioning everything. Even, in my most stressed moments, whether I wanted to keep running my company.

Was it coming home? Was it work? Was I tired from traveling?

It’s August and even if I’m working, as I usually am, everything usually feels easier at this time of year. People are away. Emails can wait.

A couple of weeks ago, my dad sent me the article “The Algorithm Says My Nervous System Is ‘Dysregulated.’ Here’s Why I’m Skeptical.” from The Wall Street Journal.

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Everyone is talking about the nervous system. Regulate your nervous system. Calm your nervous system. Get out of fight-or-flight. Lower your cortisol.

I am clearly the target of this jargon. Give me the sauna, the cold plunge, the meditation, the breathwork.

But the article essentially calls bullshit on the idea that every moment of stress or anxiety is a sign of a “dysregulated” nervous system that needs to be fixed.

Stress is normal. Anxiety is normal. Feeling overwhelmed can be normal. Our bodies are supposed to respond to difficult or demanding situations.

And it’s not just our nervous systems. Another Wall Street Journal article recently called it the “happiness industrial complex”, a.k.a this growing obsession with optimizing how we feel.

We’ve gotten so good at fixing feelings that we’ve forgotten that sometimes the answer is simply to feel it.

Last night, I went to Dynamo for the first time in months. I thought it would help me get out of my head. The coach, Marine, said something during class that felt like the other half of this thought.

If it’s challenging, it’s interesting.

And if it’s not challenging, we can’t go further.

I spend a lot of time trying to make myself feel good. I have routines to help me sleep better, feel calmer, work better, recover faster. I meditate. I exercise. I go to the sauna. I have become pretty good at identifying what makes me feel like myself.

I want to build things. I want to grow my company. I want to go further. And, inevitably, some of that is going to be uncomfortable. Maybe wanting relief from the stress didn't mean I needed to change my life.

So the real question is, how I can get better at moving through those moments.

This week, that meant getting out of my head and back into my body.

I went to Dynamo. I went to a class at Jivamukti. I did contrast therapy. I got a massage.

I needed to move, to sweat, to breathe, to get out of my thoughts. Actions that helped this stress feel more manageable.

So, I guess my nervous system just needed a minute.

Even in August.

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At the time, Licia was working on her first CIAOMONDO 24-hour wellness experience, and I decided that I needed to go. So I booked tickets to Milan and later recounted the experience (along with some of my favorite places in the city):

Two years later, the Licia I sat down with for this podcast is in a very different place.

After an incredibly difficult year, she leans into a vulnerability I hadn’t seen when we first met. She talks openly about the end of her 16-year relationship, rebuilding her life and how her definition of wellness has evolved along with her.

Because wellness, as she describes it now, is about learning to recognize what you need right now. Including in her experience, eating cheese when she has needed comfort, even though she is a proud vegan. She wanted the freedom to understand what she needed and why.

The CIAOMONDO Wellness week is coming up, here is more information.

Enjoy our podcast and happy August 15th, more on that in my next Substack.

xx,

JJ

Already, three weeks in the States have come and gone. Today we fly back to Paris for the rest of the summer.

I don’t remember having a set definition of what I wanted to get out of this time. I just remember needing a break from my daily life in Paris. That being said, I knew I wanted to enjoy “vacation” and spend time with family and friends.

And in retrospect, it was successful in every way.

There was New York, where I was with my family but still very much working. There was Washington, D.C., where we went to visit family. And then there was Wildwood, our actual beach vacation (the one that was supposed to be the most relaxing of them all).

New York was never really going to be a vacation. It was also the end of calling it home for a while, which I talked about in my previous Substack.

The Social Medium

The city that never sleeps

As I wrap up my time here in New York City, as always, I will obviously share what I did and what I loved. But first…

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a month ago · 2 likes · JJ Chase

Now, looking back at this part of the trip, I’m actually really excited to experience a different version of NYC. While I have loved what I’ve called home in New York for the past ten years, I’ve realized more and more the guilt that comes with traveling there with my family and staying in our apartment. When I’m in NYC, I want to be out hustling, trying new things, seeing people. But when I’m out, I’m not with Jane or Ronan. It makes it much harder to be present.

D.C. was arguably (and technically) where I felt the most relaxed. That was the sweet spot.

D.C. wellness

The Four Seasons has a fantastic wellness offering. I was able to do contrast therapy literally every day because they have an infrared sauna and cold plunge, complimentary for hotel guests. Non-guests can book treatments as well, and they also offer IV drips and other wellness services.

I did a Mat Pilates class at THE MVMNT Society, which was fantastic. Highly recommended.

But my ultimate D.C. wellness recommendation is Pure Sweat + Float. I tried a magnesium float for the first time, which is essentially floating weightlessly in water filled with 1,000 lbs. of magnesium-rich Epsom salt. It helps with everything from stress and sleep to muscle recovery and deep relaxation, and I loved the experience. Afterward, I did an infrared sauna, which was arguably the nicest one I’ve ever been in (even nicer than the one at the Four Seasons). They give you fitness accessories if you want to move while you sweat, and there’s even Netflix with a TV you can actually hear from inside the sauna.

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These may sound like small details, but they aren’t small to me.

I like waking up and having somewhere I want to walk to. I like moving my body. I like having a plan, even if the plan is very small. Having access to the things that make me feel good actually gives me the space to relax.

After D.C., we went to Wildwood, where we spent a few nights at the beach. No meetings. Very little work I had to do. A hotel on the beach. Family. Nothing urgent.

This was supposed to be the real vacation.

And I found it the hardest. I didn’t feel present.

Working out meant buying a day pass at a gym that I had to drive to. The only viable coffee (which was actually really great) was walkable, but closed at 2 p.m. and earned me a lot of shade from my family for going there every single day.

I had the beach, a hotel and nowhere I needed to be, but that wasn’t what I needed.

This isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy Wildwood. I loved being with my family. I loved the ocean. But it made me realize that what looks like a vacation and what feels like a vacation to me aren’t necessarily the same thing.

I have always thought that I should be better at doing nothing. But maybe that’s just what I’ve been told. That if I could learn to completely switch off, lie by a pool for hours, not look at my phone, not work, not exercise, not think about what comes next, it would mean I had finally figured out how to relax.

For me, I’ve learned that that’s not actually the goal.

A Pilates class can be more restorative to me than four hours lying by a pool.

Walking around a city can make me feel calmer than sitting still.

Having somewhere I want to go in the morning can feel more freeing than having absolutely nowhere to be.

And getting a little bit of work done can sometimes allow me to be much more present for the rest of the day than forcing myself not to work while thinking about it anyway.

Saturday was the Lion’s Gate Portal, 8/8 (and also, 2+6=8). I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to call more of into my life for the rest of the year.

And I think this trip gave me a little more clarity.

It made me pay attention to what gives me energy and what takes it away. To the environments where I feel most like myself. To what I naturally gravitate toward. And, ultimately, to what makes me feel most present.

So if I’m setting any intention coming out of 8/8 and these three weeks away, it’s probably to do more of what makes me feel like myself.

Maybe that’s what I am calling vacation (for myself), too.

Enjoy the rest of your summer,

xx,

JJ

My relationship with bread really began when I moved to Paris, as I mention during our conversation. And it developed so intensely that, at one point, I became known as the “baguette girl.” even brought me a baguette bouquet to my wedding. I love bread. Truly. But that love is actually relatively new for me.

Before Paris, I pretty much never ate bread. It felt like the opposite of everything I thought food was supposed to be: nourishing, functional, even “healing.” I saw bread as worthless and useless. Empty calories. It was something I totally avoided.

And then I moved to France.

Bread was no longer an afterthought. It was a ritual. I even remembering crying once when my favorite boulangerie was out of bread on the way home. Bread with butter for breakfast. A croissant in the morning on the weekend from some of my favorite boulangeries.

Knead Love almost brings those two sides of me together.

Sarah makes the kind of bread and baked goods you genuinely crave, but she also thinks deeply about what goes into them. Knead Love is gluten-free, but it isn’t supposed to be a consolation prize for people who can’t eat “real” bread. Beautiful ingredients, fermentation, texture, flavor and an approach to baking that is rooted in nourishment.

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In many ways this is where my relationship with food has landed too.

In our conversation, Sarah and I talk about how Knead Love came to be and so much more.

Enjoy,

xx

Jessie

I first discovered Soeuraya during COVID, when I started live-streaming The Class. I was truly drawn to her energy and warmth, but I knew very little about who she was beyond what I saw on the mat.

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As she shares in our conversation, Soeuraya never set out to become an instructor. She had her heart set on being a performer. She went to high school with Alicia Keys and Britney Spears. And at this time, her dream was entirely in reach.

While my dream looked very different, I could fully relate. Mine being to become a fashion executive, a CEO, to be exact. I was set on creating my own major at NYU Gallatin and working my way into the C-suite of a respected fashion house.

But none of that happened. I didn’t get into Gallatin, and despite giving the fashion industry everything I had, I ultimately left it in 2017.

That being said, we both ended up exactly where we were meant to be. Neither of us followed the path we had so carefully planned, but in letting go of those dreams, we still found a sense of peace.

Soeuraya’s story is raw, honest, and heartfelt. I absolutely loved recording this episode, and I can’t wait for you to discover it.

Enjoy,

xx,

JJ

As I wrap up my time here in New York City, as always, I will obviously share what I did and what I loved. But first…

This visit has been especially intense. As I mentioned in my last article, it's been filled with a lot of emotion. I am not someone who notices strong emotions on the surface. I generally feel fine, but my emotions always end up revealing themselves in other ways. This time, I have been completely unable to sleep. No matter the amount of physical activity (or lack thereof), contrast therapy, or early bedtimes, I find myself waking up in the wee hours. I don’t think it has anything to do with sleep score anxiety (lol, I got an Oura Ring). I really just can’t seem to rest. I’m exhausted in the evening, and whether I eat heavily or lightly, drink wine or not, it’s still the same.

Maybe it’s because this city has always represented possibility for me. Maybe it’s because this visit carries more emotion than visits have before. Or maybe it’s simply that I’m turning a page before I’m ready to admit it to myself.

Either way, insomnia aside, New York always reminds me why I keep coming back. Every visit teaches me something new about myself. And while Paris is my home base, these trips to New York are just as important to me.

So before I leave, I wanted to share some of the things that made this trip so special, from the products I actually bought, to the wellness spots, workouts, teachers, and more.

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What I’m bringing back to Paris

I aalways get inspired when I'm in town, and every trip inevitably ends with a few new additions to bring back to Paris. It's one of my favorite ways to keep up with what's happening in the city's wellness world (while satisfying my own curiosity).

There are a few products that I’ve already mentioned, namely the Adipeau Strength Gel and Volume Cream, which deserve a shoutout as their results are insane.

I’m especially excited to finally try Sofie Pavitt’s Jelly Moisturizer (it apparently reduces redness) and the Cleansing Pads (they have it at Moss in the locker rooms, read why that matters below). I also wanted to finally try Koba’s Foot Cream, which is now a part of my evening routine after walking around the dirty city.

Yesterday I caved and bought the Vacation SPF Lip Balm (the adorable keychain was on sale at Target, so I attached it to my bag). Lastly, I can’t wait to try the HigherDOSE Castor Oil Pack.

The NYC Wellness Edit

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For the past year, each time I have come back to New York has marked a new milestone. Last summer, it was being here in my second trimester of pregnancy. In the fall, it was my last time coming to New York before becoming a mom. In April, it was my first time coming back as a mom (with my daughter).

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This time, the milestone feels less obvious, but in many ways it is more significant: it is the last time, for at least a year, that I will come to New York with a home base.

My mom is renting her apartment for the next year, which means the place I call home on the Upper East Side will no longer be an option the next time I come to town. And while this is, objectively, just a logistical change, it has made me think about my relationship with New York in a completely different way. Yes, I can still go back to Jersey, my roots, but it’s just not the same.

Part of me wonders if this is a sign that pursuing business stateside should take a pause. Maybe I should fully own running a Paris-based agency. And then there is the other part of me (the much louder part), that makes that New York ambition even that much more important. It has me thinking. Will losing the ease of coming here make me more intentional about it?

Until now, New York has been a hybrid of home and work. I come here for meetings, opportunities, clients, podcasts, ideas, but I also come “home.”

But, maybe not having a home here will change that.

Maybe New York becomes somewhere with a distinct purpose.

Working girl mode, in its purest form.

And this trip, I’ve found myself leaning into that version of myself, including all the little things that come with her. So, in the spirit of Working Girl mode, these are the things that have really been keeping me going:

Adipeau Strength Gel & Volume Cream: These products are truly crack. I’m talking real, visible results. We got into the why behind it all during our live, and I have a podcast with founder Ivan Galanin coming very soon.

The Social Medium

Why the skincare industry may be focusing on the wrong layer with Ivan Ganin, founder of Adipeau

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…

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a month ago · 2 likes · JJ Chase

Crown Affair Leave-In Conditioner: This has been patiently waiting for me on the Upper East Side since my last trip. It is pure magic. Even better when using their hair towel before.

Coelho Beauty everything: I bring all of my Coelho Beauty products with me when I travel. I just can’t resist. My faves for this season are the Serum Huileperfect for dry summer hair, and the Brume Memoire, which tames flyaways in NYC humidity.

Le Prunier Mask & Plum Oil: I left these here after my podcast with Allison, knowing I’d get to properly discover them on this trip, and I am in love. I’ve been using the mask almost daily and the oil in the morning for extra hydration.

The Social Medium

A family affair with Allison Taylor

In honor of French Mother’s Day (which is today for those of you who don’t know), I am thrilled to share this podcast with Allison Taylor, co-founder of Le Prunier. In honor of Mother’s Day because Le Prunier is a family business, behind the brand are three sisters, and behind the plums is an age-old family farm…

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3 months ago · JJ Chase

Barrière Brains & Beauty + Travel Well patches: Brains & Beauty has become particularly timely after discovering through my Lucis blood test that I’m anemic (more on that soon), and Travel Well is pretty self-explanatory for my life lately. (P.s. Founder Cleo and I went to the same college and grew up in the same town…what?)

The Social Medium

On letting life feel good with Cleo Davis-Urman

I have been thinking a lot about feeling good these past couple of months. As I have stepped into this new chapter of my life, becoming a mom, a role that honestly suits me so naturally and brings me a kind of happiness I had never experienced before, I keep reflecting on this idea that maybe life is actually allowed to feel good. Maybe we are allowed t…

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4 months ago · 1 like · JJ Chase

Tronque Scar Concentrate: Still very actively trying to get rid of my scars and sooo amazed by the results I’ve been seeing with this oil. Obviously, it came to New York with me :)

Holidermie SPF Stick: In my bag at all times this season. Easy, practical, and one of those things I actually remember to reapply because it’s always right there.

And all of the above are living in the cutest ACTIVIST pouch.

Because beyond the products, routines, and little things that keep me going, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the difference between maintaining a life and actively choosing one.

For all of my adult life, New York has never required a decision. I grew up here (or fine, in Jersey). My mom was here. I went to college here. I have friends here. And so even after building my entire adult life in Paris, New York remained a parallel existence that I could step back into whenever I wanted.

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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.

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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

My relationship with skincare and wellness are probably the things that have changed the most since becoming a mother.

Believe it or not, I wasn’t always the girl who cared about beauty products. In fact, I don’t remember owning a proper skincare routine until Mélanie () came out with Holidermie. Around the same time, I had just started working for Lancôme, and overnight my professional world shifted from fashion to beauty. This, inevitably, changed the way I thought about what I was putting on my own face.

I've written before about how my definition of wellness has evolved, most recently in my newsletter accompanying my conversation with Janine Knizia where we went back to 2022. But I started formally exploring wellness in 2018 when I brought back my high school blog called Word by Jessie.

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This morning I tried recovering the email address tied to my very first wellness project. Buried inside was a description of myself as the “Parisian well-being guru.”

LOL.

“Guru” may have been a stretch, but seeing those words reminded me that this love for wellness didn’t happen overnight. It’s simply changed shape over the years.

This was around the time launched my first podcast, Savoir Vivre by JJ. Back then, to me, wellness meant eating well, moving my body, and finding balance.

In my eyes, wellness does not have a fixed definition. It evolves alongside us. What we need in our twenties isn’t necessarily what we need in our thirties, and becoming a mother has reshaped that definition once again.

Before Jane, my version of wellness was trying every new workout class in Paris.

Today, my wellness looks different.

Instead of bouncing from studio to studio, I’ve joined a gym. I actually love curating the selection of skincare that goes inside my gym bag. This is part of my new wellness.

More than anything, I’ve started to genuinely enjoy the ritual of skincare. Morning and evening, those few minutes have been about creating moments that truly bookend my day. This means I am that more conscious of what I use as the moment is so important to me.

Enter adipeau.

How I discovered adipeau is another story, but it is one of the rare brands that is not only in my gym bag but even in my handbag. You’ll find out more of why that is this Wednesday at 6:00 PM CET, when I’ll be sitting down with founder Ivan Galanin for a live conversation. We’ll be discussing the skincare industry, how it’s evolved over the years, the science and philosophy behind building products that challenge conventional thinking and probably a lot more!

I’ll also do my best to broadcast the conversation here on Substack so you can join us but otherwise check Instagram where we will definitely be live. I think you’ll really enjoy this conversation.

xx,
JJ

Last week I had the pleasure of spending a few days en famille just outside of Strasbourg. I did something I had never done before: stay all together in one beautiful home. Our home for the week was a very homey chalet managed by Harmony Homes in Saint-Amarin. The home itself was the backdrop to most of our days. Mornings started with coffee overlooking the mountains with my mom before everyone slowly woke up.

The kids spent hours in and out of the heated indoor pool while I alternated between the infrared and traditional saunas, two things that I love so much.

With seven bedrooms, there was enough space for everyone to have their own rhythm, while still feeling cozy enough that the moments we came together like long meals, coffee breaks, evenings on the terrace felt all the more special.

When I left Paris, I felt completely burned out. The trip couldn’t have come at a better time. I wanted to give myself permission to take a break, or at least whatever version of a break was possible (entrepreneurs iykyk).

So I told myself that I wasn’t going to work too much. I packed less than I normally would, closed my laptop for most of the afternoon, and genuinely tried to disconnect.

I wouldn’t describe it as difficult.

It was more like something was missing.

I kept waiting for this feeling of relief everyone talks about.

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But instead, I felt restless.

Not anxious.

Not guilty.

Just... not entirely myself.

So I found myself thinking: maybe my goal was never to work less. Maybe my goal is to work more on the things that energize me.

Perhaps my happiest state is creating. Because that’s simply where I feel most like myself.

So, in irony, it took a few days in this home, designed for slowing down, to realize that I don’t actually want to escape work. I want to keep building a life where the work I do feels aligned. So aligned that I don’t crave a break from it.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that this is what balance looks like for me.

Work or no work, I did have to pack light. As many of us are getting ready to escape Paris for the summer, I thought I’d share a few of the essentials that came along for the ride. Whether I am off, working or not.

1. Adpieau Strength Gel & Volume Cream: I love to use these in between my morning and evening treatment. I showered more than once a day as I was sauna-ing and this is when I made time for this routine. Their stuff really works. More on this tomorrow.

2. Tronque Scar Concentrate: I had a bit more time to massage this into my skin on my vacation.

3. Sentara Holistic Gua Sha Peau d’Ange to release tension. Truly the best Gua Sha there ever was.

4. Higher Dose Magnesium Spray (for sauna)

5. La Bonne Brosse Mini is always in my bag.

Have a great weekend,

xx,
JJ

We couldn’t help but to talk about the evolution of the wellness and clean beauty space over the past 10 years in general, but more specifically here in Paris. I personally talked about my take on this a couple of weeks ago on here:

But clearly I am not the only one that feels this way. We thought back to the podcast we recorded together in 2020, and how discussed how much things have changed generally, but not for us. In 2020, we spoke about adaptogens, rituals, burnout, mindfulness, and building a life around feeling well and not just looking successful. I Those conversations felt ahead of their time. But today, they are common language.

When Janine and I recorded our first podcast in 2020, we weren’t talking about wellness because it was “fashionable.” Don’t get us wrong, we love fashion (I often copy Janine’s shoes like this pair and this pair), but for us these are two separate things. Here, we were talking about it because it still felt like a genuine shift in how we wanted to live. Back then Janine had to try and convince retailers to try clean beauty. You'll hear about this firsthand in the episode.

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Six years later, every brand has a wellness campaign. Every hotel has a recovery offering. Every beauty product promises longevity. Every café has adaptogens. Every founder is building a community.

I’m thrilled to see people taking their health more seriously. Absolutely. But I can’t help but wonder if wellness has simply become marketing.

If everything is wellness...

Is anything?

Because for us, breakfast wasn’t about latest protocol or the newest supplement. It was just another catchup. Inevitably exchanging new adresses in New York or LA for our upcoming travels, but it could have (and would have) been the same conversation 6 years ago.

Listening back to our conversation from 2020, I realized something: while the industry has changed dramatically, the ideas we discussed haven’t.

Maybe that’s because true wellness was never meant to be a trend. It’s simply the way we choose to live. Enjoy the podcast and please tell us your thoughts.

xx,

JJ

When I started this Substack two and a half years ago, the platform was still largely unknown in France. I remember talking about it to anyone and everyone after I decided to make my own. Most were skeptical.

Fast forward to today, and the landscape has changed dramatically. More and more people are launching newsletters, publications are becoming real businesses, and founders are realizing that owning a direct relationship with their audience is more valuable than ever.

Over the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and learn from some of the people behind the platform. Those conversations, combined with building my own publication, have shaped the way I think about Substack, editorial strategy and sustainable growth.

But I know not everyone has had that opportunity.

I know many of you are asking yourselves the same questions:

What should I write about?

How often should I publish?

How do I grow?

How do I make this sustainable?

Getting started and keeping the momentum are some of the hardest parts, even when there is a genuine desire to write. Same for building a publication that people genuinely look forward to reading and that grows month after month.

Good news. We are here to help.

We’ll help you build your publication from the ground up, whether you’re starting from scratch or looking to take an existing newsletter to the next level.

We don't think of Substack as a newsletter. We think of it as a personal media brand.

Our approach is built around three stages:

1. Positioning: defining your niche, audience, editorial angle and content pillars.

2. Launch: setting up your publication, creating recurring content formats, an editorial calendar and a growth strategy.

Growth: refining your editorial strategy, optimizing discovery, building your community and analyzing performance over time.

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If you’d like to learn more, reply to this email or send me a DM. I’ll happily share more about the offer. You can also get in touch with the team at substack@thesocialmedium.com.

Antik Batik and I were born the very same year, in 1992.

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When Gabriella started, the fashion landscape looked quite a bit different, although Antik Batik has not. More than three decades later, Gabriella still travels to India two or three times a year, usually for an entire month to oversee the production of each collection. She likewise works closely with artisans in Peru, Scotland, and Italy, depending on the craft each collection calls for.

But for Gabriella, these artisans are not simply suppliers. She has worked with them for decades, they have become family to her. The same can be said for her team.

Admittedly so, the American idea of being a “big boss” never resonated with her. Rather than distancing herself as the company grew, she has remained involved in every step of the process. Her role today isn’t all that different from when she first started.

To me, this is why Antik Batik has stood the test of time. In an industry that is constantly chasing the next trend, it is so reassuring when a brand knows exactly who they are. You can feel that confidence in every collection. The pieces always feel effortless.

Maybe that’s another reason the brand that transcends generations. I could share my favorite pieces with my mom, my mother in law, my younger cousins and even my grandmother. They feel like each of us, without trying to be for everyone.

With summer holidays just around the corner, these are my Antik Batik wishlist for my travels and also just hanging in Paris.

Happy (almost) vacances,

xx,

JJ

Most of the time, wellness doesn’t start with a green juice or a morning routine. It finds us.

At least, that was the case for both Gabrielle and me.

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When Gabrielle shared the story of how she left her fast-paced, cortisol-fuelled career as a fashion journalist in New York City to dedicate her life to Activist Manuka and raising her family in Topanga Canyon, one thing became clear: this kind of transformation rarely happens on its own.

For Gabrielle, wellness arrived in the form of Lyme disease. It forced her to slow down, return home to New Zealand, heal her gut, and ultimately build a company around one of the country’s oldest natural remedies.

As we spoke, I couldn’t help but relate. My own path into wellness began in a similar way.

When I was fourteen, I became incredibly ill. Almost everything I ate made me sick, yet for over a year no one could tell me why. We tried elimination diets, specialists, and countless tests, hoping that one of them would finally provide an answer.

Eventually, almost as a last resort, doctors examined my gallbladder and discovered that it had stopped functioning altogether.

In retrospect, the diagnosis itself wasn’t the worst outcome. We can absolutely live without a gallbladder, and after more than a year of uncertainty, I finally had an answer. But that year changed me forever. Looking back, it had a far greater impact on my life than I could have imagined.

Before I got sick, I wasn’t particularly serious about school. Wellness, or anything health-related, was far from a priority. But after a year of feeling unwell, watching my body fail me without understanding why, I grew up.

I started paying close attention to what I was putting into my body. Maybe too much attention at the time, but that’s a story for another day…

Since then, I’ve interviewed dozens of founders in the wellness space, and I’ve noticed the same pattern over and over again. Most of them didn’t start with a business idea; they started with a problem they desperately wanted to solve.

Looking back, I don’t think either Gabrielle or I were searching for wellness. We were simply searching for answers.

Wellness was what we found along the way.

Have a lovely Sunday evening,

xx,
JJ

It comes as no surprise that Gabrielle and I have more than a few things in common. Our conversation quickly moved beyond Mānuka honey itself and into the life experiences that shaped us, those events that alter your perspective forever and, in hindsight, feel like they happened for a reason.

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Gabrielle created Activist Mānuka after suffering from Lyme disease. Following a year of antibiotics, she returned to her homeland in New Zealand to heal her gut and rebuild her health. Turning to Mānuka honey was instinctive. In New Zealand, it’s the remedy for just about everything. Her personal search for healing eventually became her mission: to share one of Mānuka Honey with the rest of the world.

While her daily wellness rituals include the Activist Mānuka Immune Elixir and the Mānuka Honey Mask, what stayed with me most wasn’t what she uses, but how she defines wellness itself.

Before I could even ask, Gabrielle told me that for her, wellness isn’t about green juices or yoga classes. It’s about being happy.

I couldn’t agree more.

For so many of us, wellness has become an aesthetic: a uniform of a morning routine and a supplement cabinet. We so often mistake wellness for checking enough boxes to somehow guarantee fulfillment.

We do not all have to have the same definition of what wellness is, but for me it is finding a balance, like everything in life. And mostly, it is about doing things that brin us joy and happiness.

I must say that a spoon of Mānuka Honey, the Immune Elixir and the Mānuka Honey Mask do check those boxes for me.

Have a lovely weekend,

Jessie

My main worry, before Jane was born, or even before she was a thought, wasn’t labor, the lack of sleep, or even the responsibility of raising a child. It was losing the Jessie I had come to be.

More specifically, it was losing the version of myself that had built a business and found so much purpose through work. My career wasn’t only I did, but it had become part of my identity. I often worried that motherhood would threaten that, which sometimes felt terrifying.

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As I got older, I felt an increasingly intense tug-of-war. I didn’t want to wait too long to have children, but I also didn’t want to lose myself in this new role. I was sincerely afraid that becoming a mother would fundamentally change me and that I would become less ambitious and less determined in my career.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I got my first inkling of this thanks to Anna Numerology. Definitely listen to our podcast if you’d like to understand more about what she does, but during our first meeting, I got the low down on own numbers. I was eight months pregnant, almost at the finish line. While there was no turning back, I was still eager to understand how a baby entering my life might ultimately change me.

Anna specializes in career-related numerology, so I knew she was the right person to ask.

To my surprise, she told me that having a baby would be the single greatest accelerator of my career.

Deep down, I had a feeling that motherhood wasn’t going to pull me away from myself. I just didn’t realize yet that it was going to bring me closer.

Obviously every experience, every child, birth, family and partnership is different. My husband has been such a great support system. So in many ways I am sure that my experience has been so great thanks to him. So also, Happy Father’s Day love!

Motherhood didn’t make me consume more. In many ways, it made me consume less. With less time and less energy, I became incredibly selective about what I brought into my life.

There are only a handful of things I use almost every single day, and they’ve become small anchors in my routine. We have to put ourself in the best conditions to be a super mama!

My super mama guide

If you read my Substack regularly, you know some of these, but I mention them time and time again because they are truly staples in my routine.

1. Crown Affair, “The Towel”, the best way to air-dry hair, especially with less time.

2. Tronque, The Scar Concentrate, I am so clumsy and have a zillion scars and this serum is magical. Will report back with results.

3. Ceremonia, Papaya Scalp Scrub, to get out the nit and grit once a week.

4. La Bonne Brosse, Pre-Shampoo Mask, self-explanatory and very good.

5. Neuraé, Energie The Emotion Booster Fragrance, for when you need that extra little boost.

6. Neuraé, Harmonie The Sleeping Mask, when you don’t have time to do a mask during the day.

7. Izipizi, Screen Glasses & Sleeping Glasses, to maximize concentration and sleep.

8. Higher Dose, Serotonin Soak, I don’t have a bathtub, but when I have access to one…

9. Veracity, Metabolism Ignite, to keep energy and metabolism on track.

10. Barrière, Energy Boost Patches, basically the same idea, but different in a patented B12 patch version.

11. Lemme, Colostrum Creamer, your coffee just got upgraded.

Enjoy your Sunday,

JJ

What makes my meeting with Vinida so special is the many paths that have led us to one another. One of my dearest friends, Fleur, is her childhood friend. has been consulting with her for years. One of the very first podcast interviews I was most excited to record was with Anne Bianchi, the founder of Satnam.

Il n’y a pas d’hasard. While working on interviews for the launch of a Canadian retailer, Living Beauty, I had the opportunity to meet the teams at Biologique Recherche and even pay a visit to Dr. Allouche’s apartment, a place filled with memories for Vinida, who spent so much time there throughout her life and career.

The more we spoke, the more I realized how many invisible threads connected our stories long before we ever met. An encounters that was meant to happen.

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But our conversation revolved primarily around self-acceptance, even in our darkness. In Vinida’s eyes, the ultimate secret in life is to face yourself. To name your fears, your insecurities, your anger, your ambitions, your contradictions. To stop projecting them onto others. To stop trying to outrun them. And to understand that balance does not come from eliminating one side of ourselves, but from learning to live with both.

What I loved from this perspective is that every encounter can be a lesson. Whether it is those who bring us joy, or those who challenge us. The conversations that feel effortless, or uncomfortable. They can all teach us if we are willing to pay attention.

There are people that arrive to comfort us, others to challenge us, but all of them are here to help us understand ourselves better.

Thank you, Vinida, for this conversation.

Jane will be six months old this week, and I have been dying to share all of the products and discoveries that have made these first months of motherhood so special.

told me before I became a mother that postpartum was the happiest period of her life. Everyone’s journey is different, but for me, these past six months have felt incredibly fulfilling. So much joy, so much learning, and such a profound sense of purpose.

I won’t share too much just yet because I have an interview coming out in September as part of a project I’ve had the pleasure of working on in this space. But in the meantime, I’m thrilled to share some of mine and Jane’s favorite things.

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Le Bain de Sonia

I cannot recommend this experience enough.

I was lucky enough to have two Sonia baths: one at my obstetrician’s office (OVA Fertility Clinic with MC Puericultrice) and one at home. Both were incredibly special, and which you prefer is entirely personal.

There is something incredibly moving about watching your newborn relax into the water, releasing the tension of birth and reconnecting with a familiar environment. It’s a beautiful experience for both baby and parent, and one of the memories from those early days that I will treasure forever.

Diapers

I had heard far too many stories about questionable ingredients and chemicals used in diapers, so I wanted something that felt like a safe choice from day one.

We’ve loved Les Petits Culottés. The subscription makes life easy, the diapers are made in France, and most importantly, they’ve worked beautifully for us.

You can use code JJCHASECULOTTEE for 10% off.

Feeding

There have been so many recalls in recent years that I wanted to choose brands I genuinely trusted.

For formula, we’ve loved Les Petits Culottés. For purées and introducing solids, we’ve been using Popote and have been very happy with it as well.

If you’re trying Popote, you can use JESSIEPOPOTE10 for 10% off.

Strollers

I have two strong opinions here.

For everyday life, the YOYO really is hard to beat. It’s compact, lightweight, easy to travel with, and perfect for city living.

For the newborn stage, however, we absolutely loved our Cybex Priam. It feels incredibly comfortable and luxurious, especially during those first few months when babies spend so much time in their stroller.

If you’re looking for something slightly more compact, the Cybex Mios is also a great option.

Playpen

If I could recommend just one baby product, it might honestly be Lovevery.

Jane has been obsessed with the Play Gym from the very beginning. It has grown with her through each stage, and it is one of the few baby products that I find myself recommending to almost everyone.

Worth every penny

• Baby Brezza

  Do not underestimate the magic of pressing a button and having a warm bottle ready at 4 a.m.

  When you’re exhausted and functioning on very little sleep, removing even one step from the process feels life-changing. This is one of those products that sounds unnecessary until you have it. Then you can’t imagine life without it.

• Arti Poppe Carrier

  Sometimes you want the stroller. Sometimes you want your baby as close to you as possible.

  I know Artipoppe can feel overhyped on social media, but in my opinion, it absolutely lives up to the reputation. We have used ours constantly. It is comfortable, beautiful, and one of the easiest ways to move through the world while keeping your baby close.

• Minicoton x CIBYN Diaper bags

  I have the basket and I love it, but I would absolutely invest in the ICON as well. They’re practical, beautifully designed, and somehow manage to make carrying diapers, wipes, bottles, and an endless number of baby essentials feel chic.

  I do love the Ella Rose baby accessories too.

The Best Money I Spent on Postpartum

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