How He Wears OUMERE

When French painter Cedric Rivrain first encountered OUMERE, it was not through an ad or a boutique counter, but in the pages of The New York Times. He was struck by the story of Wendy Ouriel: her research into ovarian development in black widow spiders, and the way that science became the foundation for a skincare line unlike anything else. For Cedric, whose work lives at the intersection of rarity and precision, OUMERE felt like a natural extension of his own philosophy: choose what is rare, what is real, what works.

Cedric has watched as once-great houses in both art and beauty diluted themselves into common ware. He refuses to follow that descent. Packaging without potency does not interest him. As both artist and skincare connoisseur, he demands formulas that do not compromise: preparations that protect against time, restore from chemical wear, and keep his skin as disciplined as his art.

His ritual is exacting. In the morning: No. 9, UV-R, Advancement Concentrate, and Serum Bioluminelle. At night: Oil Dissolution Theory, Eye Serum, Advancement II Concentrate, UV-R Concentrate, and the Serum Bioluminelle Concentrate. If paint thinners or solvents touch his skin, he responds with Advancement II and Bioluminelle to undo the damage. Before gallery presentations, he leans into extra layers of these concentrates, a double dose of anti-aging and hydration to ensure he stands before his work at his best.

And it shows. In Paris, strangers remark on his skin, insisting he looks a decade younger than his age. They ask if it is Botox. He smiles, declines, and answers simply: no, it is OUMERE.

Question and Answers with Cedric

1. When did you start using OUMERE and how did you discover the brand?

I discovered Oumere in 2018 or 2019 in an article about the brand in The New York Times. I was fascinated by the journey and approach of Wendy Ouriel, the founder who is a biologist, and has a  approach.

2. ⁠Why did you choose Oumere over other brands, there are many to choose from especially in France? 

Because it's real science, not marketing. The formulas are clean, undiluted, and extremely effective. They contain absolutely nothing harmful or unnecessary for the skin. On the contrary, the products have an impressive immediate effect.

3. ⁠how does Oumere help your skin on a daily basis? Does being an artist put your skin through particular stressors, make it vulnerable to damage?

If I wake up looking tired, I know that as soon as I apply the products, my face will instantly look bright and fresh. And best of all, no one ever guesses my age anymore. 

I use certain solvents to dilute my paint, which are toxic to the skin and sometimes cause burns on my hands. I read that Wendy used UVR serum to treat her sunburn, and I saw for myself the immediate effect of this product in such cases. One day, when the irritation caused by the mineral solvent I was using to paint was too intense, I instinctively used Oumere serum on my hands and the effect was miraculous. Oumere products are always among my supplies in my studio. 

4. ⁠how would you describe your art style and what mediums are your favorite?

I do figurative, realistic painting. I draw inspiration from our world, but I don't seek to reproduce it as it is, rather as I feel it. I paint exclusively with oil and use only natural solvents and pigments. The connection with the material is very important to me. I paint a lot with my fingers, using both hands. 

5. ⁠What inspires you for your paintings? Who is your muse?

What inspires me most is my personal life, my struggles, my ideas, and above all my friends, those who really matter to me, many of whom are artists I admire. My greatest muse is definitely my partner of more than eight years, the novelist, poet, and photographer Rodrigue Fondeviolle. He is one of the most beautiful people in every sense of the word that I have ever met in my life. He never ceases to amaze me. He is fascinating to portray; he has an astonishing number of facets while always remaining very true to himself. 

6. ⁠Where did you study and how long have you been painting?

I didn't go to art school. I've always painted. Some children stop doodling at an early age, but I just never stopped. I started using oil paints at the age of fourteen after discovering a box filled with an impressive number of tubes of oil paints in the attic of the house we had just moved into. I was so excited that I asked my mother to take me immediately to buy canvases and the necessary materials to get started. I just asked the salesperson how to use it and taught myself by observing paintings in museums up close to understand the medium and imagine how the painters had achieved their results. Working with this medium is above all very technical and scientific. 

7. ⁠What is the most and least glamorous aspect of your job?

Taking the viewer somewhere else, opening a window onto another world, onto mine, onto the model's, opening up my mind. The downside is that sometimes it can scare me to display my private world. 

8. ⁠What / who is your favorite to paint? 

Rodrigue, still and always. 

9. ⁠what do you do when you need inspiration for your work?

I always read before painting, poetry and novels. And I keep an eye on everything that's happening in art; I'm very curious about what's being done, about artists who constantly question their medium and push it forward. And I always come back to what has been done before to understand how we can always go further. It's interesting to do this with oil painting, especially figurative painting. It's a difficult exercise to try to say something new through a medium that can seem so obsolete. 

10. ⁠how do you get ready for a gallery presentation of your art? What do you where? Who are your favorite designers? 

I have a lot of archives from Maison Martin Margiela, Prada, Nicolas Ghesquière for Balenciaga, and Demna. I like to wear these pieces, but more for group exhibitions or my friends' solo shows, to celebrate them. When it comes to my own exhibitions, I prefer to be more discreet in terms of clothing. On the other hand, that's when I need to feel most comfortable in my own skin, so Oumere is definitely the brand I care wearing on these occasions.

11. ⁠what is your biggest challenge in being an artist and how do you overcome it or work with it?

Laying my life, my innermost thoughts, bare. Showing it to the world is a risk, but that's how the work is most sincere; it's part of the deal. You have to be prepared for that, always armour yourself. You truly expose yourself to everyone, and it's unsettling, sometimes dizzying, and the reactions can be hurtful, often unintentionally, but when you touch people in this way, you really touch them, and it gives you a lot of strength for the next paintings. It reminds you that you're not giving yourself away for nothing, that you're engaging in a real dialogue with others.

Photography by Rodrigue Fondeviolle