Vol. 1: Glowy Tinted SPF + Pachinko + Housewives + Polly Mellen
Who needs a beauty substack? Introducing Office of the Surface by Jamie Rosen
Once upon a time, beauty was silo-ed at the salon or the drugstore or the tiny corner of the W Magazine office on Third Avenue (which is where I started writing about it). But now beauty is culture. The vernacular is familiar to all, and the conversation is both incredibly detailed (i.e. debating vitamin C percentages and which NYC facialist gives the best lift) and more confusing than ever. It is so challenging to decipher through what’s paid, what’s not, and what’s actually worth it. At the end of the day, most people just want to know, ‘What should I use?’ ‘Is this treatment worth it?’ ‘Is it flattering?’ ‘How do I find a doctor that doesn’t make me look crazy?’ ‘Is a hyperbaric oxygen chamber worth trying?’ And so on…
So that’s the main reason we’re here. To go deep on specific products and share what’s special, the questions I’m getting over and over again, what my friends and I are discussing doing at the dermatologist’s office, and the things I am genuinely impressed by and use over and over again.
I started working in the beauty industry at a time when Botox and fillers were first becoming popular and way less stigmatized, so I dove deep into dermatology and plastic surgery, covering them for W Magazine before becoming the Beauty Director at Town & Country. Today I still write and work in editorial but spend most of my time working with luxury beauty, wellness, tech and travel brands via my consulting company Office of the Surface. I do receive the vast majority of the products I try and treatments I get for free, which means I am both very well-informed and very spoiled. (Keeping myself honest from the jump).
I first got the idea to do this when fielding text messages from friends and acquaintances with specific questions, from what mascara to use (lately, Polite Society for fluttery volume and Sarah Creal for ultra black and lengthening) or what destination spa they should visit for something special. I want to share that with you, offering thoughts and products from a place of joy and genuine enthusiasm. There is SO much out there and most of it is perfectly fine. This space is about things so good you have to share.
ALSO! Expect thoughts on aesthetic treatments with varying degrees of invasiveness and wellness destinations from SoHo to Seoul to São Paulo. There will be some fashion, some food, some travel, some culture, some home. But mostly beauty and the massive umbrella it covers: skin, scent, makeup, hair, fitness, wellness, spa, dermatology, plastic surgery, technology. Let’s get into it…
Always searching for… GLOWY, TINTED SPF.
Lots of things are multitaskers. Lots of things claim to be multitaskers. But—but!—the hero of the multitaskers is the GLOWY, TINTED SPF. This is no small feat. Highlighter, coverage, and SPF, 30 or higher please. These are the six I am using in rotation:
Just this morning, I finished the golden-toned, medium coverage Dime Wonderscreen SPF 30. Luckily another tube of the Iris and Romeo Weekend Skin SPF 50 showed up and immediately stepped in, albeit with light-medium coverage and a more muted dew. Each one of the six mentioned here has its place. There are different levels of coverage and glow, chosen depending on the outing and what’s going on top. I generally favor mineral over chemical sunscreens, but I’ll use the latter, too.
For morning dog walks, or going to and from from yoga, I’ll put on the Lightsaver SPF 33. The coverage is very light, and there’s nothing glittery or sparkly about the finish, but it is dewy and it evens the skin just enough, one step up from no tint at all. This one shade is for all skin tones. It was created by dermatologist David Kim, who is a part of Dr. Shereene Idriss’ practice and launched his line with this product (there is now also a non-tinted version). I have a lot of respect for those who start their brands with SPF. It is one of the trickiest products to formulate and there is so much more regulation because it is considered a drug by the FDA and comes with many more hoops to get that label on the box and the protection in your hands.
Supergoop! is also super high on my respect list. I really credit its founder Holly Thaggard for beating the daily sunscreen drum and getting so many people to wear SPF on a more daily basis. I’ve spotted that giant pump bottle in many a summer home. Offering a generous pump of sunscreen to anyone who walks through your door is such a considerate way to care for your friends and family. But back to my pick here, Supergoop! Glowscreen SPF 40. It’s very sparkly/glowy so I only use when I feel like I need a big boost in the skin dullness department. Sometimes I say I don’t want sparkle in my makeup because it doesn’t sound or look sophisticated but the truth is that it helps out in the light-bouncing department.
Then there are the days when you want total coverage and dew. That’s where the Odacite SPF 50 comes in. The texture was a little oily for my incredibly discerning sister, with whom I share plenty of my product enthusiasm, but damn if it doesn’t leave your skin looking close to perfect. Very glowy and made up. Not in a bad way. This is full coverage. It’s such a good finish that I sometimes wear it at night, when I don’t need SPF at all.
For the same glossy finish but more light-medium coverage, there’s Rationale SPF 50, a gorgeous formula that, again, is a little on the oily side, but makes your skin look so fresh.
There is a dark underbelly in all of this and it’s that there is one discontinued product I use as a benchmark and still have not matched: the Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint SPF 20. It was medium coverage with a golden glow, and just a little sparkle. Christina Zilber, the extremely chic founder of Jouer, promises me that it will come back one day but until then, it’s my benchmark. Though I hope that when it does come back, it has a higher SPF. So stay tuned on that! You can view all six of the ones I mentioned here.
What I’m Watching…Pachinko and Housewives.
Why are people sleeping on this show? It is sweeping, it is gorgeous, moving and has the best opening sequence of a series since True Blood. Know there has been much talk of Apple TV shows not getting as much love as the other streamers, but I’m counting down the days until Severance returns. Like Drops of God (another phenomenal Apple TV show), this is in three languages: Korean, Japanese, and a very little bit of English. And while I’m not always in the mood for subtitles, it does help me stay off my phone and focus on what I’m watching so I actually think that requirement alone helps you get more into what is an engrossing multigenerational saga of a Korean family in Japan.
And lest you think I’m delivering highbrow culture only, I’m also deeply invested in the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and the Kérastase nod from last week’s episode (the brand faintly responded, but I hope they’re talking to Lisa Barlow about doing something together. Her hair is VERY shiny.)
We’ll end with a Polly Mellen story…
Once upon a time, I was a teenager visiting New York and my mom and I saw the legendary editor Polly Mellen on the street. Even though she was known for being at Vogue, my awareness of her came through Allure and her column “Fashion Police.” She was the epitome of what I thought a fashion editor was supposed to be—glamorous, decisive, independent. Anyway, she was wearing a rich eggplant purple coat, and I had just purchased a coat of the exact same hue. In that moment, I felt I must be doing something right in life if Polly Mellen and I have the same taste in coat colors. Fast forward to early on in my career. I got assigned a story for Women’s Wear Daily about a sale of important vintage clothing Polly and journalist Holly Brubach were doing together at Yoox. The three of us met at her house in Connecticut. I got to see the original Avedon photo and a guest bathroom covered in illustrations by Yves Saint Laurent. She was such a gracious host. She made us a tomato mozzarella salad and I got to tell her the story of the purple coat. It’s still my favorite celebrity interview. She lived to be 100. What a life!!
That’s it for week one. I’ll be publishing weekly to start so expect me in your inbox on Fridays. Links will be shoppable, and subscriptions will answer your beauty questions. I’ll be playing with the format, but one thing you can always expect are extremely informed and up-to-date recs. If you’re moved to, please share! Until next week!
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Jamie
This is so exciting!!!!!! I need more Jamie beauty wisdom in my life. I am a deeply devoted Supegoop Glowscreen girlie, but I can't wait to try the DIME one.
So happy you're here, anxiously awaiting your next post! ❤️