Meet the Under-the-Radar Facialist Behind Michelle Obama’s Radiant Glow

You’d be forgiven if the facialist Jennifer Brodeur’s name doesn’t trip off the tongue; discretion is a virtue when Michelle Obama counts among your loyalists. A big-picture thinker with an understated mien, Brodeur imbues her treatments with a holistic philosophy informed by her celiac disease, which highlights the close link between diet and complexion.

But the bedrock of her method is high-tech: In 2003, she created a then novel, professional-use device, called Max+, that delivers a “multivitamin of LED”—six wavelengths of colored light, which are, by turns, shown to target acne bacteria (blue) and minimize inflammation (near-infrared). “It’s not just instant gratification,” she says of the cumulative benefits. “Your skin gets better and better.”

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Max+ is now in spas and doctors’ offices in more than 40 countries, not to mention in Oprah Winfrey’s homes. An early champion since meeting the device and its maker at a Beverly Hills clinic, the media mogul gifted Obama a week of sessions for her fiftieth birthday and introduced the director Ava DuVernay as well. “The more you feel confident in your own skin, the better your quality of life, in my opinion,” DuVernay explains of her “tune-ups” with Brodeur.

One of those will be harder to come by this winter as the 45-year-old facialist preps Obama for her book tour and sees to such far-flung clients as Sophie Grégoire Trudeau. Luckily, Brodeur is keen on democratizing her approach. In addition to offering master classes at The Wing and Soho House, she has just launched Lumi, her skin-care line featuring antioxidant-rich lingonberry-seed oil and brightening vitamin C. Fragrance-free, the plant-based cream and serum are ultra-gentle—and good for all ages, Obama shares. “My girls swear by her products, too.”

 

 

Credit:  Vogue

 

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