Launch price · $29.99 instead of $39.99 · ends in —

Le Carnet d'Hélène

Everything my grandmother knew about looking beautiful. Written down at last.

The simple French gestures for makeup, hair and skin after 50. Exact amounts, step by step, and what to do if it goes wrong. No new products to buy.

Hélène sitting at her vanity table, smiling at the camera
"Sit with me for one minute, ma chérie. I will show you what is inside."
Get my copy now See what's inside first

$29.99 today · one payment · 7-day money-back guarantee

How it works

Three steps. About one minute.

If you can open an email, you can open this book. I will walk you through it.

  1. You pay onceWith your card, on a secure page. It takes about a minute.
  2. The book opensAbout 30 seconds later, your Carnet opens on your screen. On your phone, tablet or computer.
  3. A copy waits in your emailWe also send it to your email, so you can open it again whenever you like.

Nothing is shipped. No account to make. No password to remember.

The honest math

What the beauty aisle costs you, and what it doesn't need to.

Here is a typical year at the beauty counter, next to the way Mamie Odette did it. These are example prices. Look at your own bathroom shelf and do the sum.

The beauty-counter way

  • A department store foundation$60
  • A primer, so it goes on smoothly$40
  • A setting spray, so it stays$30
  • An eye cream$55
  • A new "miracle" serum, twice a year$150
  • One year$335

Hélène's way

  • A good drugstore foundation$12
  • The moisturizer you already own$0
  • A velvet powder puff$3
  • Your two warm hands$0
  • Le Carnet d'Hélène$29.99
  • One year$44.99

Skip one primer, and the book has paid for itself.

Look inside

Real pages from the Carnet

Every technique is written the same way: what you need, the steps with exact amounts, and what to do if it went wrong.

Chapter 1 · The face must be ready

The two-minute wait

You need: the moisturizer you already own. A cup of coffee.

  1. Press a little moisturizer into the skin with your fingertips. Do not rub.
  2. Wait two minutes. Drink your coffee. Brush your hair.
  3. Touch your cheek with the back of your fingers. Soft, not slippery, not sticky? Voilà. The face is ready.

If it went wrong: patchy color means the moisturizer was still wet. Wait one more minute next time.

"The skin must say yes before the makeup can speak."

page 8

Chapter 2 · Foundation that looks like skin

One pea, from the center out

You need: one pea-sized drop of foundation. Your middle and ring fingers.

  1. Warm the drop between your fingertips for five seconds.
  2. Press it beside the nose first, where you need it most.
  3. Press outward, thinner and thinner, until almost nothing is left at the hairline.

If it went wrong: still heavy? You used too much. Cut it in half again.

Foundation should whisper.

page 20

Chapter 2 · Foundation that looks like skin

Three stripes at the window

You need: two or three shades to test. A window with daylight.

  1. Paint three thin stripes along your jaw. Not your wrist.
  2. Walk to the window, into real daylight.
  3. The stripe that disappears is your shade. Orange or gray is not.

If it went wrong: a line at the jaw? Press the edge again with fingers that are nearly empty.

The window is the truth.

page 24

Chapter 7 · Blush, powder and the glow

Powder only where you shine

You need: any powder. A velvet puff, or a clean folded tissue.

  1. Touch the puff to the powder. Tap off the extra.
  2. Press it on the sides of the nose, the middle of the forehead, the chin.
  3. Press, lift, press. Leave the cheeks alone.

If it went wrong: dry and dusty look? You powdered the whole face. Only where you shine.

That glow is the whole point.

page 90

Scroll sideways to see more pages →

What's inside

Twelve chapters, one gesture at a time

  1. The face must be readyThe two-minute wait that stops foundation from cracking.
  2. Foundation that looks like skinOne pea, warm fingers, and the window test.
  3. Concealer, half an inch higherWhere to put it so the eyes look rested, not tired.
  4. Brows that frame without shoutingFilling thin brows with short strokes, never a line.
  5. Eyes after fiftyHooded lids, soft liner, and lashes that lift.
  6. Lipstick that never bleedsThe pencil trick and the blot from the theater.
  7. Blush, powder and the glowWhere the light should land, and where it shouldn't.
  8. Hair with volume and shineWashing, drying and the brush Mamie swore by.
  9. Gray, covered or worn beautifullyBoth ways, with the colors that flatter each.
  10. Perfume that lasts all dayWhy the wrists are the wrong place.
  11. Hands and nailsA five-minute French manicure you can do at the kitchen table.
  12. Put-together in five minutesThe morning ritual, the evening ritual, and printable cards for your mirror.
—pages
—techniques
12chapters
—mirror cards
Hélène putting on a soft rose lipstick with a small hand mirror Hands taking a little cream from a glass jar

Get your copy

Le Carnet d'Hélène

Le Carnet d'Hélène The French way to look like yourself, on a very good day
  • Every technique with exact amounts and numbered steps
  • "If it went wrong" help after every technique
  • Printable cards to keep on your bathroom mirror
  • Opens about 30 seconds after you pay
  • Large, clear print. Easy to read on a phone
$29.99 $39.99 Save $10 today
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Secure checkout · One payment, no subscription

My 7-day promise. If the Carnet is not for you, write to me within 7 days and you get every cent back. You keep the book.

Portrait of Hélène at her vanity

Who writes to you

Bonjour, I'm Hélène.

I grew up in Lyon, in the back room of my grandmother's little parfumerie. Mamie Odette sold perfume by day, and three nights a week she did the makeup for the actresses at the theater two streets away. I sat on a wooden crate in that dressing room and watched her.

My mother learned it from her, and I learned it from both of them. My mother never had anything done in her life, and at seventy-five people still turned to look at her. When women asked what she used, she always said the same thing: "My hands, and a window."

This Carnet is everything they showed me, written down at last.

"I will not sell you a miracle in a jar. I will show you the gestures, the way Mamie showed me, standing next to you at the mirror."

Hélène

Questions, answered honestly

Before you decide

Is this a printed book you mail me?

No. It is a digital book (a PDF) that opens on your phone, tablet or computer. Nothing is shipped. You can print any page you like, and the mirror cards are made to be printed.

I'm not good with makeup. Is this too hard for me?

It was written for you. Every technique has exact amounts, numbered steps, and a short "if it went wrong" note. Most take less than a minute.

Will I need to buy new products?

No. The Carnet works with what is already on your shelf. When something helps, I tell you the simplest, cheapest version, never a brand.

I'm not good with computers.

You press one button, pay, and the book opens. There is no account and no password. A copy also goes to your email, so you can always find it again.

Is this a subscription? Will you charge my card again?

No. One payment, once. No membership, no free trial that turns into a charge.

What if I lose the file?

Open the email we sent you and click the link again. If you cannot find the email, write to me and I will send it again.

Is this skincare or medical advice?

No. The Carnet is about beauty gestures: makeup, hair, perfume, hands and style. If you have a skin or health concern, please see your doctor or a dermatologist.

What if I don't like it?

Write to me within 7 days and you get your money back. You keep the book.

Questions before you buy?

Write to me here

Ask me anything about the Carnet. We answer every message.

Or write directly to abetifyms@gmail.com

Ready when you are

"Beauty is not bought at the counter. It is a knowing, and now it is yours."

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