A Night for Green Beauty

I'm heading to L.A. next week for A Night For Green Beauty, presented by Chicago-based La Bella Figura. The event will showcase 22 luxury natural beauty brands along with speakers, makeup artists and natural personal care advocates. Deluxe beauty boxes from Goodebox sold out before I could order them, so I'm hoping to sample products from some of the newer lines. 

All of the companies offer non-toxic alternatives to many of the beauty products on the market, so it will be fun to be in a room with so many clean choices. 

In no particular order, some thoughts on the products I've tried:

I've been very happy with my Beautycounter sunscreen and look forward to trying products from their new makeup line. 

One Love Organics skin salve is a favorite, so I want to check out their full product line.

Cream cleansers are my latest skin experiment, but the Indie Lee Brightening Cleanser is a nice product for people who prefer foaming cleansers.

My face is very particular about oils. While I know the African Botanicals Marula oil gets rave reviews, it was a little strong for my skin. 

Juice Beauty Apple Peel is a quick and effective exfoliating mask.

Odacite makes great travel sized products that come with an expiration date.

I'm excited to learn more about lines that are new to me including May Linstrom Skin, MUN, Sheswai nail polish and Josh Rosebrook.

For more information, follow the event on Instagram or on Facebook.

Good things come in threes: Favorite newsletters

Overwhelmed by online content? I follow an ever-growing list of blogs on Bloglovin and hundreds of accounts on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Having so much, literally at my fingertips, can be amazing but also lead to overload and the need for an online detox.

Very carefully, I have chosen three newsletters that I look forward to reading and trust for advice on where to go, what to buy and what to read.
 

For the California lifestyle: Rip + Tan
Designer and LA native Jenni Kayne's email newsletter is named after her two children. Weekly posts include Q&As with local tastemakers, recipes and eco-friendly lifestyle tips. 
To Dos
Buy: These washable cotton dish covers by Bowlovers have replaced the plastic wrap in my kitchen and make my refrigerator look picnic-ready.
Visit: I made a special trip to the Brentwood Country Mart in LA to visit the serene and stylish Jenni Kayne store.
Read: Her interview with LA stylist Jessica De Ruiter was the inspiration for my recent closet edit.

 

For the New York-leaning:  Of A Kind's 10 Things We're Doing weekly list
New York-based Of A Kind is an e-commerce shop that supports and promotes on-the-rise fashion designers through access to their limited edition unique products and stories.The weekly 10 Things list is written by its two female founders and highlights memorable things they have done, read or bought. 
To Dos
Buy: Authentic testimonials on products like hand-held clothing steamers, sweater brushes and workout apps have convinced me to buy. A+ on every recommendation so far. 
Visit: The New York galleries, restaurants and exhibits they highlight make me wish I lived closer.
Read: The eclectic posts include fun and thought-provoking articles I would have otherwise missed.

For culture junkies: Granta's Five Things Right Now in their monthly email
Granta magazine was founded in 1889 at Cambridge University and reborn in 1979 as a literary magazine. Once a month, their newsletter lands in my inbox with a concise interview with an creative professional who explains what he or she is most into right now. Hugely varied but always worth checking out. 
To Dos
Buy: Download the mostly free podcasts from Brad Listi's Other Ppl and Scriptnotes for insightful and lively conversations with writers of novels and screenplays.
Listen: Japanese bands like Zazen Boys and Morning Musume give a global pop kick.
Read: Links to articles and authors that are usually new to me. Then I start seeing them everywhere.

sixty+ minutes of sound: july 2014

1st day of summer, Point Reyes Lighthouse, CA

A summer playlist, no matter the weather! 

July 2014 Playlist

Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow -- Merry Clayton

Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad -- Derek & the Dominos

Only Love Can Break Your Heart -- Saint Etienne

Young Americans -- David Bowie

Bateau Rouge (feat. Lou Lou Ghelichkhani) -- Thievery Corporation

Shelter Song -- Temples

Atomic Bomb -- William Onyeabor

Doused -- DIIV

I Can't Explain -- The Who

Dollar (Let the Dollar Circulate) -- Steve Spacek

Steve Biko (Stir It Up) -- A Tribe Called Quest

The Horn That Time Forgot -- Julio Bashmore

Cruel Summer -- Karen Elson

All I Know -- Washed Out

Waiting for a Train -- Flash and the Pan

Portrait -- Josephine

Emergency on Planet Earth -- Jamiroquai

Forgiven/Forgotten -- Angel Olsen

Come Back -- Main the Horse

Tusk -- Fleetwood Mac

Gooey -- Glass Animals

Petition -- Tennis

Teen Age Riot -- Sonic Youth

Gorgeous: thoughts on style

Photo from jeanstories.com

I noticed the jeans. Lighter denim and slightly cropped, they had a fresh silhouette. The bright Los Angeles sun streaming through the window reminded me that even in cooler Northern California, the bright light can make summery clothes feel right. I started looking for a similar pair that day. 

The stylist Jessica de Ruiter was the inspiration and since the feature on Jean Stories, she has been popping up in all my favorite magazines and blogs. Her style is well edited, luxurious and yet makes room for well-loved pieces. Suddenly my closet feels very cluttered, and I want to spend this weekend inspecting my clothes, choosing favorites and packing the rest away for a potential Goodwill exit.

Last week I visited the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco to see the new exhibit called Gorgeous, which mixes artworks from the collections of Asian Art Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Next to each piece in the exhibit, curators from each museum wrote a personal account of why these specific 72 works of art were chosen to be included. 

Curation is a word that can feel overused, but the Gorgeous exhibit reminded me that it can also be stunning. When talented people at the top of their field use their knowledge and access to choose items - that is a true tastemaker. 

Photo from habituallychic.com

De Ruiter's recently renovated home is a beautiful example of clean lines, eclectic global design and the simplicity of well-chosen items. Her personal style has encouraged me to look harder at my own and not be lazy about my taste. It can be hard to pare down, but the curation of her home and wardrobe are very appealing to me. I'm taking that as a sign.

Best books of 2013: Americanah

The San Francisco City Arts & Lectures fall series went on sale today, and I bought tickets to see Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in conversation. Americanah was one of my favorite books of 2013, and I was not alone. It received the National Book Critics Circle Award and was named one of The New York Times Ten Best Books of the year.

Nigerian-born Adichie received a a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 2008, also known as a "genius grant". The engaging book Uncommon Genius by Denise Shekerjian documents winners of the genius grants and looks for common ties between them. The grant process is unlike most: there is no application process and the judges are anonymous. The winner receives a phone call and is told they have won the grant in the form of an obligation-free $500,000, paid annually over five years. 

Americanah is the story of a Nigerian man and woman, their time in America and England, and their relationship to their home. Having moved around growing up, I love books that provide an insider and outsider's view of a place - sometimes at the same time. It can be isolating to live in that state, but it makes for satisfying and thought-provoking reading. I learned as much about America as I did about Nigeria.

Her earlier books are on my list to read before the City Arts & Lectures event, which benefits the 826 Valencia Scholarship program. They include Half a Yellow Sun, which was also recently made into a film, Purple Hibiscus, and the short story collection The Thing Around Your Neck.

Couture Eye Candy

 

Unlike most fashion shows, where my eye is on trends and how to translate runway looks to my lifestyle, I watch the July couture shows for a glimpse into the creative minds of the top designers. These clothes, executed with exquisite tailoring, embroidery and fabrics, show what is possible when a budget is more of an afterthought.

The July shows come at a slow time for me fashion-wise. San Francisco's cold weather keeps me from enjoying summer clothes, but I don't have anything new on my list yet for fall. Style.com has photo coverage of every look that comes down the runway as well as insightful commentary from their writers.

A few stand-outs from the collections so far, with all photos from style.com.

Chanel Couture Fall 2014

Chanel Couture Fall 2014

Versace Couture Fall 2014

Dior Couture Fall 2014

Dior Couture Fall 2014

Illustration by Rene Gruau from Pinterest.

Tea for Two Reasons

Probiotics are not robots. 

When my doctor first recommended taking probiotics following surgery a few years ago, I pictured R2-D2 from Star Wars. Probiotics are actually organisms, like bacteria or yeast, and they naturally help improve digestion and may increase immunity and overall health.

An easy way to add probiotics to your diet is by drinking kombucha, a fermented and naturally effervescent tea beverage. With a key ingredient called SCOBY - an acronym for symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast - the delicious tea comes with quite a colorful history. Kombucha tonics date back thousands of years to ancient China and have been found in health food stores in the U.S. since the 1970s. In 2003, Whole Foods began distributing Los Angeles-based GT's Kombucha nationally, and kombucha was on its way to finding a new generation of fans. 

Good Eggs' mission is to grow and sustain local food systems worldwide.

I have only had cold kombucha, and it tastes like a mild iced tea. The effervescence in kombucha varies by brand, as does the sweetness of the tea. My favorite kombuchas are made by Oakland, CA-based House Kombucha. Locally available through the amazing food delivery company Good Eggs, right now my favorite flavors are Vanilla Chicory Root and Rose Black.


Food blog Eat Life Whole shares my love for House Kombucha and wrote a great post about the history and benefits of kombucha.

Watch & learn: facial massage

The benefits of facial massage have been popping up in articles from Into the Gloss to the Wall Street Journal. Smoothing of fine lines, relief from puffy eyes and detoxification of the skin - without adding any new products? Worth a try, for sure. 

While intriguing, reading the articles did not translate into practice for me. This video by DermStore with New York-based facialist Joanna Vargas gives a quick and simple tutorial on how to give yourself a face massage.




If you like the massage, a fun tool to try is the Georgia Louise Lift + Sculpt Butterfly Stone. The pretty rose quartz stone comes with instructions for giving yourself a detoxifying massage with similar healing and anti-aging results.






As anyone with a cat can tell you, they rarely do things that don't feel good. My cat Oscar spends large portions of his days finding ways to have his face massaged. Take a cue from the animal kingdom and see if you can benefit from facial massage. 

photo from Pinterest

The Cuckoo's Calling

Not feeling well on a holiday weekend is a drag, but the prospect of lying in bed with a page-turning mystery story always cheers me up. I'm reading The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith, a pseudonym of Harry Potter series author J.K. Rowling.

In The Cuckoo's Calling, supermodel Lula Landry's alleged suicide introduces readers to private detective Cormoran Strike, a former military police officer with his own mysterious background. The book was released in the spring of 2013, and I was reminded of it by press around last month's release of the second book in the series. I'm racing through it and excited to have the second novel available: The Silkworm.

Happy 4th of July!

Want a little magic in your life?

Searching for a natural product swap for my unexpectedly not-so-clean soap, the colorful labels for Dr Bronner's Magic Soaps caught my eye. Rest assured, they are clean in the most important sense: free of toxic chemicals. Both the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Database and the Think Dirty app give the soap their highest safety ratings for its ingredients. 

As with all my personal care swaps, effectiveness and a luxurious, beautiful experience matter. Not all of my beauty products are clean yet, but this has been an easy switch. Magic, indeed.

Bonus: Dr Bronner's liquid soap comes in a handy sample size and is great for cleaning makeup brushes.