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7 Summer Fitness Retreats Worth Skipping Town (And the Gym!) For

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If the athleisure movement tends to mean a sea of spandex-clad legs roaming the city streets, there’s another, arguably more glamorous manifestation of the trend: the array of wellness retreats, where the line between fitness and free time blurs—ideally against the backdrop of, say, the azure Mediterranean coast or the Himalayas. With the summer season upon us, there’s no better time to start mapping out the vacation days ahead, and these seven escapes offer an invigorating way to satisfy wanderlust cravings and workout goals in one go. Whether you’re a runner looking to boost your race pace in the wilds of Iceland or a yogi hoping to fine-tune your meditation practice in Majorca, here are seven reasons to get packing.

 

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Photo: Courtesy of La Posta Vecchia

Moraima Gaetmank in Coastal Italy
The founder of Paris’s Studio Kinétique is something of a body whisperer among the city’s fashion editors, ballerinas, and actresses, thanks to her singular elongating, toning technique that draws on Pilates, yoga, the Garuda method, and Gyrotonics. This summer, Gaetmank heads south to two glittering Italian hotels—La Posta Vecchia and Hotel Il Pellicano—for intimately scaled retreats, where she will be teaching a fluid, freeing style of yoga in group and private sessions. The coastal setting (equal parts restorative and decadent) will be matched by Mediterranean-inflected menus designed with wellness in mind.

July 8–10 (La Posta Vecchia) and July 11–15 (Hotel Il Pellicano); email: reservations@pellicanohotels.com

 

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Photo: Alamy

Yoga for Bad People in Croatia
Brac Island’s pristine coastline and sublime aquamarine water are worthy-enough subjects for contemplation, even before factoring in morning meditations. This weeklong retreat, led by YFBP cofounder Heather Lilleston and guest teacher Jamie Lugo, balances two daily yoga sessions—vigorous in the morning, restorative at night—with a mix of local adventures, including kiteboarding and kayaking for water babies and guided hikes to nearby caves. As the group’s cheekily subversive name implies, asceticism isn’t the rule; after all, Croatia is in full swing in August. After a night out dancing, there might be no better place to recover than on the mat—followed by, just maybe, a long stretch in the sand.

August 20–27; yogaforbadpeople.com

 

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Photo: Alamy

Mile High Run Club in Iceland
After flying into Reykjavík, runners will have a serious opportunity to burn off jet lag on August 20, when the annual marathon takes over the city (a half marathon or 10K is also an option). The itinerary then winds through a series of geographic marvels, starting with a soak in the geothermal Blue Lagoon spa for post-race recovery. Next come guided runs through Thórsmörk National Park, hikes along black-sand beaches, and a majestic stay overlooking the glaciers at Skaftafell. If regulars at MHRC’s popular studios in New York have come to embrace the treadmill, it might be hard to go back after a trip like this.

August 18–28; milehighrunclub.com

 

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Photo: Alamy

Guru Jagat in Majorca, Spain
One of Kundalini’s rising gurus is taking her L.A.–based practice on the road this summer, with two back-to-back retreats in the remote town of Fornalutx, near the northern coast of Majorca. If the daily meditation and yoga aren’t enough to untether participants from their responsibilities back home, technological constraints will do it for them (there is no wireless Internet, be forewarned). In addition to exercises designed to tap into creative expression and intention, there are also side trips to prehistoric sites, little-seen coves, and the sorts of famed beaches that have lured thinkers and artists here for decades. Expect clean, organic food that mirrors the pristine white of Jagat’s omnipresent turban.

July 21–25 and 26–30; gurujagat.com

 

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Yogascapes and Gloria Baraquio in Nicaragua
Those drained from the churn of modern living will find all the tools for a deep unwind at this surf-and-yoga retreat, held at the laid-back Maderas Village, complete with thatched cabanas and rope-slung hammocks. Baraquio, the yoga and wellness director at The Springs in Los Angeles, brings a dynamic, tuned-in teaching style (not to mention native Hawaiian cool) to her twice-daily classes. In between, surfers experienced and novice can paddle out at the home break, Playa Maderas, or at nearby beaches a short boat ride away. Healthy meals largely built around the bounty of the garden and the sea offer thoughtful refueling, and a deep-tissue rubdown with the resident masseuse can deliver the reboot you need to start all over again.

August 7–13; yogascapes.com

 

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Photo: Alamy

The Class in Martha’s Vineyard
Taryn Toomey, whose intense—and intensely
cathartic—workouts count high-profile fans from coast to coast, once again returns to this Massachusetts summer colony to deliver a whole-body reset. Each day kicks off with a two-hour session of her quad-shredding, mind-focusing workout, followed by a locally sourced family-style brunch by Marissa Lippert, the nutritionist behind New York café Nourish Kitchen + Table. Kevin Courtney winds down the day with gentle yin yoga, and Thomas Droge is on hand for acupuncture. While some pleasures (a workshop on crystal healing) are esoteric, others, like an afternoon clambake on the beach, could not be any simpler or any more satisfying.

July 10–16; taryntoomey.com

 

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Photo: Alamy

Exotic Yoga Retreats in Bhutan
The word retreat is rarely so apt as it is in the remote stretches of Bhutan, and this program enlists a local guide to venture into seldom-seen places, ranging from hilltop monasteries to pristine forests. Along the way, Amsterdam-based teacher Josie Sykes leads alignment-focused yoga classes—once or twice daily—that continue the spirit of the nation’s meditative traditions. Accommodations range from family-run inns to sumptuous properties, with spa services (like traditional Bhutanese hot-stone baths) to match. Lest it all seem more spiritual than spirited, there’s also a chance to duck into one of the capital’s bass-heavy dance clubs.

August 10–20; exoticyogaretreats.com

 

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This Chic New Amagansett Boutique Is Your One-Stop Shop for Summer Wellness

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For those who have combed the streets of Paris in search of covetable drugstore staples to bring home, the ubiquitous neon-green signs are like beacons guiding ships to shore. “We would always look for that green cross,” explains Bethany Mayer of her and her friend Leilani Bishop’s shared love of French pharmacie finds. When the two women decided to team up on Botanica Bazaar, a standout new beauty and wellness boutique opening today in the heart of Amagansett, New York, the signage came easily. “When people come to the square, they’ll see this little fluorescent-pink cross,” Mayer says. “It’s our take on a natural pharmacy.”

Leilani Bishop and Bethany Mayer
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Leilani Bishop and Bethany Mayer

Photo: Courtesy of Botanic Bazaar

And this is one decidedly chic pharmacy, something you might expect from founders rooted in the fashion world: Bishop, a former model, graced campaigns for Tommy Hilfiger, Gap, and Victoria’s Secret before launching her namesake perfume line; Mayer runs Surf Bazaar, a cult clothing label with an outpost at The Surf Lodge in nearby Montauk. It was there that the like-minded entrepreneurs forged a connection years ago, which deepened over dinners and school drop-offs. Together they came to realize that while Amagansett—where both have set down roots with their young families—has all the small-town charms, it lacked the sort of place where they could find the “holistic, organic products and remedies to live our lives by,” says Bishop. A vision for a store by and for locals—one that outlasts the usual Hamptons pop-ups—was born.

“Leilani and I are kind of secret hippies, but we’re also fashion girls, too,” Mayer explains of the dual emphasis on inner and outer beauty at Botanica Bazaar. Natural skin-care brands with royal followings (Tata Harper, Shiva Rose) line the shelves, along with makeup by RMS Beauty and Bishop’s fragrance oils, inspired by her native Hawaii.

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Photo: Courtesy of Botanic Bazaar

The family-oriented women didn’t stop there. “We really thought about tackling not only every part of the community, but every aspect of your well-being,” Mayer says of their far-reaching lineup, which includes fluoride-free toothpastes, healing salves for rough-and-tumble kids, herbal tinctures, and ingestible probiotics by The Beauty Chef. Even the store design reflects how the natural world seamlessly fits into their aesthetic, with raw wood, tropical plants, and touches of copper (a metal prized in Ayurvedic medicine, they note). Here, Bishop and Mayer share a handful of their favorite products for the warm days ahead. Come fall, when their Web shop takes off, you can order online; in the meantime, join the urban exodus and head east.

Botanica Bazaar, 14 Amagansett Square, Amagansett, New York, 631.267.5660; info@botanicabazaar.com

 

 

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The 11 Best French Beauty Staples to Stock Up on in Paris

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Photographed by Thomas Lohr, Vogue, August 2015

Packing for Paris means leaving room in your suitcase—after all, the city’s legendary pharmacies and perfumeries beckon. And who better to recommend the best beauty products to stock up on while there than the Vogue staffers who make the trip regularly? One colleague waxes on about a natural deodorant that can withstand a fluke heat wave; another raves about a miracle skin balm that extends a summertime glow. That’s not even counting the personal discoveries to be made, which on my visit last month included a sulfate-free shampoo by the texture-friendly line Hapsatou Sy; the mineral-rich tonic Plasmarine; and a box of immune-boosting Influ-Zinc lozenges so chic (blush pink, gold foil) I couldn’t bear to open it, never mind my cold.

With the French Open in full swing, now is the time to implore tennis-loving friends to pick up a few of your beauty treasures on the way home. Need inspiration? Here, 11 Vogue staffers offer up their favorites, from an ace hangover cure to bar soaps so exquisite, they might just inspire a voyage of your own.

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Are Harsh Products Throwing Off Your Skin? Why Striking a pH Balance Is Key

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Trying to assess problem skin is like diagnosing a troubled houseplant. Are yellow leaves a sign of overwatering—or underwatering? Does its droopy demeanor call for more light or fertilizer or whispered words of encouragement? In matters of complexion, the root causes of flare-ups—dry patches, redness, stubborn breakouts—can be similarly hard to pin down, leading to resigned inaction or, often worse, aggressive offense. The better way forward? Consider gentler products that play well with the skin’s natural pH.

That scale, if you recall from chemistry class, assesses where a substance falls on the spectrum from 0 (battery acid) to 14 (drain cleaner), with 7 marking the metaphorical Switzerland (water). “The skin’s natural environment is more acidic, which is why we call it the ‘acid mantle,’ ” says Los Angeles dermatologist Karyn Grossman, M.D., referring to the lipid-rich outermost layer. She puts optimal pH between 4 and 6, which creates a hospitable environment for beneficial flora and also “helps to keep the outside world out and the inside world in.” But when the pH swings out of whack and the barrier breaks down—something that intense peels or harsh, stripping soaps can trigger—the result is often written plainly on your face.

Marisa Vara Arredondo, the founder of the skin-care line Phace Bioactive, knows it well. “As a teenager I had really bad cystic acne, and I tried everything: antibiotics, sulfur, benzoyl peroxide. I would scrub with a buff puff and Neutrogena soap, which at the time was very alkaline,” she recalls of her pendulum swings between breakout and blitzkrieg. Only later, after a recurrence in her 20s, did she come to understand the role of pH, which spurred her to formulate products with the acid mantle in mind. While her seven products range from a dark-spot serum to a décolletage cream, her hero product remains the most routine: the Detoxifying Gel Cleanser. The pH (3.0-3.5) is stated plainly on the bottle, and the ingredient list takes a do-no-harm approach, pairing a mild coconut-derived surfactant with fruit enzymes to boost cell turnover.

If a pH-balanced skin barrier promotes healthy flora, can flora return the favor? According to New York dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, M.D., the answer is yes. “Probiotics have been shown to repair a disrupted acid mantle by restoring an acidic skin pH, reducing oxygen free-radical damage, and improving skin-barrier function,” he explains. It’s a worthwhile case for trying Aurelia’s probiotic-powered products (as if the dreamy essential oil scents weren’t enough). According to founder Claire Vero, the probiotic technology is designed to help “manage the inflammation in the skin by targeting [its] natural defense mechanism”—something that’s no doubt taxed by exposure to pollution, UV, and other routine stressors. The nourishing fatty acids in Aurelia’s Cell Repair Night Oil are icing on the cake.

 

The post Are Harsh Products Throwing Off Your Skin? Why Striking a pH Balance Is Key appeared first on Vogue.

Toying With a Post-Election Move to Canada? We Have Your Beauty Needs Covered

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In any given election year, there comes a point in the wave of voter anxiety when an unlikely third option emerges as the topic of conversation: Canada. This time around, we can expect even more would-be defectors, with recent polls showing historically strong distaste for the two front-runners. In service of those readying their escape plans—or those simply dusting off their passports for a summertime jaunt north—we’ve rounded up the best in beauty, health, and fitness in three fair cities: Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. Whichever way the race swings, there are plenty of reasons for a border crossing.

Montreal
The best place for the newly arrived to get their feet wet? At Bota Bota, the floating spa docked in the St. Lawrence River along the city’s Vieux Port. Should the Nordic-style water circuit not prove detoxifying enough, there are more than a dozen massage styles on offer—including one with a live harpist. Stock your fridge with gut-friendly fermented foods, like tiny glass pots of Cult Yogurt, made with Jersey cow milk sourced from Quebec farms, and local kombucha by Rise (Rose + Schizandra is a standout) and Fous de L’île  (ditto Cerise). Then stock your bathroom with cold-processed soap by Carriage 44, whose signature hand-cut black bars come fortified with activated bamboo charcoal. For the workout-weary, Le Saint-Jude, a gym located in a converted 1905 church, might offer divine inspiration, along with circuit training and Pilates; those looking for challenging flows will find them at Le Studio de Yoga Wanderlust (kin to the namesake festival) and Element Yoga (good vibes, good people). The salon Two Horses, run by tattoo artist Jessi Preston and stylist Sara-Isobel Mulder, is a beacon for the well-coiffed and well-inked. When it’s all over, make your way to Le Café Bloom for avocado tartines and radish-studded salads.

Toronto
Two of the city’s loveliest small-batch makers—Fran Miller, who blends oils under the name F. Miller, and Karen Kim, who mines her Korean roots for her Binu Binu bar soaps—are friends, and so are their wares, which turn up alongside Sophie Buhai jewelry and Maryam Nassir Zadeh sandals at the boutique Ewanika. (Keep an eye out for Miller’s floral-water Toning Mist and Kim’s Hibiscus Cleansing Balm, both due this summer.) The convergence of naturals and aesthetics continues with Greenhouse Juice Co., whose cold-pressed blends (East of Eden; Rabbit, Run) take a literary bent, and with Kupfert & Kim’s daytime cafés, where the virtuous fare includes avocado smoothie bowls and brown rice congee topped with house-made kimchi. For hair with serious edge, follow Canada native Grimes’s lead and head to DNS (short for Day + Night), the salon and creative consultancy responsible for the musician’s dip-dyed purple locks seen in this year’s “Kill V. Maim” video. Hands-on treatment of a more restorative sort can be found at Province Apothecary, where founder Julie Clark gives holistic facials using her herb-focused skin care. Need more mental clarity? Will, a new line of fitness-focused aromatherapy, has handsomely designed olfactive inhalers to help you cool down or speed up; the Drake Hotel offers mindfulness workshops in “How To Not Give a Sh*t”; and Scandinave, a two-hour drive outside Toronto, lets you soak and steam amid birch, pine, and maple trees.

Vancouver
When a city is as renowned for its natural beauty as this one, it follows that it boasts no shortage of artisanal plant-based soaps (courtesy of hometown makers Woodlot) or botanical body lotions in starkly chic packaging (Sangre de Fruta). For the rest of your clean skin-care needs, seek out Green & Pure, which carries Vancouver-born Rose-Marie Swift’s makeup line, RMS Beauty, and Canada’s Matcha Ninja. Tea lovers will find an even larger array of rare brews at O5 Tea, stocked with fermented pu-erh, delicate Yunnan Silver Needle, and newly arrived green varieties. Over at Le Marché St. George, a gorgeous general store and café, you can refuel with a chai latte and crepes while browsing locally made Belmondo skin care (with wistful names like The Cloud and The Rain), Canada-grown golden quinoa from Grain, and Janaki Larsen ceramics. Work up a sweat at the Vinyasa studio One Yoga or at Tight Club Athletics, which offers a mix of boxing, strength training, and balance work. Then hit Stanley Park for its ocean views or Lighthouse Park for its tree-lined trails. Afterwards, soothe your hard-earned aches with the Arnica Rescue balm by Saje.

 

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5 Butt-Sculpting Classes to Work Your Best Asset All Summer

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With Beyoncé on tour, capturing the global gaze with her music, her magnetism, and that justifiably celebrated derriere, isn’t it time for a little self-reflection—in profile view or, better yet, from behind? After all, what you can get away with in winter (say, slouchy Levi’s and Spanx-like leggings) changes in summer when breezy sundresses and bikinis are default weekend wear.

“We are a crisis clinic right now with the launch of bathing-suit season,” fitness impresario David Barton says with a laugh. At his latest gym, TMPL, which opened three months ago in Manhattan’s Hells Kitchen neighborhood, the rear end does not take the back seat. “We have a whole room devoted to the lower body—of course, we affectionately call it the Butt Room,” he explains of the sleek basement-level space, where it’s not uncommon to see women lining up at the squat rack, erasing the evidence of a modern sedentary lifestyle. “Sitting at a desk all day long was not what the body was actually made for,” he says. “Given the inactivity that we are faced with 23 hours a day, we have to spend that other hour activating the muscles in the glutes and training in such a way that they’re going to respond by defying gravity.”

Easier said than done—but not impossible. “Change is within one’s grasp!” Barton says, explaining that a well-rounded mix of exercises targeting muscles around the thighs and backside can sculpt and reshape the posterior landscape. To that end, we’ve rounded up five classes around the country that aim to get the butt in high gear. “I can rattle off benefits all day long of having strength in the lower body—everything from walking up stairs to being able to more efficiently pump blood,” Barton says. “Last but certainly not least: Looking good on the beach.” We’ll second that.

Shake Up the Squats at TMPL in New York City
Thirty minutes for a dialed-in, rear-centric class might seem quick until you’re pulsing in a deep lunge, legs quaking. Props vary per instructor (seek out the spirited Bryan Jarrett, TMPL’s group fitness manager), but expect a mix of resistance bands, free weights, and a step platform to shake up the squats, stabilizing moves, and balance work. Cool down with a dip in the dimly lit saltwater pool—not to mention some quality time with a foam roller.
tmplgym.com

Boost Your Lower-Body Power at Equinox in Miami
The aptly named Best Butt Ever workout—which revs up the glutes and whittles the waist—might be offered around the country at Equinox’s many well-appointed locations, but it seems most at home in this sun-soaked, party-ready city. Come prepared to use gliding discs for advanced plank variations, dumbbells for isometric holds, and a step board to boost lower-body power and cardiovascular endurance.
equinox.com

Target the Glutes at Rise Nation in Los Angeles
Personal trainer Jason Walsh boasts a high-profile client base, but at his boutique rock climbing studio in West Hollywood, his entire fitness flock is on the up-and-up. The concentrated 30-minute Climb class takes place on a VersaClimber that’s momentum-neutral, meaning all movement is hard-won. “Climbing not only targets the glutes, but also minimizes impact on bones and joints,” Walsh explains. And with exercises that hit multiple muscle groups, “you get more bang per minute invested.”
rise-nation.com

Kick Your Own Butt at modelFIT in New York City
Long, strong, and lean is the end game at this downtown studio that’s popular among its namesake clientele. Though the focus of the Sculpt class series varies, a recent hour-long session with trainer Lauren Ashley revived that cliché about kicking butt. Lateral lifts with ankle weights, dynamic lunges on gliders, and tabletop rear extensions are only the beginning—and, with practice, the start of a powerhouse seat.
modelfit.com

Fine-Tune It All at On Your Mark in Chicago
At this pair of handsome, industrial-style gyms, functional movement reigns supreme, as seen in their group class approach. A 45-minute abs and glutes–focused class cycles through core-strengthening planks, squats turbo-charged with medicine balls, and toning balance exercises, all with fine-tuned corrections from the hands-on teacher—a taste of what’s on offer with their popular personal training sessions.
oymtraining.com

 

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Trying to Kick Coffee? Here Are 7 Alternative Ways to Fuel Your Morning High

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Is coffee friend or foe? According to the headlines regularly splashing across wellness sites, the pendulum seems to swing with some frequency. On one hand, a growing body of research shows a wide-ranging host of potential health benefits associated with the drink, including lower risks of cardiovascular disease and cirrhosis. On the other, there’s talk in alternative-medicine circles that a cup (or two or three) can stress out your adrenals and shift sleep patterns.

There’s an empty cold brew—delicious, gone too soon—next to this coffee drinker as I type, and yet even I can recall fruitful breaks from the habit; a few days after the fog subsided, I remember waking up clearer-headed and more even-keeled, the sine curve of energy spikes and dips noticeably smoother. Flirting with the idea of another break, I cast around for inspiration and asked a group of herbalists, wellness gurus, and chefs for their favorite alternatives. Between an almond milk smoothie fortified with skin-boosting probiotics and a bottled tonic spiked with fulvic acid and adaptogenic herbs, here are seven new ways to jump-start the morning, one for every day of the week, from a few of our favorite experts.

 

1. Lulu Luchaire

 

Cofounder of Torii Labs, Los Angeles

The drink: A full glass of water to rehydrate, followed by Torii Awake—her line’s bottled tonic, formulated with fulvic acid, organic goji and ginger juices, and adaptogenic herbs (rhodiola, eleuthero, and schisandra).

The how-to: “I take it out of the fridge, give it a good shake, and drink it straight from the bottle; I feel like the gesture is associated in my brain with that morning kick we are all looking for,” says Luchaire. While the tonic “helps me start my day energized and focused,” she explains that it also makes a nice substitute during another type of break. “Sometimes when I do my dry month, I have a Torii Awake in a whiskey glass with a big ice cube. It is the best alternative to alcohol and has a real punch to it and little sugar content.”

 

2. Kerrilynn Pamer and Cindy DiPrima

 

Founders of CAP Beauty, New York City

The drink: Elevating Hot Chocolate. “Cutting out coffee can be hard,” the two admit, who devised this warming tonic to “activate the brain and keep you going all day.” They offer a primer on the potent ingredients: “Mucuna pruriens lifts the mood, cordyceps enhances mental power and stamina, and astragalus maintains energy levels and whole-body function.”

The how-to: Pamer and DiPrima’s nourishing recipe, below, is powered by superfood supplements stocked at their West Village apothecary.

1 T raw, organic, and biodynamic cacao
1/2 tsp. mucuna pruriens
1/2 tsp. cordyceps
1/2 tsp. astragalus
Pinch of pink Himalayan salt
Pinch of raw dried vanilla or splash of organic vanilla extract
1 to 2 T coconut butter
8 oz. hot water
1 T raw honey (if desired)
Add ingredients to a blender, and blend until smooth, creamy, and frothy.

 

3. Cortney Burns

 

Co-chef of Bar Tartine, San Francisco

The drink: Breakaway matcha. “I’ve been off coffee for a while now, so this matcha is my daily ritual,” explains Burns, who runs the celebrated Bay Area restaurant alongside Nick Balla. “I make it for myself when I get to work in the morning. It turns my brain on, cranks up the ketones, and gets me ready for a full day.”

The how-to: “I like to drink it with Brain Octane oil, coconut oil, cinnamon, and vanilla,” she says; she also might add in collagen and a tablespoon or two of grass-fed butter. If a blender isn’t handy, no problem. When she’s on the road, she just “shakes like hell in a thermos!”

 

4. Carla Oates

 

Founder of The Beauty Chef, Sydney

The drink: “I live on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, so I start my day with a walk or run along the beach. When I return home, I whip up a smoothie,” says Oates, whose line of probiotic powders and tonics have taken off across wellness circles. “It’s jam-packed with nutrients that feed my skin from the inside, and gives me a huge energy boost.”

The how-to: Loaded with antioxidants, omega-3s, and gut-friendly superfoods, this GLOW, Blueberry, and Cinnamon smoothie is refreshingly simple and serves two.

2 cups frozen blueberries (you can also use fresh, but frozen berries will chill the smoothie)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 banana
2 tsp. The Beauty Chef Glow Inner Beauty Powder
2 tsp. chia seeds (ideally, soaked overnight or for at least one hour)
2 cups almond milk

Mix everything together well in a blender.

 

5. Mo Clancy

 

Founder of Seed + Salt, San Francisco

The drink: “For years, I have a parsley-thyme-lemon tea prior to my yoga every morning,” says Clancy, whose plant-based, gluten-free café puts an elevated spin on clean eating. She calls out the herbs’ antimicrobial properties, as well as lemon’s vitamin C. “The entire experience puts me in a nourished and happy space for the day!”

The how-to: “I take a handful of organic parsley and thyme and throw them in my beautiful Lynn Mahon ceramic mug with warm water and one-half squeezed organic lemon,” she says. Simple as that.

 

6. Adriana Ayales

 

Herbalist and founder of Anima Mundi Apothecary, Brooklyn

The drink: Get High Morning Tonic, an “exquisite [coffee] alternative that actually boosts my body and mind,” says Ayales, whose book Healing Tonics debuted earlier this month. She credits chaga with stimulating the immune system and another adaptogen, maca, with an energizing effect, while green coffee helps increase focus.

The how-to: Ayales developed this warming, balancing herbal drink as a gentler stand-in for her onetime coffee habit.

2 T chaga powder
2 tsp. green coffee bean powder
1 tsp. maca powder
12 to 16 oz. boiling water
Stevia, honey, or your choice of sweetener (optional)
Almond milk, or your choice of milk (optional)

In a French press or large teapot, add the herbs and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain the herbs and enjoy! If you’d like it extra strong, simmer in a pot for 10 to 15 minutes.

 

7. Lauren Dodge and Brooke Rewa

 

Founders of Pure Potions, Los Angeles

The drink: “I’m obsessed with the Latte Elixir recipe we created,” Rewa says of her go-to morning drink, which can be made with any of the line’s three herbal powders. (Her favorite is Beauty; Dodge prefers Longevity, which she blends into an avocado-berry smoothie.) For Rewa, the warm tonic is both indulgent and deeply nourishing. “The frothy rose-cinnamon flavor makes me feel like I can take a deep breath and start the day with a clear mind,” she says.

The how-to: Healthy fats and a well-rounded blend of herbs make this a potent wake-up elixir.

1 T of your favorite Pure Potion
1 tsp. coconut oil
1 tsp. hemp seeds
1 date
8 oz. hot water

Put all ingredients in a blender, and blend until creamy and frothy.

 

The post Trying to Kick Coffee? Here Are 7 Alternative Ways to Fuel Your Morning High appeared first on Vogue.

Summer Vacation Starts Now! 9 Citrus Perfumes for the Ultimate Sunny Escape

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Soaking up other peoples’ vacation photos is one of the upsides of Instagram—a flash of vicarious living that can spark a change of scenery, not to mention a well-timed change of scent. For me, that moment arrived last month, when newlywed friends set off for the Amalfi Coast: land of azure waters, dramatic cliffside backdrops, and legendary, palm-size lemons. It was as though the screen were scratch-and-sniff, so strong was my craving for a bracingly crisp citrus cologne. Could there be a more perfect summer perfume—zippy and seemingly fresh-squeezed—to snap you out of jet lag or accompany you onto a salt-sprayed sailboat? And so we’ve rounded up the best and brightest fragrances of the season, threaded with notes of lime or Calabrian bergamot, mandarin or grapefruit. Topping it all off with an Aperol spritz (orange slice as garnish, naturally) is only fitting.

 

The post Summer Vacation Starts Now! 9 Citrus Perfumes for the Ultimate Sunny Escape appeared first on Vogue.


In Praise of the Butt: A New Photography Book Celebrates 50 Women (and Their Best Assets)

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Photo: Kava Gorna

What is it that magnetizes the camera to certain subjects again and again for a unified body of work? Sometimes it’s the body itself. In her new book, 100 Cheeksthe New York photographer Kava Gorna trains her lens on a single, sculptural aspect of the female form: namely, the butt. The concept is a simple one. All fifty women—including Jemima Kirke, Pamela Love, and others in her wide circle of friends, collaborators, and downtown acquaintances—wear a treasured pair of Levi’s, and the crop is tight: The course of study here, as writer (and subject) Thessaly La Force playfully explains in the introduction, is “epic booties.”

“There’s no one standard of what the perfect proportion is,” Gorna says over iced tea at a Soho café, her ripped-up Ksubi jeans inviting in the early-summer breeze. While body diversity wasn’t the expressed goal of her five-year project, the resulting portfolio is nuanced and individualistic, with silhouette, pose, and denim wear-and-tear creating loosely sketched portraits. (Images of the other 100 cheeks—the subjects’ faces—accompany intimate, atmospheric descriptions at the back of the book.) “I wanted to photograph women that I knew and was inspired by, in the hopes of inspiring people to be self-confident with themselves,” Gorna muses.

Love can second that. “I’ve always felt like my butt is too big for the rest of my body,” the jewelry designer confesses with a laugh, “so it was interesting to be in a situation where you had to be proud of it.” During her portrait session, the two women climbed to the roof of Love’s studio for an iconic Manhattan shot with the Empire State Building—only to discover that a new high-rise had suddenly intervened. In the end, Love supplied the scenery, reclining like a modern odalisque in Levi’s she retrofitted with the denim company Re/Done.

Gorna’s eye for shape and volume isn’t lost on Joana Avillez, whose illustrations grace The New Yorker and Apartamento, and whose rear view sets orange-tab jeans against white flat file cabinets—an unconventional portrait of the artist. “She sees women’s bodies and the way she wants you to pose,” Avillez says of the photographer’s ability to capture light and stoke a sense of daring.

While the gaze is unmistakably female (at least on Gorna’s part; forthcoming copies at Karma, Saturdays, and Urban Outfitters will catch the eyes of both genders), the project is hardly restrained in sensuality. Between some sartorial choices—Edward Scissorhanded jeans; high-waisted, high-cuffed shorts—and a few provocative up-tipped angles, this is a bold celebration of the derriere. “I think we need more women telling other women that it’s sexy,” says Kirke, who embraced unvarnished nudity—“no flattering lighting, no flattering poses”—as Jessa on Girls this season. When she was growing up in the ’90s, “the message was that you shouldn’t have a fat butt, and now that’s completely changed, which is awesome,” Kirke adds, explaining that she’s surveying her curves in the mirror in her underwear as we speak. Now, “the world is very butt-centric.”

Indeed it is, between Beyoncé’s thigh-baring bodysuits, a coalition of Instagrammers with a certain selfie specialty, and a spate of glutes-minded workouts. Gorna gets it. “There are, like, five types of leg lifts that I do—they kick your butt so hard,” she says of her at-home routine, which is augmented by a fifth-floor walk-up. Also partial to an old-school leg lift: Daphne Javitch, another 100 Cheeks subject, who, as the founder of Ten Undies and now an integrative nutritionist, has given a lot of thought to body positivity. “When you go to a beach in Brazil”—where her husband is from—“old, young, tall, short, fat, thin women are all wearing the smallest bathing suits,” she says. “It’s empowering to see that when we look at each other, we’re not as critical as we are when we look at ourselves.”

Gorna is bringing that same spirit of openness to her assignments for the revamped Playboy. “I think it’s an interesting challenge, now that the nudity is presented in a totally different way. And I love that they are not obsessed with retouching,” she says, noting that her own photos, shot on her Contax G2, are largely presented as is, save for stray shadows and such. “It’s really exciting to have the body be the body.” We’ll toast—bottoms up—to that.

100 Cheeks, by Kava Gorna, $35; kindredblack.com

 

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5 Delicious Vegetable Grill Ideas That Will Make You Forget About Meat

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When mulling over meatless options for the long season of outdoor grilling, it might seem strange to poll an Argentinian. After all, in that South American nation, land of gauchos and steer, it’s not uncommon to roast an entire cow for a 200-person wedding, or, say, a visiting prime minister of China, as chef Norberto Piattoni did in his four years working alongside Francis Mallmann.

While vegetables aren’t exactly the base of the food pyramid in Argentina (meat and starch invariably dominate, explains Piattoni), the rising chef has encountered his fair share of produce over the past three years in the United States, where a stint in Los Angeles sparked a love affair with the Santa Monica farmers’ market and time in the kitchen at San Francisco’s Bar Tartine fueled an interest in old-school methods of fermentation. “Everything is going back to the roots of cooking,” he says, and “cooking with fire is elemental.”

It’s also a culinary through-line for Piattoni, who grew up with regular asados in his hometown of Federación. Later this fall, that lifetime of grilling experience will culminate in a new restaurant in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood, where he’s designing “an homage to an Argentinian fire pit, with a plancha, a grill, and different options of cooking using a wood-oven stove.” In the meantime, you’re likely to find the chef stocking up on lighter fare at the Union Square and Grand Army Plaza greenmarkets. “In this part of the year, spring and summer, you have all these beautiful vegetables in the market. Having a fire basically gives you a chance to put everything there—leeks, scallions, kale, corn,” he says.

With that in mind, Piattoni has singled out five favorite ingredients to grill now, as shown off in these unfussy, of-the-moment recipes. (He favors the Argentinian method, where hot coals and ashes transferred from a wood fire supply the radiant heat, but an American-style grill, with flames beneath the grate, also works.) For more immediate gratification, seek out his summerlong pop-up at Bushwick’s Fitzcarraldo, where you can sample the smoked-tomato vinaigrette, below; or sign up for tomorrow night’s alfresco dinner at Pioneer Works, where you’ll find whole beets buried in the glowing coals.

Summer Squash
“I was cooking the other weekend in upstate New York, and we made this dish: It was farro with charred summer squash, with lots of herbs and lemon,” Piattoni says. His preferred method of cooking is largely hands-off: Nestle the whole squash in the coals until it’s lightly charred, then wipe off any ashes and coarsely chop. (You can also split the squash in half, brush with olive oil, and grill cut-side down.) To finish off the salad, toss the squash and farro with lemon juice, oil, salt, pepper, and lemon zest. “And all the herbs you can find, basically—it’s summertime,” he says. “Mint, for sure, and parsley and chives.”

Cherry Tomatoes
How do you give a crisp green salad the savory heft of, say, brisket? Smoked-tomato vinaigrette. “It’s just the flavor from the hickory that we use. It’s pretty tasty,” Piattoni says. (We can vouch for that.) The how-to involves a simple, layered setup: First, spread hickory chips inside a stainless-steel hotel pan, then stack a second perforated pan on top; inside that, set little dishes filled with cherry tomatoes. Cover and set over hot coals, letting the tomatoes smoke. They’ll emerge browned and a little wilted, at which point you can peel, de-seed, and puree them in a blender. “For the vinaigrette, I’m using this rosé wine vinegar, roasted garlic, salt, pepper, and oil. That’s it!” he says. Pair with a handful of greens (he singles out the speckled Castelfranco radicchio), marjoram, and a dusting of bread crumbs.

Peaches
“Another thing that’s really good to grill right now is peaches,” Piattoni says, pointing out their versatility in everything from salads to uncomplicated desserts. After halving the fruit and removing the pits, cook them cut-side down in a cast-iron skillet or directly on the grill. “Season with some vinegar, salt, pepper, and olive oil, and mix it with arugula or serve it with basil and cheese, like burrata or stracciatella,” he suggests. Skewing sweet? Stick with the classics—vanilla ice cream or mascarpone cheese with a touch of cream—along with mint and pistachios.

Eggplant
“Eggplant is something I like to char, so I throw it right in the coals,” explains Piattoni. As with the summer squash, you’ll want to wipe off the ashes before slicing it lengthwise in half. Next comes a drizzle of garlic oil, herbs like marjoram and oregano, and salt and pepper; “maybe some sherry vinegar for some acidity,” he adds. The garlic oil can be made one of two ways: by gently warming a clove or two of garlic in oil “and let it kind of confit,” he says, or by chopping it finely and infusing it overnight. (If you’re doing the latter, strain out the garlic if you’re planning to store it for more than a couple days.)

Sweet Corn
On the cob, grilled corn is a backyard barbecue staple. “It also can be a really easy and really summery salad,” Piattoni says of the candy-like kernels. After removing the husk and cornsilk, brush the cob with oil before grilling, to give extra depth of flavor. “You don’t need to char it,” he notes; you just want it to brown slightly, coaxing out the natural sweetness. When the kernels have been sliced off, combine them with halved grape tomatoes, torn basil, red wine vinegar, and olive oil.

 

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#TBT Fitness Edition: Vogue Editors on Their Earliest (and Cutest!) Exercise Habits

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What is the #TBT phenomenon all about? Showing off your most adorable—and sometimes most endearingly awkward—childhood photos, sure. But when you narrow the focus to fitness, the resulting images offer a window into matters of health (as in Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative), culture (is that a Flashdance-inspired sweatshirt?), and gender equality (with more and more sports open to girls).

Those impressionable early years also happen to be a smart time to introduce lifelong passions and skills, which makes a case for adding, say, rowing, running, and ronds de jambe to the usual three Rs. With that in mind, the editors of Vogue have mined their photo albums for exercise-minded throwbacks that capture where a love of swimming, soccer, and high jumping was born. Even if a few pursuits invariably failed to take off—we can’t all grow up to be ballerinas or basketball players—here are the valuable lessons that still resonate today.

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4 SPF Face Mists That Won’t Mess With Your Makeup

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Doctor’s orders, we know: Apply and reapply sunscreen for the best chance at UV protection. It’s easy enough to forget at the beach, with waves to catch or books to settle into. Then there are the routine days around town, when you leave the house with a slick of skin-saving SPF, only to find yourself, hours later, basking in the sunshine with your avocado (or rutabaga) toast. Is that morning shield still working for you?

Good question. Chemical filters break down with sun exposure (less likely if you’ve camped out in the shade of the office), while physical blocks wipe away with perspiration (easy enough on a sticky subway ride). Either way, the wise move is to cover your bases anew, and there’s a fresh class of sunscreens for the job: SPF face mists. Cooling in summer, kind to makeup, they bring a level of ease to what used to be a greasy chore. “The more user-friendly we make sunscreen application, the better people are going to get at using it,” says Miami dermatologist Joely Kaufman, M.D. Not only is a spray more sanitary on the go, Kaufman points out, it’s also a convenient way to coat areas like the backs of the hands; otherwise, she adds, “people hate putting cream sunscreen on because it gets on your papers or your steering wheel.”

Gary Goldfaden, M.D., another dermatologist in sunny South Florida, emphasizes the mists’ supersmooth application. “Studies have shown that particles in spray formulas are so small that they can effectively coat the uneven surface of the epidermis better than creams,” explains Goldfaden, who recommends topping off every hour in direct sunlight; look for non-aerosols for the environment’s sake, he notes. Given that the proper dose of a mist can be hard to gauge, Kaufman suggests sticking with your first line of defense and treating these as midday refreshers—and with many produced in handbag-friendly sizes, that’s simple enough to do.

 

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Meet the New Floral Oil That Will Radically Change Your Skin

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It’s easy to be a skeptic in the beauty world, where every ingredient is prefaced by the word It and every berry called a “super.” But once in a while, something comes along that holds people’s attention for a little longer—where the blend of efficacy and sheer visual impact sets it a cut above the rest. Case in point: the startlingly aquamarine floral oil called blue tansy. Distilled from a North African flower (its nickname is Moroccan chamomile), the raw material has become a favorite among small-batch skin-care makers—and not just because it looks like it splashed out of a David Hockney pool painting.

May Lindstrom, founder of a namesake Los Angeles–based line, says the floral oil was under the radar when she first came across it in a botanical book about a decade ago, but its inflammation-taming properties piqued her interest as someone who has long battled flare-ups of eczema and dermatitis. When formulating her products, she incorporated the ingredient into her topaz-color face balm, The Blue Cocoon. Nourishing for everyday use and “medicine,” Lindstrom says, for those with sensitive skin, the balm also passes along blue tansy’s reported aromatherapeutic benefits: “What it does for the outside, it does for the inside. It’s anti-anxiety for your skin,” she says.

Julia Wills and Alex Kummerow, the couple behind Seattle’s Herbivore Botanicals, sought out “ingredients that would be balancing, anti-inflammatory, and still hydrating,” recalls Wills, who, given her combination skin, made a particularly good test subject for blue tansy. It wound up being the standout component in the line’s Lapis face oil. Blue tansy also lends its name—and soothing qualities—to the brand’s gentle resurfacing mask.

Between the season’s muggy outdoor air and drying blasts of air conditioning, blue tansy’s equilibrating effects might prove to be just what your summer skin is looking for—and when vacation is in the rearview mirror, those relaxing vibes promise to come in handy, too. Above, eight ways to incorporate the flower into your routine.

 

 

 

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Yes, Helmet Hair Can Be Chic! Stylish Riders Share Their Best Tips

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Is there any better advertisement for city cycling than watching a fashion editor speed away from a runway show on her bike, while the rest of the scrum jostles for an Uber? A clean getaway is always chic—but, when it comes to helmet hair, a clean arrival can be more elusive. As one Vogue.com writer (anonymity requested; the shame!) tells me of her risky riding, “Basically I have such flat and unfortunate hair to start that extra sweat and flattening seems like a nonstarter.” When it comes to avoiding said helmet, she’s not immune to finger-wagging: “My mom totally scolds me every time I see her.” Of course, the merits of protective headgear are indisputable, as we’ve already witnessed in wince-worthy accidents during this month’s Tour de France. To prove that style and safety need not be mutually exclusive, we’ve polled a fashionable set of helmet-abiding cyclists (and one ne plus ultra scooter devotee) for tips on arriving in one well-coiffed piece.

Which brings us to that exemplar of effortless French girl hair, Caroline de Maigret, the model and music producer who zips around Paris on her black Peugeot. Her trick for an instant refresh “is to pretend my helmet is difficult to take off, so I have to bend over,” she explains (note: her oft-photographed helmet—as much accessory as protective measure—is made by Ruby). From that upside-down stance, “I flip my hair so it doesn’t look too flat,” she adds, emphasizing her hard-and-fast rule: “Being safe is more interesting than any hairdo!”

The Citi Bike–riding publicist Celine Kaplan has even found certain advantages to the precautionary measure. Under her gold Cyclechic version, she often wears a large braid to lay the groundwork for loose waves. “My helmet acts like a salon dryer,” she reports, adding that a spritz of Christophe Robin’s rose-scented mist lends extra lift. Plus, she says, “I am really into the bed-hair look.”

Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis, Vogue’s Style Editor at Large, agrees. During her teenage years, she explains, “I did find that sometimes helmet hair, especially on freshly washed hair, can add the perfect bit of grit and sweat, and it almost looks like a deliberate textured blowout.” (She admits she may not be a poster child for helmet adherence of late, but she did just order a matte black one from Tokyobike.) Designer Lela Rose goes a step further, tying on a scarf over her hair before she straps on her helmet. “It seems to keep things in place a bit more,” says the year-round rider. And Vogue.com Photo Producer Sophia Li prefers another summer-appropriate distraction: “I bring a straw hat along for the ride and throw it in the basket of the bike,” she says of her quick swap.

Of course, it’s not squarely a women’s issue, though Vogue Senior Editors Taylor Antrim and Corey Seymour can get away with merely raking their fingers through their hair upon dismounting (the latter, who parks his bike near restaurants with large plate-glass windows, sneaks a glance in the makeshift mirrors). Of the two kinds of helmets, Seymour explains, the “dweeby, super-techie” ones let in more airflow near the scalp, while the “cooler-looking—and safer for city riding—helmets give your hair the full-on helmet press.” Not that Seymour is complaining. The last time he biked without one, a young child swerved in front of him, sending him airborne—and to the hospital for eight stitches along his scalp line. “I would have traded helmet hair for this option on any day,” he says. To which we say: Happy, and safe, trails to all.

 

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A Toast to Mocktails! 3 Pregnancy-Approved Coolers From a New York Bartender and Chic Mom-to-Be

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In moments of high stress, who among us doesn’t yearn for a stiff drink? Natasha David, co-owner of the Manhattan cocktail destination Nitecap (with Death & Co founders Alex Day and David Kaplan), knows the feeling. This week, the two-year-old bar is in the midst of a whirlwind move and reopens down the street on July 18. “It’s been super-fun to do six months pregnant,” David says with good-natured irony. “I wish I could drink a real drink!”

Leave it to the veteran bartender, who has logged time at celebrated eateries Maison Premiere, Maialino, and Mayahuel, to come to her own rescue with three summery recipes created for Vogue.com. Mocktail making comes naturally to David; she’s long made it a point to offer more than bare-bones seltzer or lemonade to mothers-to-be, so they “feel like they’re part of the party,” she explains. It helps that Nitecap has a well-stocked arsenal of alcohol-free ingredients. “We’re always using fresh, seasonal things to make syrups or infusions,” she says.

Of course, other aspects of her job have been challenging of late. “Basically, to prove that I was a badass, I really wanted to bartend until the day I popped the baby out,” David says with a laugh. However, between upset stomachs and a pinched sciatic nerve that made standing difficult, she’s temporarily retired her post behind the bar. Then there is recipe testing. “We just did an entire menu launch, and I actually came up with quite a few drinks without physically tasting them myself,” she explains, adding that the process helped her to trust her instincts with flavor. “The rumor about how you develop super-smelling when you’re pregnant is absolutely true,” she insists. “I feel like I could smell things in spirits that I’ve never smelled before.” She put that sharpened nose to work—together with tasting notes from her husband, Jeremy Oertel, another noted bartender—when finalizing the wine list.

The shift into pregnancy has left its mark on David’s natural-beauty routine, which includes Dr. Hauschka skin care, Schmidt’s deodorant (“It actually works”), and generous applications of coconut oil: “So far, no stretch marks—knock on wood!” It also informs these three recipes. Spring Fling, with a base of caffeine-free hibiscus tea, skews acidic in its flavor profile. “What really helps my morning sickness is something that’s super-citrusy,” she says, “so the idea was to create a fruity and refreshing drink, but with a lot of tartness to it.” The second, a twist on a Pimm’s Cup that she calls Garden Variety, features vitamin-rich carrot juice and fresh ginger, which “for a pregnant woman is like a miracle! It automatically makes you feel better,” she says. The last, Stop Time, is an homage to the margarita, “the one drink that I am missing most,” David confesses. Her take, with earthy cilantro and a hint of jalapeño for spice, is a worthy stand-in.

 

Summer Mocktails
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Garden Variety

Photo: Courtesy of Natasha David

 

Garden Variety

 

2 slices cucumbers
3 oz. fresh carrot juice
1.5 oz. fresh lemon juice
0.5 oz. ginger syrup

Directions
Muddle the cucumber slices at the bottom of a shaker. Add the rest of the ingredients to the shaker; add ice and shake for 10 to 15 seconds. Strain into a wineglass with crushed ice. Garnish with a cucumber slice and a fresh mint bouquet.

*Ginger syrup: 1 part fresh ginger juice to 2 parts organic cane sugar. Combine in a blender until sugar has dissolved (about 5 minutes).

 

Spring Fling

 

1 strawberry
3 oz. hibiscus tea (chilled)
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
1 oz. simple syrup
Splash seltzer

Directions
At the bottom of a shaker, lightly muddle the strawberry. Add all ingredients expect the seltzer to the shaker; add ice and shake for 10 to 15 seconds. Strain into a double rocks glass with ice and top with a splash of seltzer. Garnish with a lemon and strawberry wheel.

*Simple syrup: Equal parts organic cane sugar and water. Combine in a blender until sugar has dissolved (about 5 minutes).

 

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Stop Time

Photo: Courtesy of Natasha David

 

Stop Time

 

2 slices raw jalapeños
2 sprigs fresh cilantro
3 oz. fresh pineapple juice
2 oz. fresh lime juice
2 oz. simple syrup

Directions
At the bottom of a shaker, muddle the jalapeño and cilantro. Add the rest of the ingredients to the shaker; add ice and shake for 10 to 15 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail coupe. Garnish with a pineapple half-wheel and 3 pineapple fronds.

 

Nitecap reopens July 18 at 151 Rivington Street; nitecapnyc.com

 

 

The post A Toast to Mocktails! 3 Pregnancy-Approved Coolers From a New York Bartender and Chic Mom-to-Be appeared first on Vogue.


How a Plus-Size Model Broke the Body Mold and Started a Cult Skincare Line

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For those of us who grew up dreaming of pared-down lingerie—and resorted to snipping bows off so many frilly bras—Land of Women is a kind of quiet oasis. When the New York underwear label, founded by plus-size model Mckenzie Raley, introduced its debut six-piece collection in late 2013, the cuts offered sly takes on the classics (including a sans-underwire bra that accommodated up to a D cup), and the one-note palette was direct. “We stripped it of color so the actual women would shine through,” Raley, radiant in said black, told me over coffee last week. “Now we want to do the same thing for skin care.”

True to that spirit of understated cool, Land of Women Skin launches today with three everyday essentials: a face oil laced with musk, a moisturizing rose balm, and a cuticle oil. Packaged in low-profile (and UV-protective) black glass, the trio is designed with the traveler in mind, as seen in the oils’ easy-to-apply rollerballs. The extension into beauty made sense, “because it’s all these things that are closest to a woman,” says Raley, who credits her education in beneficial skin-care ingredients to posing for brands like H&M and Levi’s. “The cool thing about modeling is that it’s an ongoing internship. I always connected with the makeup artists because they’re so passionate and so health-conscious.”

Raley carried those lessons into her products, which began as personal experiments before she partnered with a small lab in Berkeley, California. Loaded with nourishing naturals (squalane, rose hip oil), they project the same bien dans sa peau ease that her triangle bras and high-waisted briefs do—an effortless sense of well-being that also courses through LoW’s images, with castings that cut across size and age barriers. Here, Raley speaks with Vogue.com about her passion for skin care, the enduring influence of Isabella Rossellini and Anjelica Huston, and why plus-size campaigns should leave out labels.

 

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Photo: Stas Komarovski

What does Land of Women mean to you?
I wanted to create a name that all women could relate to, and it inspires this image of a woman who is very liberated. Even saying Land of Women, it makes you want to run through a field. I look at old photos of Isabella Rossellini, Anjelica Huston in the ’70s, even Grace Kelly stripped down, and makeup—aside from editorial, of course—didn’t seem like their main focus, and neither did hyper-femininity. They wore what they wore in their own way, and that’s exactly what I wanted Land of Women to be.

What prompted the shift into beauty?
It’s a huge passion project. I love skin care, and I’ve always kind of made my own cosmetics. To me, it was most about what ingredients made my skin happiest, and then I did some alchemy of my own, figuring out what’s oil- and water-soluble.

With so many skin-care lines going 100 percent natural, was there any hesitation in using petrolatum in your rose balm?
There are a lot of opinions about petrolatum. The one we use is in its purest form; it’s medical grade—they use it on patients in hospitals. It’s not a scary word to me. It’s also an incredible emollient. Ultimately, this is what skin care is all about. You choose what you like, and that’s what resonated.

And then the two oils round out the collection.
They all live together. Recently I went to Colorado, and the air there is incredibly dry, and my skin was screaming for attention. I used the face oil to use as a base, and then the balm worked for those dry patches when I was skiing or sleeping. A great thing about the balm is it creates this immediate glow—even when your skin is really dull. And the cuticle oil: To have healthy hands, for any woman at any age, is really lovely.

Any other beauty essentials? You told me once that you’re a fan of SK-II sheet masks.
Oh yeah! Who isn’t? I love Laura Mercier. The oils, the tinted moisturizer—I’m obsessed. There is this lanolin egg-white soap [by Victoria Scandinavian Soap] that is the best soap I’ve ever used; I’m really loyal to that. And I really like RMS—the concealers and cheek stains. I customize so many things. I’m a big eyebrow freak with getting the shape right, and I’ve actually crushed different eye shadows so it’s the perfect shade.

As someone who seems comfortable in her own skin, did you ever have body hang-ups?
I think every woman does. Sometimes I’ll look at things in a certain way and think, I could lose five pounds. The great thing about plus-size modeling is you can be a 10 or a 14—anywhere in between is game. I’m Scandinavian; I’m built a certain way. I’m never going to be a size 6, and that’s fine! I’m stoked. I’m at a good point in my life.

Are you sensing a shift in the modeling world?
Yeah. We’ve never shot a double-zero model, and with the exception of removing one tattoo, we don’t retouch, either. We recently did an awesome shoot with girls who were, I think, size 8, 10, and 12. It’s just more relatable. It’s happier. I think the biggest way to make a statement about size is to not mention it. Don’t say plus-size shoot. Just shoot her like you would shoot anybody else!

You’re just as apt to buck age norms. I’m thinking of that gorgeous silver-haired model.
Yazemeenah Rossi. She’s incredible; she just exudes contentment. What’s missing in the lingerie market is age! It’s youth-obsessed. Granted, she’s in incredible shape. It’s important to see that this woman can also wear this bra.

Wow! Talk about empowering.
Yeah! I just want to, like, go upstate and live in Eileen Fisher and my Land of Women bra and braid my hair at night. That sounds so relaxing. [laughs] 

 

 

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Meet the New Brooklyn Perfume Shop That’s Bottling Cool

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I am three steps across the threshold at D.S. & Durga’s new atelier in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, and already David Moltz is calling out from the back room, “Do you want to come smell this rose? It just bloomed!” Following his trail through the glass doors and into the sun-drenched yard, I find the perfumer crouched over a bright pink blossom that seems to dwarf the tiny rosebush. “Lemony,” he says as I lean down for a whiff. “I think it’s named after Paul McCartney.”

Of course it is. Launched in 2008 by David (the nose) and his wife, Kavi (the designer), D.S. & Durga is known for transposing lyrical stories—often riffing on music and literature—into layered, imaginative scents. Born of the indie maker movement and initially stocked by local boutiques and concept shops, the brand has emerged as an influential player in the niche fragrance world. The namesake line is in the midst of an ultrachic rebranding, exchanging the original botanical illustrations for graphic type wrapped around cylindrical bottles. The rest of the output includes the Hylnds collection, inspired by the myths and landscapes of Scotland and Ireland; offbeat candles (one pays tribute to a diesel-fueled 1985 Mercedes); and collaborations with Linda Rodin and El Cosmico, the free-spirited hotel in Marfa, Texas.

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Photo: Courtesy of D.S. & Durga

After fielding more than a few emails from fans inquiring where to find the full lineup, the couple now has a definitive answer: on the white lacquered shelves of their first-ever showroom, where viewings this summer can be arranged by appointment. Starting in September, they’ll also hold regular Saturday hours, though visitors will still need to look for Kavi’s custom-designed neon iconography in the window, in lieu of traditional signage. Surveying D.S. & Durga’s works-in-process, as with all artist’s studios, is one of the singular appeals of the new space. “I walk around Brooklyn all the time with our kids, and we know where all the flowers are,” David explains of the neighborhood tours that have sparked a series of flower-copy perfumes yet in development. “This year I made a really realistic wisteria, and I’ll show you the honeysuckle that I’m working on,” he says, picking up a bottle with a winsome hand-drawn label. “It’s really close, but it’s slightly metallic.”

In addition to that silvery honeysuckle scent, you’ll find other experimental creations on the shelf, including one that pays homage to the “plastic-y grape” smell of cassette tapes, and another featuring fossilized amber from the Baltic Sea. If you take a liking to one, David can price it out and custom-blend a bottle. In the meantime, there are plenty of ready-to-wear scents to choose from—chief among them, the three just-launched perfumes, complete with Kavi’s striking architectural boxes. Radio Bombay, what David calls a “deconstructed sandalwood,” imagines an old tube amp that heats up and releases “little puffs of peach and coconut and musk and cedar.” Rose Atlantic is a green oceanic twist on the East Coast’s Rosa rugosa, with a nod to “Sinatra and the summer wind.” And White Peacock Lily “smells like the real crazy, spicy lily,” he says. “It took me months to go back and forth between real lilies and this and add in all the strange little notes.”

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Photo: Courtesy of D.S. & Durga / @dsanddurga

Which is why the Bed-Stuy studio, with its airy backyard, is especially promising. “We want to have as many fragrant plants as possible,” David says of his hope to build a living scent library, adding to the geranium, juniper, lavender, and velvety purple heliotrope that are already there. “We’re thinking of doing a deck and putting ivy and honeysuckle and rose climbers on it,” he adds. The two plan to use the space to host events that blend perfume and music (David is a longtime musician). Till then, the studio’s deep collection of vinyl will supply the soundtrack—and, just maybe, some fittingly eccentric olfactory inspiration.

D.S. & Durga
1192 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn.
Open by appointment and, starting in September, on Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

 

 

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The post Meet the New Brooklyn Perfume Shop That’s Bottling Cool appeared first on Vogue.

Razors Can Be Chic! Meet the New Shaving Staples That Will Upgrade Your Bathroom Game

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I have never owned a women’s razor. Even from the very beginning (a bare-bones silver Gillette Sensor Excel, circa late 1990s), my minimalist-leaning tastes led me to the men’s aisle and far, far away from anything resembling a pink plastic plaything. There was the spare Lucite-handled Pecksniff’s razor (since discontinued) that I inherited from an old boyfriend; I later made space on the shower shelf for Harry’s first-generation Winston razor, in a gleaming chrome finish. It’s not that I necessarily forsake all models thoughtfully created to suit the contours of a woman’s body. I just want one designed in the spirit of, say, Charlotte Perriand, the great 20th-century modernist partial to tubular-steel furniture and ball-bearing necklaces.

Which is why Mave, a new shaving collection spotlighted in the August issue of Vogue, is such a refreshing addition. Launched by Marisa Newman, a former gallerist who laughs that her lifelong interests have been “art and depilation,” the six-piece line elevates the basics, beginning with the custom razor—a sculptural, easy-to-grip white resin object that bears a striking resemblance to Brancusi’s marble Bird in Space. While the design celebrates form, the blade is all industry-tested function: After considerable market research, Newman manufactured her razor to fit Gillette Venus heads, which she buys in bulk and handsomely repackages in slide-top paper boxes (at no extra cost), effectively bypassing the locked cases at the drugstore. That refined sensibility extends to the rest of her ritual, which includes a chamomile-laced scrub, a body oil with soothing arnica and aloe, and a shave cream featuring a gentle coconut-derived surfactant. Of course, she, too, borrows from the boys: There’s a British-style shaving brush made with cruelty-free synthetic bristles that mimic classic badger.

Fortunately, the shaving landscape is fast evolving, and it’s increasingly feasible to assemble a handsome arsenal—for him, for her, for everyone. Here’s our guide to the new essentials, complete with an exfoliating wand for bikini season, a lemongrass-scented shave lotion, and the latest Winston razor, now with a rubberized grip for smoother sailing.

 

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The Best Face Masks and the Chic Women Who Swear By Them

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In the fast-evolving world of skin care, masks are having a golden moment. There is a steady stream of eyebrow-raising novelties out of Korea, involving rubberized textures and bubbling pearl extracts. Meanwhile, other products carry on the farm-to-table ethos, like Fresh’s new Vitamin Nectar mask, spotlighted in the August issue of Vogue. A blend of crushed oranges, lemons, and clementines, the formula has the sensory appeal of teatime marmalade but comes loaded with antioxidants, gentle alpha-hydroxy acids, and revitalizing minerals like copper and zinc.

But for those uninitiated in the art of masking, or for those looking to diversify their portfolio, it helps to have practical, real-world guidance. What’s the best summertime refresh? What to use after a long-haul flight? With that in mind, we’ve polled eight stylish and skin-savvy women for their tried-and-true rituals.

 

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5 Iced Teas With Health-Boosting Benefits—Picked by a Pair of Brooklyn Pros

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For some—barbecue enthusiasts, Southern belles, characters in John Grisham novels—there is no better cure for this languid stretch of summer than iced tea. Of course, sweet-as-pie Lipton isn’t the only route. Lately, those with a taste for ceremonial-grade matcha can find single-serve packets (by New York’s Chalait and Toronto’s Matcha Ninja) designed to be shaken into iced water. The Paris-based Kusmi Tea, a perennial model favorite, has also debuted seven blends with chilling in mind.

And then there are gems hailing from farther afield—in the case of these five picks, from the wild Jiri mountains of Korea, where “there are no highways, no bullet trains flying by,” says Stefen Ramirez, the deeply knowledgeable tea dealer at Brooklyn’s Atelier TD. This summer, he is hosting monthly tea tastings at Treatment by Lanshin, the nearby wellness studio founded by the acupuncturist and herbalist Sandra Lanshin Chiu, L.Ac. Together, they have selected a group of summer-appropriate coolers with an equal eye toward delicate flavors and inside-out benefits.

“Drinking something chilled is going to encourage the system to cool down just by the physical temperature alone,” says Chiu, who has long looked to the plant world for potent remedies. By zeroing in on the innate characteristics of a particular brew—hydrating wild pear; white lotus, which aids digestion—a glassful can offer more than refreshment, with properties that often dovetail with traditional Chinese medicine. While Ramirez’s single-origin teas (which by definition come from the Camellia sinensis or assamica plants) have antioxidant powers of their own, Chiu is especially drawn to his tisanes (herb-based varieties). “I focus a lot on treating dermatological conditions, which requires a very high-intensity herbal medicine that translates to ‘tastes disgusting,’ ” Chiu says with a laugh. “These are in line with what I prescribe medicinally, just in a lighter, more drinkable form.”

Here, the two share notes on the flavor profiles and health benefits of each tea. Because brewing temperatures and methods draw out different characteristics, Ramirez also offers suggestions for cold-brewing, chilling, or icing down your drink of choice. An afternoon on the porch is all you need.

 

 

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Meet Karen Fukuhara, Suicide Squad’s Karate-Trained Breakout Star

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Fukuhara with Suicide Squad costar Jay Hernandez

Photo: Courtesy of Karen Fukuhara / @karenfukuhara


Though Suicide Squad only hits theaters today, the buzz around the film has already reached full volume. Trailers featuring the ragtag crew of “super-villains,” including Margot Robbie’s psycho-punk Harley Quinn, have been widely shared; then there is all the talk of the real-world (if not exactly professional) ink that Robbie doled out among the tight-knit cast using the tattoo gun she got for her birthday. “Everybody was in; nobody questioned it,” says Karen Fukuhara, who plays the sword-slinging Katana, lifting up the hem of her pants to reveal a tiny scrawled SKWAD on her heel. Not that the 24-year-old California native needed a permanent reminder of the experience: This big-budget action movie also happens to be Fukuhara’s big-screen debut.

This week, during a moment of calm between the New York and London premieres, the UCLA grad looked back on her breakout audition, when her well-honed karate skills and a friend’s borrowed practice sword scored her the part without an agent. As she told Vogue.com, prepping for the character’s fast-paced stunt work called for weeks of martial arts and strength training—while getting out of comic-book mode called for just the right skin care and shampoo.

What was your childhood like?
I was born and raised in Los Angeles; I’m still there! But both my parents are from Japan, so my first language was Japanese and I grew up with Japanese values, TV, food—everything. Outside of the house, I was a normal kid.

How did the Suicide Squad audition go?
The first audition was taped, and in the email it said, “If you have a sword lying around, make sure you bring it and do a little demonstration.” I was thinking, “Who has a sword lying around?” But sure enough, I had a friend who did, and he taught me all the ropes the day before. The second meeting was with David [Ayer, the director], and I did the same thing—martial arts, sword fighting, and an acting part. Somehow I ended up here! I didn’t have an agent when I got the movie, which is crazy.

When did you get into martial arts?
I started karate in middle school when my parents wanted me to babysit my younger brother. He was a little troublemaker, so they wanted me to make sure the class was going okay. I ended up being way more into it than my brother. I did competitions; I’ve flown to Japan to compete in the worldwide championships as well. I ended at a brown striped belt but then went off to college.

So you had to get back into high gear for the role.
Yes, it had been years; I lost a lot of the right kind of muscles. David really focused on the actors doing their own stunts because he wanted to create reality, and that’s the best way to do it. So we had a month and a half of preproduction [to train]. For me, I did sword fighting, martial arts, and fitness, but all of the training worked together. I would do the right kind of weight lifting so that I could lift the sword—and sword fighting is actually a lot of core.

Who did you train with?
I did martial arts with David’s old friend Richard Mesquita. And I got to work with Guy Norris, the second unit director, and Richard Norton, the fight coordinator—they worked on Mad Max: Fury Road. They’re the best in the industry for stunt work. By the end of it, I was able to do everything except for one dive roll. We had my lovely stunt double do that one. Margot does an amazing job playing Harley Quinn. She did all those stunts in heels!

Was the training one-on-one?
No, group. We all did rehearsals and training together. The rehearsals were more about an emotional connection, sharing stories and opening up to each other. But I personally think that the physical training bonded us as well because you’re punching each other; you’re stepping over personal spaces and boundaries. Humans don’t really have that kind of interaction nowadays, especially with technology—everyone’s behind a screen.

Did you pay just as much attention to your diet?
Well, I love food and I love carbs: Pasta, rice—that’s my thing. But for the movie, a lot of your physicality comes from not only training but your diet, too. I ate a lot of quinoa, greens, chicken breast. There wasn’t a nutritionist, but we did have meals that were specifically made for us.

Given that you wear a mask, what was your hair and makeup like?
They did a whole mold of my face, so the mask fit perfectly. I did sweat a lot during all the action scenes, and it would start sliding off; sometimes we’d put tape underneath to make sure it would stay. We used Dax Wax for my hair, and then for makeup, the most important feature was her scars. She has battle scars all over her body.

What was your skin-care regimen during filming?
I actually am very hands-off on my face. I like to use oil to take everything off, and then I cleanse after. I really like products from SK-II. My go-to when I feel gunky is the Clarisonic, but I don’t do that every day.

How about that Dax Wax?
It wouldn’t come out for a week! But we did reshoots in L.A. this year, and I found out about this Moroccanoil shampoo that essentially strips away all the product. Then the next day, it was completely clean—though you do need a good conditioner after.

Now that filming is behind you, what’s your fitness routine like?
I try to go to the gym. I either go on the rower or watch a TV show on the treadmill, and then I do some weight lifting. Having a trainer changes your life, it really does. I want to get back into that groove. And I just got back to the same karate dojo that I used to do in high school. Right now, the little kids are doing way better than I am!

What do they think about you being in the movie?
You know, I didn’t tell them. I just got an email from my sensei—my instructor—and he said, “I had no idea you were in this film!” I want to keep my private life kind of away from that, but it’s impossible with a movie like Suicide Squad. It’s everywhere!

 

 

The post Meet Karen Fukuhara, Suicide Squad’s Karate-Trained Breakout Star appeared first on Vogue.

Meet Herizen Guardiola, the Fresh-Faced Disco Star of Baz Luhrmann’s The Get Down

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For a first-time actress tasked with playing an aspiring disco star in Baz Luhrmann’s The Get Down, which premieres on Netflix this Friday, Herizen Guardiola is quick to call herself a tomboy. “Right now I’m wearing a Led Zeppelin T-shirt with jeans and Adidas, and a headband,” the 20-year-old tells me. “I’m kind of like the rocker side of the ’70s.”

It’s true: If Instagram is any proof, the Miami native doesn’t exactly parade around in her character’s plunging nightclub-ready dresses, but she has a sense of unstudied, bohemian cool—coupled with free-spirited curls and incandescent skin. No doubt this was the X factor Luhrmann was looking for (along with camera-ready features and a voice that nailed Alicia Keys’s “Fallin’ ” in the audition) for his 12-episode project, which is set in the turbulent Bronx of the late 1970s. The series follows a group of ambitious teens finding their voice, whether through the beats and rhymes of nascent hip-hop or, in the case of Guardiola’s Mylene Cruz, the shimmering haze of disco.

In anticipation of a weekend spent plowing through the first six episodes (the next half will soon follow), we caught up with Guardiola to talk about her immersion into an era of dance-floor divas, her unexpected love of glitter, and the restorative power of reggae festivals.

To prepare for the role, did you give yourself a crash course in all things ’70s?
Actually, the cast and I had what we called the dojo—the place where we trained for a month before we started filming: learning the moves, the wardrobes, what happened in the ’70s. Grandmaster Flash was around a lot, helping us learn how hip-hop was made, and I had a box of books and DVDs that Baz put together for all of us. I also did a lot of research on Donna Summer, to get to know what it was like to be a disco star, because I really didn’t have much of a clue! I wanted to put into perspective what that dream must have been like for my character, Mylene.

What did you find most captivating about Donna Summer?
I’m kind of a tomboy, so I had to learn how to be graceful and really girly. She’s majestic in the way she moves and glides across the stage, and she just has this sexiness about her that I had to cultivate. I watched her documentary and a lot of her videos on YouTube. “Love to Love You Baby” was one of the songs I would play in my trailer when I was getting ready to put on a big dance number. I listened to a lot of Cher and Diana Ross as well.

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Photo: Courtesy of Netflix

Mylene comes from a strict, religious household, where disco’s glamour has no place. How does that compare to your childhood?
The way I grew up, in a way, resonates with my character. I’m half Cuban and half Jamaican; my dad’s a reggae musician and he was raised Cuban Catholic, and my mom was raised Baptist, but she’s a Buddhist and a nutritionist and yoga instructor. When I was young, I would go from living with my hippie parents to my [extended] family’s house, and I would have to put on the pearls and put my hair in a bow and dress really nice. That helped me with my character.

Did your parents have rules about makeup and hairstyles, or were they hands-off?
Yeah, it used to be something my parents would argue about. I have two younger sisters, and my dad would always say, “The girls should grow their hair and get dreadlocks,” and my mom was like, “No, let them be who they want to be.” I’m glad that I have my crazy, curly hair.

And natural hair has such a moment in the show.
All the boys, except for Jaden [Smith], I think, have their hair just picked out. It’s a lot of beautiful, natural ’fros everywhere and Latina curls. I love it. I grew up with curly hair everywhere. My dad has dreads, my mom had dreads, and my sisters and I would wear our hair wild in the jungle of my backyard in Miami.

Your character goes through a big beauty transformation, from being a pastor’s daughter to a disco queen. Did I hear that you wear a wig?
Yeah, I was wearing a wig. They did a really good job with that. Mylene is pretty clean-faced—that’s just who she is. And once she goes disco, there’s a lot of really fun, beautiful makeup that I get to wear, like glamorous lashes. You have to watch to see exactly what it is—I don’t want to ruin anything!

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Photos: Courtesy of Netflix

Your looks in the show are drawn from Halston and Diane von Furstenberg, with plunging V-necks and thigh-high slits. How did that feel?
There’s a lot of skin in Miami! I mean, I’m Latina; I have it in me. I think I worked it. Sometimes it was uncomfortable, but for the most part, it was a lot of fun.

What are your beauty essentials in real life?
Burt’s Bees on my lips. I use a lot of sparkles: I just put glitter on my face, around my eyes, on my décolletage if it’s showing. I like looking really tan, and I wear a lot of blush—sometimes I use lipstick, honestly!

You mentioned your mom is into wellness. Is that a big part of your life?
I’m a vegetarian; I eat a lot of organic food. I do a lot of stretching and yoga, and I go on hikes—anywhere that is pretty. We go to Temescal a lot when we’re in California. I just came back from a reggae festival; it’s called Reggae on the River, and we were hiking all over the hills. I feel really healthy right now!

 

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The post Meet Herizen Guardiola, the Fresh-Faced Disco Star of Baz Luhrmann’s The Get Down appeared first on Vogue.


Feeling the Heat? These 6 Sultry Scents Will Have You Embracing the Dog Days of Summer

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Warmer temperatures have a way of kicking the olfactory sense into high gear—for better (sea air, barbecues) or for worse (garbage day in Manhattan). Right now, amid the on-and-off heat waves of a sultry summer, why not embrace the sensory overload and, more than that, add your own intoxicating sillage to the mix? When the air is thick and soupy, the conventional wisdom might be to look for the freshest, lightest fragrances: the perfume equivalent of a straight-from-the-cooler LaCroix. But there’s merit to wearing a headier scent, redolent of a sunbaked beach or earthy spices or musky florals. After all, how else will you stand out in the already ripe crowd?

 

 

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The Back-to-School Beauty Checklist: Here’s Exactly What to Buy

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Photographed by Cass Bird

Who can deny the sense of satisfaction that comes with ticking off a back-to-school shopping list? The cart is full—crisp notebooks, pens of just the right thinness, a handsome protractor in smoke gray plastic—and the possibilities are endless. It’s almost enough to distract you from the waning days of summer vacation.

The trick, once the steadier rhythm of working life sets in, is to reclaim that fresh-start approach, and there’s no better place to begin than with your beauty routine. Here, you’ll find an updated take on the classic supplies, including a rainbow of colored eyeliners (perfect for multitasking à la Fendi or monochromatic cat-eyes), on-the-go makeup wipes (gym-class staples), and a sleek new water bottle by the sustainability-minded filter company, Soma. You’ll be sure to draw eyes in the cafeteria.

 

The post The Back-to-School Beauty Checklist: Here’s Exactly What to Buy appeared first on Vogue.

Supermodel Izabel Goulart’s Brazilian Beach Workout in 4 Body-Sculpting GIFs

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The athletic bodies catching the collective eye at the Olympics this month are as diverse as they come, with Simone Biles proving that explosive things come in small packages, and basketball’s Elena Delle Donne blending power and grace at 6-feet-5. Lately, those strolling along Copacabana in Rio have had yet another cause for a double take, given Izabel Goulart’s love for a beachfront workout. The Brazilian bombshell, who serves as her country’s ambassador for the Olympics, has a well-documented passion for fitness, as seen in the headstands and ab-blasting moves on her Instagram feed.

“Sport has been part of my life since [I was] very young,” Goulart says. “Growing up, I was always the tallest girl in the class, so volleyball and basketball came naturally to me.” Now as a globe-trotting model dividing her time between Rio, Paris, and New York, she finds that activity is an anchor. “I have a personal goal to work out one hour daily, no matter how busy my schedule is. Exercise just brings me a lot of focus and dedication to my everyday life.”

That dedication has been duly noted—by brands like Victoria’s Secret and Nike, not to mention the countless followers who have adopted her #BodyByIza hashtag as a personal mantra. Goulart credits the results to an ever-changing series of high-intensity workouts, which she’s happy to be testing out at home this month: “Copacabana Beach in Rio is the best place to run and exercise in all of Brazil. Just the energy in Copacabana makes you want to move.”

And so, in this season of awe-inspiring feats of athleticism, Goulart shares with Vogue her go-to exercises on her go-to stretch of sand. May these four full-body moves put a touch of Brazilian magic (and some chiseled obliques) within reach.

 

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Rotating Side Plank
Take side plank on your forearm, with your feet planted one in front of the other. With your hips stabilized at the level of your shoulders, rotate your torso to face the mat while reaching your top arm underneath your stomach. Slowly unwind back to the starting position, keeping your core engaged.

Note from Goulart: “One of my favorite exercises. We work out all the obliques, the side abs, and the core. When you do the movement with the arms back and forth, you need to be very balanced and stable.”

 

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Twisted Core Plank
Start in plank position, with your shoulders over your wrists and your hips at shoulder height. Draw the right knee toward the left shoulder, and place the foot back in starting position. Draw the left knee toward the right shoulder, and place the foot back. Repeat, alternating sides and wringing out the obliques while keeping the shoulders and core engaged.

Note from Goulart: “Try to bring your knees up to your chest, so you get maximum range of movement.”

 

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Hands-Free Power Burpee
Starting with feet shoulder-width apart on the mat, bend into a squat and then jump straight up with arms lifted; land in a squat. Step back with the right foot, lowering the right knee to the ground; drop the left knee to the ground. Step up on the mat with the right foot, then step up with the left, finishing in a squat. Repeat, jumping up and lowering the left knee first; continue alternating sides, keeping the core engaged throughout.

Note from Goulart: “It’s a really full-body exercise with some plyometrics.”

 

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Resistance-Band Glutes and Thigh Blaster
Tie or loop the resistance band around the lower calves, so there is tension when standing hip-width apart. Step sideways with the right foot to a shoulder-width and lower into a deep squat, keeping your knees over toes and your torso as upright as possible. Step the right foot back in to release the tension. Repeat on the other side, stepping out with the left.

Note from Goulart: “Working out with the bands makes you use your full body. They’re very strong, very resistant, so the whole time you have to stay focused.”

 

Videographer: Cabelo / 8588 Studio

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Louis Vuitton’s 7 Devastatingly Chic Perfumes Will Send You to Fragrance Heaven

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Louis Vuitton has a way of redefining timeless chic: Its coveted antique steamer trunks prove that luggage is anything but pedestrian, and Nicolas Ghesquière’s elbow-grazing leather gloves for fall give the classic opera length a cool punk-rock update. But the fashion house has been noticeably quiet on one front, fragrance, for nearly 90 years—though not for long. Next month, it will introduce seven extraordinary perfumes that walk the line between rarefied and wearable, with a lineup of carefully sourced ingredients (Florentine iris, Chinese magnolia oil) that echo the company’s globe-trotting history. Even the bottles, by the design star Marc Newson, are elementally on point: rounded glass bottles, pared-down stopper caps, neat black type.

At a time when the notion of a full fragrance wardrobe—one for every mood and occasion—has largely supplanted a signature scent, it’s only fitting that the debut isn’t one hero product, but rather a gang of superheroines. “One can always consider that smells are genderless and everything is unisex,” Jacques Cavallier Belletrud, the master perfumer behind the scents, explains. “That said, I had a wonderful time imagining each of these creations on a woman’s skin.”

When the collection hits Louis Vuitton boutiques on September 1, you’ll be able to do more than imagine. A test-drive of Turbulence, with its seductive hit of white florals, might transport you to Belletrud’s garden in Grasse at the height of August, when the jasmine bushes and tuberose are in full flower. Another jewel of the French fragrance capital—rose de mai—mingles with varieties from Turkey and Bulgaria in Rose des Vents. Contre Moi, laced with Tahitian vanilla, steers toward the tropics; the sensuality of skin reigns in Dans La Peau, a blend of leather notes, musks, and jasmine sambac. Mille Feux also draws on the house’s iconic leather, this time with raspberry and the osmanthus flower. And Matière Noir skews intriguingly dark (spiked with Laotian agarwood), while Apogée conveys a lightness of being, with lily of the valley as its muse. Whatever voyage you choose, it’s time to get packing.

Les Parfums launches September 1 at select Louis Vuitton boutiques; $240 for a 100ml bottle, and $350 for 200ml.

 

The post Louis Vuitton’s 7 Devastatingly Chic Perfumes Will Send You to Fragrance Heaven appeared first on Vogue.

This Tiny Tweak Is the Shakeup Your Fall Beauty Routine Needs

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When a new season sparks a desire for change, there’s an impulse to let the scissors do the talking (Jean Seberg pixie, anyone?). But a fall reboot can be just as effective with subtler means of transformation. Consider the brows: Tinted this way or that, those twin punctuation marks can suddenly bring a certain je ne sais quoi to the face. “I really like it when people can’t figure out what’s been done, but everyone’s like, ‘You look so good! Awake, alive, refreshed,’ ” Carrie Lindsey tells me at her brow-and-facial studio in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood, the sort of place where both sunlight and chic regulars stream in all day.

While the runways traffic in the avant-garde—futuristic bleached eyebrows at Givenchy’s Fall show, highlighter pink brows for Maison Margiela’s couture collection—Lindsey lets nature be her guide. “Typically when I tint, I look at the root color of your hair; that tells me if you’re warm or cool,” she explains of her custom-blended colors. (After testing dyes over the past two decades, she favors the gentle vegetable-based ones formulated with just a hint of peroxide, to aid in the depositing of pigment without any bleaching effect.) That keen eye for observation means she embraces the seasonal shifts. “In the summer I love that sun-kissed, beachy look, when the brows get a little lighter. Then I pull the brow back out in the fall,” she says of her tendency to go darker with the onset of cooler temperatures.

How is it that a subtle wash of color can make such a difference? Because, with brows, there’s often more than meets the eye. “The tint adds color to all hair that it touches, even the new growth and blonde facial fuzz we all have, making a noticeably richer and more ‘filled-in’ look,” says Kristie Streicher, who sculpts her trademarked Feathered Brow at her Beverly Hills salon, Striiike. For those experimenting with statement hair color—such as platinum, candy pink, or dove gray—Streicher welcomes a bold brow that reads “edgy and cool.” On the flipside, softening the brow color with a high-lift tint can temper an otherwise harsh look, she points out. “However, proceed with caution,” she stresses, “as the hair on the brow is not as strong and forgiving as the hair on the head. Overbleaching, -coloring and -shaping can really affect future growth.”

Back in Brooklyn, I’m perched in a high stool while Lindsey mixes a tailor-made shade of brown. “I’m going to lean toward ash on you because you have cool undertones,” she tells me, before she swipes rainbows of color atop both brows. Minutes later, she wipes off the dye and stands back to assess. “It’s super pretty—subtle,” she says. “It’s just the perfect emphasis.” She’s right. It wasn’t enough to catch a friend’s notice over wine that night, but the next morning at work my editor stopped herself mid-sentence to say, “Wow—your brows look great.” For a makeup minimalist, what more can you ask for?

Carrie Lindsey Beauty, 88 S. Portland Avenue, Brooklyn, carrielindseybeauty.com
Striiike, 9278 Civic Center Drive, Beverly Hills, striiike.com

The post This Tiny Tweak Is the Shakeup Your Fall Beauty Routine Needs appeared first on Vogue.

Serena Williams, Mónica Puig, and More Tennis Stars Share The Winning Beauty Staples They Can’t Live Without

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The hushed appeal of high-stakes tennis, on display at the U.S. Open starting next week, reverberates far beyond the court’s crisp white lines and deep into living rooms, where HD televisions transmit every furrowed brow, every sigh of relief—and every flash of cherry-red nail polish. Sure, to some, the notion of an on-court beauty regimen might seem at odds with the pursuit of raw athleticism. But in an age where self-presentation is itself a nonstop sport, it’s hardly a surprise that the tennis greats swear by a handful of essentials that not only wick away sweat and protect against sun damage, but also, say, perk up lashes. After all, with pro apparel taking an increasingly fashion-forward bent, those court-tested beauty products are just another part of a work-appropriate wardrobe—albeit one for a particularly hard-hitting career. Here, five celebrated players, all fresh off the Rio Olympics and bound for New York’s Arthur Ashe Stadium, share their on-court favorites.

Serena Williams
The powerhouse American (and 2012 and 2015 Vogue cover star) ranks number one in women’s tennis.

Her picks: OPI nail polish in Pink-ing of You and Big Apple Red, along with Milani black eyeliner and Cover Girl waterproof mascara. “Playing tennis is hard because you sweat and move so much,” Williams says, “and this eyeliner and mascara don’t!”

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Cover Girl Lashblast Volume Waterproof Mascara, $8 covergirl.com

Photo: Courtesy of Cover Girl

 

Mónica Puig
At this year’s Olympics, she became the first woman to win a gold medal for Puerto Rico.

Her picks: On-theme nail art (as Puig sported in Rio—“It brought me good luck!”), along with a rotating lineup of Ellesse headbands. “I play with [one of these] at all times. It feels so comfortable and keeps my hair in place, and I also think it looks good on top of that!” she says.

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Ellesse headband, For information: ellesse.com

Photo: Courtesy of Ellesse

 

Madison Keys
She’s the first American player to crack the women’s top 10 rankings since Serena Williams did it in 1999.

Her pick: Neutrogena oil-free sunscreen. “I use SPF 50 to keep my face protected from sun damage,” says Keys. “I like this product because it feels weightless on my skin and stays put even when I am sweating.”

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Neutrogena CoolDry Sport Sunscreen Lotion Broad Spectrum SPF 50, $10, neutrogena.com

Photo: Courtesy of Neutrogena

 

Petra Kvitova
The Czech native took home the bronze medal in Rio this summer.

Her picks: Essie nail polish in a bright shade that matches the day’s Nike ensemble, along with La Roche-Posay sunscreen. “I never go without it,” she says. “We spend all year playing under the bright sun, so it’s really important to protect my face with a great product that stays in place.”

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La Roche-Posay Anthelios 60 Ultra-Light Sunscreen Fluid, $30 laroche-posay.us

Photo: Courtesy of La Roche-Posay

 

Kristina Mladenovic
The French player won the doubles tournament alongside Caroline Garcia at this year’s French Open.

Her picks: A sturdy ponytail or braid (“Comfortable to play with”) and Avène Hydrance, a lightweight cream. “I hardly wear any makeup on court—maybe a little mascara from Chanel from time to time,” she says.

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Chanel Inimitable Waterproof Mascara, $32, chanel.com

Photo: Courtesy of Chanel

 

 

The post Serena Williams, Mónica Puig, and More Tennis Stars Share The Winning Beauty Staples They Can’t Live Without appeared first on Vogue.

The Bay Area’s Best Hidden Beauty Discoveries, From Panoramic Hikes to Natural Skin Salves

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For tourists accustomed to the concrete people-movers known as Manhattan sidewalks, a trip to San Francisco can have an invigorating effect. Ski-slope hills turn a Philz Coffee run into a hamstring-blasting workout, with panoramic views as a reward. Then there are the fog-clad mornings that melt into afternoon sun, luring the masses to Dolores Park. You can find small-batch skin care at a growing number of smartly curated boutiques, and a world of hikes, beaches, and campsites lies just outside—and often within—the Bay Area’s limits.

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Photo: Courtesy of Courtney Klein / @courtklein_

 All the more reason to let a local guide the way. For that, we called upon Courtney Klein, the founder of Storq, a line of versatile, modern maternity wear, who lives in the Mission with her husband, Zach, and their two young children. For the tech-minded couple (Zach runs DIY, an imaginative, skills-focused online hub for kids), that balance of urban life and outdoor escape is key. During a decade-long stretch in New York City, the Kleins came across a parcel of wooded land upstate where, together with friends, they helped foster a build-it-yourself community of cabins and treehouses called Beaver Brook—an endeavor that sparked an Instagram of dreamy reference images (@cabinporn), a book of the same name, and the couple’s eventual move West.

Given her split-screen love of city living and the outdoors, Courtney’s beauty guide to the Bay Area features the best of both worlds, including the neighborhood salon that gave her goddess-like platinum tresses in the midst of her second pregnancy (a controversial move, she notes, though her ob-gyn gave the thumbs-up). “It was a real self-esteem boost,” she says. “Everyone was like, ‘You’re Khaleesi!’ ”

Here, Klein’s list of the best beauty, health, and fitness destinations in and around her adopted city.

Population Salon, where Courtney went platinum: “They’re amazing. I go every six to eight weeks. I’ve been joking that I’ve saved all the money over the last ten years, trimming my hair at home and not dyeing it. I went to get a touch up three days before my son was born. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it!”

Fort Funston: “It’s the world’s most beautiful dog park. You have to take a hundred or so steps down to the beach, and my daughter and I practice counting down every step. But trying to make it up those stairs while pregnant, it was like my husband had to stand behind me and push me up! We spend a lot of time there, just having the dog run around, the kid run around. It’s the perfect place to get out everybody’s energy.”

International Orange for massages: “They are great, and they have a beautiful little sunroom. I let myself be pampered during pregnancy in a way that, in my regular life, I’m like, ‘No.’ During pregnancy, I think, ‘I need a massage every month!’ ”

Kristina Holey: “She’s an amazing facialist, although I haven’t been to see her yet—it’s at the top of my to-do list! A friend of mine who is a hairstylist in New York was like, ‘Kristina Holey is moving to the Bay Area. You have to get on this.’ Someday—that’s a definite.”

Marin Headlands: “We have a Thanksgiving tradition with our family where we make leftover turkey sandwiches, pack them in a backpack, and hike the Miwok Trail, which overlooks the whole bay. Then we’ll cut over to the coastal trail and hike down to Rodeo Beach; coincidentally during the Vietnam War my dad was stationed there, so it’s always a fun bit of history to chat about San Francisco in the ’60s.”

Aesop, Veer & Wander, and General Store: “Aesop you know; Veer & Wander carries a lot of natural makeup and natural brands. And General Store, I really love their assortment of beauty stuff, and it’s a beautiful place. Serena, who runs the store, does a really great job.”

Rainbow Grocery Cooperative: “This place was like a revelation when I moved here from New York. It’s a vegetarian grocery store, but the thing that’s crazy is they have an amazing bulk section for normal things, as well as beauty. You can go and get a giant bottle of conditioner and put it in a pretty bottle at your house. I sometimes stock up there.”

Kirby Cove Camp: “This campground is pretty competitive to rent, but a friend introduced me to this brilliant idea where she immediately goes for weekdays. The first time we went, we pitched a tent, had our dinner there, hung out all night, and then the next morning it’s only a ten-minute commute into the city. You’re almost literally under the Golden Gate Bridge, sleeping in the wilderness right next to this beautiful private beach. It’s such a juxtaposition.”

Earth Tu Face and Fat and the Moon: “What I love about Earth Tu Face is they’re a natural beauty brand, but they’re not earthy. They have this stick that you can put on everything. On the flipside, another brand that I really love is Fat and the Moon. We used to carry her stuff at Storq when we were doing more beauty. Her deodorant is amazing. It’s the only natural one I’ve ever found that just works.”

Jane Austin at the Yoga Tree: “I majored in dance in college, and once I stopped dancing I needed something that would activate my body in a similar way. Yoga has always been that for me. In San Francisco when you’re pregnant, everyone makes a pilgrimage to Jane Austin at the Yoga Tree, on Valencia. She’s like a cult celebrity. The first time I walked in, there were 35 pregnant ladies in one room, and I was like, ‘Nope, this isn’t for me’—but then you end up getting sucked in. I went three days a week during my first pregnancy. Pass it on!”

 

The post The Bay Area’s Best Hidden Beauty Discoveries, From Panoramic Hikes to Natural Skin Salves appeared first on Vogue.


Are You Feeling Fresh Skin or a Fluoro-Pop Lip? Here’s Why You Need Both for Fall

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Photographed by Kevin Tachman

Who isn’t a woman on the go these days? No matter if you are mother, student, hustling freelancer, or presidential candidate, the day often unfolds from one thing to the next with time for little more than a pit stop refresh—which is why we did a double take backstage this morning at Jason Wu, where a pair of scaled-back, universally flattering makeup looks offered twin roadmaps for a new day-to-night beauty strategy.

The first—an understated taupe eye, set against dewy skin—called for some creative liberties with Maybelline’s Brow Drama Pomade Crayon, which makeup artist Yadim melted into the upper lids and under the lower lashes before rimming the waterlines in pale beige pencil and applying highlighter at the inner corners. “It’s a good hangover look!” model Tilda Lindstam joked, her subtly smudged eyes flashing. “I just imagine summer: hot nights with a cool, greasy [lid],” said Yadim of the muted sultriness. Given the uptick in temperature in New York over the last couple of days, it’s not exactly a stretch of the imagination—although with its fresh-faced sheen, it was just as easy to imagine as a new, anything-but-boring, office staple.

If making a beeline from your desk to drinks is the plan once the clock strikes 6:00 p.m., Wu has another solution worth offering in the form of a fluorescent-red lip on an otherwise bare face. Backstage, Yadim created a base coat using a blend of two matte formulas (Maybelline’s Color Sensational Liquid Lip Color in Orange Shot and a lipstick in Orange Danger) and, in the final minutes before the show, dabbed electric theatrical makeup at the center of the mouth for a traffic-stopping punch. Julie Hoomans gave her thumbs up, saying, “A red lip elevates a whole look; it makes it instantly cool.” It’s also the closest thing to a magic makeup bullet that will fit in your clutch this fall.

 

The post Are You Feeling Fresh Skin or a Fluoro-Pop Lip? Here’s Why You Need Both for Fall appeared first on Vogue.

Would You Wear a Mushroom-Powered Burial Suit? A Vogue Writer Takes the Plunge

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I am dressed as if for a funeral, or for New York: black, calf-grazing Yohji Yamamoto dress, white Jil Sander lace-ups. As I make my way to the Ace Hotel in Manhattan earlier this week, thoughts of death float through my mind like a beach ball in a crowded stadium—more free association than doom and gloom—and for good reason. I’m about to try on the last thing one might ever wear: a two-piece burial ensemble embedded with mushrooms.

If you’re one of the 1.3 million viewers who has watched Jae Rhim Lee’s 2011 TED Talk on her innovative death suit, you know where this is going. Lee, an indefatigably curious, MIT-educated artist and entrepreneur, stepped onto that stage in an early prototype (black sturdy fabric, with white dendritic embroidery) and shared her proposal to disrupt the funeral business. There are some 200 environmental toxins coursing through the average body, she explained, citing the Centers for Disease Control; cremation releases them into the atmosphere, while traditional burial employs carcinogenic formaldehyde and other chemicals for preservation. She presented her ecologically sound alternative—those mushrooms—but pre-emptively gave voice to squeamish dissenters: “We want to eat, not to be eaten, by our food, right?”

Five years later, with farm-to-table a well-worn buzzword and household composting hitting the mainstream, we just might be ready to consider, shall we say, a table-to-farm approach, where those hardworking organisms—which release enzymes to quell toxins or aid in binding heavy metals, along with being master decomposers—quietly return us to the earth. This spring, Lee’s company, Coeio (the name riffs on a Latin word meaning “assemble, or come together”), officially launched the Infinity Burial Suit to the public, and this month the Ace is hosting an exhibition in honor of New York Fashion Week.

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Photo: Courtesy of Laura Regensdorf

To be sure, it’s an unconventional entry into a designer-driven lineup, including Tom Ford’s glittering presentation on Wednesday at the dearly departed Four Seasons Restaurant. But when we spend so much time, so much money, determining what to wear for milestone life events—the one-day-only wedding dress comes to mind—why is it that we often overlook the final and most enduring among them? Subject avoidance is one reason. “Death is the last frontier; it’s the last taboo of the environmental movement,” explains Lee, who found the convergence of art and fashion to be a means of provocation. In that arena, she tells me, “There’s just more openness and acceptance, more, ‘Hey, I get why you’re doing this because you’re trying to create dialogue.’ ”

Lee has done just that: The buzz around Coeio is growing, with next-level fund-raising on the horizon. She envisions building out a range of styles with future designer collaborations, but the version I slip off the hanger at the Ace is surprisingly like her TED Talk prototype: The white stitching echoes the original rootlike motif, while the optimized design by Daniel Silverstein features streamlined flaps and side-seam buttons for easier fastening. (The wearer typically isn’t wriggling into the pants and jacket, as I am.) Lee, who goes by JR, peels back the face flap like a beret and steps back, exclaiming, “It’s amazing! This actually fits you really well, the sleeve length and everything.” And, indeed, I’m oddly at home in the suit, comfortable in the nostalgia-inducing way that it calls to mind footed pajamas and woolen mittens. (Perhaps the end of life is like a return to childhood.) I feel a beanbag-like clump in my left hand. “Wildflower seeds,” says Lee, “and there’s a kind of mushroom that delivers nutrients to plant roots.”

Later that evening, I return to the Ace lobby to see the burial suit animated, as it were, during the first-ever public demonstration. A crowd of spectators, hotel guests, and taxidermy animals looks on as Lee—accessorized with a white coat, white high-tops, and red lipstick—solemnly fastens the suit around a prone performer. A few feet away, the Sora Quartet plays excerpts from John Cage’s String Quartet in Four Parts (once the president of the New York Mycological Society, he might have approved of the Infinity Burial Project); the loud tinkling of wineglasses seems Cageian as well. As the performer, suit buttoned and face obscured, is guided toward the exit, I catch part of a recording of the composer’s voice: “If anybody is sleepy, let him go to sleep.”

 

The post Would You Wear a Mushroom-Powered Burial Suit? A Vogue Writer Takes the Plunge appeared first on Vogue.

How to Work a Flat Iron Like Victoria Beckham—Lessons in Straight Hair From the Designer’s Show

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Backstage at Victoria Beckham this morning, a tightly choreographed troupe of models, photographers, and crew threaded through the narrow corridors of the Cunard Building near Wall Street, careful to steer clear of the flat irons in hairstylists’ hands. That’s right: At a time when natural texture reigns supreme, with all manner of coils, kinks, and air-dried waves on the runway and streets, that once-prized hot tool is back in action. The pin-straight heads of hair in the meticulous care of Guido Palau and his team read like a real-world hyperlink to the early aughts, though here, as Palau cheekily put it, the effect was “high-maintenance simplicity.”

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Photo: Courtesy of KCD / @kcdworldwide

So very Victoria Beckham, whose understated, head-to-toe polish has accompanied her rise into the fashion stratosphere. As for achieving that gleam of perfection, Palau stressed the importance of a well-chosen arsenal: an efficient blow-dryer paired with a heat-protectant primer (he likes Redken’s Pillow Proof), along with a powerful, lightweight flat iron (GHD’s Platinum Styler—“super-beautiful-looking as well as doing a great job,” said Palau, though he might as well have been talking about Beckham). Clean center parts kept the focus on those “very minimal, very chic” lengths—and on the designer’s crushed-velvet separates in petal-color pastels.

Things loosened up north of the neck, where makeup legend Pat McGrath opted for an “abstract, freeform use of color,” finger-painting peacock-blue streaks across the lids of a half-dozen models and drawing a crisp green cat-eye on a few more; still others bore just a whisper of nude eyeshadows to enhance the natural contours. The trio of looks—veering from weekday-staple to party-central—fit right into the show-now-buy-now ethos of this season’s collections: McGrath pulled those eyeshadows straight from Beckham’s much-anticipated cosmetics collection for Estée Lauder, which debuts on Bergdorf Goodman’s website this Tuesday.

Victoria Beckham Spring 2017 Ready-to-Wear:

The post How to Work a Flat Iron Like Victoria Beckham—Lessons in Straight Hair From the Designer’s Show appeared first on Vogue.

Chloë Grace Moretz—The New Face of Coach Fragrance—Reveals the Secrets of Her Beauty Routine

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One look at Chloë Grace Moretz—dressed in navy sailor pants and a lace-trimmed plaid blouse that marries Western panache and ladylike polish—and it’s clear why Coach creative director Stuart Vevers tapped her as the face of the fashion house two years ago. The Los Angeles–based actress exudes a sense of unfettered confidence that pegs her beyond a precocious 19, which makes her a fitting ambassador for the brand’s elevated romp through youth culture. As Vevers once put it, “The French have chic; Americans have cool,” and now Moretz is lending her down-to-earth star power to another pillar of the 75-year-old company: a new perfume launching this month. “The work I’ve done at Coach, it’s not about being weighted down by old codes of luxury; it’s about looking at what the next generation cares about,” explains Vevers. “I think Chloë represents that in many ways—this idea of freedom and ease.”

It might be Moretz’s first time fronting a fragrance—the campaign, photographed by Steven Meisel, captures her on a road trip at magic hour—but her passion for beauty is a long time in the making. “My brother, Trevor, started me on under-eye cream at 10 years old!” the actress recalls with a laugh. “It was La Mer, of course. Ever since then I have been obsessed with skin care.” Now, she’s as quick to gush about her holistic facialist (“RPK, at Dr. Lancer’s office—she’s my girl”) or her go-to colorist (Lorri Goddard) as she is to defend her hands-off approach to brows. Here, Moretz chats with Vogue.com about her fearless philosophy when it comes to fragrance cocktailing, her love of drugstore makeup, and her unusual choice of face wash.

What is your personal approach to perfume—are you a fragrance faithful?
No! I jump around a lot. Fragrance has been a really big deal in my life for years. My mom wore Gucci Rush all the time. Samsara [by Guerlain] is my grandmother’s smell. And [Viktor & Rolf’s] Flowerbomb was my first real scent. At 16, I went to Byredo and did Gypsy Water and later Bal d’Afrique. Then I moved to Le Labo, with Santal [33] and Thé Noir [29]. Even now, I mix different scents using essential oils.

Do you custom-blend notes with the Coach fragrance, too?
Yeah! This one mixes really well because it has undertones of musk and sandalwood, but also the raspberry leaf and Turkish rose give you a springtime flavor. It really feels like the modern-day young woman. There’s a leather kind of feel as well as this fruity femininity, which I think is actually a revelation right now. We are all learning to be powerful CEOs, but we don’t have to be aggressive and hard just to be successful.

Are you as invested in your skin care?
I am so obsessed. My friends always come to me for beauty tips in terms of healthy skin. I use like 12 different creams!

Any highlights?
It’s a long list! First, I wash my skin with olive oil—straight-up olive oil. You rub it on your face until it all comes off clear. Next come the sensitive polish and the sensitive wash by Dr. Lancer. I use these Babor yellow gold essential oils, which are a dream. And Lucas’ Papaw ointment is my go-to. I cover my lips in it, and then I put it underneath my eyes. Hydration is key.

What about sunscreen, given your upbringing in California?
That was a huge thing growing up. I used to fight my brother so hard! L.A. is such a warm-weather culture, it’s hard to not be tan. Now I get why I wore sunscreen, and I am very happy with my skin.

What are your day-to-day makeup essentials?
Pat McGrath’s glow stick is amazing. I’m completely obsessed. I don’t wear any makeup anymore when I’m not working—just that little bit of shimmer. And then Chantecaille cover stick, underneath the eyes and in the nasiolabial fold. An eyebrow brush and eyebrow gel, too. That’s all you need.

And for a night out?
My go-to is a good smoky eye with a nude pink-y lip. Sometimes I’ll do a red lip, but you know I’m having a really wild night! I honestly use some of the cheapest stuff. I like Revlon color palettes, or L’Oreal. It works!

Where does fitness fit in for you?
Obviously it’s a part of my job. I enjoy being fit, but for me it’s a mental obsession. When I don’t work out, I just am literally not as happy as when I work out. I love the endorphin rush. It’s my time to myself.

What is in your repertoire?
SoulCycle for solid cardio, and then Y7, which is like hot Bikram yoga but it’s vinyasa. I like it because they play Biggie and Tupac, so it’s fun and more upbeat. And I have this Pilates instructor, Kim Carruthers, who is a total badass. She’s dope.

Is being comfortable in your own skin something that comes naturally to you as an actress? I’m thinking of the bikini scenes in Neighbors 2.
Well, I grew up in front of the camera—I’ve been acting since I was 6 years old—so I’ve never had a real issue with it. But it definitely is different when you are doing something like comedy, where you’re opening yourself up and you know it’s going to be seen by millions of people. You really just have to give in because it’s wild anyway.

Do you have any beauty vices?
Healthy eating is a big one. People don’t understand how much it actually does affect your skin. Like, I had pizza last night, and I know for a fact I am going to break out tomorrow!

I hope it was worth it! Where did you go?
Emmett’s Pizza! Everyone, go there—run! It’s on Macdougal and Houston [in New York City]. You have to get the Peggy O and the Hot Papi, on the thin crust. That’s my favorite. It will blow your mind.

 

The post Chloë Grace Moretz—The New Face of Coach Fragrance—Reveals the Secrets of Her Beauty Routine appeared first on Vogue.

Margot Robbie Belonged to a Surfer Girl Gang—And More Confessions From the Aussie Bombshell

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Margot Robbie has a way of catching you off-guard. When the actress splashed onto the scene in The Wolf of Wall Street in 2013, the awestruck masses had to reconcile the fact that this brazen blonde with a spot-on Brooklyn accent hailed, in fact, from Australia. Since then, the 26-year-old has become known for breaking the screen-star mold. For one, she takes on as much work on-camera (The Legend of Tarzan and Suicide Squad this summer alone) as off, co-running a production company with a slate of upcoming projects, including Terminal, a thriller, and a Tonya Harding biopic. (Robbie, with a reputation for fearlessly doing much of her own stunt work, already has experience in skates, having played on an amateur ice hockey team a few years back in New York.) She also straddles the worlds of polish and rogue whimsy, seeming as comfortable exuding Grace Kelly–esque glamour on the red carpet as she is inking fellow cast members on-the-fly with her tattoo gun.

With her latest role as the face of Calvin Klein’s Deep Euphoria fragrance campaign, she also brings a layered perspective—as a woman who embodies both sensuality and free-spirited power, and as an actress for whom perfume is a very real tool for character work. Here, she speaks with Vogue.com about the scents that have accompanied her on set, her early days as part of a tribe of all-girl surfers, and her beauty favorites, from her go-to trainer in Los Angeles to a bucolic spa outside of London.

You’re calling from London. Is that still where you call home?
Yeah, I’m shooting a movie here at the moment, so it’s nice to stay put for a minute. It’s about A.A. Milne, the author of the Winnie-the-Pooh series, and I play his wife, Daphne. It’s a beautiful, beautiful film. I’m really enjoying it.

Calvin Klein has such a history with epoch-defining campaigns and fragrances. What were your earliest memories of the brand?
My earliest memories were the black-and-white photos of Kate Moss and Mark Wahlberg. I just thought it was so cool. Calvin Klein kind of made the ’90s; they have a way of making classic things seem modern. And a lot of women in my family have worn Calvin Klein [perfumes], so it’s a scent that’s been dotted throughout my childhood.

What scents take you back to your childhood in Australia? Are there iconic perfumes you wore, or was it more about the beach and sunscreen and eucalyptus?
The smell of the beach and the smell of the thunderstorm—all those kinds of things definitely make me feel at home. At my house growing up, we had lavender bushes and jasmine; I can smell a bit of jasmine and rose in this perfume, so, yeah, they’re the sort of scents that take me back to my childhood. When I was a little girl, I remember every time I’d hug my auntie or my mom, they had a certain scent. I remember thinking, “I can’t wait until I’m old enough to wear perfume, and I’ll have my scent, too.”

How does perfume fold into your daily life, on-camera or off? I know some actors incorporate scent into their character work.
I actually do—I always pick a perfume for each character I play. I try to keep it specific to that character, and only when I walk on set do I wear it. I find it extremely helpful. For the character I’m playing right now [Daphne Milne]—it’s set in the 1920s and 1930s—I found this beautiful perfume; it’s a more obscure one, not a well-known brand, but the bottle looks like it’s from the era. I asked about the scent, and the guy was like, “It smells like Greta Garbo, just swanning her way through a hotel in the 1920s.” And I was like, “That’s exactly what I’m after!” For Tarzan, when I played Jane, I wore pure rose oil because it felt delicate and earthy to suit the character. And when I played Harley [Quinn, in Suicide Squad], I picked something kind of tacky and sickly sweet, just a bit overbearing and in your face; I bought it from a strip mall in America. In the film I did before this one, Terminal, I was playing a femme fatale, this kind of dangerous, quirky, complicated woman, and as we did the shoot for the [Deep Euphoria] campaign, I was like, “Wow, this perfume is perfect for that.” So it ended up being my scent for that character.

I hear you were a total water baby growing up. Did you have a favorite beach or surf haunt?
Yeah, I did. I used to live in Currumbin Valley, which is up in the mountains, but if you go directly toward the coast you hit a surf spot called the Alley. It’s protected, so the waves are always calm and nice. We used to go every weekend and surf. It was about the time that Blue Crush came out, and that was our biggest inspiration of those years. We’d be there at the Alley every weekend, wanting to be these badass chick surfers. It was an all-girl gang.

Did that upbringing help lay the groundwork for your fearlessness with stunts?
Probably. Where I grew up in Australia, it’s super-outdoorsy. You’re always jumping off cliffs and riding motorbikes and doing that kind of stuff, so the stunt work is extremely fun for me.

As an adopted Londoner, what are your go-to beauty and health spots in the city?
Despite the fact that I’ve been here for over two years now, I’m not so up with that sort of stuff. I usually just ask my girlfriends; Cara [Delevingne] and Suki [Waterhouse] are my little black books! I recently went out to Soho Farmhouse, which is about an hour and a half outside of London, and it’s literally the most relaxing place on earth. They’ve got the Cowshed Spa out there; it was amazing. And there’s this brand, 111Skin. I recently got a facial there, and their products are incredible. My makeup artist turned me on to them.

Has London, with its signature dreary rain, imparted any beauty lessons?
It’s actually been really good for my skin to be living here. The sun is just so harsh in Australia, especially since we don’t really have the ozone layer that you get elsewhere, and I’ve noticed that my skin has totally changed. At this age—I’m 26 now—sun damage is becoming so evident, and as you start worrying about getting wrinkles and sunspots, I’m really grateful I’m on the other side of the world.

L.A. is in your future, yes? What are you most looking forward to?
Yeah, we’ll make the move later in the year. I see Andie Hecker—she is an amazing trainer. I love being able to see her in L.A., although in London there’s another amazing trainer, David Higgins. He’s an Aussie, too; he does Pilates, personal training. That’s my go-to form of exercise. In L.A. it’s so easy to eat healthy and be healthy, and there are all these bizarre methods of looking your best, which sometimes is helpful when you’re trying to get in shape; it’s also kind of nice to be removed from that sometimes. I’m looking forward to L.A.—it’s a much shorter flight to get home!

What about your tattoo prowess? Is the hobby still going strong, and have you been leaving your mark on anyone interesting lately?
I don’t know about prowess! It’s kind of like a party trick more than an actual skill. I ran out of tattoo supplies for a while, so I stopped for a little bit—which is probably the safer thing because I think we were getting a bit carried away! People forget that it’s going to be stuck on them forever, and they really do prove to be very open to the idea, which is kind of funny. I just topped up my supplies, so I’m ready to leave my mark on some new victims, I suppose [laughs]. But I do try to explain to people that I’m not actually a tattoo artist, so think long and hard!

 

The post Margot Robbie Belonged to a Surfer Girl Gang—And More Confessions From the Aussie Bombshell appeared first on Vogue.

8 Breakthrough Products That Will Overhaul Your Hair Game This Season

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Photographed by Greg Harris, Vogue, August 2016

Rebooting your hair regimen for a new season can be a whisper or a shout—look no further than the traffic-stopping dye jobs (neon orange, cotton-candy pink) stirring up a street-style frenzy. But sometimes a deft swap—be it a handsome scalp-focused shampoo or a supercharged (and super-quiet) hair dryer—can be just as revelatory on a personal level. Here is a lineup of fall launches to put on your radar, from a transformative new range for curls to a texturizing product designed for the shower, plus a cult brush that’s easy on the eyes and your strands.

The Next-Level Natural Hair Line
Who can keep their eyes off Lupita Nyong’o these days? The October Vogue cover star has left an incandescent streak on the red carpet and beyond, thanks in part to her British-born hairstylist Vernon François. This month, he has bottled up his curly-hair wisdom and launched a self-titled 13-piece range on Net-a-Porter. Aiming to address a wide mix of hair types—including tightly coiled spirals, loose waves, braids, and dreadlocks—he brings smart formulations and serious chic to the category.

 

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Vernon François Curl Command Moisture Spray, $37

Buy it now

Photo: Courtesy of net-a-porter.com

 

The Must-Have Tool
It’s not often that familiar appliances (fans, vacuums) are reimagined and reborn as cult objects, but leave it to James Dyson to extend his outside-the-box vision to the hair dryer. With 100-plus patents pending, the sleek device upends just about everything you’ve come to expect (loud whirring, bicep-straining weight, the occasional singed strand). Its suped-up, targeted airflow can be adjusted with three magnetic attachments, which stay cool to the touch thanks to built-in Heat Shield technology.

 

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Dyson Supersonic hair dryer, $400

dyson.com

Photo: Courtesy of Dyson

 

The Chic Scalp-Friendly Shampoo
Concerns of the scalp—namely the itchy, flaking phenomenon known as dandruff—aren’t usually discussed in the same breath as, say, the latest destination salon in Paris, but then again Christophe Robin has a way of surprising you. This season, the sought-after colorist (Catherine Deneuve, Léa Seydoux, and Tilda Swinton are among his loyal fans) adds a new targeted shampoo to his cult-favorite line. Formulated with jujube bark extract, which calms inflammation and balances sebum production, the cleanser cuts down on dandruff and is gentle enough for daily use—plus, it looks great in the shower.

 

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Christophe Robin Purifying Shampoo, $38

Buy it now

Photo: Courtesy of Sephora

 

The Weightless Frizz-Fighting Spray
The beauty world’s love of all things oil hasn’t gone unnoticed, but when it comes to hair products, what can be supremely nourishing can also sometimes weigh down finer textures. Which is why Bumble and Bumble’s Dry Oil Finishing Spray has a counterintuitive ring: Fortified with a blend of six oils (coconut, argan, and macadamia nut among them), the formula delivers a hit of shine and tames flyaways while remaining light as air. With strands on the mend from summer’s beach days, and with radiators soon to crank on, this mist promises to have far reach.

 

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Bumble and Bumble Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil Dry Oil Finishing Spray, $34

Buy it now

Photo: Courtesy of Sephora

The Root Touch-Up Tweak
As a colorist with a burnished client list (Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez), Rita Hazan takes pride in nailing spot-on color, which usually entails a well-timed series of appointments. But for in-between moments, Hazan has a backup plan. Next month, she launches her Root Concealer Touch-up Stick, which cleverly borrows the easy-to-use format of a crayon-like chubby lipstick. It comes in three shades (ranging from dark blonde to black) and glides smoothly along the hairline, roots, and brows, delivering buildable color exactly where needed.

 

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Rita Hazan Root Concealer Temple + Brow Touch-up Stick, $25

available October at ritahazan.com

Photo: Courtesy of Rita Hazan

The Cult Brush
It seems almost absurd to speak of a comb as a status object, but somehow hairstylist Yves Durif managed to build a loyal following (full disclosure: this writer is among them) with his wide-tooth, ivory-hued resin objet. Now, he has a handsome brush to match. Crafted without glue (green-lighting it for heat-styling), it features smooth bristles that glide easily through hair, and helps stimulate circulation throughout the scalp. That it looks like it came off an Italian screen star’s vanity is an added bonus.

 

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The Yves Durif Brush, $65

Buy it now

Photo: Courtesy of violetgrey.com

The Damage Defense System
Now that we’ve finally gotten the message about sun damage, the next point of concern is the unseen aggressors, from city pollution and dust to hard water. Shu Uemura’s new Urban Moisture line, launching this month, tackles that multi-pronged issue head-on, with four hair-care products—shampoo, conditioner, mask, and serum—designed to revive overtaxed strands. The three hero ingredients at the base of the formulas include vitamin-rich moringa (said to aid in capturing pollutants), antioxidant-powered red micro-algae, and a nourishing polymer blend. Cocktailed together, it just might be the suit of armor you need before hitting the sidewalk again.

 

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Shu Uemura Art of Hair Urban Moisture Hydro-Nourishing Deep Treatment Masque, $68

Buy it now

Photo: Courtesy of Shu Uemura

 

The In-Shower Texturizing Treatment
If mornings are all about shoehorning everything in (for some, a workout and an energizing smoothie; for others, extra shut-eye and a mad-dash out the door), cutting down on your hair routine is one way to shave off precious minutes. With R+Co’s Cactus Texturizing Shampoo, the styling happens before you’ve even turned off the shower. The idea here: When beachy texture is built into the wash cycle, easy-going waves—and low-to-no-fuss intervention—follow. The product features diatomaceous earth, which adds grip while acting like a sponge for excess oil; it also feeds the scalp with vitamin-rich sunflower seed extract. Air-drying just got better.

 

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R+Co Cactus Texturizing Shampoo, $24

Buy it now

Photo: Courtesy of R+Co.

 

The post 8 Breakthrough Products That Will Overhaul Your Hair Game This Season appeared first on Vogue.

Why Sound Bathing Is Your New Shortcut to Zen—And Where to Try It This Month

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Meditation. We’ve read the studies, heard the testimonials, downloaded the apps, and studied the serene, incandescent faces of its devoted practitioners. But for those of us married to keyboards and smartphones, slipping into that mind-clearing state is easier said than done.

Which is why a first foray into the world of sound bathing resonates all the more. Awash in the sonic landscapes of gongs, singing bowls, and tinkling chimes—at Maha Rose North, a retreat center in the Catskills, say, or the Brooklyn home of sound therapist Nate Martinez—you just might find the experience to be akin to a meditative shortcut or a blissed-out high.

Fortunately, the practice is gaining momentum in wellness circles, with sessions popping up at yoga studios and chic spas around the globe. Here, a list of sound-therapy destinations where you can tune in and chill out.

The Standard Spa, Miami Beach
South Beach’s pulsing beat takes a restorative turn inside the hotel’s serene, Nordic-style spa, where singing crystal bowls accompany a massage for a deeper sense of mind-body balance. Upcoming events include a floating full-moon meditation, complete with underwater sonic vibrations by local practitioner Sadhu Singh, as well as an evening kundalini-and-gong workshop featuring yoga poses, breath work, and a head-clearing soundtrack.

Sky Ting Yoga, New York City
When owners Chloe Kernaghan and Krissy Jones are not cranking out their own freewheeling playlists during asana practice, the downtown New York destination plays host to Nate Martinez, a gifted practitioner who leads monthly sound baths in the skylit studio. Expect a shimmering, multilayered blend of tuning forks, vocal overtones, singing bowls, and more.

Integratron, Landers, California
This white-domed resonant chamber, dating to the 1950s and located in a dusty stretch of the Mojave Desert, is a pilgrimage site for sound meditation. Private sessions with crystal singing bowls can be booked in advance (count on the experience being transporting—if not exactly to outer space, which founder George Van Tassel cited as the inspiration behind the place); visiting practitioners also hold events and retreats.

Maha Rose, Brooklyn
A hub for alternative healing in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood, Maha Rose offers a rotating mix of sound-healing experiences (workshops also take place at its Catskills-based sister retreat space, Maha Rose North). The lineup ahead includes sundown sessions with Katie Down of Mindful Music Psychotherapy, a workshop focused on singing crystal pyramids, and a breath work–focused sound bath led by the Brooklyn-based couple Jarrod Byrne Mayer and Melody Balczon.

Secret Yoga Club, London
This globe-trotting group promotes a mindfulness practice that continues off the mat and into the sonic realm. Following on the heels of a weekend-long Tuscan retreat, SYC’s next aural happening takes place in its hometown of London, where Susan Rozo will host a sound ceremony on October 5, incorporating both traditional percussive instruments (rain sticks, drums) and contemporary crystal bowls. Timed with the new moon, the session is geared toward renewal—and relaxation.

Miraval, Tucson, Arizona
Nestled in the foothills of Arizona’s Santa Catalina Mountains, this pioneering wellness resort offers no shortage of activities that bridge plein air fitness and tuned-in mental clarity. Here, in a literal twist on sound bathing, therapists play Himalayan singing bowls underwater while guests float in a warm pool, for a doubly relaxed, doubly charged experience. Dry-land versions are available, too.

Wanderlust Hollywood, Los Angeles
Serving as a permanent clubhouse for the far-flung yoga festivals of the same name, this Los Angeles studio lures in wellness devotees with flow classes featuring local DJs, as well as a rotating lineup of workshops on such topics as breath work, anatomy, and sound bathing. Keep an eye out for the aural Alchemy events led by Ambi Sitham, who often aligns her two-hour sessions with the lunar cycle, summoning untapped energies with gongs and quartz crystal bowls.

Six Senses Laamu, Maldives
Home to dreamlike over-water huts, this secluded resort in the Maldives takes an island-inflected approach to wellness, with fresh coconut-oil treatments and Balinese bodywork. Next month, visiting practitioner Khun Sommai and his Tibetan singing bowls begin a nine-week beachfront residency, which will also showcase his energy-clearing, vibration-based massage technique, Tok Sen.

Woom Center, New York City
As if living in Manhattan weren’t already sensory overload, this new studio on the Bowery aims to put vigorous yoga in literal concert with shifting sounds, visual projections, and subtly diffused scent. Once savasana arrives and the blindfolds come on, you might discern the gentle rustle of a rain stick or a tuning fork alighting on your body. For deeper immersion, there are weekly sound “journeys” that blend participants’ own vocal vibrations with a variety of instruments, including Himalayan singing bowls, bells, and chimes.

Fresh Perception, London
Best known for bringing mindfulness into the workplace, the London-based group heads to England’s verdant Lake District in November for an intimate retreat that combines meditation, yoga, and sound therapy. A Georgian-era farmhouse serves as home base for both lodging and daily sessions, after which you can chase the calm with a hike to nearby rocky beaches.

 

The post Why Sound Bathing Is Your New Shortcut to Zen—And Where to Try It This Month appeared first on Vogue.


This Dreamy Collaboration Just Became Fall’s Most Photogenic Makeup Collection

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Things are not always what they seem with the French photographer Sarah Moon. An elegant whisper of a woman in her mid-70s, she gives off a quiet intensity, seemingly mirrored in the strand of stark metallic beads fastened around her neck. “Flea market!” she explains with easygoing warmth. “They’re good, and they’re light!” Such juxtapositions—of fragility and strength, distance and approachability, the everyday and the sublime—are one of the beguiling characteristics of Moon’s photographs, which serve as enduring inspiration for so many in the fashion industry. After working as a model in the ’60s for the likes of Guy Bourdin and Irving Penn, Moon soon carved her own path behind the lens, creating a stream of iconic images, including Art Nouveau-inflected campaigns for the trailblazing London boutique Biba, light-dappled vignettes for Cacharel, and early Comme des Garçons work in full-force color. Next month, the photographer brings her otherworldly eye to a new project—and, even better, to packaging—with a limited-edition cosmetics collection for NARS, launching October 15.

The collaboration with makeup artist François Nars (himself a photographer) was something of a meeting of the minds, even if the two were freshly acquainted. “It was like I’ve always known him,” Moon says of their shared perfectionism and openness to unconventional iterations of beauty. That plays out in the campaign’s casting: the doe-eyed Codie Young alongside Anna Cleveland, who has an “extraordinary face—a painter’s face,” remarks Moon. With unmarred porcelain skin acting as the canvas, the models wear translucent helmets and corsets, like superheroines dressed for an Ice Age remake of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, with matte crimson lips, soft-focus smoky eyes, and oxblood nails providing the only hits of pigment.

Sarah Moon in 2010
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Sarah Moon in 2010

Photo: Ilona Suschitzky

“Color, it’s really a communicative language,” explains Moon, referring to film, though she might as well have been addressing the expressive potential of eyeshadow. “I love black and white because it gives a distance to reality and allows a lot of different lighting. Color is light itself—it dictates.” Judging from this collection, that might be a loud statement (as in the Fearless Red Moon Matte lipstick) or a soft-spoken one, achieved with the blush-nude shade of Audacious lipstick, aptly named Sarah. While you won’t find the photographer with bold-colored lips (“I love it on others,” she is quick to add), Moon had plenty of experience with self-application during her modeling years: “Very often we had to do our own makeup—you had to go around with a big [cosmetics] trunk!”

That hands-on experience proved to be a fitting entrée into a world of fashion and cosmetics campaigns, beginning with Barbara Hulanicki’s Biba. “It was really the thing,” Moon recalls of the boutique’s magnetic appeal. “We were going to London and getting Biba stuff!” The two women shared a love for silent-era screen stars, like Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo, and they played off those references by setting models’ pale complexions against moody backgrounds. Decades later, a similar notion of beauty—at once riveting and ephemeral—carries through to the NARS images. Moon often refers to her work as fiction, and she casts an eye for that narrative element on set. “When I work, ultimately, I don’t think—I react. What you’re looking for is something emotional. It’s what makes you kick,” she says of her take on the decisive moment. With cosmetics, though, real-world authenticity is just as important. “That’s what makeup is about: It has to be you, and yet it has to be daring,” she muses. Her new NARS pieces—including a three-piece touch-up kit called Non-Fiction, and a cheek and lip palette called Recurring Dare—will have you striking just the right balance between truth and fantasy.

The post This Dreamy Collaboration Just Became Fall’s Most Photogenic Makeup Collection appeared first on Vogue.

One of These 10 New Perfumes Is Your Next Signature Scent

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To everything there is a season, and for fragrance that moment is now. At a time of turnover—beachwear out! fall coats in!—it only makes sense to refresh the olfactory cloud that accompanies us into the world each day and, ever so faintly, back home again. The challenge lies in the choosing, but this shopping guide aims to crack the code. Here, we’ve zeroed in on 10 favorite scents, distilling the character of each into a composite portrait that blends travel destination, beauty icon, and runway look.

Have you been dreaming of an art-pilgrimage road trip that ropes in Walter De Maria’s The Lightning Field and Georgia O’Keeffe’s New Mexico home? Consider Loewe’s earthy sandalwood-laced scents (the first under creative director Jonathan Anderson), which are dubbed Man and Woman but invite off-label use. If your androgynous leanings skew toward the irrepressibly cool Tilda Swinton, seek out French designer Philippe Starck’s debut trio, which includes an otherworldly, can’t-put-a-finger-on-it blend for him or her, neither or both.

Not that sex appeal is verboten! Lusting after Hedi Slimane’s nightclub-ready frocks? Try Yves Saint Laurent’s Mon Paris, which sparkles with effervescent notes backed by heady jasmine and datura flower. Or skirt south to the Côte d’Azur and let sillage play matchmaker with the new No. 5 L’Eau (at once fresh and moody, much like campaign girl Lily-Rose Depp).

For those with a taste for freewheeling adventure, channel model Edie Campbell—accomplished equestrienne, fashion darling—and saddle up with Galop d’Hermès, inspired by the house’s brushed suede. And an autumn trip to the Catskills, with soon-to-change leaves and beckoning fireplaces, sounds like the right setting to test out Rag & Bone’s debut collection of fragrances, which include Encens and Cypress. Here’s to wrapping yourself up in one—like the label’s urban-cool knitwear counterparts, these are scents you’ll want to live in.

 

The post One of These 10 New Perfumes Is Your Next Signature Scent appeared first on Vogue.

Power Moves in Pantsuits: A Hillary Clinton–Inspired Flash-Mob Dance Party Takes Manhattan

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Photographed by Daniel Arnold

The rainbow of pantsuits worn by Hillary Clinton has long been the stuff of derision, then cheeky self-deprecation, and lately Instagram homage. Now you can add flash mob to the list, after 150 or so dancers, clad in the presidential candidate’s two-piece of choice, staged a pop-up performance on Sunday in Manhattan’s Union Square Park.

Choreographer-filmmaker Celia Rowlson-Hall and director Mia Lidofsky, who organized the event in less than a week, hosted the party to show solidarity for the candidate. “We’re not just out here to dance—we’re out here to say we support what this woman stands for,” explained Rowlson-Hall, wearing navy pinstripes and a The Future Is Female T-shirt. To assemble their so-called “pantsuit posse,” the pair reached out to friends and colleagues across the cultural community. Washington, D.C.–based choreographer Crishon Landers, whom Rowlson-Hall recently met on the set of Girls, came on board to cocreate the moves, and filmmaker-cinematographer Andrew Droz Palermo oversaw a crew of eight camera people for an accompanying video. As for the exuberant cast, there were principals from the Martha Graham Dance Company, members of Broadway’s Fiddler on the Roof, ballerinas, break-dancers, and even young future voters.

While Clinton is known to be partial to Ralph Lauren and Armani, these admirers’ looks had their own flair, as documented by Vogue.com’s Daniel Arnold. “We’ve cleared every Goodwill and thrift store in New York!” Lidofsky said with a laugh, adding that a network of stylists also contributed trousers and blazers. If the costumes carried a political message, so did the choreography, set to Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling.” Pantomiming the chorus, Rowlson-Hall pointed out subtle gestures linking back to broader issues like reproductive rights, equal pay, solar energy, and #BlackLivesMatter. And as the dancers stretched into arabesque, puffed their lapels, and flipped through the air (reminiscent of Kate McKinnon’s somersault as Clinton on this weekend’s Saturday Night Live), the gathering crowd was reminded of the pantsuit’s inherent practicality—whether for nonstop campaigning or a well-timed shoulder shimmy.

 

The post Power Moves in Pantsuits: A Hillary Clinton–Inspired Flash-Mob Dance Party Takes Manhattan appeared first on Vogue.

Can Bike Helmets Be Cool? Fend’s Collapsible Design Is Poised to Be a Game Changer

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When it comes to safety, often there’s a sizeable gap between knowledge and compliance—between abiding by a bike helmet, say, and going blissfully, recklessly without. Why take the chance, when, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, wearing a helmet reduces the risk of head injury by as much as 80 percent? The answer can be boiled down to three common complaints: They’re bulky, hot, and not exactly chic. That’s the short list that Manhattan couple Sujene Kong and Christian Von Heifner came up with eight months ago as they sat down for brunch just after a harrowing taxi collision that sent Von Heifner flying over his handlebars (and landing, luckily, in one piece). “We were so shocked, and we couldn’t stop thinking or talking about it: Why don’t we wear helmets?” recalls Kong, explaining that they quickly borrowed a pen and scratch paper from their server and started sketching. “It’s pretty crazy that, within the next 45 minutes, we more or less developed what we were after with Fend,” says Von Heifner.

The result of that rapid-fire brainstorm session—a novel, collapsible helmet design—launches today on Kickstarter, with plans for the first crowdfunded products to arrive late next spring. If their company, Fend, got off the ground in record time, it helps that each partner brings complementary experience to the table: Kong has logged time in the merchandising and accessories divisions at Burberry, Saint Laurent, and Jimmy Choo; Von Heifner, an industrial designer and mechanical engineer, most recently launched a health startup. “I have a 3-D printer at the house and the software to develop the engineering side of it, so we had a working prototype within a week,” he says of their nimble beginnings. They then set about refining the details, including an impact-resistant ribbed shell and a proprietary joint system that enables the helmet to fold to just a third of its size. They’ve teamed with factories in China that manufacture other well-regarded helmet brands, and Fend’s version is on target to clear both American and European regulations (final certification comes toward the end of the production cycle). While the very phrase “collapsible helmet” might have an oxymoronic ring to it, Von Heifner puts any qualms to rest: “At the end of the day, safety is number one.”

Of course, looks are a close second. Borrowing a page from the early iPhone playbook, the Fend helmet comes in black or white. “Very clean and minimal,” says Kong, pointing out the airy, breathable construction. Von Heifner also calls out a Scandinavian influence—a kinship that speaks to the region’s love for both streamlined aesthetics and bicycles. (In that spirit of commuter-friendly riding, Fend is in talks to partner with an urban rideshare program.) If it all sounds too good to be true, there is at least one hiccup: Delivery is still months away. But sturdy things come to those who wait.

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Fend helmet, $120
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Photo: Courtesy of Fend

 

The post Can Bike Helmets Be Cool? Fend’s Collapsible Design Is Poised to Be a Game Changer appeared first on Vogue.

This Weekend’s 3 Must-See Art Exhibitions—And the Beauty Looks to Match

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Agnes Martin, the influential painter who quietly carved out a place among the Minimalist and Abstract Expressionist artists of her generation, remains front of mind for many visually minded people a dozen years after her death. Her striped canvases in washed-out pastels and graphite dot the Instagram feeds and inspiration boards of countless fashion labels (The Row, Land of Women), and today COS debuts a 12-piece, limited-edition homage to the painter, timed with the opening of her long-awaited retrospective at New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. But there’s another way to bask in those hazy, transcendent hues—say, with a swipe of NARS Cosmetics’s new Rigel eyeshadow (itself a composition of stripes). Set against bare, fresh skin, it’s the sort of whispered statement that invites further reflection, not to mention a trip uptown to Martin’s show.

Consider that just the start to your art-minded itinerary this weekend. Color stories ripe for the borrowing also turn up at two other standout shows devoted to female abstract painters. Downtown at the Whitney, the rigorously spare canvases of the Cuban-born Carmen Herrera—still regularly working in her studio at 101—might spark a newfound appreciation for crisp, modern cat-eyes. As she once said, “I believe that I will always be in awe of the straight line. Its beauty is what keeps me painting.” While acrylic is her medium of choice, yours might be the Sketch Marker liquid liners by Too Faced, available in a rainbow of shades including a green seemingly plucked from Herrera’s Blanco y Verde series.

Meanwhile, the Studio Museum in Harlem pays tribute to the late Alma Thomas, a trailblazing African-American artist who used paint with the expressive precision of a mosaicist. Her saturated palette—evoking cherry blossoms, scarlet azaleas, and the night sky—sets the stage for a bold lip to match, and Dior’s Rouge Dior collection delivers. Along with rich plums, corals, and reds, there’s an inky blue for those who dare to color outside the norm.

 

The post This Weekend’s 3 Must-See Art Exhibitions—And the Beauty Looks to Match appeared first on Vogue.

Why #DebateMasking Tonight Is the Solution to Your Election-Induced Expression Lines

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Tonight, televisions in living rooms and sports bars, radios in taxis and 18-wheelers, and live-streams on laptops and phones will all be tuned to the most riveting reality show in the country, by which we mean the second presidential debate. It will undoubtedly be a trying experience for many. The first time around, on September 26, some viewers turned to drinking games and others to silent meditation—or at least a mute-button version of it, testing the longstanding theory that you can judge the outcome through body language alone. This evening, we propose a different coping strategy, one that promises to ease hyperactive expression lines, calm stress-induced inflammation, and counteract free radicals (if not the one on-screen).

We’re talking, of course, about face masks. The goal is to encourage relaxation—but the skin-saving benefits only start there. Verso’s aptly named Intense mask (as we all know the debate will be) aims to promote collagen production and even skin tone, thanks to a retinol-boosted hydrogel. The new small-batch natural brand, OY-L—whose name might coincidentally be muttered throughout the evening—has just launched an Exfoliating mask fortified with healing manuka honey and hemp-seed oil. For those who prefer their bees by way of upstate New York, Farmacy has just launched a version that melts into a creamy, calming consistency and harnesses the antioxidant powers of supercharged echinacea.

Looking for a multitasking product with a reach-across-the-aisle sensibility? Odacité’s Synergie offers a quartet of benefits, including cleared pores (clays, activated charcoal) and renewed radiance (papaya enzymes, fruit acids). And Dr. Dennis Gross’s innovative Modeling mask—a blend-it-yourself formula with a rubbery texture and bright aqua color—not only delivers deep hydration via a combination of hyaluronic acid and marine algae, it also promises to put at least some viewers in a blue state of mind.

 

 

 

The post Why #DebateMasking Tonight Is the Solution to Your Election-Induced Expression Lines appeared first on Vogue.

This New British Perfume Collection Delivers Downton Abbey–Esque Intrigue

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Fragrance campaigns often spin a make-believe narrative—two models caught in a budding romance, say, or a sly nod to postcoital languor. But Penhaligon’s new Portraits collection lays out a very different sort of olfactory fiction, one that seems to draw on the Jane Austen canon and Downton Abbey, with a dash of the cult-classic murder mystery Clue thrown in.

This is a family of perfumes in the most literal sense: Each of the four scents plays the role (and takes the name) of a colorful personage in an aristocratic household. The Tragedy of Lord George tells of a patriarch confident in lineage, if aloof in marriage—a combination that translates to a woodsy mix laced with brandy, tonka bean, and shaving soap. Next comes The Revenge of Lady Blanche: While she carries a certain refinement and nobility—expressed in a lilting green floral, pairing narcissus and hyacinth—that outward finesse conceals an inner fire. The Coveted Duchess Rose, their just-wed daughter, has a scent to match her blossoming state of being, with musk and mandarin lending weight to her namesake flower. Rounding out the quartet is Much Ado About the Duke, a rich rose bouquet warmed up with leathery, peppery undertones, evoking the theater-loving dandy she (somewhat reluctantly) calls her husband.

If all that elaborate characterization adds up to more than the typical litany of fragrance notes, it follows that the packaging doubles down on personality, too. Each bottle comes topped with a gilded head—stag and panther for Lord and Lady; hound and fox for Duke and Duchess—which collectively nods to hunting-lodge taxidermy and royal menageries. And if those spirit animals and the gendered backstories seem too prescriptive, rest assured that the blends inside are subject to creative interpretation. After all, the next chapter in this winding tale is yours to write.

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Penhaligon’s Portraits Collection, $240 each
penhaligons.com

Photo: Courtesy of Penhaligon's

 

The post This New British Perfume Collection Delivers Downton Abbey–Esque Intrigue appeared first on Vogue.


Meet the Actress Behind the Pink-Haired, Goth Makeup–Wearing Nun in Little Sister

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Addison Timlin’s character arc in her new film, Little Sister, can be summed up in a single gesture: when she rights the upside down cross in her goth teenage bedroom to reflect her newfound reality as a pious nun-to-be. But there’s another shorthand indication of that about-face: the Manic Panic and black lipstick she pulls out of a dresser drawer.

“Colleen is really an anomaly, having two such contrasting personalities,” says Timlin of her role in director Zach Clark’s wry and intimate movie. We first meet Colleen—an escapee from dysfunctional family life finding solace in a convent—as she’s summoned home at a time of crisis. Her older brother has returned from combat, disfigured from the neck up, largely silent but for percussive tirades on the drums. It takes a retrograde makeover—highlighter-pink hair and Marilyn Manson–esque makeup—for his sister to break through. “That rescue mission she goes on to bring him out of his shell is so lovely,” Timlin recalls of the pivotal scene involving Gwar blaring from a boom box and a bowlful of red Jell-O. (That her mother is played by Ally Sheedy, who famously underwent her own makeover in The Breakfast Club, couldn’t be more perfect. “She’s so wild at heart and so open and so intuitive—she’s just such a badass!” says Timlin.)

The power of a bold hair transformation is not lost on Timlin, who went candy-apple red at age 9 for the national tour of Annie and has been experimenting along the spectrum ever since. With that in mind, we caught up with the actress, currently shooting her next film, When I’m a Moth, in Vancouver, to talk about the ultimate makeup wipes, her devotion to L.A.’s underground dance scene, and whether her Little Sister character might spark Halloween ideas: “It would be nothing short of an honor!”

 

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Photo: Courtesy of Addison Timlin / @addison.timlin

Little Sister opens with you in a convent, the picture of piety. What was it like to inhabit that restrained styling?
I’m a very small person, 5 feet tall, so I felt kind of drowned in everything: button-down shirts and cardigans and long skirts down to the floor. I liked having that tool as an actor—even though I was so covered up, it made me feel really vulnerable and out of place.

Back at home, everyone is surprised to see you without your goth persona, but it’s your brother’s line—“You look different”—that resonates most.
I love that line so much because it feels like a cheeky wink to the whole thing, and it’s heartbreaking at the same time. That is a big part of the film: what you present as your exterior self versus who you really are, and how that evolves over time. For her, going back into this goth makeup and the pink hair is not dishonest. I think she honors the truth of who she once was, and then there’s the sheer joy she finds in realizing that she can be both.

It’s rare to see the pivotal scene in a film driven by hair and makeup.
Hair and makeup and interpretative dance! The only things that were really in [the script] were the baby dolls and the Jell-O, and then I was free to do whatever I wanted. Dancing is my favorite recreational activity, but I kind of wished that I’d had a choreographed dance so that I didn’t have to be like, “This is me!” But it was so fun to be that silly and childlike.

Your goth makeup is full-on.
It’s a really harsh look, that white-out face with the black eyes and black lips. But I never, ever complained, because Keith [Poulson, who plays her brother] was going through three hours of makeup every single day!

Any secrets to getting it all off?
Just a lot of cotton balls and lotion and those Neutrogena face wipes. They are so great. I hope they send me a lifetime supply! [laughs]

Was that Manic Panic pink hair yours?
It’s a wig. I really wanted to Manic Panic my hair, but because the narrative jumps so much, there was no way for us to cohesively piece that together, unless we shot all the pink scenes and then all the dark scenes. But it was fun to be able to put on different wigs and know where Colleen was [mentally], what state she was in.

Hair color changes aren’t new to you: You went bright red at age 9 for Annie. How did you react to that?
I was thrilled. I took my job very seriously as a child, which is a hilarious sentence. I’ll never forget it. My hair was so red that if you shined a light on it, it looked purple, and I remember walking out of the salon and being like, “Oh yeah, I am Annie.” I wore it as a badge of honor.

Are you experimental these days with color?
I still am. That’s the really cool part about what I do: Every character will be imagined as some sort of look. I did a movie last year in which I had super-short cropped bleached hair; then Little Sister, with a muted brown color; then it was Winona-’90s black hair; and now for this one it’s really long and dirty blonde—I have this gross weave [laughs], but it’s cool. I think I have a certain face or skin tone that can take all these different colors.

Do you have a go-to colorist?
The Meche hair salon [in Los Angeles]. Tracey Cunningham; she’s the best.

You mentioned your love of dancing. Do you take classes in L.A.?
I don’t go to studio classes anymore like when I was a kid; I like Modo Yoga, and I go on hikes with my friends a lot, which is the best. But I have a collection of these really obscure and weird dance nights that I go to like three or four times a week, oftentimes by myself. L.A. is a great city to go dancing. There’s a reggae night that I live for, and there’s this place in Chinatown that I go to like church. Sometimes it’s post-punk ’80s/’90s music, and it’s so magical.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

 

The post Meet the Actress Behind the Pink-Haired, Goth Makeup–Wearing Nun in Little Sister appeared first on Vogue.

Meet the Workout-Savvy Sisters Behind New York’s Most Stylish Dumpling Shops

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Hannah and Marian Cheng
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Hannah and Marian Cheng.

Photo: Nicole Franzen

“Are you full? There are still more dumplings,” Hannah Cheng says encouragingly as I’m nearing the end of my bento box lunch at the new Nolita location of Mimi Cheng’s Dumplings, which opens today. It seems only fitting that she and her younger sister, Marian, also seated around one of the seafoam-blue tables, would treat dumplings as a currency for hospitality. After all, when they opened their original East Village café two years ago, then escapees from the worlds of finance (Hannah) and fashion (Marian), the Taiwanese-style recipes on the menu were none other than their mother’s. During college, the Cheng parents dutifully stocked each daughter’s freezer with dumplings and secret sauce, which lured friends and dorm neighbors. The effect is still the same. “My friend who started Sweetgreen just texted me and said, ‘Dumplings open?’ And I was like, ‘Come by!” Hannah says.

Raised in Rockland County, New York, less than an hour north of Manhattan, the sisters grew up eating vegetables and herbs from their backyard, which their mom reimagined in an ever-changing spread of dishes. Their formerly vegetarian father, for his part, was known to make fresh juices with grab-bag ingredient lists (apple, carrot, pear, and . . . onion). The household’s wellness-centered approach extended beyond food, to things like Chinese herbal medicine, homemade soap with citrus peels, and sun protection. “Oh my gosh, we were the kids at the beach wearing big white T-shirts,” Hannah recalls with a laugh. “I remember a time in Cancún once, where Marian and I were floating in the ocean like jellyfish.”

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The new bento boxes at Mimi Cheng’s Nolita location.

Photo: Courtesy of Kayleigh / @kayleighharrington

Over the last nine months leading up to the Nolita opening—the length of time the sisters have been engaged in an epic struggle with Con Edison—you could venture that what they needed most was calming meditation. “And boxing classes!” chimes in Marian, who pulls punches at Overthrow, Gotham Gym, and Aerospace High Performance Center. In a sense, a steady stream of intense workouts is the secret sauce to the Chengs’ success as restaurateurs (and roommates). Having played tennis as kids before moving on to track and field and kickboxing, the two regularly make the rounds at the city’s top fitness destinations. They rave about Lauren Duhamel’s classes at modelFIT, which put seemingly light hand weights to muscle-quaking use. Tomas Rodgers at Kore is another favorite. “Best energy, best music. There’s no way you won’t fall in love with him,” says Hannah, to which Marian replies, “So. Many. Squats.” And heated yoga—at Sacred Sounds Yoga or Yoga Vida—helps ease the strain of, say, produce deliveries and piled-up stress. “Once you leave, you feel like, ‘All the crazy stuff that happened earlier today, I can deal with that,’ ” Hannah says.

That dedication to breaking a sweat translates into a healthy appetite; self-proclaimed “pizzaholics,” they single out the pies at Emily, Roberta’s, and Pasquale Jones. While the sisters’ palate may be wide, their focus on ingredients is precise. They source their pasture-raised pork from Brooklyn’s Fleishers Craft Butchery, and the organic chicken from Pino’s Prime Meats in nearby Soho; the vegetables draw from a collection of nearby farms. Juice fans (if not juice cleansers), they stock bottles of L.A.’s Juice Served Here in the refrigerator case, along with locally made Pilot Kombucha. “The label is beautiful—we’re big suckers for good aesthetics. And [the owner] delivers it personally in her car. It’s awesome,” says Hannah.

That simplicity extends to their beauty routines, beginning with bold shades of lipstick by Bite Beauty: “It’s food-grade, and it stays on forever,” says Hannah. “The W3ll People highlighter is my go-to these days when I’m not sleeping a lot,” adds Marian, giving a shout-out to their West Village stockist CAP Beauty. Fluoride-free toothpaste by Desert Essence and the honey face wash by 2 Note, a Hudson, New York-based line, also get special mention. While their parents, now based in Arizona, have been known to fly to New York with entire checked bags filled with homegrown citrus (so that their daughters can freeze the juice to enjoy all winter long, their mother once explained), the Chengs flew in yesterday with more modest cargo. Their mom packed a jug of orange-peel extract in order to make soap, and their dad brought along his latest healthy concoction: multigrain steamed buns. “It sounds weird: carrot, cranberry, longan, wheat germ?” says Hannah, reading the description off his Instagram caption. “I’ve had them! They’re really good,” Marian responds with a smile.

Mimi Cheng’s Dumplings, 380 Broome Street; mimichengs.com

 

 

The post Meet the Workout-Savvy Sisters Behind New York’s Most Stylish Dumpling Shops appeared first on Vogue.

Staying Fit and Healthy During Pregnancy: Real-World Lessons from 7 Mom-to-Be Trainers

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Some of us are impressed when anyone whips off four chin-ups, but leave it to Erin Comstock, the pro snowboarder turned CrossFit coach, to raise the bar. In a video posted last week on Instagram, she gamely accomplishes the task in an electric pink sports bra and black leggings, before turning around to reveal a wide smile and an even wider belly. At 32 weeks pregnant, she redefines the miracle of motherhood-to-be—a notion echoed by the flexed-bicep emojis cheering her on.

“I am constantly learning the power we have with our bodies,” Comstock tells me. After putting on 50 pounds during her first pregnancy, with an accompanying dip into depression, she made it a point to “eat healthier and train harder” this time around. “It has paid off thus far a hundredfold!” she says of the uptick in energy that she partly attributes to her formidable workout schedule (five to six days a week). Amid the current wellness craze and a broader movement toward female empowerment, she’s among the many women who are re-examining the traditional boundaries of pregnancy and carving out their own fitness-minded paths in consultation with their doctors and midwives. (Comstock’s ob-gyn has given her the green light.)

Still, those nine-plus months can be a challenging and unpredictable time, with bouts of nausea and fatigue often mixed in with the excitement and awe. With that in mind, Vogue.com caught up with a group of expectant mothers so in tune with their bodies, they call their workouts work. Here, seven fitness instructors—Anna Kaiser of AKT; Love Yoga’s Chelsea Levy; Bari founder Alexandra Bonetti Pérez; SoulCycle instructor Alejandra Serret; Claudine Lafond of YogaBeyond; Comstock; and SLT’s Allyson Lee Burns, who gave birth to a baby boy two days after we spoke (congratulations!)—offer firsthand perspectives on embracing change, setting boundaries, and maintaining a strong sense of self, not to mention a strong core.

Get Into a Pre-Pregnancy Fitness Groove
All of these women credit a strong baseline fitness level (plus a dose of luck) with the relative ease of their pregnancies. The best way to keep up the momentum during the whirlwind months ahead? Lay the foundation for a solid exercise program before you’re expecting, if possible. “Having a routine where your body craves a workout and your mind is set to exercise at certain times helps you stay on track,” says Kaiser. Comstock agrees, advocating for a community-based structure: “It is very hard to stay self-motivated when you are nauseous, tired, and feeling heavy, but being part of a gym or class will help you stay active and accountable.”

Aim for First-Trimester Workouts—And Trust That the Second Gets Better
While some first trimesters cruise by, others can be notoriously difficult, with fatigue and nausea setting in before it’s time to share the news with colleagues and clients. “Getting myself into the workout was extraordinarily hard—and I love to work out! That’s my job,” Kaiser says, admitting some surprise at the rough start. But it was exactly AKT’s heart-pumping classes­—ranging from dance cardio to toning—that revealed the value in pushing through. “Once you’re there, you feel so much better. It gets rid of the nausea and the exhaustion, and your skin is glowing. You have so much more energy,” she reports, noting that, by the second trimester, an increased blood supply also helps speed recovery. Even Bonetti Pérez’s “horrible” case of morning sickness—a two-month stretch that occasioned trips to the hospital for rehydrating IVs—pivoted on a dime. “Within three days my symptoms were gone, and all of a sudden I felt like a million bucks again,” she explains of the swift return to her trampoline-based Bounce classes. “Now I stick to my workout schedule more than I did pre-pregnancy. You have that extra drive and emotional connection to just be good to your body and to your baby.”

Make Mindful Modifications
With all the changes going on in the body, one in particular warrants special attention: the hormone relaxin. “Its purpose is to soften the connective tissue around the pelvis to prepare your body for labor and birth, but it affects all of your joints,” says Levy, who teaches both prenatal and regular yoga classes. A perceived gain in flexibility—in postures like forward folds and hip openers—might in fact be looser ligaments, so it’s wise to maintain “an awareness of the edges of your body and to stay within those limits when you’re pregnant,” she says. A number of the women have also steered away from twists, crunches, and other superficial ab moves, which can increase the risk for diastasis recti, a separation of the abdominal muscles; Kaiser has instead ramped up deep core work, like diaphragmatic breathing, as well as pelvic-floor exercises. And Lafond, whose Acrovinyasa practice daringly takes yoga off the mat, eased up on inversions in the first trimester (to reduce the chance that the embryo might detach from the uterine wall) and in the third (to avoid the baby shifting out of birth position). That said, all modifications are a personal choice and should be discussed with one’s care providers, she stresses: “I would never want to say that there’s one way to go about pregnancy—what to do and what not to do.”

Find New Ways to Chill Out
With renewed energy comes a drive for business-as-usual sweat sessions, but it’s wise to stay attuned to the body’s ebbs and flows. Serret, never one for midday rests, found that post-SoulCycle power naps helped remedy her first-trimester fatigue. Levy converted her longtime running practice into joint-friendly cardio sessions on the elliptical machine, before segueing to gentler-still swimming—a perk of living in sunny Los Angeles. Even Lee Burns, a “very competitive person” who powered through Barry’s Bootcamp until 33 weeks pregnant, has found the breathing exercises in prenatal yoga to be a welcome change. “Part of me misses the intensity of my hard workouts, but the other part of me enjoys taking a step back,” she says. “And dancing!” adds Lafond. “Not in any sort of formal way, but just putting on music and moving the whole body to stay as fluid as possible.”

Fuel—And Refuel—As Your Body Needs
Aversions and cravings—very real, if not universal—complicate the food aspect of wellness. Serret jokes that her inclinations were what she imagined “a frat boy would want to eat, like big bologna sandwiches with cheese and mayo,” so she devised alternatives like a BLT with turkey bacon and avocado. “I could not look at a vegetable or a piece of meat for, like, three months!” adds Kaiser, who found herself hunting down healthy carbohydrates and turning to protein-rich milk for the first time since she was a kid. It’s worth paying close attention to those cues. “True, authentic cravings are really speaking to you, in a way,” Levy says, pointing out that an urge for bananas might mean a dip in potassium levels, or that a red meat hankering might signal low iron. Eating whole foods is a good goal, she explains, but it’s not a time to be overly restrictive, both for the baby’s palette and the mother’s peace of mind. “There are plenty of other things to focus that worried, anxious energy toward!” (Like the microbiome, says Bonetti Pérez, a probiotic devotee.) Expect a shift in portion size, too. “There’s less space inside as the organs get pushed upward toward the diaphragm,” says Lafond, “so I’m eating smaller, nutrient-dense meals.”

Embrace What Changes (and Not Everything Has To!)
When one’s livelihood is entwined with fitness, it’s only natural that the great unknown of pregnancy might occasion a touch of concern. Kaiser found some peace of mind in learning what comprises the weight gain, rattling off a list of things that each weigh a pound or two: uterus, placenta, amped-up breasts, extra water. “As long as you keep yourself active and have a healthy diet, most of that weight is not something that’s going to stick around for a while. It’s good to break it down and not stress so much,” she says. Levy’s perspective is also grounded in the practical: “People always talk about, ‘Oh, your body will never be the same.’ But the reality is your body’s never the same year to year anyway, you know?”

Some things, thankfully, do stay the same. For the Sydney-based Lafond, the peripatetic travel schedule she shares with her yogi husband hasn’t abated, with recent stops in Bali, Canada, China, and the U.S. With two weeks until her due date, she has even secured her midwives’ go-ahead (and permission from an airline) to head to Australia’s Sunshine Coast for this weekend’s Wanderlust festival. Lee Burns, meanwhile, has found relief in taking things down a notch. “Being pregnant has just forced me to slow down and realize it’s okay not to do a million things all in one day,” she says, though when we spoke last Thursday—a week past her due date—she had at least one task on repeat: “I don’t know how many more squats I can do to get this baby out! My ass is like Kim Kardashian’s right now.” With her son now in tow, all that hard work has paid off.

 

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Hair Legend Sam McKnight on Tilda Swinton, Kate Moss, and Princess Diana

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Once someone lands in the stratosphere of their career—in Sam McKnight’s case, among the editorial hair legends in the fashion world today—it’s easy to forget what it took to get there. “It seems strange that I actually fell into hairstyling by accident. I should have been teaching French to 10-year-olds,” he writes in his new book, Hair by Sam McKnight. Uninspired by the hippie scene on his college campus in the 1970s, he found an escape by way of his friends’ salon, Josef, where he got his start “doing cuts for kids who wanted a Bowie look or a soul-boy wedge,” he recalls. “Something just clicked. I was good at hair.”

The rest, as the book vividly lays out, is history. After sharpening his skills in a handful of London salons, including the influential Molton Brown, McKnight soon embarked upon an editorial career nurtured at both British and American Vogue. (Michaela Bercu’s real-girl waves on the November 1988 cover—Anna Wintour’s first as editor in chief—are the hairstylist’s doing.) In some ways, it’s not much of an overstatement to say he had a literal hand in shaping the course of fashion. He was there as Richard Avedon photographed a young Brooke Shields, as Christie Brinkley let loose her golden mane in Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl” video, and as a new crop of models soared to “super” status: Cindy, Naomi, Claudia, Kate. His eye for theatrics found favor on Vivienne Westwood’s runways (manifested as prim beehives or gravity-defying confections) and lately at Chanel’s. As the house’s mastermind, Karl Lagerfeld, writes in a mash note at the beginning of the book, McKnight possesses a rare combination of open-mindedness, perfectionism, and infectious humor, which explains their long-running collaboration. “Nothing is ever ‘retro’ with him,” Lagerfeld says. “He can reinvent hairstyles and periods with a fresh and always renewed eye.”

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Stephanie Seymour

Photo: Courtesy of Rizzoli

 

Hair—along with a related exhibition at London’s Somerset House, opening next month—proves why, forty years on, he’s still in demand. The photos ripped from the glossies are the definition of iconic, and the spectrum of hair on display—bombshell curls, Technicolor fauxhawks, the many chameleonic guises of Tilda Swinton—serves as a bottomless well of inspiration. But it’s the informal snapshots of McKnight—waltzing with Linda Evangelista in an elaborately tiled atrium, or laughing on set with Princess Diana—that provide a window into the man behind the magic. To that end, we caught up with McKnight by phone to talk about his model muses, how the digital revolution is shaping image-making, and why his passion for gardening is the perfect foil for his other well-documented pursuit.

What prompted you to do a book after all these years?
It came about kind of organically. Since Instagram, I found I was getting a lot of interest from old images that I posted of my work, and new work. People were saying, “Why don’t you do a book?” and after a couple of those, you think, “Well, maybe.” Then I found a wonderful woman in London who put my archive onto digital; she also happened to be an archivist at Somerset House, the museum and gallery in London. So then the book, which I had been talking to Rizzoli about, turned into a conjunction with the exhibition.

Was it weird to hit rewind and spend so much time with your archives?
It was the strangest. One of the rooms in my house I gave over to the book, and we had 22 ceiling-high boards. I think we started with 40,000 images, which was an absolute logistical nightmare. With the help of a couple of great friends, we edited it down to a few thousand, and the next bit was difficult: To lose the children that you love and remember dearly was really hard. It’s kind of like your life flashing before your eyes, and it goes right up to the last minute. There’s a mix of new memories, old memories, models, models’ daughters, editors’ grandchildren, stuff you’d forgotten about, and people you’d forgotten about. That was the first time, really, I had reflected and looked back. It was quite emotional.

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Agyness Deyn

Photo: Courtesy of Rizzoli

How will your work be laid out at Somerset House?
When they suggested it, I thought, “Oh my god, there are 10 or 11 rooms! All these rooms full of my old work.” But it’s not that at all. It’s partly pictures, but also they want to illustrate in real terms what it is that us fashion hairdressers do because the first thing someone asks [when they hear] I’m a hairstylist is, “Where’s your salon?” And then there’s an explanation. The exhibition is not just beauty shots; there are fashion shots, we’ve got wigs, we’re borrowing clothes from people, and we’re going to show a backstage area where we have all the equipment we use—basically to try and give an insight into the last forty years of fashion through my hairdresser eyes. And I found that attractive because—I mean, it’s a cliché—but it’s a way of me giving me back to the kids in the industry and showing them what can be done.

You have presided over major moments in fashion: the minting of supermodels, the making of iconic images. Did you ever have a sense that you were making history at the very moment that it was happening?
No, not at all! Because it’s just what we do, isn’t it? Before you’re even done that shoot, you’re actually halfway in your head through the next one. We just don’t have time to stop and savor the moment, which is probably just as well because you’d be so terrified you’d never go to work!

Parts of Hair almost feel like a scrapbook, with you growing up alongside Kate Moss and Christy Turlington. Your career has spanned such a pivotal period.
That’s the luck of timing, isn’t it? Talent is 10 percent, timing is 90, because I have somehow found myself in the right place at the right time.

You’ve shaped people’s careers in terms of hairstyles. Who are some of the people who have shaped yours?
Well, my beginnings were at Vogue: British Vogue and American Vogue. Photographers like Nick Knight and Mario Testino, and also designers like Karl—the last 10 years working for Chanel have been just extraordinary—and Vivienne Westwood in the ’90s. And all the girls. Kate [Moss] has been wonderfully loyal and keeps coming back for more. Princess Diana introduced me to a whole different world in the ’90s. Lady Gaga was very faithful for a few years when she started her career with me. We did lots of stuff, like the meat hairpiece.

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Uma Thurman

Photo: Courtesy of Rizzoli

You launched your career with print. Are you seeing new possibilities in the digital age?
Well, I love my Instagram account. I treasure it; I try to keep it in [the realm of] beauty and humor. I think the iPhone has completely changed how we work. We used to take Polaroids, but there were only a limited number in the box and they were expensive. The iPhone is limitless. It’s made everything recordable; it’s made archivists of us all, you know? But I do think there’s a danger in the widespreadness of all the images. I hope people will start to get more creative and more interesting with it, rather than [images] being sort of throwaway and disposable.

Where do you find most of your inspiration lately?
Getting out and about. My garden is a huge inspiration. It’s a lot of cutting and pruning and growing and fertilizing and taking care. It’s all about color and form, and it’s a kind of organized chaos—my garden is, anyway—which is very similar to the hair I do. But I’m most inspired by the people I’m around. I bounce off people really well. We get to, on a daily basis, work with completely different teams of the most creative people in the world: makeup artists like Peter Philips and Tom Pecheux and Val Garland; photographers like Mario [Testino] and Craig McDean; actresses like Cate Blanchett. Just the mention of their names, the influence rubs off because we’re collaborating and creating images together every day.

 

The post Hair Legend Sam McKnight on Tilda Swinton, Kate Moss, and Princess Diana appeared first on Vogue.

Model Grace Hartzel on the Power of a Gutsy, Game-Changing Haircut

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What’s one ticket to a supercharged modeling career? A daring, identity-shifting haircut. Vidal Sassoon famously bared Grace Coddington’s swanlike neck with his Five-Point Cut in 1964. Julien d’Ys took scissors to Linda Evangelista’s chestnut waves in 1988, launching a pendulum swing of hair changes. And in 2013 Guido Palau reimagined golden girl Edie Campbell with a jet-black shag that brought the mullet back into the conversation. Of course, such transformations call for a double dose of artistry—both the visionary wielding the shears and the person boldly inhabiting the new role. So when Vogue set out to document an about-face cut for the November issue, the casting came easy: Palau took his spot behind the chair, and model-of-the-moment Grace Hartzel sat as his willing coconspirator.

The result—which followed a volley of inspiration-centric texts between them and a couple of days on set in New York City this summer—skirts the line between punk and ultramodern, the sort of thing that calls to mind a CBGB-era Joan Jett while also catching the discerning eye of Tom Ford: The newly shorn Hartzel opened his show in September and stars in the Fall campaign. Now, after she turned heads on runways and sidewalks during fashion month, the Vogue story has landed, accompanied by Lena Dunham’s essay on the liberating power of no-rules, no-fear cuts.

For another insider’s perspective, we caught up with Hartzel by phone during a music-fueled trip to Berlin to talk about her own self-administered hair experiments, the march toward gender fluidity, and her road-tested wellness remedies.

Given the history of legendary models getting legendary cuts, has there been a point in your career when you wanted to break away from the pack?
Totally, because I’m a person who always needs to be reinventing and changing my look. I originally had normal, long hair with a middle part, so I cut my fringe because I was feeling, like, really stuck. That’s what kind of launched my career with Hedi Slimane.

Did you actually take scissors to your own hair?
Yeah, I was 17, on spring break in Florida with my family. I was reading an anime book about this girl who had bangs, and I was like, “Wow, I want to be her.” So I went to CVS and bought cheap scissors and cut my bangs in the bathroom. My parents were like, “You ruined your whole career!” They were really upset and had a whole talk with me, like, “Grace, is this your inner conscience saying that you don’t want to model?” And I was like, “No, I am just so bored with my hair right now!” They look back at it now and laugh.

When did Hedi Slimane come into your orbit?
After that, in September. I had done the show for him before, when I didn’t have the bangs, but then when I had them, I was exclusive to Saint Laurent. He flew me to L.A., and I did the Pre-Fall campaign, the denim campaign, the Fall/Winter, and it went on from there. It was a ’60s thing with the big, fluffy bangs. I felt confident with my bangs. I felt more like myself.

Fast-forwarding a few years, how did you react when you heard about the Vogue shoot?
I was so excited, because I had wanted to change my hair for so long—and to be able to do it with Vogue was something that I needed. It’s good to have someone who backs you, like Hedi backed me with my bangs. I would have cut my hair anyway, but it’s more difficult now in modeling; we’re not as free, necessarily, just because we’re afraid of not getting jobs, afraid of being too editorial, too commercial. And I really trusted Guido.

What sort of discussions did you and Guido have beforehand?
We had been texting and [sending] Instagram photos. We wanted it to be a collaboration. He had this one photo of Blondie that was really cool—it’s a lot like my hair—but we wanted to mix that with Joan Jett and a bit of the Chelsea cut, where they shave the back of their heads and the rest of it is long in front of the ears, with short fringe. But we definitely wanted to create something new. We would sit and talk, cut a little bit, talk some more. Then the next day he cut some more. It was a process.

You seem game for anything—but was there a knee-jerk reaction when he chopped off your hair?
It’s just hair. It’s going to all grow back!

Why do you think renegade cuts are having a moment? Are people craving a sense of identity with social media?
With social media and everything nowadays, it’s actually pretty cool, because when I was going to school everyone would wear Abercrombie; everyone would be in unison. Right when I started [modeling], the models who were doing well all looked the same. You would go to the castings and everyone was wearing all black, long middle part, baby blonde hair, same boring black bag. Now I think it’s changed, where the models who are more unique and have their own personal style are doing better.

What has the reaction been to your new haircut?
Really good. My best friend, Lili Sumner, is here in Berlin, and Lily McMenamy, too. I just saw them the other day, and they were like, “Oh, my gosh, it’s so crazy. It suits you so well!” I feel really good in this hair; it doesn’t feel forced. For a moment [with my old bangs] I was super into Jane Birkin, and I still am. But now I’m starting to create something new. I feel like my hair is a bit futurist, because differentiating between male and female is not really relevant. Androgyny is more popular now.

Do you fit in better in Berlin with your new haircut?
Totally. I am actually probably pretty boring here! We went to our friend’s concert last night, and it was all these people with incredible style, so unique, so retro-punk. The girls had spiky hair, shaved heads. It was really cool.

What’s the latest with you creatively?
Right now I really want to do music, and I have, like, 10 songs I’m working on. I’m studying this music system, Ableton—it’s good for making electronic music or recording live music. And I’m singing on the new track from La Femme. It’s their first full English song. I kind of want my music to be a mix of electronic, synth-wave, punk, but a bit retro disco.

That’s a list of words that could maybe describe your hair. Are you finding freedom in the way you are styling it lately?
If I go out, I can gel up the top part, which is shorter than the rest, and make it into kind of a Mohawk. But I’ve been a bit lazy! It’s cool, because now I don’t have to wash my hair [that often]. It’s healthier for your hair to let all of the oils do their thing.

Speaking of health, how do you manage to stay well with your travel schedule?
I take a lot of really good vitamins, like B complex, which is all energy stuff. And I take this reishi mushroom mix that you can find at Whole Foods—it’s a powder that you mix into water, and it gives you energy and boosts your metabolism. I also have this extract from green coffee that I put in my yogurt. I feel so good all day. And I eat a lot of greens and stuff. In this business you can’t feel like crap—you have to be on all the time!

 

 

The post Model Grace Hartzel on the Power of a Gutsy, Game-Changing Haircut appeared first on Vogue.

4 Genius Subscription Services That Seriously Up Your Wellness Game

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For all the noble intentions we have in matters of health, success simply comes down to consistency. Good practices call for just that: practice. With that in mind, the subscription-service model—which runs on autopilot (and autopay) and champions ease above all—proves to be a surprisingly effective wellness partner. Repetition is unavoidable when it literally knocks on your door. Here are four smart delivery companies—a savvy contact-lens brand with handsome packaging and fair prices; an oral-hygiene kit that ensures timely toothbrush swap-outs; a ready-to-blend smoothie service that puts nutritious meals into the busiest of hands; and a tampon-maker dedicated to clean, safe ingredients. Sure, you might think, how hard is it to buy dental floss? But trust us: The rewards—in quality, in convenience, and, yes, in future health—are worth it.

 

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Photo: Courtesy of Hubble Contacts / @hubblecontacts

Hubble
Ever since Warby Parker put the direct-to-consumer model on the map in 2010, the eyewear start-up’s disruptive approach has been applied to everything from V-necks (Everlane) to razors (Harry’s) to mattresses (Casper). Now, vision comes back into focus with a cheery new subscription service called Hubble, which aims to revolutionize the way we procure our contact lenses. Twenty-somethings Jesse Horwitz and Ben Cogan—founders, friends, and comrades in near-sightedness—unwittingly began their research years ago, “paying out the nose for contacts,” says Cogan, whose curiosity was piqued when his usual order drastically spiked in cost. What he learned—that four large companies control the lion’s share of the American market, with wildly inflated prices to match­—led to a business plan and, soon, a trip to Taiwan, where he and Horwitz found a top-notch (and FDA-approved) factory to help them shake up the lens landscape. (As for the brand’s effervescent-sounding name, which nods to the famed space telescope? “My girlfriend is an astrophysicist,” explains Cogan.) Hubble’s daily-use contacts come at a relative bargain ($30 per month, or $264 for a year’s supply) and in zippy, colorful packaging by the Brooklyn design firm Athletics. What good is a contact-lens reboot if it’s not easy on the eyes?

 

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Photo: Courtesy of Daily Harvest / @daily_harvest

Daily Harvest
‘Fast food’ is not a label often attached to chef-made smoothies packed with chia seeds and kale, but how else do you describe a 30-second meal? Daily Harvest’s Rachel Drori hit upon her business idea when, as a time-strapped working mom, she found a way to streamline the week ahead: portioning out her fruits, leafy greens, and superfoods into pre-bagged, ready-to-blend mixes. Now, your freezer can be just as conveniently stocked, courtesy of her handsome subscription service, which launched nationwide earlier this year. The 14 recipes, developed with an in-house chef and nutritionist, feature ingredients ranging from the antioxidant-rich (camu camu, cacao) to the plant-powered (hemp protein, avocado) to the blessedly caffeinated (green coffee, matcha). Even the packaging is on point: paper cups with straw-friendly to-go lids. Later this year, Daily Harvest upgrades another mealtime staple—instant soup—with three versions centered around flash-frozen organic produce. Mushroom + Miso comes with butternut squash “noodles” and powerhouse reishi and chaga; Zucchini + Black Garlic riffs on minestrone; and Coconut + Carrot borrows flavor notes from Thai curry. Six-packs for both options, hot or cold, start at $48.

 

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Photo: Courtesy of Tulip / @tulipclean

Tulip
Your dentist is likely to ask how often you floss (“Why, daily,” you respond), but here’s a question: When was the last time you replaced your toothbrush? After all, an implement for cleaning should be as clean as can be, and the truth is, the bacteria in our mouths eventually wind up hanging out there, too. With Tulip, a new oral-care delivery service that launched this summer, your twice-daily essentials—toothbrush, toothpaste, floss—arrive in a fresh batch ($12) every two months, taking the guesswork out the equation. Tipped in lime green, Tulip’s patent-pending brush is densely packed with ultra-thin “angel hair” bristles and features an activated-charcoal strip for natural detoxification. Meanwhile, the mint paste—FDA-approved and formulated with fluoride—is as crisp in design as it is in flavor. The company will later roll out an expanded catalogue, including four additional colorways for the toothbrush (we’re eyeing the subdued gray), plus toothpaste and floss in both lavender and coconut. With elevated takes on flavor and packaging (not to mention the unshakeable feeling of a gift that snail mail brings), what might once have been framed as a chore is now a newly minted part of your beauty routine.

 

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Photo: Courtesy of Lola / @lola

Lola
We’ve come to expect a lot from our everyday essentials, whether it’s paraben-free skin care or organic produce. But that same level of scrutiny often isn’t applied to something as routine as tampons. Careful label reading doesn’t even help; exactly what goes into the manufacturing process is something of a mystery, since the FDA does not require transparency. The company Lola, then, is more than a delivery service (which is a boon in itself, sparing you the emergency drugstore runs); it’s also a detail-conscious supplier dedicated to using all-natural cotton that’s free from chemicals, additives, or dyes. The service offers two models (with applicator or without), and the assortment in each box (starting at $9) can be customized, with four levels of absorbency running from light to super-plus. The good work doesn’t end there: Lola, in collaboration with a handful of nonprofit organizations, provides essential feminine-care products to women in need, including those in homeless shelters.

 

The post 4 Genius Subscription Services That Seriously Up Your Wellness Game appeared first on Vogue.

Artist Marilyn Minter Talks Beauty Norms, the Return of the Full Bush, and her New Retrospective

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Marilyn Minter in her studio, 2015.

“Pretty/Dirty,” the title of Marilyn Minter’s first retrospective opening today at the Brooklyn Museum, packs so much into two words. “It has multiple meanings, which I’m always interested in,” the artist explains, offering up an example: “One person’s beauty is another person’s disgust.” It’s a thread running throughout four decades of jarring, provocative work. In 1969, during a weekend home from college, she photographed her prescription-pill-addict mother at home in Fort Lauderdale, dyeing her eyebrows in bed and fastidiously applying makeup. Manicured hands pry apart a langoustine or a ripe orange in 100 Food Porn, a prescient 1989–1990 series soon followed by hard-core (and hot-button) subject matter. Minter riffed on cosmetics advertising with a suggestive lipstick bullet in 1994’s Rouge Baiser; a decade later, she exploded the norms of conventional makeup use in her close-cropped, hyper-sensorial Blue Poles and Glazed.

If Photoshop has become an instrumental tool in her artist’s palette, used to layer together photographic studies for her paintings, she also sees it as something to rebel against. “I had done editorial, and at that point there was this kind of robotic look—no flaws,” she recalls. “I saw these 21-year-olds made into perfection, you know?” And so she relishes the everyday realities often concealed from view—everything from pimples to dirty toenails to pubic hair, which is the subject of her 2014 artist’s book, Plush, and a new painting exhibition at Salon 94 in New York. This past weekend, during a moment of calm between installing her gallery show and the museum retrospective, Minter spoke with Vogue.com about the downside of laser hair removal, the role of artist as activist, and how “Pretty/Dirty” seems to find kinship with another timely two-word phrase: “nasty woman.” “Isn’t that great? It’s a badge of courage,” she says. “Just reclaiming and repurposing.”

Your work has drawn such a wide mix of opinions over the years, especially the hard-core paintings. People called you a traitor to feminism.
Isn’t it interesting how yesterday’s smut is today’s erotica! That’s historical; it’s always like that. Remember, Bettie Page used to be shocking.

What was that time like for you, when your work was lambasted?
It was a big disappointment. I just assumed everyone else thought just like I did and was a pro-sex feminist. I was reclaiming sexual imagery from an abusive history, and it really frightened a lot of feminists; they couldn’t wrap their brain around it. Well, why won’t you make images for your own pleasure?

Rouge Baiser, 1994.
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Rouge Baiser, 1994.

Photo: Marilyn Minter

Now your retrospective is part of a larger series at the Brooklyn Museum called “Reimagining Feminism.” Is there more room in the definition of feminist art these days?
Absolutely. Everybody in my art world is a feminist. You wouldn’t even think twice about it. I love the title of Roxane Gay’s book: Bad Feminist. The idea that you had to be a certain kind of feminist to be a good one—there’s no ideological right way. You can be a feminist and be a housewife. You can be a sexual being and be a feminist. But young, attractive women owning sexual agency is so powerful and so threatening—to both male and female. They turn you into a blow-up doll! You couldn’t possibly have any serious ideas. It’s just appalling to me! And women do it to each other.

Was that reaction the same when you were younger?
Oh, it was virulent in my age group. You had to play down your looks, for sure—not everybody did, of course.

Did that affect how you styled yourself in terms of makeup, hair, clothes?
Oh no, never. But I’ve always been interested in the paradox about fashion: It’s so easy to criticize and have contempt for fashion and glamour, and at the same time it’s one of the giant engines of the culture. The way we present ourselves, it’s how we see what tribe we’re from. You have more confidence and you’re taken more seriously if you feel good about the way you look! I really don’t criticize women that do—

Botox and things.
Right. We’re so cruel, this culture. Women are judged all the time to such standards that you’re going to be constantly failing.

What do you look for in terms of models for your work?
I’m not interested in making another pretty girl, but I am interested in women with character to their faces—and nobody seems to notice, but I do shoot guys, too! I used to look for mixed-race models. I love the idea of an Asian girl covered in freckles because she’s Chinese and Irish or something. And I love blue-eyed or green-eyed or hazel-eyed black people. And white-blonde Brazilians. This is corny, but I like the idea that we’re all going to be a shade of brown at some point in the future. Maybe that is when we’re going to get along a lot better.

Blue Poles, 2007.
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Blue Poles, 2007.

Photo: Marilyn Minter

How did you arrive at the decadent makeup looks, like the turquoise glitter eyes in Blue Poles?
I did that makeup! I just smeared it on. When I’m making my art, I don’t ever use makeup artists. I just don’t want to disappoint them. I like it when the models start to sweat, when people get wet and glistening.

You don’t shy away from things that are usually perceived as flaws. What attracts you to them?
They’re really just images that everybody knows—everything I paint, everything I do. It’s just nobody’s ever made a picture of it before. Other than medical textbooks, there aren’t any pictures of pimples, but we all know them. We all know what armpit hair looks like growing in. We all know what it looks like to have freckles, but they’re Photoshopped out. So when I was working on that, back ten years ago, I was just erasing the Photoshop. I think the eye craves what it doesn’t see—like this last body of work, in my painting show [at Salon 94] and in the Brooklyn Museum show, too, it’s pubic hair. Pubic hair has been erased from the culture, so I wanted to make a case to women: Shave all you want, groom all you want, make topiary out of it—but don’t laser because fashion is fleeting and laser is forever. I tried to make the most beautiful pictures of pubic hair. You could put these in your living room, they’re so beautiful!

There is a movement again for it—I’m thinking of Petra Collins’s generation.
Absolutely! Petra and Sandy [Kim], and there’s others. And Alicia Keys, wearing no makeup. The backlash has started.

In recent years you’ve supported Planned Parenthood, organizing a benefit auction and collaborating with Miley Cyrus. What prompted you to take activism to the next level?
I’ve always been an activist—I was just another marcher, usually. But that was so easy after watching the TRAP laws being enacted. I was outraged because I remember when abortion was illegal and women got unsafe abortions, and I saw [access to care] being systematically erased. There’s [Mike] Pence saying, “The minute I get in the White House, I’m overturning Roe v. Wade. It’s going to be on the ash heap of history.” That just makes me crazy. How dare they? I got my birth control at a Planned Parenthood clinic. I got my abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic. This was the only safe place back when I was a college student.

Coral Ridge Towers (Mom Making Up), 1969.
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Coral Ridge Towers (Mom Making Up), 1969.

Photo: Marilyn Minter

Speaking of college, the retrospective includes photographs you took of your mother at that time—applying makeup, dyeing her eyebrows. Why did you capture those moments?
That’s what she did: She was a groomer [laughs]. She was at one point a very beautiful woman, but she was a drug addict—a Southern belle who didn’t know what hit her, basically. I remember she pulled out her hair, so she had to wear a wig. And she had a fungus under her acrylic nails because she didn’t take care of them. So it was this off-glamour and, with hindsight, that could be the thread that runs through everything.

Did you share her grooming habits or rebel against them?
I rebelled—I was always really rebellious. I was put in jail at 16! I changed peoples’ driver’s licenses, so they could go to the bars and buy booze. They weren’t laminated back in the day, and I could draw in any number. If my mother told me to do something, I would do the opposite. I went from a hippie into a mod to a punk, basically.

Did you take on the punk look when you moved to New York?
I cut my hair off and I turned it purple, and I was teaching to high-school boys at the time! Leather jackets were endemic. That’s such a cliché! I looked like somebody looked in 1977. I used to wear these Cubs T-shirts, skintight jeans, and high-tops or boots. I slathered on eye makeup, and I always wore sunglasses. We thought we were so radical! [laughs]

Has aging been something you’ve embraced?
I’m trying to, yeah. I’m Irish-skinned and I stayed out of the sun, so it’s easier for me because I don’t have a lot of wrinkles. I try and stay in shape because I’m making my best work, you know? When you read about women artists, they get attention when they’re older. So I plan on evolving. I walk everywhere, like 12,000 steps or more a day. I’m 68, but I’ve got a lot of energy because I live in New York City—it’s like an exercise machine, just being in the city!

In the four decades you’ve lived here, it’s really become an amazing time to be a woman.
Well, your generation is so much better to each other. That’s what the boys have always done: They worked as a team until they got to the top, and then they would try and kill each other off! Elena Ferrante put it best when she was interviewed: that competition between women can be really healthy as long as you don’t try and destroy the other one. That’s aspirational, even with my famous women artist friends. Like, Pipilotti Rist just opened at the New Museum, and we’re friends. I love her work, and I’m also really jealous. But I go and tell her how great she is, and that drains the poison instead of [me] trying to kill her off. [laughs] She does it with me, too. We support one another.

 

The post Artist Marilyn Minter Talks Beauty Norms, the Return of the Full Bush, and her New Retrospective appeared first on Vogue.






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