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Photo Diary: Julie Macklowe Gets Ready for the Opera Polly Blitzer
Navigating a whirlwind social calendar while juggling her roles as mother and entrepreneur is no easy task. Yet Julie Macklowe, founder of vbeauté skincare, powers through packed days with levity, pit-stopping only for quality time with her six-year-old daughter, Zoe, and husband, Billy. Julie invited Beauty Blitz to her Fifth Avenue home while she prepared for opening night of the Metropolitan Opera. You might expect to see a swarm of drone bees pampering, coiffing and prepping a queen bee. We'll mange your expectations with this teaser. Julie skips pedicures and hairstylists - and gets ready in less than an hour. Here's her exclusive photo diary.
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Presidential Traffic Polly Blitzer
Julie starts her routine with a selection of products from her line. "I like to get ready as quickly as possible. I often do my own makeup, unless it’s the Met Opera or Costume Institute. I don’t have a ton of hair so it’s easy to do my hair. I just ran home due to the Obama gridlock traffic. I actually walked most of the way through Central Park. I just came from a training at Duane Reade on 35th Street. I just taught 35 employees about vbeauté."
Master bathroom outfitted with thassos white marble, gray Cipollino marble and Bendheim frosted glass. Abyss Super Pile washcloth from Gracious Home.
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Face Prepping Polly Blitzer
"I generally start with Evidence Eraser and a little bit of Rub Off to take off my existing makeup. Rub Off gives me a little exfoliation since I had Day Job, my sunscreen, on today. Always use protection, right? I foam them up and with warm water use my washcloth." -
Cleansing Habits Polly Blitzer
Julie uses a Q-tip to remove stubborn mascara and eye makeup residue. "If you have eye makeup on, Eye Never is a great way to get it off. [The eye cream] can get mascara off without causing a lot of irritation."
At the end of the night, Julie is equally diligent about cleaning her skin - and hair, too. "After the opera, they have dinner at around 11 pm. So it's a long night. Usually, I just go with my Evidence Eraser and Rub Off. I usually have to wash my face once or twice. If my hair is full of stuff, I actually shower. I don't like the hairspray smell against my sheets. I find it impossible to sleep with that fragrance. It’s too strong. Like when I was at the Met, I had my hair spray-painted pink and black, so I definitely jumped in the shower after that."
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Purple Reigns Polly Blitzer
"I take one pump of Undercover Agent and put it all over my face for hydration with Lite Up, which is my brightener. Then I take a little bit of Buying Time, which is a day night moisturizer. You just rub it all over."
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Easy Does It Polly Blitzer
Julie has a quick-yet-precise method of applying her eye products. "I use the ring finger below and above, so I get the product in all the fine wrinkles. It’s super absorbent. Undercover Agent’s great as a primer, as is Eye Never. Makeup artists love the products. So you saw, that took like 60 seconds? It’s really easy."
Even with well-formulated skincare and active ingredients, Julie books occasional trips to the dermatologist'. "I don’t feel like there’s ever been a ton of pressure to be super tan for whatever reason. I don’t like to put all those chemicals on my body, so I don’t spray tan. I embrace my whiteness. I feel like we spend so much on lasers and everything else to get rid of all of the sun damage and lightening serums, so why undo it with spray tan?"
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Testing, Testing Polly Blitzer
Julie shares her in-shower products (photo at left). "I love this TokyoMilk, I’m a really big fan of the bubble bath and I really like Terax for the hair and I’m still a Cetaphil fan." Julie also uses products from Bumble & bumble. Julie brings home laboratory samples (photo at right) of products she's developing to try the formulations. "I'm testing a body serum. It's too sticky. Right now I'm into Kiehl's Creme de Corps and L'Occitane Shea Butter in winter."
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Makeup Session Polly Blitzer
Makeup artist Nathan Scott Hamilton unpacks a case filled with cosmetics and tools. “I’m going for a smoky eye with a white shimmer burst. How can you not love those star burst things on her dress? It’s dark colors with something fresh. I like the juxtaposition.”
Nathan uses a vivid palette of blushes given to him by a client. He adds luminosity to Julie's skin using Guerlain highlighting serum that "I bought from someone from Kuwait. You can't get it here. It's called Fluide Eclat Liquid Radiance. I also buy things on eBay. I found someone who's got some of them in London."
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Skin Intelligence Polly Blitzer
Nathan uses minimal products on Julie's skin. "She’s the perfect client. I never have to put anything on her. She’s always skincare ready."
Julie opens up about her professional skincare team. "I love Dr. Gervaise Gerstner. Great dermatologist, terrific. I also like her former partner Dr. Amy Wechsler. And Dr. Alyson Penstein, who’s a great person to see if you need your legs, armpits and sideburns lasered. You know, post pregnancy you get a lot of weird spots. The good thing about being in New York City, there’s no shortage of good dermatologists. I tend to do a laser. I just did Clear and Brilliant for dark spots twice a year. It’s very mild. I don’t love Fraxel, I think it makes you super light-sensitive."
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Tooling Around Polly Blitzer
A bouquet of brushes and freshly shaven pencil remnants.
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Eye Openers Polly Blitzer
Nathan plays up Julie's eyes using an assortment of Chanel Le Crayon Kohl and Givenchy eye pencils and clusters of I-ENVY by Kiss false lashes.
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Artist's Palette Polly Blitzer
Nathan uses his hand to warm up the waxes in his pencils, a trick that helps the color glide onto skin more evenly. To help fake lashes stay in place, Nathan lets the glue set for a minute on his hand first .He then dips the cluster of lashes into the tacky glue with a tweezer and places it along Julie's lashline to dry.
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Fine Fragrance Polly Blitzer
Julie dabs Hermès 24 Faubourg Pure Perfume on her pulse points. When asked about her simple nail look, Julie says, "I don’t have any nail polish on, just clear. So this was the thing. I had this beautiful blue shade, but I’m going with closed-toe shoes because I have no nail polish on my toes. I was in the middle of putting my nail polish on, and my husband wanted to go kite-surfing because the wind just picked up. So the instructor could only meet us in like 30 minutes, and that was not enough time to actually have it dry. So he’s like ‘Well, it's winter anyway so wear closed-toe shoes.’ In winter, I tend to not wear that much nail polish on my toes. I feel like it’s a good time to let your toenails breathe."
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5-Second Hair Polly Blitzer
Julie quickly smooths her hair back with a clear hair mascara. "When it was wet this morning, I used Bumble & bumble Prep and Bumble & bumble Surf Spray. And this morning, I put mousse in it to give it height. I used a small brush with holes and basically turned it up so I get that height. And then once my makeup’s done, I just joosh it with some product."
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Closet Encounters Polly Blitzer
While Julie puts on her finishing touches (and we take in the Central Park view from her closet), she describes her Modus operandi for posing. "You know, I usually try to engage with the photographers, as crazy as that sounds. We just sort of have a conversation about my crazy shoes. I try not to think about it too much. I find that when you sit there and pose, it’s very pose-y looking and sort of ridiculous. I’m not a supermodel so I don’t try to be one. But you know, I try to make it fun. So I have a lot of squinty eyes as a result of usually laughing. And I feel like it’s all about having fun, you know, having a good time. I’m talking to them, they’re talking to me. Not being too serious."
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Shopping the Runway Polly Blitzer
Julie selected a dress from the Honor Spring/Summer 2014 Collection. "I went to the show about a week ago, and I loved the collection. I probably ordered about half of it already. And that dress, I just thought was so amazing and unique. And so I called Giovanna [Randall] and I said, 'Hey, why don’t we go to the opera? And that last look on the runway, that’s available, right? Because I think we should wear it. It actually fit me perfectly. Just perfectly. I’m their exact sample size. It didn't even need to be shortened."
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The Grande Finale Polly Blitzer
Accessories are Julie's fashion accomplices. "I always sort of decide on the fly, but I’m thinking a nude and cream Alaia purse I bought in Paris and probably nude Manolo pointy shoes. I find suddenly that anything with round toes looks totally out of fashion to me for some reason. So everything has gone to pointy-toed shoes. And they’re horrible, which is why I’ve been opting for sneakers, like the high-heels wedge sneakers. They definitely don't work with that dress."
Julie wore two Cynthia Rowley flask bangles. "You have to have a flask for the opera. A friend gave it to me. I thought it was more chic, much cooler, to have two so I bought a second one, and it sprung a leak. I was thinking diamond cuff or flask bracelet. I filled them with Old Pulteney 21, it’s a single-malt scotch.
