A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
“I want to feel my life while I’m in it." — Meryl Streep
We live in an optimisation-obsessed world that demands a lot from us: productivity, efficiency, discipline, rigidity, connectedness, a certain level of agelessness. The pursuit of wellness has never felt more vital but also out of reach. How do we temper the realities of modern life with inner peace, rest, physical health, and necessary indulgence?
Personally, I feel there are no definitive answers. We can only find the rituals that speak to us and disregard the rest. Wellness is rest, movement and nourishing food, but it’s also giving in to whims and desires. Wellness is pleasure, allowing a little bit of hedonism. Wellness is an ocean swim. It’s laying around, curtains drawn, even when it’s sunny. It’s turning your phone off for a bit. It’s a sweaty sauna after a big week. It’s being religious about your skincare routine. It’s rejecting modern beauty standards while simultaneously wanting to feel hot. It’s an evolving practice and above all, about feeling good.
We get into a lot of this within the issue, namely the sacred rituals and routines of creative minds. Our cover star, Ava Kalitowski, embodies this completely. The co-founder and curator of London’s Art Club, she has fun with beauty (that hair) but essentially, practices creative expression as an act of wellbeing. We also look at the world’s most beautiful bathing spots, the concept of wellness as a luxury good, alongside essays and interviews with those we admire: Bonnie Langedijk on female ageing in the media, Scout Dixon West on feral perfume, Richard Christiansen on ancient herbal wisdom and Lara Worthington on rediscovering herself as a founder at the launch of her new brand, OMMAGE.
May this issue inspire you to live in your body, to find contentment, prioritise what makes you feel alive, and to remember that beauty and wellness are less about looks, more about feeling.
I hope you continue to feel, always.
What's inside our Beauty Annual 3.0
ON SET
It occurred to Ava Kalitowski early on that her body could be a site of experimentation. No canvas? No clay? No paints? No problem. She has all the materials she needs. It’s this resourcefulness that underpins so much of the creative mind and It-girl’s approach today. To half a million followers, the 21-year-old Londoner cuts through with her unpolished tutorials and thrifted style. Leggy and feline with cool green eyes, Kalitowski has a talent for pattern clashing, off-the-cuff posting, and is single-handedly responsible for the Cath Kidston revival.
Glitter catches where it falls, metallic foil fractures across freshly moisturised skin, colour circles the eyes and rouge travels beyond the places we’re accustomed to finding it.
Collage artist and photographer Kitty Callaghan reimagines Jo Malone London's Sea Salt & Bergamot fragrance for the Australian coast.
IN THE CABINET
Here, we venture into the beauty cabinets of our favourite creative minds – bringing you their holy grail products, salvations and rituals.
The L.A.-based creative mind finds ritual in the everyday – a near-daily bath, afternoons spent surfing, and an hour of quiet before bed.
The Brooklyn-based ceramicist and ceremony host finds ritual in the unconventional – nature bathing and experimental wellness.
The Melbourne-based creative director and entrepreneur's beauty rituals span the naturopathic and nostalgic – Gua Sha in the morning, magnesium and Slippery Elm before bed.
"I close my eyes and get my body into a comfortable position and quietly whisper to myself these two powerful words. I say them every night before I sleep like a prayer: ‘Thank you’. I have learned there is nothing more important than the ritual of gratitude, no matter the shape or size of how it comes out." — Teya Kepila
SHOP BEAUTY
SHOP BEAUTY
CITY GUIDES
Everyone has their own New York. Quentin Jones’ is best experienced on foot, preferably with an iced Americano in hand.
For Sophie-Rose Harper, feeling good is something of a profession. Knowing exactly where to feel great in London is an art form.
A hidden gem?
"Exmouth Market. I consider it a perfect first date spot – great food and good vibes." — Sophie-Rose Harper.
As the founder of Club Sup, Sophie McIntyre’s world revolves around good food, good people and an instinct for places that get the details right.
FEATURES
Discovering safety as a blueprint of true embodied female pleasure.
“For me, at this stage in my life, it feels very fitting – there’s just this sense of freedom.”
Emma Lewisham is not particularly interested in beauty’s next big ingredient. This is notable because beauty, as an industry, is very interested in beauty’s next big ingredient.
The future of beauty might be more technologically advanced than ever – and consequently, much less human.
For the past few decades, skincare has maintained a science-first approach. It was only a matter of time before that same rigour turned its attention to hair.
For Nicole Eckels, fragrance is about far more than simply smelling good.
In the age of luxury wellness, health is increasingly a status symbol.
Beauty is as much about where you go as what you use. Increasingly, the rituals that shape how we look and feel extend beyond the bathroom cabinet.
Wellness is less about quick fixes and more about the sum of our daily rituals. But that doesn't mean a two-day reset is an unworthy indulgence.
