The List: Art Collecting, Sustainable Beauty, and Cocaine Decor.
Are you feeling the vibe shift? 12 things that *are* the moment.
I can’t stop looking at Kacey Musgraves’ new home, featured in this month’s AD. She and interior designer Lindsay Rhodes put on the head of a pin so many of the things I’ve been reaching for in my own place, primarily serenity! It’s giving livable Axel Vervoordt wabi-sabi meets Leanne Ford meets cocaine decor (more on that in a sec). She 100% influenced me to hunt down a vintage Maitland-Smith travertine coffee table of my own, and I can’t wait to blanket it in art books.
The last time I was this powerfully influenced to buy something I saw in a magazine, it was Kourtney Kardashian’s silver gelatin Herb Ritts photograph of Batman. (I’m also stalking Curtis Kulig and Tracey Emin for my art collection. But… down the line — because I’m not in the Kardashian tax bracket.)
Speaking of photography purchases, a very good collector’s tip I picked up from one of my favorite podcasts, Eyewitness Beauty, is to snag new pieces when artists are fundraising for charity. It’s how I came to own this Jurgen Teller, and the proceeds went to grassroots charity efforts in Ukraine.
Tbh more into Warhol’s doodles and Polaroids than his soup cans. Back to art books. At work lately, I’ve been referencing Andy Warhol’s sex doodles a lot for a new client that likes to marry the subversive and posh. I’ve been tinkering with the idea of hosting a sound bath and/or aura photography event at the studio next month, and I think this book is what set me down that path. Damien Hirst’s Cherry Blossoms seems to match the pitch of the collective culture shift transpiring right now — from minimal to messy maximalist. On maximalism, the hedonistic opulence roaring in right now makes it a ripe time to revisit this excellent, objectively-researched tome on wealth.
Happy Earth Month! According to Vogue, “With language like ‘circular’ and ‘climate-positive’ swirling around the best sustainable beauty brands of 2022 (not to mention reports that 76% of consumers are now seeking out sustainable products), this is the year to consider your relationship with ‘wish-cycling.’ If you haven’t heard the term, you might already be doing it.” When Sephora uses a shoebox-sized shipper to send an eyeliner pencil, one has to wonder where we as beauty consumers draw the line. While I would love it if all of my favorite brands took things like packaging and the sustainability of their ingredients to heart, the reality is that the industry has a lot of catching up to do. While there are more mindfully-produced items on the market every day, not a lot of them are well, the good stuff I’ve come to rely on. A few notable earth-friendlier exceptions go to Byredo’s truly excellent brow pencil, Dieux’s Forever Eye Mask, the chic, leather-bound refillable lipsticks from La Bouche Rogue, and gentle, reusable makeup removers like the Face Halo.
“Plant Mom” has apparently officially morphed from Zillennial aesthetic into a full-on lifestyle identity. Oh, and the NYT has declared the Fiddle Leaf Fig officially uncool. Um, ok? I won’t be sacrificing my (very healthy) fig at the altar of the trend cycle, personally. I also don’t want my house to look like a West Elm.
IF I HAVE TO HEAR ABOUT “THE VIBE SHIFT” ONE MORE TIME. Do I feel it? Yes. Has it found me? Of course, I am extremely online. Will I survive it? Yes! And you will, too. Because that’s kind of the entire point of this newsletter: distillation! All the things I’ve been telling you about are happening: NIGHT LUXE HEDONISM! THE OPULENT CLEAN LOOK! DOPAMINE DRESSING! AWAKENING YOUR INNER INSTA-BADDIE! MIAMI COCAINE DECOR! TIKTOK MICRO-CULTURES!
I am exactly like the other girls, and I love that for me.
Cocaine decor, though. Proof that there’s a name for everything you like, even if you didn’t know it yet, even if you don’t hit the booger sugar. To underscore my point, a quote from Vice, quoting GQ: “…the glass tables and Art Deco angles of Cocaine Decor are a little less family-friendly than a puffy bouclé couch. But that’s the point: No babies here, dude. Just babes. ‘Cocaine Decor offers a blast from a more joyful time: pictures of dementedly enthusiastic black lacquer and brass built-in cabinets or all-marble and mirror bathrooms,’ explains a 2021 GQ article. The piece anticipated America’s renewed, giddy obsession with the aesthetic, sniffing out its presence in everything from the shifting vibe at stores such as CB2 to the synth-heavy, neon-lit 2021 Super Bowl halftime show with The Weeknd, all resulting in an increased demand for ‘tessellated travertine and glass coffee tables and monstrous white leather sofas from Italy.’” Travertine coffee tables?? What in the Kacey Musgraves! Shit — the Vibe Shift really did find me.
Continuing on the decor front, this guy elegantly roasts the worst McMansions Zillow has to offer, and it is *chefs kiss*.
I’m currently agog at Peter Do’s collab with FWRD. I want it all.
Continuing to indulge my occasional sober curiosity, I’m surprised by how much I like Kin Euphorics for a NA spritz.
Brb, making my own vanilla extract. Beans from Amazon. Other Amazon purchases I’m making heavy use of: these glass straws, this killer cookbook full of great salads, this light-as-air hair finishing creme, this inexpensive Zoom light that clips onto my computer, this minimalist cordless lamp, and this incredible long-wear Tiktok viral lipgloss.
