Welcome to The Connector

It is my answer to my community after several moments of curiosity about what I am looking at, exploring, and experimenting at the time. As your favorite walking encyclopedia and tastemaker, I am making sure you stay on the pulse of the latest—if you know, you know. Feel free to say I’m a friend of a friend sharing these things with you.

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Hi Reader,

After spending the last three weeks sick, I have been itching to be outside. The beauty of New York City is that you can go outside in the morning for coffee and find something to do all day. Plus, I moved into a new apartment in Harlem. It is much closer to several places I love in New York City versus my first apartment in Westchester. My weekend looked like this:

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Friday

I started my Friday with the French skincare brand Orveda at the new Maison Orveda. In October, they launched their new spa flagship in New York. It is in a good location down the street from the Mark Hotel. This brand is a growing luxury, sustainable skincare brand focused on plant-based ingredients made with biotech. Their spa focuses on services that help with active hydration, restoring the delicate microbiome, and deep lymphatic massages on the face, neck, and chest. I enjoyed a gifted discovery facial with Erin as my specialist. I want to shout out my former colleague, Ryan, and Irina for working hard on this amazing brand. Both have been amazing people to work with on an upcoming project with a non-profit I am working with.
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I spent time with a friend at the Sunday’s Nail Studio at Sage and Sound. I have spoken about Sage and Sound before with their classes on Instagram briefly. I love how wellness-centered this space is. Sunday’s Nail Studio focuses on nontoxic nails. I did a signature pedicure while I caught up with a friend.

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Saturday

After spending some time working, I made my way to Soho to head to an appointment. I try to make time to explore something new and fun each week or once a month during a busy season. I started my afternoon with Renee Garder at Paul Fox Salon. We met back in April at an Aveda event. She is the Global Artistic Director for Texture with Aveda. Together, we are working on the health of my hair during the winter season. For this session, I got a blow out, trim and straighten look for hair health and a hair test for an upcoming gala event this year. I love how my hair looks and feels with this new cut.

While I was in the area, I knew I was headed to the mini fragrance district between Soho and Nolita. One of the main portions of this district is on Elizabeth Street, which has Scent Bar, Le Lebo and other brands. Today, I was on the hunt for an unfamiliar and new brand, Avestan, to me that came up on my Instagram and deep research from a fellow beauty editor, Alexandra Pauly. Avestan was one of the brands created by Brandon Truaxe, the founder of Deciem (The Ordinary, Niod).

Deciem decided to release this unreleased brand to the public with a cool story. They have two stores that you can get the one exclusive scent each at. Their first scent, Avestan (unnamed) is available in their London store. They launched their second store and exclusive scent, Svalbard, last month here in New York. It’s one of those brands for those who desire a scent and experience with “if you know, you know.” Plus, there are no photos or videos allowed in the space.

At the current price point, Svalbard comes in two formats, an Eau de Parfum (40) and a perfume oil (48). Yes, it is a strong scent with a gorgeous bottle that I believed would be a higher price point. It is a strong arctic winter-like scent. If you go, let them Sterling sent you!

After dinner at Little Ruby’s, I headed to the new location of Stele! They launched their new store on Mott Street this weekend after the success of their Williamsburg location. I met Emma of the Perfume Room and other folks inside while spending an hour exploring the store. There are so many brands that I am unfamiliar with that I have to return. If you are looking for something unique, this place is for you. Also, share that Sterling sent you here! I will be back soon.

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Things I Am Enjoying

It is colder this year in New York compared to last year. This means new clothing to invest in. I am enjoying these amazing Abercrombie and Fitch jeans that a friend recommended me to try. They have a selection called Curve Love, which is a perfect fit for jeans that eliminates waist gap with additional room through the hip and thigh. I don’t have to take these jeans to the tailor. I have the High Rise 90’s Relaxed Jean and Mid Rise 90’s Straight Jean in black.
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Last month, I went to the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso pop-up. They partnered with a perfumer for their Made by Makers program this year. I received a couple of scents after the pop-up and their exclusive olfactive masterclasses. I share my experience at the masterclasses and how to get access to future classes with my paying subscribers. You can subscribe to learn more here.

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As for beauty things, I cannot leave them out. I have been experimenting with Cecred collection in my hair care rotation. I am loving the Nourishing Hair Oil with signature fragrance called Temple Oud. It has Oud, Australian Sandalwood, Musk, Jasmine, Haitian Vetiver, and Violet Leaves. I love it for my curly hair to help reduce frizz post-shower and gel application. I have used it on my straight hair with the ends for hydration. I am working through the other products from the sample set.
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2024 was the time to make beauty fun again for me. The Victoria Beckham Beauty’s Satin Kajal Liners are a great investment for play and adventure with an eye look. They have a variety of colors that stand out perfectly against my skin. They are so smooth to apply with the pencil and the smudge. I added a new brush from La Bonne Brosse to my hair wardrobe. I got the No.3 The Gentle Scalp Care brush to help with brushing my hair out before washing. I found that this soft nylon and boar bristle hair brush has helped reduced my hair breakage and made my hair less frizzy pre and post wash.

Freck Beauty has these lip and cheek tints, Cheekslime, that I adore to add to my beauty wardrobe. I had As a clean beauty brand made with freckles in mind, I found that these are the right ones for me after the explosion of beauty tints on the market.

That’s my collection for this week! Ciao!