I have NO IDEA what has taken me so long to write about my absolute most favorite beauty products in the whole world… Maybe I’m holding this line close to my heart like a precious secret that I don’t want to let out of the bag.

But I should get over myself, because there is plenty of the  wondrous red flower products to go around. And the world would be a much better place if everybody partook in a few of their signature ritualistic beauty practices. Nothing like a good steam, scrub, massage and exfoliation to wipe away whatever petty political differences we might all have, right?

At this moment, I am thinking about the iclandic moonflower lotion, as I have almost run out of the bottle I am currently using and must get to the store to pick up a replacement ASAP. But the scrubs, cleansers, scents, teas… hell, pretty much everything in the place… are also to die for. One genrally doesn’t get out of the store without a couple of extra goodies. And one is never sorry that one splurged, either.

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If you happen to be in downtown Manhattan, check out their shop (13 Prince Street) where, if you are very lucky, you might have the pleasure of meeting Yael Alkalay, the etherial beauty and massive scientific brain behind the line. If you’re not in the hood, do not despair. The goods can be gotten online as well.

So off you go. And tell ‘em I sent you.

I have been eyeing this leather key cover for about a year now. Every time I go into the Brook Farm General Store in Williamsburg. It’s right up my alley, as it is an extraordinary version of a very ordinary object. Plus it’s only 5 bucks. And yet, after all of this time, I have not bought one.

Which is my bad. The next time I go into that store, which will most likely be this week, I am going to get myself one. Unless there’s been a run on them and they are no longer available.

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Which would be just my luck…

You don’t have to live in the hood to get your hands on one– they’re available online as well, so you can learn from my mistake and go ahead a get one for yourselves without hesitation.

This is why New York City is great. You can walk out of your door, hop on a subway and, 15 minutes later, experience a thought provoking and beautiful performance piece, in a public space, for free. Last week, in Bryant Park, the artist Kate Gilmore put up this arresting piece which brilliantly mirrors the activity in the park and the streets below. Titled Walk the Walk, it is comprised of 7 women, all in bright yellow dresses, walking and stomping and shimmying with purpose atop the 10 sq ft roof of a hollow yellow cube. Step inside the cube and you are treated to a sonic interpretation of a busy city street and, if you are my two year old, a chance to reach up and “feel the ladies walk.”

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Best known for her short and somewhat violent feeling videos in which Gilmore often punches and kicks through walls (wearing high heeled pumps, of course), this piece marks a bit of a departure as it is a) live and b) performed by others. So maybe she’s trading up. Or maybe she just stepped off of her usual track for a minute to try something new.

In any case, it was a great moment and one that will stick in my visual memory for a long time.

You can check out Kate Gilmore’s video, which is more typical of her work, at the Whitney Biennial throiugh the end of May.