Weekend Supplement: French Lessons, Little Spring Beauty Touches, and A Fragrance Panel

Plus one glass of tempranillo

[I wrote this last week and edited it this morning, Sunday, so just pretend it’s Tuesday, April 22nd, as you read along <3]

It seems like lately the days are flying by at unimaginable speed, and thank heavens, because finally, some reliably warm weather. It’s in the mid-70s in SoHo, and I’m sitting in an area dubbed Little Paris or France or something. The requirements? Apparently one wine bar, one Maman cafe, and a French school called Cou Cou. Yes, I am but another New Yorker trying to learn French this season, in hopes of both a long, illustrious career in the international beauty industry and to watch Tout le monde aime Jeanne without subtitles. I had 30 minutes to kill in Little Paris before my lesson, and so I sat down at the aforementioned wine bar for a glass of tempranillo and some cacio e pepe popcorn.

I’ve been thinking lately about the little beauty touches that excite me when the weather turns. You can’t tell here, but I employed one today. It’s a dash of glittery, metallic eyeliner along my lower lash line. The one I use most often is Linda Hallberg’s Crayon in Zhou. I take inspiration from the white/nude liner along the waterline hack for its brightening abilities, but I’m less precise with application. In a conservative moment, I will only opt for the lash line (like I did in the video here), but usually, I take it to the corners (inner and outer) and also along the waterline. For an evening option, I’ll use Róen’s Eyeline Define Eyeliner Pencil in Shimmering Gunmetal. The base is charcoal grey (Zhou’s is neutral), which means it smokes out more. Sultry and absolutely the clubbed-up version; good for an evening out.

I also love neon nail polish for the season. My current nail MO is usually nude or enhancing “what the good Lord gave me,” as my mom would say. I ADORE the largely unsung P Shine Japanese Manicure Kit as well as Manucurist’s Active glow or going completely au naturel. But every now and again, it’s one of two neons I own from Death Valley Nails: The Tomb of Wrestlers or An Electric Eel in Love. I went with Eel this week. This helps when I’m wearing my everyday uniform of blue jeans and some t-shirt or old button down to not feel so… sigh… basic? Neon nails are the SFW way to show you’re a bit more fun (freaky?) than your clothes let on.

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I’m adding this article today (Sunday) because it recently went live on my friend, Quinn’s Substack

SMELL WORLD

. My company, Spate, hosted a meetup with CEW and dsm-firmenich to bring together the fragrance community for a swap and panel discussion, which I moderated. Quinn — fragrance writer, expert, and exceptional panel contributor — did a fab writeup, and I’d encourage you to give it a read!

#PerfumeTok and the Future of Fragrance: Notes from the CEW x Spate x DSM-Firmenich Panel

<3 Enjoy your Sunday, and don’t blow away if you’re outside in NYC today!