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Prakti Founder Pritika Swarup’s Beauty Regimen
In the morning, I wash my face with DeviDetox cleanser — which Prakti, my beauty brand, is launching in February — and then use a Hyaluronic Acid Serum for darker skin tones from Dr. Barbara Sturm. If I have an event I need to prep for, I’ll exfoliate with our PritiPolish; it makes me feel mentally alert. My skin is dry but can be oily, and Biologique Recherche’s Creme Dermopurifiante helps balance it out. If I want that “no makeup†look, I start with Le Gel Sourcils Longwear Eyebrow Gel from Chanel, then Giorgio Armani’s Luminous Silk Foundation — you can still see your freckles underneath it, which I like. Tom Ford makes a Shade and Illuminate palette that totally changes your face and gives it definition. Sometimes as an eye shadow I’ll put on Candle Glow Sheer Perfecting Powder from Laura Mercier, and a tiny bit of Les Chaines de Chanel Illuminating Blush to add dimension. I use a Le Volume Stretch de Chanel mascara and a brown pencil for my upper waterline and smudge it out so it looks natural. On my lips is Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm or, if I want a color, Le Rouge Duo Ultra Tenue from Chanel, which isn’t too pink and works nicely with my skin. For fragrance I switch between two from Frederic Malle, Eau de Magnolia and Iris Poudre. My hair is really straight; Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray gives it a lived-in look. At night, if my skin is stressed out from all the makeup, I’ll use a CeraVe Renewing Face Cleanser, which clears my skin of any little breakouts but is very gentle. While going through emails before bed I’ll put on our MahaMask, which is coming out in November, or I’ll make my own: one with turmeric, chickpea flour, lemon, honey and yogurt, and another with ground orange peel, glycerin and honey. They’re recipes I’ve made for years with my mother, who studied ayurveda. And because I carry a lot of tension in my shoulders, I get massages at Exhale Spa on Central Park South in New York every two weeks; it’s both a mental and a physical thing.
For five years now, the Israeli chef Ben Zviel and his British partner, Samina Raza, have been raising the culinary profile of Berlin’s trendy Prenzlauerberg neighborhood with elevated Asian-inflected comfort food at their restaurant Mrs Robinson’s. Recently they opened a sister establishment around the corner, the all-day bistro Café Frieda, which the couple envisaged as the sort of homey enclave where they’d be tempted to spend their days off. To that end they’ve created a warm, light-filled space with terra-cotta tile floors and potted plants, an open kitchen fronted by a curved oak bar and a custom sound system — the better to feature their voluminous collection of LPs. The menu rotates throughout the day, with standouts like fried eggs with fresh truffle and shio koji butter for breakfast, oysters Rockefeller for lunch and, as part of the dinner menu debuting next week, suckling pig with clams. In a neighborhood chockablock with cozy eateries, Café Frieda’s welcoming atmosphere — and homemade sourdough — have nevertheless already gained it a devoted following. Says Raza: “Our regulars always tell us that hanging out at Café Frieda feels like being on vacation.†cafefrieda.de.
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Load-Bearing Art
The friendship between the artists Bruce Conner and Jay DeFeo has assumed almost mythic status in the art world. The two met in San Francisco in the 1950s and began a decades-long aesthetic conversation in a variety of mediums, including photocopy collages, that became so entangled that it can be hard to pinpoint which artist made what. Some of these works — lo-fi, vaguely psychedelic, remarkably composed — are now on view at Paula Cooper Gallery, but the centerpiece is Conner’s 1967 short film, “The White Rose,†which documents the removal of DeFeo’s signature painting, “The Rose†— weighing nearly a ton — from her studio with the help of a forklift and some strategic exterior-wall removal. Scored to Miles Davis’s “Sketches of Spain,†the film features DeFeo chain-smoking and lying atop her painting as if in fretful sleep, trying to come to terms with the parting. Incidentally, “The Rose†is on view a few blocks south, on the seventh floor of the Whitney Museum of American Art. “Bruce Conner & Jay DeFeo (‘we are not what we seem’)†is on view through Oct. 23, paulacoopergallery.com.
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Rugs With Blanket Appeal
Like many people, I moved during the pandemic; soon after, I needed rugs, which is how I discovered Revival, an affordable online resource for new jutes, old Orientals and many other styles. Now the company is expanding and elevating its range with Moroccan beldi rugs, woven by local artisans in the Atlas Mountains using plush, hand-knotted wool that’s “soft and wild and wooly and wobbly†and has a “blanket-like appeal,†says Revival co-founder and CEO Ben Hyman. For the new collection, he and his collaborators created 100 one-of-a-kind rugs, the motifs of which feature cheerful asymmetrical shapes and unexpected color combinations. “The weavers’ interpretations held so much vitality, and their choices made the designs better,†Hyman adds. “We acknowledge this [craft] has been happening long before we arrived, and we all felt the way to get the most beautiful result was to get out of the way and let the artists make their art.†From $831, revivalrugs.com.
“I’ve never thought that fur has a place in luxury,†says Madeline Weeks, who handled plenty of extravagant designer wares during her decades-long tenure as fashion director of GQ. Now, the independent stylist and creative director is returning to her fashion-design roots (she graduated from Parsons and FIT) while reinforcing her cruelty-free beliefs with the launch of her unisex faux-fur brand, First by Madeline. The 15-piece debut collection includes accessories and tailored outerwear: from a shearling-look vest with country-western flair and a leopard-print bucket hat to a decadent, full-length kimono-style coat in ivory, mink-inspired fabric. Handcrafted and made to order in Los Angeles, the designs are lined with vintage silk and flannel, and Weeks is prioritizing plant-based, recycled or deadstock textiles from eco-friendly mills. “I’ve always loved the idea of a throwback to a fur coat someone might’ve worn in New York City in the ’60s, but my love of animals outweighed that vision,†she says. “Now I can have that look in good conscience.†A percentage of sales will go to Humane Society International. From $525, firstbymadeline.com.
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