Shirley Cook, CEO, Proenza Schouler

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Shirley Cook

'I always bathe with those exfoliating gloves…and I only take baths, never showers. When Jack and Lazaro and I lived together, we didn’t have a bathtub, so I used to shower then, but I also used to put a towel over the drain and sort of fill the shower up and sit in it like a little kiddie bath. [Laughs] I like bath oils, and for a while that was pretty much the closest I’d get to wearing fragrance. This Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan perfume was a gift. We’ve been researching perfume—eventually we’d like to have one—so I wanted to understand the market better and also understand what is nice and what isn’t nice. And I’ve really found that I like the Serge Lutens ones the most.

I don’t like to wear makeup—I like to wear as little as possible—so having good skin is very important. I went through a period later in life, after most people’s skin has cleared up, where I started breaking out all the time. I must have been 25 years old. All of a sudden I was like, ‘What’s going on with my skin?’ So I went to Dr. [Patricia] Wexler, and her products are the best. They fixed everything. She has an exfoliating face wash, a peel system, and a serum that’s the third step in the 1-2-3 process, and then there’s a day lotion with sunblock and an overnight repair lotion. It’s really easy. The other moisturizer that I really like is Chanel Hydramax—it’s amazing. I use it like a mask and leave it on for ten minutes. Your skin soaks it up and you’re glowing afterwards.

So that keeps me from having to wear makeup so much. I do always comb my eyebrows—that’s very important. They’re the only thing I’m so particular about, on my face! I started plucking them in 6th grade; I have older sisters and they used to hold me down and pluck my eyebrows—they were really bushy—so I don’t have a lot of hair that grows there anymore. Anastasia [Beverly Hills] makes an amazing clear brow gel, and sometimes I’ll color in the outer tips with her brow pencil. I use a little bit of Clé de Peau concealer if need be, and Blinc mascara. Have you ever seen it? It’s amazing—it creates these tubes around your eyelashes—it doesn’t come off during the day, doesn’t flake, and then when you wash your face, it looks like little eyelashes all over your sink. It’s really funny. Then I’ll use a little blush sometimes, or MAC bronzing powder. Lip balm is so important—I have it stashed everywhere: in every purse, every drawer. Right now I'm using Homeoplasmine and Aquaphor. I’m also obsessed with this one hand cream—I got a manicure at the Ritz in Paris once and discovered it—it’s called Ivo Pitanguy, he’s a Brazilian guy who’s a plastic surgeon, and his clinic made a whole line of products. I love this cream so much. I used to rock climb, and it’s made my hands so soft.

I go to Reyad at [Frederic] Fekkai to get my hair colored, which is kind of a new thing—I’d never colored my hair in my life but now I do a single process to cover up some grays. And then I go to this guy called Christoph Martin * to get my hair cut. He’s the best. Everybody I’ve sent to him loves him—I have these friends from Guatemala who fly up to New York to get haircuts! Leonor Greyl hair products are incredible—they smell so beautiful. I stopped washing my hair about six weeks ago. It's a miracle! A friend of mine doesn't wash her hair and it looks incredible. She told me Orlando Pita hasn't washed his hair in ages and he has such beautiful hair, so I gave it a whirl. We went on vacation—I would wet it every day and brush it and put Moroccan Oil in it, just on the ends, but wouldn't wash it. My hair changed, and it doesn't get greasy. Sometimes I use dry shampoo but not too often. If I did have to wash my hair, I would use the KNOW! products—all natural, no sulfates, no parabens, all that. The body wash is great too.

In terms of exercise, my whole life I’ve always been really active—I grew up in Florida so you’re always outside doing something. I played soccer, and I ran. I hate running, by the way. I see people running I feel so bad for them. I used to run an hour every day, and now I can’t even run around the block. My boyfriend and I actually tried to sprint, last winter, and we both ended up dry heaving on the side of the road. [Laughs] There’s this girl who I know who is an underwear model—she really has the best figure ever—and the only thing she does is 30 minutes of sprinting. So I was like, okay, I’ll try this. But after that I’ve just stuck with yoga. I go to YogaWorks—it’s two blocks from my office and two blocks from home, which is perfect. And it’s neat when you see the older people in the class who’ve been doing it for a while—you think, 'This is what I should be doing for exercise,' because they look amazing.”

—as told to ITG

*Christoph Martin, 212-414-1422