6 Things To Shop, Read, Watch, Try, and Buy for October 2023
Starring: Julia Roberts' boots in 2002, Makeup by Mario, Sofia Coppola, Banana Republic, Dieux, Gianvito Rossi, and Jessica Knoll!
First, an apology.
I’m not sure what happened, exactly, but in the last newsletter—21 Beauty, Home, and Kid Essentials I’ve Bought At Least 10 Times—which featured some of the Amazon items that I re-purchase with staggering frequency, I mentioned a woven doormat that looks much more expensive than it is.
It was the most clicked link in the story, but for some reason it started redirecting to a doormat that is decidedly NOT IT. Not it, and not something I would ever suggest. I’m lightly horrified that no one was like: “Really, Hillary? That’s the one you’re recommending?”
Anyway, I can’t seem to find the one I originally listed, the one that I have, but after a lot of searching I found a good substitute, which is Entryways Knot Ical All Natural Coconut Fiber Coir Doormat ($29). This is still more than my go-to mat, which was $34 for two, but what can you do? The Danica Studio Coir Doormat ($32) might be the same thing? Unclear.
Anyway, sorry for the confusion.
Back to our regularly scheduled programming!
So I’ve been in London for the past week for work, and while I’m not generally in an I-love-work-travel moment in my life right now, I do appreciate the fact that long-haul travel gives me a brief moment to think. I didn’t realize how much alone time I had before kids, and how much I needed it to recharge from work, life, whatever. Truthfully, the 10 hours I spend flying to London just feels wild and untethered, like a wormhole back to my old life. Sometimes it unmoors me and sometimes I revel in it, and occasionally I feel both in the same flight.
I try to observe the things that bubble up during these rare moments of alone time, what surfaces and stays when my brain isn’t in its usual kids-work-home-firefighting mode. This time around, I couldn’t stop thinking about a few things, and wanted to share them into today’s newsletter. I hope you enjoy this small roundup of things that are currently captivating me.
As always: If there’s an item you’re shopping for or you need help sorting through the zillions of options out there, please don’t hesitate to drop me a comment and I will add it to my to-do list. (And why am I prompting you to comment? Because while I love DMs and always try to answer you there, my inbox is messy, and comments here are much easier for me to find and use as source material as I’m working on new things. Also, I love comments; they make me feel seen.)
WATCH: Priscilla
As someone who has seen most everything that writer/director Sofia Coppola has created, I was thrilled to hear she was tackling the story of Priscilla Beaulieu Presley, using Presley’s own 1986 memoir Elvis and Me as the basis of the film. I think Coppola is a genius; The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation still have chokeholds on my imagination and heart, and Priscilla is set to be right up there.
Y’all, it’s stunning. The wardrobe, the hair and makeup, the set design oh oh oh oh oh. The film itself feels like a pebble dropping into a lake; big splash, and then ripples for ages. I just can’t stop thinking about it, unpacking it, and sifting through its subtleties. Especially the dynamics at work when one person in a relationship holds all the power, at least at first.
Watch this space for more Priscilla info soon. And get your tickets when you can. It’s worth it, for sure.
TRY: Makeup by Mario SurrealSkin Awakening Concealer ($29)
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing celebrity makeup artist and beauty brand founder Mario Dedivanovic for an upcoming episode of the Who What Wear Podcast, where he knocked me out with his backstory, commitment to education and artistry, and the passion he has for building his beauty brand with truly thoughtful and efficacious products.
We spoke about one of his newer launches, the SurrealSkin Awakening Concealer, and I confessed that I am not Team Concealer, mostly because I think it’s very hard for civilians (like me) to get right, and getting it wrong always looks quite tragic.
He looked at me with a completely shocked face, as it’s most women’s number one beauty product.
So when a box arrived at the house with a few shades for me to try, I was interested, but skeptical. Well, skeptical went right out of the window. The key with this product (most, probably) is to use much less than you think you need, but honestly there’s something magical about the formula. There is little I like less than makeup settling into the fine lines under and around my eyes, which is part of why I’m not that into concealer. This product doesn’t do that at all, and in fact worked wonders everywhere I applied it.
After a few daytime trials, I used it for a black-tie event I was attending, and was astonished to see how amazing it looked and how well it turned out. A woman literally stopped me to tell me my skin looked incredible, and as someone who has always felt self-conscious about my skin—wrinkles and acne and melasma, oh my!—I floated through the rest of the night on cloud nine.
One note! I prepped for that event with Dieux’s Auracle Eye Serum, and I think that also made a difference. More on that, below.
BUY: Dieux’s Auracle Eye Serum ($44)
Click it and buy it.
I’m serious. You don’t even need to read what I’m about to write. I mean, you can! I hope you do! But you don’t need to; just trust me and get that serum, and if you don’t have the brand’s signature Forever Eye Mask, get that too.
Okay, so you know how I don’t really drink anymore? I think I’ve mentioned that a few times. It’s mostly because I (obviously) quit when I was pregnant with my first kid, and then I breastfed/pumped for a year, and then I got pregnant with my second kid when the first one was 14 months old, and then the whole cycle repeated itself, so by the time I even really felt like it was an option, I’d been off the sauce for years and was just totally uninterested in it. Plus I’m pretty sure I had some form of postpartum anxiety that would not have allowed for alcohol comsupmption, but that’s something I haven’t really unpacked!
Anyway.
So yes, I stopped drinking because I got out of the habit, but here’s the part I don’t talk about as much. I also became less interested in it because I am vain and alcohol makes my eye area look Cryptkeeper-adjacent. No joke. Hollow. Wrinkled. Sad. And I don’t love that!
But even without booze, I’m 44 and there’s only so much that sleep and cosmetic dermatology can do, and even on the best of days that area of my face is not the most youthful.
And have I mentioned crying? Because wow, the aftereffects of crying are almost as bad (or worse) than a bottle of wine. And unlike alcohol, I cannot avoid crying, as I am a very emo human who cries often.
GET TO THE POINT, KERR.
Sorry! Okay so long story long, this combo of this Dieux serum and the little masks is essentially like getting tear-trough filler, but without the cost, energy, or need for arnica. If you have any feelings about your under-eye area, this will change your life. I kid you not. It helps to plump up any wrinkles in that area and also de-puffs? Which doesn’t make sense but I was crying last night, and then did the whole serum-and-mask thing today and the damage is GONE.
Plus plus plus, I think the company is pretty rad. The co-founders (Charlotte Palermino and Marta Freedman) I know are incredible, and while I’ve never met the other co-founder/head of product Joyce de Lemos, she sounds pretty amazing too. The products are price transparent, thoughtfully formulated (read about it on their site), and really really good.
SHOP: Biker or Moto or Engineer Boots (whatevs)
I recently posted a pair of flat biker boots on my IGS, and I was shocked by how many folks immediately asked me for details. But the truth is, I understood their excitement. I have loved a stompy boot since the ‘90s, and while they allegedly come in and out of fashion (and they’re officially back), this style is one of my wardrobe staples.
(TBH: I was also influenced by this photo of Julia Roberts at Kings Road Cafe in 2002 wearing an amazing pair of boots. Yes, I know we focus on the “A Low Vera” t-shirt when discussing this photo, but the boots, people, the boots!)
After 15+ years of wearing my old Rag + Bone boots into the ground, I finally decided to invest in an upgraded version, and while totally pricey, can recommend Gianvito Rossi’s Buckled Leather Boots ($1250). For me, they were worth it because they fit my high arch/high instep foot really nicely, the buckles are both functional, and the upper has a more generous cut, which means my slightly more muscular calves have some breathing room. (There’s little I like less than snugness at the top of this style of boot. I want it to look a little sloppy and chill.)
That said, the price is no joke. I know.
I nosed around looking for alts, but there’s not a lot I love as much at a lower price point. Jimmy Choo makes a classic iteration that’s a tiny bit less expensive, and I also like Neil J. Rodger’s single-buckle boot. If you’re down for pre-worn, I very much recommend searching for some vintage Frye engineer boots, as many of you suggested as the ID for Julia Roberts’ exact style, which also came in a shorter version. The dream, really!
PERUSE: Banana Republic Pillows
Have you been thinking about Banana Republic more than usual, too? Who could blame us, as there’s a confluence of news pinging our radars as of late. First, Meghan Markle wore a $70 BR shirtdress that piqued my interest, then Riley Keough turned up at a party in a really lovely cream sweater that made me go hmmmm, and there’s the Peter Do x Banana Republic collaboration that just hit Do’s Paris runway and arrives in stores in a handful of days. (The 28-piece collab hits stores on October 10th, says The Cut.)
In addition to all of this, there’s the brand’s newly launched Home collection, which recently debuted here in LA with a huge, very well-attended party. And honestly? I’m really really really in love with the pillows, which was not a sentence I ever thought I’d write. Hand-woven linen stripe pillows? Yes. Woven pillows from Oaxaca? Yes. Fuzzy-wuzzy faux fur pillows? Also yes.
READ: Bright Young Women ($25) by Jessica Knoll
Full confession: I am a Jessica Knoll fan. I interviewed her for my podcast, Second Life, and I’ve been a longtime fan of her work, and was so excited when she turned her novel Luckiest Girl Alive into a pretty excellent movie, which came out last year and was streamed about 10 billion times.
So it’s probably no surprise that I had her newest book, Bright Young Women, on pre-order since June. Nor is it a surprise that I very much think you need to buy it. You’ll be in good company; the book was an instant New York Times bestseller, and, as of a few days ago, is now set for the small screen.
If you like the true-crime genre, but like me get annoyed that the focus is always on the horrible serial killer, and not the (usually) women who died and the people left behind, this book is for you.
Okay friends, that’s it for now. If you want to follow me on @hillarykerr, I’d love it. And if you have anything to say or ask (preferably nothing terribly mean), please drop me a note either via DM or in the comments below.
As always, thank you for taking the time to read this post. I’m truly so glad you’re here. If you like what you’re reading, please consider sharing this newsletter. (And if you have the time to like it, that would mean a lot to me!) All products mentioned are independently chosen, and some may be affiliate links. Your support is appreciated.
My favorite reading content to pair with my morning coffee. And now I begin my day with a full virtual shopping cart. Your recommendations never fail. Thank you wholeheartedly.
Thank you!! So many favorites! You are beautiful 😘