Two weeks ago, I launched Salad for President Dressing Mixes, and I held my breath as the reviews trickled in. When you work on something for this long, eventually you grow too close to the project for your eyes to focus, too invested to trust your own taste. The only thing left to do is set it sailing and let the people be your jury.
Within the week, we had a write-up in The T List, T Magazine’s newsletter; a glowing endorsement from Aliza Abarbanel on the podcast Taste; and an in-depth review in The Strategist. We exceeded our online sales projections by 200%, but most importantly, the people whose opinions I value most gave me their thumbs-up and public endorsements—Stella Bugbee, Camille Becerra, Christina Chaey, and so many more. These are people who definitely make their dressings from scratch (or simply use the best olive oil and vinegars), but definitely don’t buy bottled gloop for their weeknight salads.
Buoyed by the response, we went live with a series I’ve been crafting for the brand’s Instagram page (please follow!), called “_____ Eats a Salad.” It’s a culinary “screen test,” if you will—anti-algo Instagram content. The ask is simple: eat a salad from start to finish (with my dressing, of course). We share the video on our account—no edits, no music, no filters—and I gush about the person in the caption. It’s a throwback to the original Salad for President: salad is a red herring to get into the homes of creative people who inspire me. Stay tuned for a lineup of artists, unsung heroes, and wack-a-doos who make me smile.
Enough about salad. Today, I want to get back to my usual format: how to take care of your skin, what to read (for yourself and your kids), and some summer makeup recommendations.
Staying at Rosewood London, I was properly—and sufficiently—influenced by the in-room amenities from Votary. For the most part, I avoid scented products, so I was shocked to find myself seduced by the scent of pure rosemary in the Votary soap.
It reminded me that I used to use their Radiance Reveal Mask for gentle, regular exfoliation, so I re-upped, along with their Super Seed Cleansing Oil, and Super Seed Facial Oil. (If you suffer from hormonal pore congestion, my facialist recommends oil cleansers in lieu of drying, soap based cleansers). I put the whole regimen to the test in Montana last week, where the elements nearly peeled my face off, and I was saved.
bareMinerals was one of the early mainstream brands associated with what we now call “clean beauty.” Its huge success on QVC in the late ’90s and early 2000s moved ingredient-conscious cosmetics out of the health food store and into the mainstream. I swear by their Complexion Rescue tinted moisturizer with SPF 30—it goes on invisibly, smoothing pores and imperfections without any cakiness.
For another slightly dated but indispensable beauty secret, I give you the best lip color of all time: Clinique Black Honey. Once, my assistant Julie and I accidentally mixed ours up — we had both stolen it from our mothers’ makeup drawers earlier that day. It’s been tested and approved across generations for good reason: sheer but impactful, and the perfect summer lip stain.
Heart the Lover is the kind of book you read on 2x speed. It’s the story of an all-consuming love triangle and the lasting impact those youthful, formative relationships come to have on our adult lives. It brought me back to my twenties, when intellectual awakening is the tie that binds friends and lovers, and your primary mission is to find yourself as the ground shifts beneath your feet. One only has a finite number of these youthful tumbles—they define you and follow you to the end.
Also in the “read” category, I wanted to direct you back to a children’s classic. As the best ones always do, The Velveteen Rabbit contains wisdom for kids, sure, but for adults too. I found an old copy in the closet at my in-laws’ and began to weep at this passage, brought to me at exactly the right time, as I left my newly opened restaurant, feeling so much regret for having brought too much of myself into an unsafe work environment. I needed this reminder that our vulnerabilities are what make us real.
“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day.
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”
“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.
“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”
“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
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