The debate about whether a little wine is good for your health has gone on for years and likely will continue for many more. The new question is: Is wine — or at least wine-based products — good for your skin? Yes, says Mathilde Thomas, founder of Caudalie, a French skin-care company that is built around the vitamins and antioxidants found in grapes. Back in 1993, a scientist from the pharmaceutical department at Bordeaux University visited the estate of Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, a vineyard owned by Thomas’ family in Bordeaux, France. He told her that grapeseeds contain the polyphenols that effectively fight free radicals generated by sunlight, smoke and pollution. Thomas and her husband Bertrand decided to try to put the polyphenols into skin-care products. What they didn’t know was that grapeseeds produced an unstable extract — which turned red and smelled bad when it got old — so they first had to develop a stabilized cream, which they patented in 1994.
