Today, a service-y, anti-funk guide to body scents, a new smoothie restaurant, and the wedding of an important historical figure.
SCENTS
Take a More Serious Approach to Deodorant!
Do it for your fellow commuters, if not yourself.
The sky is orange, and the temperature is in the 90s. You and I are both covered in a thin film of sweat at all times — it’s unavoidable. Smelling bad, however, is optional. The first step is to understand the science of B.O., per Strategist senior editor Crystal Martin.
“I realized that what the natural-deodorant people have been saying for years is true: The stink is from bacteria, not the sweat itself,” she said. “The bacteria are metabolizing proteins and fat in the sweat, and the by-products of that are what cause body odor. So one thing you can do to control that process of stink production is get rid of the bacteria. Acids do that by lowering the skin’s pH and creating an inhospitable environment for the bacteria.”
Now that you know the disgusting things happening on a microbial level in your crevices, you are equipped to create your own funk-eliminating regimen. Strategist writer Dominique Pariso recommends a three-step process: an anti-bacterial wash in the shower, an AHA deodorant, and a weekly bedtime application of an aluminum wipe such as her preferred SweatBlock. That way, you don’t have to apply aluminum anti-perspirant daily — even though it’s perfectly safe, many of us still avoid it because of the whiteness, pilling, and residue. This also frees you up to choose a pH-balancing (acidifying) deodorant that smells really good. I like Megababe’s The Smoothie fruit-enzyme deodorant; Dominique recommends Nécessaire Eucalyptus, a scent I love in the bodywash/scrub format. This all sounds like spon, I realize, but my goal here is not to sell deodorant; it’s to protect my sensory peace on a packed A/C/E.
SCENES
Are You the Type of Person Who Could Enjoy a Miami Smoothie Joint?
No judgment from me. It sounds nice.
There’s a new fast-casual chain café type thing in New York, and its appeal is based on its soothing, Instagram-friendly atmosphere as much as its pricey smoothies. While a derisive reaction is understandable, we might also be willing to succumb to its charm, which old heads who remember when there was only one Sweetgreen in Flatiron and it was good may find familiar.
Inside, diners lifted slices of avocado toast to their mouths as they typed into spreadsheets. One woman in a Dôen blouse sipped a creamy baby-blue drink as if she was in no hurry to finish it. A song so vague that even Shazam couldn’t detect it emanated from speakers hidden somewhere in the lofty space decorated in white and neutral woods. It felt like stepping into a well-maintained tooth. It felt like getting just a little bit of a lobotomy. Even the “Wet Floor” sign was made of gold.
Just a little bit of a lobotomy? Sign me up, stat.
SCENESTERS
Julia Allison’s Wedding Was Everything You Could Imagine
A “dark-academia aesthetic” at Harvard. Cory Booker co-officiated. There was a snake.
Trigger warning: Do not read this if you were online in the aughts. Or maybe do, I’m not the boss of you. The mother of all influencers got married, once in Cambridge and once in Bali, and Town & Country was there to report on all the amazing details, none of which you could make up if you tried.
Two months later, the couple and their loved ones went around the world to Bali. Guests, including “five shamans from across the world” and the Yale Whiffenpoofs a cappella group, all joined in. The five day mini-festival began with a party with the dress code “Welcome to the Jungle.”
If Julia Allison didn’t exist, we would have to invent her, and I for one am glad she does.
Click Your Way Out
A haunting meditation on the writer’s own impending death and a reason to rewatch Little Women (1994).
The very cool bedrooms of NYC teens.
The Look Book goes backstage at Liza! at 80.
As sci-fi readers and watchers know, it all comes true eventually.
An incisive, funny, and thoughtful pan of pans.
Lenny Kravitz says he works out in his leather pants to test their performance capabilities, but I think he does it to make sure they don’t split.
If you are old enough to remember when Julia Allison and I went to a psychic together, it’s time to schedule a colonoscopy after your lobotomy.