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Step-by-step
Jewelry Designer Matthew ‘Mateo’ Harris’ Beauty Routine
I start my mornings by splashing ice cold water on my face and then washing it with Obaji Nu-Derm Gentle Cleanser. I’ve been using this brand for years – a friend of mine who works at a spa introduced me to it – and I swear by it. I also use the brand’s Professional-C serum, which has really restored my skin. It’s magic. I use V.Sun sunscreen in SPF 50. Sunscreen is something my mom, who lives in Jamaica, taught me to wear all the time, even in winter. I always wondered why, because I’m so black, but she’s 70 and looks amazing. After going out during the day, I wash my face again, this time with Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser, as I don’t want to use up my expensive facial cleanser. After the Cetaphil I follow with Skinceuticals Hydrating B5 and Obaji’s face cream. Sometimes I also throw in Paula’s Choice azelaic acid booster, which brightens up my skin and shrinks my pores. In the evening I use Skinceuticals discoloration serum. I have pigmentation issues so I live off this product. As for my lips, I bought a million and one lip balms, but just give me that original Chapstick in cherry. I travel often, so before the plane I always take a SK-II Facial Treatment Mask with me. on my body, I also use a geranium oil from Aesop, that smells divine. I wish I had known about Face Gym sooner. I’ve tried doing more facial exercises at home, especially meowing (with tongue movements to reshape your jawline). I watch these YouTube videos of guys who have been meowing since high school, and their faces are so chiseled and their jawlines so strong. Another recent discovery for me is Matière Premiere, which has a sexy, mysterious fragrance called Falcon Leather. Every time I wear it, people stop me on the street to ask me about it.
This interview has been edited and abridged.
George DiStefano spent his childhood summers at his grandparents’ beach house on the Jersey Shore. Now 29, he wants to facilitate equally idyllic days for guests at James, a 17-unit hotel he opened in Bradley Beach, NJ, just steps from the water. A construction manager by day, DiStefano toured the Victorian-era building for the first time in May 2021 and fell in love with it instantly. By the fall, he teamed up with 31-year-old interior designer Sebastian Zuchowicki to create a warm and textured space. Vintage silver plated pitchers and creamers are used for the daily breakfast service (strawberry muffins, raspberry crumble and – a local delicacy – decadent pork rolls) in the dining room, one of which is limewashed wall hung with an oversized abstract painting by contemporary British artist Joe Henry Baker. Each room is unique, although a number of them feature custom Turkish rugs and work by Australian artist Pamela Tang, who DiStefano and Zuchowicki discovered on Instagram. The hotel’s bedding was sewn closer to home – by seamstresses at nearby Asbury Park. When the couple couldn’t find certain pieces they had in mind, DiStefano simply took advantage of the on-site wood shop and produced a range of minimal bedside lamps, among other things. And he’s paved parts of the site with gravel because, he says, the sound of the crunching under his feet reminds him of summers gone by. Rooms from $300, thejamesbradleybeach.com.
Buy This
Playful glassware from Turkey
The glass studio Suna K is guided by a hypothetical: what if Ettore Sottsass, the 20th-century Italian architect, industrial designer and founder of the Memphis Group, had visited Anatolia? The result is a series of modern, playful and unique glass sculptures, hand blown by Aslı Altay, Can Altay and Mert Üngör. Anatolia, now part of modern Turkey, was a cradle of glassware, and the studio’s designs have been influenced by the wealth of artifacts from the many civilizations that have made the region their home. Üngör started working with glass in 2012 at Sabanci University in Tuzla and continued in 2014 as a master’s student of fine arts at Texas A&M University. He opened his own hot studio after returning to Turkey. The Altays, who are married, joined Üngör in 2019 for a residency and have been working with him ever since. Now all based in Istanbul, the trio creates pieces made up of a series of spherical shapes stacked on top of each other, like plates or cups tucked haphazardly in a cupboard, that are both totemic and quintessential – some even have feet. This is appropriate, as the word “suna” is Turkish for altar and also refers to a species of the duck family. It can also be a woman’s name. “We envision her as someone with strong ties to numerous histories and geographies,” Can and Aslı explain. sunak.glass
In the late ’80s, a model asked Dick Bradsell, then a bartender at Fred’s Club in London, for a drink that would wake her up and then confuse her. He’d never heard of such a thing, but improvised, shaking vodka, syrup, Kahlúa, and fresh espresso, and using what he called three lucky coffee beans as a garnish. Thus the espresso martini was born. More than 30 years later, the drink seems to be making a comeback. A chai-flavored version appears on Indochine’s just-launched brunch menu and is already proving to be a popular order. “It is the drink for the fashion and art crowd,” said CT Hedden, the manager of the downtown Manhattan restaurant. No wonder Pace Gallery curator, author and associate director Kimberly Drew craved it at an event honoring the recipients of the Dior Photography and Visual Arts Award for Young Talents held in July in Arles, France. “It’s perfect for when you’re mesmerized by the conversation but exhausted from your jet lag,” she says. (Or for when even much shorter trips outdoors run out.) In New York, she likes to order the drink from Frenchette’s menu at TriBeCa. A little to the north, in the West Village, Don Angie recently debuted his take, which is called the Italian Coffee Situation and features biscotti-infused vodka and star anise. Unsurprisingly, the espresso martini has long been a fixture in Sant Ambroeus, which takes its coffee shops as seriously as its restaurants. Starting late this month, you’ll also find espresso martinis at the US Open, where the Gray Goose suite serves them with a pinch of salt, and a few beans for good measure.
Nestled on the jungle side of Punta Pájaros, a sleepy road that parallels the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico, Kakurega Omakase is the first restaurant of its kind in the area, located nearly a 30-minute drive northwest of Puerto Escondido. It was opened by Mexico City-based hotel developer Grupo Habita as a means for travelers to sample the abundance of local seafood, and as part of a remote world the brand has built in the area. The restaurant is just a short walk from the brand’s Hotel Escondido, a bohemian beachfront retreat, and is located under a open-air thatched-roof palapa, built in the same style as the hotel’s bungalow suites. Designed by the architect Alberto Kalach and his firm, TAX Architects, and the artist Bosco Sodi (who runs the nearby non-profit art center Casa Wabi), the structure was constructed of brick, concrete and pine charred using the Japanese weatherproofing technique known for if shou sugi ban. Guests first enter the restaurant via a dirt track that winds through a garden of fragrant copal, guayacán, and areca trees. Each evening, Chef Keisuke Harada and his team offer three sessions, each for just 12 guests. The accompanying 10 courses change daily and are always seasonal – dishes range from rib-eye tataki to sailfish carpaccio – but are always best served with Japanese whiskey, beer or sake. Reservations: [email protected]
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