When it comes to the winter beauty strategies of Vogue editors Laura Regensdorf and Arden Fanning—a close-knit duo in terms of desk proximity and collaborative spirit—you could call it opposites attract. Arden likes things “cool cool cool cool cool,” while Laura keeps an eye out for the nearest heater. Naturally, their plans for surviving this bleak stretch of winter have taken decidedly different courses of late, with their favorite rituals offering a road map for surviving the cold according to personal preference.
Do you run hot? Read on for a firsthand look inside the cryotherapy chamber, paired with pore-freezing skin care and an icy (and good-for-you) twist on hot cocoa à la Arden. Seeking steamy refuge from a wintry mix? Laura’s regimen of heated yoga classes, steaming bone broth, and warm-to-the-core spa treatments will fortify you through the next blizzard.
Laura Regensdorf, Vogue Beauty Writer
Hot Yoga
Word that Modo Yoga—the model-favorite hot spot in the West Village, cofounded by Arcade Fire member Sarah Neufeld—was branching out to Williamsburg this month was enough to lure me to the opening day. Inside the spacious, cork-floored studio, the thermostat was set at 96 degrees, but as more and more people filled the room, things got equatorial, fast. For the inaugural class, Neufeld and four fellow musicians (cofounder Rebecca Foon, Colin Stetson, Greg Fox, and Alex Drewchin) played a lush, cinematic soundscape vaguely reminiscent of the score to There Will Be Blood—or, in this case, no small amount of sweat. “It’s hot in here, right?” Neufeld asked the rows of us standing in mountain pose. “That’s what you signed up for!” So I did, and I left feeling flexible, taut, and wrung out in the best sense.
Modo Yoga, 109 Metropolitan Avenue; nyc.modoyoga.com
Bone Broth
On one side of Morgenstern’s downtown ice cream parlor sits an unlikely pop-up: Brodo, chef Marco Canora’s East Village bone-broth outfit, which contributed to the elixir’s rise among pro athletes, expectant mothers, and wellness devotees. Sipping the ginger-laced Marco—a hearty blend of chicken, turkey, and beef stocks—from a to-go cup, I seemed to be winterizing from the inside out. In fact, that’s sort of how the amino acid–rich broth acts on the body, with glycine helping to quell inflammation and glutamine supporting gut health and the immune system. On the way home, I picked up housemade broth from a neighborhood market and began drinking a café au lait bowlful each morning: the best (if unconventional) part of waking up.
Brodo pop-up at Morgenstern’s, 2 Rivington Street; morgensternsnyc.com
Japanese Baths
For a relaxing thaw, I stopped by the Greenwich Hotel’s Shibui Spa, where Japanese-style baths are an under-the-radar add-on. I started with the Samunprai Thai Poultice massage, a 90-minute treatment that combines pressure-point work, an oiled rubdown, and kneading with a piping-hot compress filled with Thai ginger and other circulation-boosting aromatics. Next, I slipped into a deep, square tub for the L’Hiver Helper Soak, the first-ever collaboration with the organic bath line Pursoma. The two-part experience pairs a long soak infused with pore-opening sea salt, detoxifying green clay, and warming ginger, followed by a 20-minute rest on a Japanese mat. As I floated back to the dressing room, I caught sight of the steam shower but passed it by. At last, like a glistening Thanksgiving bird, I was finally done.
Shibui Spa at the Greenwich Hotel, 377 Greenwich Street; thegreenwichhotel.com
Arden Fanning, Vogue Beauty Assistant
Cryotherapy
Cryotherapy is based on the principles of extreme shock: The idea is to flash-freeze your body so that it rushes blood to your internal organs in order to regulate temperature, eventually picking up nutrients that have lazily been kept in your core. Once you return to room temperature, oxygen-rich blood pumps through your entire system, stimulating your immune system and reducing inflammation. Its purported health benefits, which Europeans have been researching for decades, read like a checklist of super cures. Is it migraines you’re looking to fix? Eczema? Love handles? Then it’s cryotherapy you want. I booked a package of sessions at Kryolife uptown, where I was promptly instructed to strip to my underwear, apply cotton socks and gloves, slide on some wooden clogs, and step into a tanning-booth-size chamber swirling with nitrogen gas. My head hovered over the top so that I could breathe fresh air, and I vowed to bear it for the maximum three minutes. By two minutes and 30 seconds, my legs felt like blocks of ice set on fire—similar to running cold hands under warm water, but worse. I exited the chamber slowly and pedaled on a stationary bike for a few moments to speed the thawing process. The next morning, my skin, which was on the verge of a breakout pre-cryo, seemed to have already cleared up. By my sixth visit (10 are recommended to “restart your body”), I realized that the pain in my upper shoulders had eased significantly and I had a newfound spring in my step.
Kryolife Wellness Center, 57 West 57th Street, Suite 712; 212.551.3333
Freeze Facials
There’s nothing like an ice-cold splash of water to tighten the pores and wake up the skin. Likewise, the same can be said of a new wave of cooling skin care. Riffing on the ingredient delivery system of a transdermal patch, NaturaBissé’s Diamond Ice-Lift Mask promises to provide a “face-lift” effect thanks to its marine-DNA-spiked formula that tightens skin. I applied a thick layer of the iridescent gel to my entire face and immediately felt a chilling effect. Twenty minutes later the gel had dried into a crystal-clear shell, and I peeled it off in one face-shaped piece à la American Psycho. I followed up with Kenzoki’s Ice-Cold Eye Cream, stored in the fridge to double the chilly sensation, followed by a spritz of Yes to Cucumbers Soothing Cooling Hydrating Mist. The results? My eyes looked slightly less koala-puffy, my smile lines were plumped, and the overall texture of my complexion appeared Photoshop smooth.
Iced Tonics
Instead of cozying up with a mug of hot cocoa during the blizzard, I shook Aloha’s Daily Good Greens Chocolate Powder into a tumbler of ice water for a chilly beverage with the same indulgent feel, but with the added benefits of a cold-pressed juice. Packed with vitamin D, the powder detoxifies and provides a full serving of fruits and veggies like a green juice, but its dried formula doesn’t require the usual daily delivery service for its dose of fresh vitamins. That night, at drinks with a friend, I sipped tequila, which has been touted for its metabolism-boosting potential thanks to natural agavins, which act to lower blood sugar and could help you lose weight when drank in moderation. I ordered a glass on the rocks with soda and fresh lime juice—basically a margarita with none of the regret.
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