The holidays are really about being able to spend quality time with family, building traditions, and taking time to slow down. My pace of life pre-pregnancy was insane; traveling all the time and working both at Instagram and doing my podcast. It’s been so special to take the time to enjoy being a wife, and a new mom, and a daughter, and a sister.
On Using Scent to Slow Down (& Transforming Your Mask Into A Portable Spa)...
Fragrance has a way of instantly changing your mood. Specifically with essential oils, if you take a second to inhale them deeply. It really centers and calms me in a way that few things can. Try swiping a little oil on the inside of your mask—it’s like a personalized spa experience. I’ve been using a very basic combination of plain lavender, but it’s such a game changer.
“Try swiping a little oil on the inside of your mask—it’s like a personalized spa experience.”
Smell is so powerful because it’s one of the strongest senses linked to memory. When you use scent during special moments those smells always bring you back, instantly. Growing up, we’d have a Honey Baked ham during the holiday, I remember that really well. This is my first holiday as a mom, so it feels like a special opportunity to make new traditions. My husband is Turkish, and the main way we get close to Turkish culture is through the food. We make Sigara Börek, the fried phyllo dough with cheese inside which is definitely not good for you but so delicious and addictive. We also love roasting chestnuts. My husband is a big fan. Chestnuts are one of the few things you can only get seasonally, which is quite rare in today’s economy; so we look forward to that every year and it always smells amazing.
On The Most Personal Holiday Gifts…
I make my own fragrance and around the holidays and I give them as gifts, tailored to each person’s taste. I actually just sent a batch to friends using neroli and bergamot, and some more holiday-themed ones with cardamom and orange and vanilla. I use jojoba oil or apricot kernel seed oil as my base, and then I add these pure organic cold press essential oils into my carrier oil to create this really beautiful personalized fragrance. The Reflections fragrance holders are so gorgeous, they’re like works of art. Once you’ve mixed your fragrance you can decanter it into the bottle and apply it straight from there. I’ve been staring at mine all week, right now I have neroli and bergamot in there. You can actually create scented candles from regular little tea lights. Just drop a few drops of essential oil into a plain candle and as it burns, it will become scented. It’s super easy. I also love to make sugar scrubs with neroli and palo santo. It’s personalized luxury using all natural oils and it’s a much more sustainable approach to gifting beauty.
On Falling In Love With Natural Beauty…
It started with my hair, about six years ago. I was coming into wearing my hair natural, not straightening it and just really embracing my curly kinky texture. I did lots of research to learn how to take care of it. What shea butter masks can I make? What should I use to detangle my hair? To figure it out, I started watching all these tutorials. Then I started doing henna on my hair and I learned about ayurvedic beauty, which is the ancient Indian approach to beauty. That’s when I got really into oils for skincare—understanding that you can treat your skin or any skin issues with argan oil or jojoba oil, and that then transitioned into thinking about how I could make all the other elements of my beauty routine more natural. I’ve always loved fragrance. Always. Essential oils are so fun to play around with because they’re so customizable. It’s like cooking.
On Hosting a Successful Podcast (On Top of Her Job at Instagram)…
The Naked Beauty Podcast features unfiltered conversations with women about their beauty journeys. I’ve had the podcast for four years now, and have just taken my first break since adjusting to being a new mom. I took six weeks off. The show is coming back in January which I’m very excited about. I started it as a place to have honest conversations with women about their approach to beauty and self-care: nothing sponsored or paid. So I began talking to women I knew and admired. When did they come into their own? When did they find out their signature look? Can I record it, and keep it authentic, and allow these women the space to be vulnerable? It’s really connected with people all over the world. I look at my analytics and I’m like wow, someone is listening in Finland and Japan and Ghana. Through that, I’ve been able to create this amazing community that I’m so grateful for. It’s been a really rewarding experience.
On Her Holiday Beauty Regimen…
One of the wonderful things about the holidays is you get lots of time at home to enable your skin to breathe, especially now that we’re all in quarantine. I really embrace not putting anything on my face except good skincare in the morning. I like to do a beautiful facial oil. Right now, I’m loving plum oil from this brand Le Prunier. I also love doing gua sha. I try to be very intentional about it. I do it for about 10 minutes, looking in the mirror and consciously doing it. I feel the benefits are as much for me as it is for my skin. It’s supposed to relax the muscles and wake up the skin, but it’s a moment to be still and focus. There’s definitely a meditative quality to it.
On Holiday Makeup—And Framing the Face...
I’m a big proponent of a good lip. Byredo just released a makeup line with Isamaya Ffrench and the lipsticks come in gorgeous rich colors. It could be a fuschia, red, pink, orange…a bold lip and a bold earring (I love a chunky gold hoop) are really all you need throughout the holidays. I normally do that with my hair pulled back, with a good, groomed brow, so it’s all about the face.
