Meet Kenza Keller, the woman reinventing maternity care

My name is Kenza and I'm the founder of Talm, a skincare brand dedicated to helping pregnant women and mums. I live in Paris, I have two little girls and I'm passionate about the world of skincare, beauty and well-being... Needless to say, I'm also a very (very) loyal Oh My Cream customer. 

When I became pregnant with my first daughter, I realised that it was particularly difficult to find products that were comforting during pregnancy. I spent an extreme amount of time trying to decipher the ingredients, to find out what I was allowed to use and at what stage of my pregnancy. I realised the need to develop reassuring and healthy products, from the first day of pregnancy to postpartum and even during breastfeeding. 

I trained in perinatal massage after leaving my job as Marketing Director in the luxury goods industry. The world of maternity was a revelation for me, and I wanted to offer a total experience: skincare products used within innovative massage protocols that are truly adapted to the needs of expectant and new mothers - this has really infused my vision of entrepreneurship, and I could talk about it for hours!

It was a real challenge to formulate the first three Talm products. I wanted everything at once: safety from the first day of pregnancy, effectiveness to accompany all the upheavals undergone by the body, but also an eco-responsible dimension and the notion of sensoriality. So to have products that make you feel good about yourself, that smell good and allow you to have a life by penetrating quickly without interfering with your daily life as a woman. 

For the body:

Exfoliating the body is something you don't necessarily think about doing - I'm of Moroccan origin and it's a cultural thing where I come from! If you can, take a trip to a hammam not far from where you live - I love the Hammam Medina Center in Paris, for example, which is very clean and welcoming. You can treat yourself to a body scrub with black soap and the steam bath is scented with mint essential oils, which is pleasant - (but avoid if you're pregnant). 

At home, it's easy: opt for a fine-grain scrub or an exfoliating glove, perfect for getting rid of dead skin and refining your skin texture. This ritual is ideal for optimising the effectiveness of your body care products, which should be applied after a shower. I recommend Talm Mega Oil, which I use every day (although I'm neither pregnant nor post-partum): my little secret is to apply the treatment oil when my skin is still slightly damp, which creates a nourishing emulsion that's extremely pleasant and easy to massage in.  

My new JOMO routine or the ‘joy of missing out’! I'm trying to fit in this little ‘unplugged’ routine of total disconnection a few times a week. I've completely lost touch with the latest TV series to watch and no longer know the latest places to go dancing, so I'm replacing binge-watching and socialising with a little routine that's not very energetic!  

In clear: 

• In bed by 9pm (I know it’s quite early)

• No more screen time and scrolling on the phone passed this bed time (it’s a pure joy to slip into clean sheets and comfortable pyjamas, I have time to read and I’ve even invested  in a small reading lamp… Small pleasures!)

• Sleep 8 to 9 hours to recharge 

• Becoming addicted to infusions (lately I adore Dijo’s one) 

After a few months of this routine, I feel calmer, sleep better, my PMS has improved significantly and, above all, I feel like I've really disconnected, I'm able to stand back and no longer have to endure the constant notifications and tiredness. 

Hydration is the new meditation! Have you ever thought of your hydration ritual as a moment of meditation? Yes. I've never succeeded in meditating, despite all my efforts and several attempts, albeit supported by persevering and talented women like Eugénie Lambert Buckstein (editor's note: founder of Bloom, a meditation studio based in Paris), but what I finally realised was that my little moment of mind/body connection already existed, and that's the 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes in the evening that I devote to religiously applying my mists, serums and other ‘magic’ creams, as my daughters would say. Thinking about everything, thinking about nothing, but above all massaging my skin, feeling the roughness, the relief, the passing of time, cuddling it without wanting to tame it.