Look at these two. Aren’t they gorgeous? You actually might be using their products: they’re Mette and Eric Picaut of M Picaut skincare. The couple met at the height of their international modeling careers in the 1990s, and they still model — this was taken just before the pandemic. (FYI, they’re in their mid-fifties. Obviously, you need to try their products if you haven’t already.)

We love this Swedish skincare line for the way it blends botanicals with hard-hitting peptides into elegant, beautifully-textured formulas. Mette created the brand and ran the business on her own for some time, but after winning several prestigious beauty awards, the company grew to a size that was large enough to require more managers — so Eric is now helping out, making it a model family business.

Dara’s family visited theirs in Sweden la few summers ago, and in addition to being gorgeous, the Picauts are as lovely as can be. Mette even arranged a horseback ride for the kids: one of her first memories was being on a horse, and she thought it would be delightful if their horseback ride could help Dara’s children remember their trip to Sweden forever. What Dara also remembered was how healthfully Mette ate, so this week, we thought we’d share how Mette keeps her skin, body, and spirit healthy through the long Swedish winter. Read on for Mette’s secrets.

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Ayla: What are your two must-have skincare products for wintertime?

METTE: My two favorite products for the harsh Swedish winter are the Calming Cocoon Cream and the Hydra Lagoon Overnight Mask.

When it’s freezing cold outside, I apply a thin layer of Calming Cocoon Cream on top of my usual moisturizing cream to protect my skin from the elements.

If I need to apply makeup in the morning, Hydra Lagoon Overnight Mask is an amazing complement. Applied underneath as a rich moisturizer, it boosts moisture levels dramatically with hyaluronic acids combined with pentavitin, a moisture binding complex that works for 72 hours. It also gives the skin a treatment of niacinamide, which I find excellent for lightening dark spots, minimizing pores, and overall, protecting healthy skin cells from damage and keeping the skin smooth.

This mask is so nice, either during daytime as a boost or at nighttime so that you wake up with really soft skin. It won a prestigious award when it was launched: "Best Swedish Product" in all categories in the Swedish Beauty Awards. 

Ayla: You are diligent about caring for your skin and your health from the inside out, too. What are some of the daily health and wellness practices you swear by? 

METTE: I start every morning with a plain cup of hot water, something I learned from a doctor in Chinese medicine. It’s so easy and it’s a great help for digestion. It prepares the stomach for the day, giving it a very kind start.

I always make my own blueberry smoothie every morning, too, adding algae from dulse, some spirulina, some freshly squeezed orange...but before that I make sure that there is something warm in my stomach. So I make gluten-free oatmeal with homemade almond milk, adding some mango (great for digestion) or other fruit and berries. I avoid white sugar, wheat, dairy, and red meat, and I try to have as much fresh vegetarian food and freshly squeezed juice as I can.

Ayla: Do you take any supplements? 

METTE: In the morning, I take some drops of B12 that I actually import from the US (the brand is called Global Healing Center — excellent stuff). I then take some supplements like Vitamin D (important for us here in the north, where the sun is less frequent in the winter), a mix of B vitamins, turmeric (for its anti-inflammatory effect), zinc for the immune system, and magnesium before I go to bed. If I am feeling tired, I use a little extra Q10.

Ayla: Your winter is very long and very dark — compared to ours in California, anyway. Do you have any other wellness practices to keep you healthy through those months? 

METTE: I love winter and I like to keep myself busy outside, so we just bought a pony for me and my daughter. She is white (not the most practical color) and has a lot of energy and character — though she’s not 10% as friendly as "Samurai," the pony that your kids were riding here, Dara :) .  Anyway, that keeps me away from work, which is great, since I tend to work too much.

During some periods of time, I train with qigong, but unfortunately it goes a little up and down depending on my schedule. As long as my main focus is healthy food and outdoor activities, then I am happy. You can't always do everything perfectly, so I think the main thing is to be kind to yourself.

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Try any one of M Picaut's creations and you’ll see why this perfectly beautiful, eco-friendly, non-toxic, and stealthily effective line has won so many awards all over Europe — and why we just had to be the first US retailer to have it on our shelves. Shop M Picaut here.

Any topic discussed in this article is not intended as medical advice. If you have a medical concern, please check with your doctor.