LOVE AFFAIRS
SACHAJUAN, STOCKHOLM EDITION
JUNE 15.2012
by AIMEE BLAUT
I didn’t NEED to travel to Stockholm to fall in love with Swedish brand SACHAJUAN, but c’est la vie. Because although I recognized their products back in New York, it wasn't until I arrived in Sweden -- and after a week of using Head and Shoulders -- that I was inspired to try it out. In Stockholm, SACHAJUAN is everywhere, and now I understand why. After examining (and smelling) every one of their bottles at Åhlens, I settled on their most basic Shampoo for Normal Hair. It smells and works amazing especially as a clarifying shampoo that won’t weigh your hair down. The line is based around "ocean silk technology," which adds shine to your locks while keeping them bouncy by utilizing key proteins found in sea algae extract. My favorite summer find in Stockholm so far.
YOU ARE A BABE
PARISA AND MAX , MAX FOWLES
JUNE 11.2012
by AIMEE BLAUT
Parisa: “We are launching Max Fowles Ready to Wear collection for Autumn/Winter 2012. I’m the Creative Director for the brand and we’ve been designing the collection for the past few years. It’s a small twenty-piece collection and we are really excited. When you get your first sale it’s the point where you feel like oh this works and it is so rewarding because you have a vision in your head but you don’t know how it will work until you get the feedback.”
Parisa: “Max is more obsessed with putting creams and such on; I’m actually not [laughs]. I didn’t even put body lotion on until he forced me to. But I always wash my face with Crème de La Mer face wash. I have very sensitive skin so I can break out if use the wrong products. Crème de La Mer works really well on my skin. Kiehl’s body lotion—I love. For fragrances I hate common smells. I have on Chanel Coromandel—it is amazing. It’s very strong with a musky touch to it.”
Max: “Yeah I am the one spending all the money on my beauty regimen. I have the more elaborate beauty closet. When I wake up I just rinse my face off with water in the shower and then moisturize with Crème de la Mer. I also use their eye balm. For lip balm we use Fresh’s Sugar but everything else is Crème de la Mer and an SPF from my dermatologist. At night I always shower before bed and moisturize my full body. Then I use this gel serum on my face that is like a peel. I use it every night and then always eye balm and always lip balm. For perfume I always use Byredo. You can only buy it typically at Barneys never at Duty Free or something like that.”
Max: “We just bought a shampoo that is really cool called Number twenty-Four. My hairdresser from London, Daniel Galvin is incredible, his son James opened up a place in Los Angeles. So they started up a line and the products are great–we are loving them.”
Parisa: “Okay for makeup it’s my turn now [laughs]. I like NARS a lot. I like their lipstick, the pink one I’m using Schiap, its super pink and feels fun. I’m a big blush person. Mascara, I don’t use that much, unless it’s a special day, but I look dead if I don’t use blush and some bronzing powder on my face. I like NARS in Casino and Desire. Eyeliner is something I have always used since I was fifteen years old. I like to do dark eyes with a bright lipstick. I use the Benefit waterproof eyeliner pencil and it doesn’t smudge it’s really good. I always thread my brows, they are naturally pretty thick but I keep them up [laughs]. It hurts a lot and I thread once or twice a week.”
Parisa: “I was born in Iran but I moved to Sweden when I was two years old. We live in L.A. now but I am used to always traveling. When I’m in Stockholm I go to Sturebadet, for my gym and my spa that’s the best spa in Sweden. I love the spa at The Setai Hotel in Miami, they have an amazing spa there, it is one of my favorites, very relaxing. Here in L.A. we go the Beverly HIlls Hotel when we want to pamper ourselves really well.”
Photos by: Aimee Blaut
Tags: Benefit, Beverly Hills Hotel, Byredo, Chanel, Crem de la Mer, Daniel Galvin, Fresh, Galvin Benjamin, Kiehl's, Max Fowles, Max Fowles-Pazdro, nars, Parisa Fowles-Pazdro, Sturebadet
LOVE AFFAIRS
COW PARFYMERI, STOCKHOLM
JUNE 06.2012
by AIMEE BLAUT
I packed my bags and headed to Europe to explore the best beauty in some major cities around the continent. So goodbye New York, hello summer -- well, kind of. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks in Stockholm where the forecast has been in the low fifties with frequent showers. Luckily I’ve been busy scouring the cities finest digs in search of Rodin’s Olio Lusso -- and of course, babes. On my Swedish adventures, I met up with Christian Hughes who co-owns the beauty mainstay Cow Parfymeri on Mäster Samuelsgatan.
“My wife has been a makeup artist for donkeys of years, without revealing her true age [laughs], and she would buy these fabulous brands when she was abroad doing work. So she wondered why no one made a store with all of these amazing brands and how come you can’t find them in Sweden? I thought it was a brilliant idea and it’s been eleven years now since we opened Cow.”
“Once we decided to do it, it took us more than a year to finalize the brands. We focus on carrying the best products. We need strong lines, where the whole brand is strong because it is about our credibility. It makes life so much easier; I don’t need to fool anyone. The customer knows if Cow carries it, it’s bound to be good.”
“The most recent brand that we launched was Editions de Parfum de Frederic Malle and it hasn’t been available in Sweden before. For me it is the best fragrance line in the world because Frederic Malle, who comes from a fragrance family, asked perfumers to have creative freedom and create whatever they like and Malle works as an editor. So some of the world’s best perfumers are getting to create scents with artistic freedom.”
“I think from the outside if you look at our custom you would assume that she had a great consciousness about trends and was super young, but our customers span from eighteen to women in their seventies living all over Sweden.”
Photos by: Aimee Blaut
