002: Genetics notwithstanding, Bianca Valle drops her skincare routine
Plus Ugg x Telfar's slippery drop, Farfetch's deepening sale, and $99 tabis.
Everyone in New York is talking about FOMO, but somehow, concurrently, everyone in New York has a thriving social calendar playing out across continents and Lailacooks street dinners. And during hot-body reveal season, of all times. (What happened to all your Covid 19s?) I’m taking refuse, at least, in discovering the dopamine reward system of having a newsletter—your sweet personal responses are worth their weight in open invitations to Swedish summer homes. And when all else fails, there’s always shopping.
The top-clicked links from send 001 were this Maryam Nassir Zadeh sale (which is still live, as is this one), this Bode page, and Miaou’s swim launch. Personally, I’ve done a spot of, ahem, retail therapy since my last update, namely a pair of vintage baggy jean shorts from L-Train that reminded me of these Agolde ones, a sheer bodysuit from Bevza’s ongoing archive sale (hat tip to Rachel Tashjian’s Opulent Tips for acknowledging the translucent agenda), and a pair of also see-through Cecilie Bahnsen + Hereu footies from the Net-a-Porter sale (I had a gift card from attending a fall preview)—they look like The Row’s mesh ones that are sold out everywhere but eBay and Vestiaire Collective.
It could be a whole look, and if you’d like to see these pieces in action, you’re literally always welcome to invite me to a party.
What’s new
Balenciaga’s Fall 2021 collection, previewed in December of last year as an original near-future dystopian video game, is finally available to shop in this reality rather than a virtual one. Individually, the pieces don’t carry the same alien power as when styled in the Afterworld universe, but becoming an avatar of Demna’s imagination (if you’re into that kind of thing) has never been so in reach.
Marshall Columbia’s overstuffed cloth bags and debut RTW line, whose held-together-by-a-thread designs situate it among Isa Boulder, Rui Zhou, and Gabe Sports Club, are available for the first time at SSENSE.
Fear of God has gathered its Essentials collections under the Nordstrom New Concepts umbrella for an exclusive capsule. Its cement and stone-colored suiting and knits conspire to subsume minimal, genderless closets everywhere, or at least isn’t that the dream?
Helinox’s new Tactical Collection is inspiring me to become entrenched in niche Livingston Manor fly fishing drama this summer.
The ideal upstate vibe is Master of None Season 3 or @Helinox_'s new tactical collection, there is no in between.
Picture yourself in this scene wearing head-to-toe Lauren Manoogian and tell me I’m wrong. You can’t!
Totême’s highly clockable logo-print scarfs have been reimagined in Hamptons flavor with a 13-piece beachside collection of towels, swimsuits, sarongs, pool slides, and raffia hats that are exclusively on Matchesfashion.
Model collabs aren’t usually something I find worth talking about, but Mariacarla Boscono’s K-Way partnership has turned out surprisingly cool, useful outdoor pieces, like a chic UPF50 long-sleeve swimsuit and belt bag. The end-of-the-earth dessert campaign starring Boscono and her daughter is a fun astral-projection exercise if you’re likewise feeling trapped in a city right now.
Yeezy and Proenza alumni made a baby called ILYSM and dared enter the monopolized tabi market, with new styles out today. The brand’s artist-first ethos, comfy sock-like construction, and under-$100 price point make them a viable adversary against that soMeone who will reMain unnaMed.
What’s on sale
Farfetch is getting eager to clear out its sale section by inching its discounts higher and higher. The biggest cuts hit 80% on Loewe, Marine Serre, and Yeezy, while the cheapest deals start at $15 on Baserange, Adidas, and Junya Watanabe.
Similarly, Matchesfashion added over 2,000 pieces to sale and further reduced an undisclosed number of already-discounted styles. I recommend this Chopova Lowena charm choker (I have the sister Oklahoma neckalce) and Hereu flats in the same style of my Cecilie Bahnsen ones.
Khaite further reduced its on-site sale, but the best deals on the brand can be found on The Outnet, where it’s going for up to 80% off, and Nordstrom, for 60% off (the Katie Holmes bra included).
Paula’s Choice is running a 20% off sitewide sale, including the most effective, non-snake-oil skincare that any editor or Reddit loyalist will staunchly defend—the 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant. Given the news of Unilever’s acquisition of the brand and possible reformulations in the future, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to stock up.
Anine Bing’s Danish model silks and tweeds are up to 70% off including these excellent extra-long trousers that you should run to buy for just over $100 if you’re a size XS.
What else
Ugg x Telfar drop 2 landed Monday on Telfar’s site, and is about 50% sold-through, basically leaving out all the lil $27 boxers. There’s full inventory stock coming to the Ugg site on Monday the 21st, though, so bookmark this link and set an alarm.
Here’s a weird one with no real use: Barbie, like the doll, has been on a collab rampage, recently tapping CHI, Urban Outfitters, Modcloth, even, uhhhhh, The Washington Post. Take that and do nothing with it, why don’t you!
Bianca Valle’s rehabbed skin routine
How she (mostly) quit using gifted products and started buying her beauty from the health food store.
Bianca can be better understood by who she is rather than what she does. She’s a painter, a nutritionist, a former beauty editor, a zine maker, a volunteer composter, but mostly she’s pressurized goodness and light barely contained in the shape of a human angel with aptly good skin.
L: I feel like you have gorgeous skin and everyone is like, “well how does she have gorgeous skin?” B: The foundation of my skincare routine is eating healthy. And eating natural foods and being mindful of unnatural foods, like not too much coffee, alcohol, white, refined sugar, or processed dairy. With that at the core, I would say that I mainly use four products. I’ve done a lot of trial and error. I used to be a beauty editor at Nylon magazine and would put every single product under the sun on my face. And through hard lessons I realized that I personally don’t actually need much on my face.
Now, I really like Weleda as a brand. It’s a classic. Like their Skin Food. Yeah, you can get it at any health food store. It’s so-so-so-so delicious and moisturizing, so I use the face cream. I also use Dr. Jart’s Ceramidin Cream, I switch between those. For the Weleda stuff, they do sell it at Dimes Market so I go there. I try to support Sabrina as much as possible, always.
And then I love oils, any sort of natural oil. I go through rosehip oil, emu oil—more of the natural stuff. I even used to use neem oil. I’m not really particular on the brand, as long as the bottle is glass I go for it. Why the glass requirement? I feel like oils are so delicate that if it were in plastic, it would throw the product off. Also it’s a perfect opportunity to bypass plastic because most oils do come in glass. My mindset is, okay maybe my Weleda products are in plastic, but I only use one of their creams, and I use it until the last, final drop, and I even cut the top off to get all the product.
How did you discover these products, were they originally sent as editor samples or did you find them organically? I think it’s a mix of both. Growing up having the most formative years in New York City and it being this beauty capital, every person I met, we would eventually start talking about skincare. I came to rosehip oil in that way. For the Weleda, I actually travel to Europe a lot, and it’s always in European pharmacies. One time I forgot my deodorant, and so I went and bought a Weleda deodorant and loved it. And then I thought, okay maybe their other products are good.
Right now I’m using Supergoop! Glowscreen, which I love. The Glowscreen itself is a little tinted and a little glittery, I think that’s really fun. I’m not really married to any SPF yet, I just have a lot of Supergoop coming my way and I enjoy it. But maybe when I run out of my Supergoop stash, I may branch out.
I was just in Marfa, maybe you can help me with this, Laura, but there’s this gal who makes olive oil products out of Joshua Tree, I’d love to give her a shout. She makes them herself. Is it Wonder Valley? Is it like a woman on the bottle? Yeah she’s like holding up an olive branch and has an orange circle behind her. That’s the fuck-ing oneee. I feel like that’s my next purchase, to be honest.
Footnotes: A place for food and wine.
I've been dancing around how to describe Pineapple Collective’s The EXAU Olive Oil since I first tried it this morning. I didn't know that it would be good for sure until I actually tasted it, but it is! So that's not the problem.
Around 10 a.m., we ate a small dose of mushrooms, then Nir coated two pans with the oil. He chopped chestnut mushrooms and cracked four eggs into one pan and sliced off two pieces of bread and added those to the other. He assembled plates and brought labneh cheese from the fridge to the table.
I'm still feeling the mushrooms, and also, because it was a beautiful day, I had a glass of orange vinho verde.
Here's what I want to say: This is the only Italian olive oil in existence being produced by a Black woman, so it’s a stunning story from the start. The toast we ate’s bitter, burnt edges became fruit-sweet from the oil, which tastes tangy like the labneh and shyly peppery. Nir said he thinks the olives may have been more mature, given their restrained profile, past the impulse for theatrics but thoroughly expressive and elegant, though admitted he wasn’t certain.
This is a humble recommendation, nothing more nothing less: Your eggs will love it, and your mushrooms will be whatever you make of them.