Everything I loved in April

Not a Mother's Day Gift Guide

May 05, 2024

Hi everyone!

How is it already May? This is crazy.

Today’s newsletter was going to be a Mother’s Day Gift Guide, at the request of many of you, but I wasn’t feeling it, sorry! Although I have been thinking about my mom a lot lately. My job is pretty grueling on the daily but also brings many perks, including getting some nice gifts sent my way. And it’s been one of my greatest joys sharing these things with my mom, who is always so frugal. I was in Paris most of April, prepping for an imminent Ghia launch in France (success!) and trying to finish my apartment (fail!). I was coordinating a couple of exciting deliveries and texting my mom. “Maman! Anything you’d love from Christofle for your new house? What about Rothy’s? Do you want their new espadrilles? We can match!” I was getting nothing, until she wearily responded “Can you just tell me when I can see you?”. I felt so guilty.

When my mom was my age, she had me (7), my sister (5), and was pregnant with my brother. It took 30 years, and many of my close friends recently becoming moms (the gift guide for them would look very different, LOL), for me to grow out of blaming my mother for everything that’s wrong with me, and find some compassion for her. We never had a nanny and she gave her young years to 3 small terrorists, made sure we turned out okay plus. Moms do their best!

All my friends who are new moms want more time. All my mom wants is more time with me, even if just to sit next to me and play Candy Crush on her iPad. She just turned 60, and I want to prioritize spending more time with her and my dad while they’re still young and active.

So no gift guide today: maybe you can gift her our finally back in stock Totem Glasses and a bottle of Berry Aperitif? You can use the code MELANIE15.

Here’s everything I loved in April!

Mélanie

1.
Jason Stewart
’s Substack

His review of Frog Club made me laugh out loud; it came perfectly timed, just a couple weeks after friends went there for dinner and recounted the all around awful experience they had with tears of laughter running down their cheeks. I always say I’ll try anything once but I think I’m good on this one!

2. This dress from Doen ($398)

Which I haven’t taken off in days (it’s summer in LA and Palm Heights, where I’m writing this newsletter from).

Doen dress ($398), Loewe sunnies ($430), Rothy’s Mary Jane ($139), Rebecca de Ravenel basket. I’ve logged them all on my site.

3. Soft Services Green Banana Buffing Bar ($33)

Just Wow. I loved everything Soft Services does, and consider the founder, Rebecca, to be a close friend. The original buffing bar was a staple of my showers (and completely changed the skin on my scarred knees (adventure life). The new green banana buffing bar smells heavenly! Their famous Theraplush (hand cream and retinol for your hands, that comes in a beautifully designed and refillable package that sits on your nightstand) is the only product my mom loves and uses consistently.

Green Banana Buffing Bar ($33), Theraplush ($62)

4. Backdrop x Xavier Donnelly Wallpaper

I usually really dislike wallpaper. But leave it to Natalie Ebel from Backdrop to change my mind with another perfectly executed launch. I introduced Natalie to my very talented friend Xavier Donnelly (who painted our walls in the Ghia House!) and a year later… TADA!

5. FLORE FLORE Tops

I finally caved and bought a suite of FLORE FLORE t-shirts after seeing them on

Emilia Petrarca

in Italy. They’re as good as they say!

The one I have worn the most so far is this one ($95), it makes every outfit feel more intentional than a white t-shirt. I love it!

6. Scent = Swagger

At some point during Covid I turned 30 and started caring about what I put on my skin, and lost the habit of wearing fragrance because I had no one to smell good for. These days it seems like niche fragrance is everywhere and I’ve been **influenced**. My friend

Juliana Salazar

used to say that a scent is swagger and not wearing one is a missed opportunity (I believe this commentary applied to men who don’t wear cologne). She was right. I’m currently wearing the new Regime des Fleurs x Chloe Sevigny - musky base notes and a rose-top scent that is light and fresh. Also a great gift for your mom!

**if you didn’t know that niche fragrance is everywhere, may I recommend you sign up for

Emily

Sundberg’s brillant newsletter, which I best describe as Business Gossip for Millenials. It helps me stay on top of what’s happening in the brand world without having to scroll hours to find out.

Regime des Fleurs x Chloe Sevigny ($250)

7. Guy de Rougemont Totem Poles

My love for totem poles knows no bounds! I received a PR package of Hermes lipsticks (what. is. life!) and fell into a packaging / design / internet hole about painter Guy de Rougemont. His house in the South of France is so beautiful, and this paper (sorry, in French!) shows some of his most beautiful public work, also linked below for eye candy!

Mise en couleurs du Musée d’Art moderne de Paris, 1974

Quartier de l’Arlequin, ensemble de La Villeneuve, Échirolles, France, 1974

Fontaine Rougemont, Belfort, France, 1986

Cylindres stalactites, Centre culturel franco-portugais, Lisbonne, Portugal, 1985

Huit grands tubes sur socle, Musée d’Art moderne de Paris, 1975

Hall d’accueil du nouvel Hôpital Saint-Louis Paris, 1985

Totem, Place Albert Thomas, Villeurbanne, France, 1981

8. Ciao Lucia x K. Jacques Sandals ($305)

I have been swooning over the very expensive, very hard to find Saint Laurent Gia sandals, so I jumped when these hit my inbox. I find the touch of red is the perfect accent to everything, so I’m excited for these to arrive.