Tag: books

Summer Tips, Tricks and Treats From Women We Love

Even on scorching hot days, summer is pure bliss. Free time is spent outside, coupling nature with relaxation, socializing, and plenty of al fresco dining and drinking —  what more could you want from a season? In celebration of the peak of summer, we caught up with some of our favorite cool women to hear what they’ve been indulging in this season (and find out how they manage to keep a fresh face when you feel like a human ice cream cone, melting by the minute).

 

BEAUTY REAL TALK WITH NEW YORK FASHION JOURNALIST MARJON CARLOS

 

WHAT’S YOUR MORNING BEAUTY ROUTINE? My feet hit the floor and I’m ready to create good vibes in the morning. I immediately light a Palo Santo stick and turn on some inspiring music, and go to wash my face. I use Urban Skin Rx’s Cleansing Bar, which is amazing for WOC. I went for a micro needling session a few months back with them and it changed my skin.I have used their products ever since.

Next, I vacillate between a serum or a moisturizer. I don’t want to feel weighed down in the summer or like my face is melting off, so I’ll either go with Urban Skin Rx’s Brightening Serum or Dr. Sturm + Angela Basset’s Hyaluronic Serum.

Depending on whether I am headed to the gym or a meeting or my work space, I take a shower and use Marley Natural’s Hemp Seed Oil Wash. I love the smell and the hemp brings even more vibes. Afterward, I usually slather aloe vera gel on to help preserve my tan and then Johnson & Johnson Baby Oil: I feel like butter and it’s weightless compared to a creamy lotion. For makeup, I just use Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer in “tan” and a dusting of MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in “dark golden.” If I have an important meeting, I’ll use Dior Airflash Foundation Spray first for more coverage — it’s like Photoshop and I love it. MAKE has a great cream blush — Blot Pot — andI line my eyes with Maybelline’s Unstoppable Eyeliner, fill in my eyebrows with Anastasia Beverly Hills’s Brow Powder Duo in “medium brown,” and add a coat of Dior Show Pump’n’Volume on my lashes. I use Lucas Pawpaw on my lips or MAC’s Verve for a bit more color if I have a meeting.

I’ve been taking my Tatcha Dewy Skin Mist with me everywhere, too — it’s great for when you’re sweating and you need to feel refreshed. The bottle is pint-sized and adorable, so you can take it wherever. I’ll spritz water on my hair to activate the curl and then add Shea Moisture’s Fruit Fusion Coconut Water Weightless Styling Mousse for a wet and wavy look, and let it air dry. I didn’t know I was going for Rihanna “Wild Thoughts” this summer but here we are! I also use a combination of Jamaican castor oil and shea oil on my scalp and edges. Oh, and I’ll take a Biotin vitamin to help with hair and nail growth.

WHAT ARE THE PRODUCTS YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS? Aloe vera gel to help your tan last longer; Elta MD is the best sunscreen for WOC because it doesn’t leave that gray, ashy film on your skin that most sunscreens do; Lucas Pawpaw for lip gloss; WATER for hair/skin/nails/body; and Herbivore Body Oil to make your skin shine after you’ve been in the sun all day!

ANY TIPS ON HOW TO PREVENT YOUR MAKEUP FROM MELTING IN THE HEAT? Avoid using moisturizers in the summer and instead add serums into the mix. Tatcha Dewy Skin is a lifesaver when I’m about to head into a party — it preserves your look and gives you a little glow. Glossier’s Soothing Face Mist spray is great when you’re outside and sweltering. It saved me at Afropunk last year!

Follow @marjon_carlos

ALL THE EATS WITH NEW YORK FOODIE FASHION EDITOR ALYSSA COSCARELLI

WHAT ARE YOU EATING ALL SUMMER LONG?

1. The entire menu at The Standard East Village garden: Olives, Japanese fried chicken, flatbread… I order one of everything on the menu with friends and it’s always the perfect summer meal (accompanied by frozé, of course).

2. For coffee, eggs, and acai bowls, I love Hole In The Wall, an unexpected little joint in Financial District near my office. Equally delicious and photogenic.

3. Guacamole to start, and churros to finish at Jajaja.

4. Matcha soft serve at Soft Swerve. Hits the spot on a hot afternoon, every time.

5. A latte and egg sandwich at L’estudio. A chic, minimal (& yummy!) way to start the day.

6. Avocado toast at De Maria, the most Instagram-y spot of the summer.

7. A must try if you’re in NYC: The pancakes at Sunday In Brooklyn. There are no words… You just have to experience them.

Follow @alyssainthecity

NON-STOP OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES WITH VANCOUVERITE NICOLE WONG

Bottom image by Flory Huang

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE SUMMER OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES? I’m a summer baby and something I love doing in and around Vancouver in the summertime is a late afternoon picnic with friends at either Crab Park or Jonathan Rogers Park. There’s a point during the day when the sun is still out but it’s not as harsh, and that’s the perfect time to round up your best pals for a selection of fresh fruits, charcuterie and cold drinks. Great friends and great conversations in a chill environment is the perfect combination for me. Another thing I love doing is finding great outdoor concerts to attend. I’m a bit of a concert fiend and live music set against the setting sun is nothing short of perfection. This year, Malkin Bowl has some really great end-of-summer concerts and I will definitely be checking out HAIM there.

Follow @tokyo_to

YOUR READING LIST WITH SAN FRANCISCO’S BOOK EXPERT EMMA LOUGHRIDGE

WHAT’S ON YOUR SUMMER READING LIST?

The Changeling by Victor LaValle: I just finished this book a few weeks ago and I really enjoyed it. There’s a huge plot twist, so I think it’s best going into this not knowing much. Just know it’s a great blend of fiction and fantasy and is written really well. A perfect book to sink into!

Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong: This was the last book I finished this summer and it was a delight to read. It’s quick, Rachel’s writing style is so great and she’s a local San Francisco resident!

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova: One of my all time favorite books. I really like reading darker books in the summer time, it’s a fun contrast to the sunny (if you don’t live in San Francisco) weather and this one is perfect. It’s quite the creepy adventure based on the “real” Dracula and if you’re into historical fiction, please pick this up.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver: Another one of my favorite books. Barbara Kingsolver is a classic and I’m bummed I waited this long to read her. This story is about an Evangelical family that moves to the Congo in 1959, and how everything completely unravels for them as soon as they get there. This book made me cry and laugh and cry again and everyone should read it. Another good lengthy book to submerge yourself into!

Follow @emmatheyellow

EDITOR’S NOTE: HAVE A DRINK… WITH US.

Images from top to bottom: @hennitravels, @colonienyc, and @tapestersgrill

THREE COCTAILS WE CAN’T STOP SIPPIN’ THIS SUMMER.

1. Watermelon Margaritas. Just three simple ingredients to make these delicious drinks.

  • 5 Tbsp of tequila
  • 2 1/2 Tbsp lime juice
  • 1 1/4 cups blended watermelon

2. Aperol Spritz. Another easy peasy recipe.

  • 3 parts of Prosecco
  • 2 parts of Aperol
  • 1 part or splash of soda
  • Ice and a slice of orange

3. Frozé. Let’s be honest, this is everyone’s favorite this summer.

  • 1 bottle of rose (tip: pour the rose into ice trays and freeze hours before making the drinks)
  • ½ cup of sugar
  • Strawberries
  • Fresh lemon juice

Literary Swag’s Yahdon Israel On Merging Fashion and Literature

Yahdon Israel happened upon the fashion scene in an unconventional way—through literature. It began one day on an NYC train when Yahdon noticed a notably stylish young man reading Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and was struck with inspiration. As a BFA graduate in the Creative Lit field, Yahdon always felt there was a pressured disconnect between intellectualism and style. He admired this stranger’s expression of personal swag using both literature and fashion. He snapped a photo on his phone, posted on Instagram, tagged it #LiterarySwag, and the rest is Literaryswag’s history.

Aside from inspiring people worldwide to embrace the expression online, Literaryswag also has an open book club that meets offline in Brooklyn. It draws members from New York and the surrounding states to discuss literature within an iconic clothing store in Boerum Hill, The Brooklyn Circus. You can check it out on the last Thursday of each month. Sign us up!

We teamed up with Yahdon, and BK clothing store Swords-Smith to showcase some of the best books and collections of Summer ’17. Keep scrolling to get to know Yahdon and his current reading list.

Biera Boxy Jumpsuit c/o Swords-Smith

CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT THE BOOKS YOU CHOSE AND WHY? HOW DO THEY INSPIRE THE CORRESPONDING LOOKS OR VICE VERSA? So the first book I chose to complement the Beira boxy jumpsuit is Maggie Nelson’s critical memoir, The Argonauts. It was the first book that came to mind when I looked at the Beira piece because The Argonauts is all about the intellectual, emotional, and in many ways, excursion it takes to find ourselves. And the bumps that go along with it. The Argonauts is also a book about navigating identity and our expectations of them—especially as it pertains to gender roles.

Biera Boxy Jumpsuit c/o Swords-Smith

When it comes to menswear there are so many expectations that are assigned to male bodies as to make us rigid in how we express our masculinity. Meaning, that in order for a piece to be considered menswear it “should” immediately communicates heteronormative vision of masculinity. 

But the jumpsuit blurs that vision and it reminds me of a section of Maggie Nelson’s Argonauts where quoting feminist theorist, Judith Butler, Nelson writes, “Performativity has to do with repetition very often with the repetition oppressive and painful gender norms to force them to re-signify. This is not freedom but a question of how to work the trap that one is inevitably in. This jumpsuit to me seems to offer solutions to the inevitable trap of the way masculinity is performed. That while I know what I’m wearing a jumpsuit, I have to also be aware of the perception that this jumpsuit is being read as a dress, and I have to be comfortable enough in my body to be okay with that—to not say—or convince someone that I’m not wearing a dress. Another way of reassuring someone that I’m a man. The swaggiest thing about this jumpsuit is its irony: only men who are really comfortable in themselves can wear it. It ain’t for the faint of heart—and neither is a book like The Argonauts.

Journal Grit Water Shirt c/o Swords-Smith; Journal Fine Brushed Pant c/o Swords-Smith

“You spent so much time explaining yourself, your work, to others—what it meant, what you were trying to accomplish, why you were trying to accomplish it, why you had chosen the colors and subject matter and materials and application and technique that you had—that it was a relief to simply be with another person to whom you didn’t have to explain anything: you could just look and look, and when you asked questions, they were usually blunt and technical and literal.” This is one of my favorite quotes from Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life. Boasting over 700 pages, it’s an audacious novel that journeys with four friends—Willem, JB, Malcolm and Jude—through their friendship, and completely raises the stakes for the term “growing pains.”

The particular quote describes the particular relief that came with being around someone who just understood without something having to be explained. This is a look that brings that sort of relief. On the surface the look obviously matches the book, but it’s more than that. The look has all the elements of leisure, and to me, there’s nothing more leisurely than reading a book where the page count is higher than your credit score.

Folk Combination Tee c/o Swords-Smith; Uniforms For The Dedicated Illusions Trouser c/o Swords-Smith

This third look is one that captures the subtle uniformity of New York City. We’re really only known for wearing one color—and that’s black. More recently olive green has made its way into lexicon of New York’s style dictionary. What these colors have in common is that they go with nearly any and everything which is important in a city where any and everything can happen. 

Talking about New York City, and its diversity, I also have to acknowledge how transient the diversity is. How income and tax brackets change in a matter of minutes. How living maybe a block over provides the capacity to live and lead a vastly different life. The question becomes, how do you dress for a city that is always changing? Unless you are traveling with a wardrobe, every piece and outfit has to be versatile and serve multiple purposes. John Freeman’s Tale of Two Cities is a book that only explores the good and bad, rich and poor, and have and have nots of the city. It’s a book that shows how these seemingly contradicting realities of the city shows that New York—though being one city—exists as many ways as the people who live here. And that’s the only authentic New York experience—the personal one.

Folk Combination Tee c/o Swords-Smith

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR PROUDEST MOMENT SO FAR? My proudest moment(s) since I started Literaryswag has to be every month I host the Literaryswag Book Club (@literaryswagbookclub). Three years ago, Literaryswag was an online community. But to have that community actualize in real life, where people from all over the NYC—and from other states—come to talk about a book in a clothing store, the experience is more than words can articulate. And that was the point: to show that love for books and clothes is a real one. The meetings are open to the public, and I always encourage any and every one to come—even if you don’t read. I want to show that this book club is about the conversation and community.

WHAT ARE YOUR THREE FAVORITE SPRING 2017 MENSWEAR COLLECTIONS? Because spring is a season of renewal, I’d have to go with Pyer Moss, Margiela and The Brooklyn Circus.

Biera Boxy Jumpsuit c/o Swords-Smith

Visit yahdonisrael.com for more and follow @yahdon.

All photography by Zach Gross. Follow him @zachgross1.