Aftelier: The Aftel Archive of Curious Scents

Tucked away in a North Berkeley driveway is a tiny gateway into a vast universe of scents.

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I've been a big fan of Linda Rodin since I first encountered her amazing style, and I'm excited to try her new line of lipsticks. Especially now that my lip balm ring has run out.

Would you drink a coconut ice cream and ginger kombucha float? It sounds weirdly good, but then again, I'm a fan of weird things. Probably defeats whatever macrobiotic point there is, but I don't think rum would be misplaced here.

A cute affordable plant stand.

There is now a Baggu in Temescal Alley! Love their practical bags. Might have to pick up this puppy.

Art + roadtrips+ gas stations+ words + the American west: definitely want to check out this Ed Ruscha exhibition at the De Young.

New commute shoes I have my eye on.

Song on repeat: this

Rodin lipstick photo via Mille

Natural Beauty

Last month I listened to this podcast episode on a study that showed teen girls who changed the beauty products they used for just three days had lower levels of hormone disrupting chemicals. One of the things I really loved about the study and the coverage of it was that it focused on the active participation of young women in Salinas. By design they were involved not just in participating in the study, but

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How cute is this video for Jesse Kamm's cult sailor pants? Her line turns 10 this year and she's reissuing them in new colors to celebrate. Must. get. a. pair.

I've been working a lot lately and not sleeping as much = dark circles. While I try to stick to natural beauty products for the most part (and duh, the most natural beauty product is sleep) I'm thinking it may be time for this.

Excited to find some time to dive into the latest issue of the Desert Oracle. Particularly the piece on Marty Robbins.

I've been listening to the new Kurt Vile single on repeat.

Remembering Oliver Sacks who passed away last weekend. A great mind. He's the kind of intellectual who always inspired me in the context of philosophy — a zeal for life, a bit of a rebel, someone who tells a great story and who bridges hard science with the Humanities. He knew he was going to die and wrote some beautiful, inspiring, heartbreaking articles for the NY Times in his last months.

Test Fest: Blackbird Ballard

It’s been a bit since the last test fest, but finally the perfect opportunity came up. My friend Alice recently bought a set of eight testers from Blackbird Ballard. Based out of Seattle, Blackbird’s line of perfumes, incense and other apothecary-type items are an offshoot of their (now defunct) menswear shop. Their scents are nontraditional, unique and often unisex, which is right up my alley. I decided to take a break from Byredo's Mojave Ghost for the day and test them out with Alice to see what they conjured up. Aside from Moto Oud, which was the first to pique her interest and how she found Blackbird, we didn’t read any of the descriptions until after we’d tested them out. From a rich hippie's house to juniper and money, read on for our impressions and hop over to their site where they are having a factory seconds sale (word has it these sell out fast).

Earthship: Earth Tu Face

This weekend I visited newly opened Oakland shop Earthship, the brick and mortar location for natural skincare line Earth Tu Face. Created by two local herbalists, Earth Tu Face's products are made of food grade, plant-based ingredients, but still have a luxury vibe to them (they're inspired by Alice Waters and available at Net-a-Porter, to give you an idea). Earthship showcases the line's serums, scrubs, balms and cleansers and more.

They also carry beauty products by other brands, like nail polishes by Floss Gloss (started in Oakland and now based in Brooklyn — their polishes have great names) and fragrances by Regime des Fleurs. Plus there's a small, curated collections of clothing, homewares, art and jewelry.

I chatted with the retail manager, Madeline, who told me they plan to hold workshops and events in the space adjoining the shop where they make the products — it's like a magical apothecary workshop in a charming old carriage house garage, where the shelves are lined with their organic ingredients and the ceiling is strung with lights and beautiful dried plants. She said she planned to post the schedule on the door outside, so if you're in the neighborhood, stop by and check it out!

 

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We're going to New Mexico in May and I'm really looking forward to visiting Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu and seeing the amazing high desert landscape that inspired Georgia O'Keeffe. Which is not to mention how excited I am that we're staying in an Earthship in Taos.

Intrigued by this brand of 'right-sized' cosmetics designed so you can use them before they expire and fit them easily into your work/gym/travel bags.

Traveling aura photographer Radiant Human will be stationed at Homestead Apothecary in Temescal Alley next Saturday. I've been wanting to catch this but always seem to miss it or be out of town. Would you be nervous to see what color your aura is?

Some insider info on St. Vincent's amazing, otherworldy look.

These reactions to the first installment of Karl Ove Knausgaard's American travel piece for the NY Times Magazine made me laugh and think (especially the description of a Norwegian party).

Super sophisticated or brutally naive — I can't tell which I think applies to the shapes of this jewelry, but either way I'm obsessed.

Test Fest: Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan & Byredo Mojave Ghost

Lately I've been indulging my penchant for fragrances by buying testers. It's the perfect way to try out scents without the commitment or trip to a department store or boutique. I've found it interesting to try a few scents over the same period of time to play them against each other, tease out their different qualities or similarities, and to pick a favorite or even my next full-bottle purchase. 

This round, I sought out scents from two perfumers that are always popping up on cool girls' wishlists and beauty shelves: Byredo's newly released Mojave Ghost and Serge Lutens' Ambre Sultan. Byredo's Ben Gorham takes an approach to developing scents that's exactingly aesthetic and up-to-the-minute but also rooted in nostalgia and dreams. Serge Lutens is a French photography, beauty and perfume creative known for styling for the likes of Vogue and Richard Avedon (also a hero of Riccardo Tisci), and I was inspired to pick Ambre Sultan after my Q&A with The Cut's Editorial Director, Stella Bugbee, who's also scent obsessed.

I expected Mojave Ghost to be a musky, desert-y unisex scent based on the name and description, so I was surprised when I was met with the smell of sweet pear with my first spritz. I have to admit it was more feminine than I thought it would be, and it was so different from what I expected that I was put off. But of course with scents, you have to wait and see. When the tropico-floral top notes settled down, what enveloped me was a lighter, more subtle muskiness that said: refined; pulled-together; womanly; expensive; esoteric; bohemian; intoxicating.

Ambre Sultan I also expected to be musky, mysterious and unisex, and in this case it turned out to be closer to true. Without the floral aspect of Mojave Ghost, it was a straight-ahead but deep and moody  take on sandalwood. At first I thought it settled into whiffs of grandpa-cologne territory, but more and more it ended up feeling: feminine; powdery; rich; spicy; far-flung; powerful; soft.  

I'm not sure I could choose a favorite between these two as they offer very different and compelling moods. But I have a feeling I'll still be thinking about them both when the testers run out, and then time will tell.

Byredo Mojave Ghost

When it comes to scents, the more exotic, unisex and dusty desert-inspired the better, as far as I'm concerned. I'm still hanging on to my last bottle of D.S. & Durga's  Cowgirl Grass, using it slowly and sparingly on special occasions or whims, but ever since it became clear it's been discontinued, I've been on the hunt for something to replace it  So when I saw Byredo's newly released scent Mojave Ghost on both Vogue and Harper's Bazaar last week, I knew I had to try it.

Hot Tip From a Hair Stylist

Hot Tip: Jella Jojoba (that's hella 'ho-HO-ba') for your hair and scalp. If your hair is dull or your scalp is dry, or  — horror — both, jojoba can restore supple shininess in a snap.  My friend and stylist at Marquee Salon, Amanda, turned me on to it. Derived from shrubs native to the Mojave desert, jojoba oil's chemical makeup is similar to that of sebum, the oil we naturally produce to keep our skin and hair healthy, so it's easily absorbed and less likely to irritate skin. To use, add a small amount to your normal conditioner, or for a deeper treatment, massage a generous amount into your hair and scalp at night and wash it out in the morning (use a towel to avoid giving your pillow a deep oil treatment).

And it doesn't end with your hair. Because of its similarity to skin's natural oils, jojoba has all sorts of beauty and skincare applications: makeup remover, cleanser, moisturizer, cuticle oil, the list goes on. According to Wikipedia, you can even use it as a biofuel for your car! So massage some into your scalp, onto your nails, and toss some into the tank of your converted '78 Mercedes — viva jojoba!

Linda Rodin + Rodin olio lusso

 

I want to be Linda Rodin when I grow up. She may be the chicest person on the planet, and the same goes for her beautifully designed line of luxury oils (that's olio lusso in Italian) for hair, face, and body. Composed of floral and botanical essential oils like jasmine, juniper, and neroli, the ingredients sound like aromatic Italian cocktail tinctures (and not a laundry list of chemicals). I love the brand ethos too — a less-is-more attitude that rejects complicated regimens and finds beauty in simplicity, right down to the artfully minimal packaging.

Rodin is an all-around inspiration — in addition to her covetable personal style, skincare line, and veteran status as an NYC stylist, she has an awesomely eclectic apartment.  

 

The phrase 'aging gracefully' makes it sound like you have something to apologize for as you become older. So forget 'aging gracefully,' I just want to be as rad as Linda Rodin when I'm older!

[Top three photos from Advanced Style, bottom photo from Pinterest.]

D.S. & Durga

On a recent trip to NYC I stopped by the rad little boutique In God We Trust. They have their own small collection of women's and men's clothing, an awesome wall of $15 sunglasses ("holy shit, these sunglasses are only $15!), and those little heart necklaces that everyone loves with the cheeky phrases engraved on them. But the one thing I just had to come back for is this amazing D.S. & Durga perfume (or is it a cologne? wondering is part of the charm), Cowgirl Grass.

D.S. & Durga is run by a fetching husband and wife team from Brooklyn — he concocts the complex, nostalgic, Americana-inspired scents, and she designs the pretty, botanic-apothecary vibe packaging. Names like Siberian Snow, Boston Ivy & Mississippi Medicine are paired with equally evocative descriptions that spin vintage narratives and list the rarefied ingredients that make up each fragrance. And if they sound dreamy, sophisticated and esoteric it's because that's how they smell. Like something very old and very modern.

Some of the scents are powerful enough to be challenging to wear, although the super friendly girl working in the shop that day said she wears Burning Barbershop, their strongest scent, but that "because she's a lady" she sweetens it up. Charming, and so true because scents can totally shapeshift depending on the wearer. They also make some less intense scents, which are easy to find since there's a little continuum guide from light-bodied to full-bodied for each fragrance.

Not only do I love the smell of Cowgirl Grass in and of itself, but for me it has that extra special associative power of scents to so strongly remind you of a certain time and place, and it will always remind me of my first trip to NYC!