A Smelly Summer in NYC
And summer programming you can join in on.
Hello friends. I’m in New York for the summer - building out my apartment here into a dream workshop for beauty, design, and writing. I haven’t “secretly” left LA; I am the rare bitch that is truly bicoastal. (I’ll talk about that some other time, for paid subscribers, who get to be nosy.) It’s been a busy year so far and will just be getting busier, so to stay present I’ve been carrying around a fake film camera called Camp Snap with me most places and scrapbooking more between events. It’s been nice and grounding. I’ll just share my most recent moments with you through the photos I’ve taken. They are mostly terrible photos, but I like the surprise of them.
Summer! My summer wardrobe is entirely Issey Miyake and the pleated dupes from Uniqlo. That’s the hack so you’re not sweating and hideous constantly on the subway, just pleats. You can handwash in the sink or bathtub and hang dry and save yourself laundry quarters, it’ll be dry in a few hours or overnight, every time. When I used to backpack around on research trips, I’d just have a compression bag for my pleats and my laptop and sleep in hostels. I still do this for short trips. It is hard, nearly impossible, really, to look like a slob in Pleats Please.
I’m still carrying around perfume samples in a cigarette case. This week it was filled with:
the watchmaker Jaeger Le-Coultre’s Timeless Stories perfume, which I don’t think they actually sell? It’s a client gift, like Bottega Veneta's coloring book kit for Very Important Clients. (Which I want, btw….) You can grab the samples of this perfume on eBay. JLC is the watchmaker’s watchmaker; most other luxury watch companies have used their parts in their watches at one point or another. My partner is a watch nerd and made me tag along with them to their appointment to see their latest watches. Neither of us are in the Fancy Watch Tax Bracket, but we both admire great craftsmanship. The brand gave us these samples at the end of our visit. I’m wearing it a lot - orris and leather just do it for me. And now I have like 50 different antique watches on my watchlist across eBay and Etsy. Here are two that I’m eyeing: this Bucherer, and this Orloff. I’m basically turning into an old lady, or two raccoon stacked in a pleated trench coat, possibly.
The Maison Louis Marie No. 4 Bois de Balincourt Parfum Oil: The only MLM I condone (hahaha). I usually gravitate towards the candles from this brand but I’m into this perfume oil. I don’t usually like sandalwood because synthetic sandalwood often makes my nose itch - but this is great.
I carry around Matiere Premier’s Vanilla Powder in the discovery kit size as a layering option. Mostly for cute girls I’m chatting to throughout my day who are into sweet fragrances, I like to share it with them as a treat. A lil’ spritz nice to meet ya situation. I used to give away Glossier lighters to the hotties, but I gave all of mine away </3
Some of the bazillion lip products in my bag currently: The Outset Glossy Lip Treatments, the EADEM Le Chou Chou Lip Softening Balms, the Tower 28 Lip Glosses. If I had to rank ‘em I’d say the EADEM is superior, mostly because I prefer the packaging the most and it’s not as slippy.
I’m pretty sure these slippers are from Banana Republic on clearance and this Balenciaga city bag is a (pretty legit) knockoff version an auntie gave me when I was a teenager. It is actually better quality than the new Balenciaga city bags, which I find hilarious, when I bothered to compare them out of curiosity. It is also the perfect size for both a wine bottle and a laptop. I do not drink wine anymore, solely for vanity reasons (your skin is so much clearer when you aren’t drinking!) but I usually carry my laptop around in this bag and generally schlep too much stuff with me. I counted this morning and my bag had not one sample perfume but four full sized bottles and also a napkin wrapped donut in it my partner snuck in for me to eat when I get hungry today. Incredible.
Oh also there have been a lot of perfume launches and they’re becoming fun little productions. Diaoramas and gigantic butter sculptures and themed desert flights!
There was a perfume swap that
put together this weekend, too; I love seeing how people change the format each time and comparing it to the one I did last December. I learn something different each one I attend!
The fragrance I most wanted (Frederic Malle Carnal Flower) was swiped up within the first two minutes, but I discovered Kismet Olfactive’s Studio Scent and took that home, and I’m quite happy with it.
A little peek at my outfit from last Friday. I got the Simone Rochas x Crocs when they launched and finally wore them out this week with this Tao Comme des Garçons skirt I’ve owned for ages, as evidenced by this fit pic from 2014.
This summer, I’m doing more beauty events in NYC.
I had a lot of fun doing Perfumed Pages Summer Sessions last year so I’m bringing it back in a different format. This year’s season runs from July 7 to August 31, and it’s the most expansive yet — built for writers, scent-lovers, and anyone craving ritual, rhythm, and creative community. We’ll have online writing sessions and occasional in-person events in New York City. I’m doing lots of beauty research and want to bring you into it, as an accomplice, playmate, as co-conspirator. We’re talking private tours of olfactory art, studio visits with perfumers, picnics with themed snacks and perfumes and yes - I will bring you eighteen different sunscreens to use when we’re outside, because I am an asian auntie.
Most crucially, each ticket pools into a perfume pool: a collective fund for dream acquisitions that we’ll decide to purchase together mid-program. That way, what we all desire - that fancy bottle we can’t get decants of otherwise, the 18 other bottles we can’t afford ourselves - we all get to experience.
Here’s what’s inside:
🌿 2 weekly online writing salons
🌿 4 in-person salons in New York City (every other weekend)
🌿 Sample sniffing Sundays
🌿 Mail treats for remote participants
🌿 And a surprise or two…
🔗 Reserve your Summer Salon Pass here.
Every pass also directly supports the work of the Museum of Nails Foundation, helping us build programs and infrastructure for beauty artists and care workers across the country. (I will talk more about this another time - this email is already long!)
Folks who have already pre-ordered The House of Beauty will get extra treats at the end of the summer salon series, because you are my favorite and I do play favorites unapologetically.
Ok!
See ya around babes.