Alix Brown, DJ & Vintage Buyer

alix-brown--3
1
alix-brown--1
2
alix-brown--4
3
alix-brown--2
4
alix-brown--13
5
alix-brown--18
6
alix-brown--12
7
alix-brown--19
8
alix-brown--17
9
alix-brown--16
10
alix-brown--9
11
alix-brown--11
12
alix-brown--15
13
alix-brown--14
14
alix-brown--10
15
alix-brown--8
16
alix-brown--7
17
alix-brown--6
18
alix-brown--5
19
alix-brown--21
20
alix-brown--3
alix-brown--1
alix-brown--4
alix-brown--2
alix-brown--13
alix-brown--18
alix-brown--12
alix-brown--19
alix-brown--17
alix-brown--16
alix-brown--9
alix-brown--11
alix-brown--15
alix-brown--14
alix-brown--10
alix-brown--8
alix-brown--7
alix-brown--6
alix-brown--5
alix-brown--21
alix-brown--3
alix-brown--1
alix-brown--4
alix-brown--2
alix-brown--13
alix-brown--18
alix-brown--12
alix-brown--19
alix-brown--17
alix-brown--16
alix-brown--9
alix-brown--11
alix-brown--15
alix-brown--14
alix-brown--10
alix-brown--8
alix-brown--7
alix-brown--6
alix-brown--5
alix-brown--21

'I do the buying, merchandising, displays, and windows for a vintage clothing store called What Goes Around Comes Around, and then I also DJ at night. It definitely makes sense for me...I've been in bands for most of my life, and I guess I just grew up buying vintage and working at record stores and being around old stuff. Back when I lived in Atlanta, my friends and I would collect records and make playlists for the night. We owned the city at the time, you know, were the new breed. I was in a band called The Lids, and then Bradford [Cox] from Deerhunter and I had a band called The Wet Dreams, which sounded like the B52s—but on acid. It’s super crazy and psychedelic. We put out a seven-inch that was pretty good. I looked super crazy and goth and then punk when I was growing up—the look helped me get into clubs when I was too young.

It was really hard for me when I first moved to New York because I’m a Southern girl, and I felt like nobody understood me. Even so, I was going out so much when I moved here. I still go out, but back then it felt more accessible. The Lower East Side was cool and there were still punk bars open. Motor City, my favorite bar, was still open. There were still all these places that made New York feel like New York—like why I moved here, but it’s slowly fading away from that. I mean I still love it, but it has definitely changed. It’s a sure-fire thing that I go out at least two nights a week because I DJ at Soho Grand on Wednesdays and Thursdays, but I don’t really like going out in the weekends. I try to stay in because that’s like amateur hour, when everyone else goes out—no, just kidding. [Laughs]

HAIR

Nowadays, the only thing that takes time is my hair. I dye my hair blonde with a high-lift dye. I just got it done at Headdress Hair Salon in the East Village by Kate Hanley. She’s awesome. I go there about once a month—it's a lot of maintenance to get your hair colored, and I'm the type of person that hates having my roots show. At home, I like to use Kiehl's Olive Fruit Oil Nourishing Shampoo followed by the Moroccanoil Restorative Hair Mask.

SKINCARE

I hate when I use a cleanser and it just rubs around the makeup instead of taking it off. I look up and it’s still all over my face! I still haven't found the right one, but I was using Peter Thomas Roth's Anti-Aging Buffing Beads for a while and that was great. I have these Eyeko Mascara Off Eye Makeup Remover Wipes that Alexa [Chung] gave me—thank you, Alexa! [Laughs] I'm also really into face oils like Kypris Beauty Elixirs and their Antioxidant Dew. I use Kiehl's Calendula Herbal Extract Alcohol-Free Toner, and then I have this SK-II Facial Treatment Essence, which smells a little weird. I never leave the house, even at night, without first putting on a BB cream, and right now I'm using Bobbi Brown's BB Cream SPF 35 in Fair.

MAKEUP

So after I have that base of BB cream, I really get into my makeup. I don't really put it on during the day, but when I'm getting ready to go out and DJ, I usually put on a record and put on my eyeliner. I just got this Eyeko Eye Do Liquid Eye Liner. It’s a felt pen, and it's just easy to put on—it goes on pretty dark and washes off easily. I hate liquid eyeliner that takes forever to wash off.

I think every time I buy something, my skin gets used to it and it stops working. Concealers especially. I feel like I always have to get a new kind. So I just go in to a Sephora and ask, ‘What’s new? What concealer do you like?’ Lately, Tarte's Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Waterproof Concealer in Fair has been doing the job. I like creamy stuff. My friend is a makeup artist, so she always gives me lots of Chanel stuff. I'm just a little nostalgic with smells, so I really like Chanel's Les Beiges Healthy Glow Multicolor. I just put a little on cause it smells like candy. It's also multipurpose—you can use it as a blush, highlighter, and bronzer.

I think I need to get new eyeshadow. My Nars Duo Eyeshadow in Silk Road exploded or something, but I still use it. My eyelids are naturally a peachy color, so makeup artists are always like, 'Oh, you already have a natural color,' but I still like to put beigey-pinks over it. Since I was 13, I've been doing my eyes like this. I've always liked it, and it's my style. I also like switching between Chanel's Le Volume de Chanel Mascara and the Eyeko Eye Do Mascara. The difference right now is the Chanel one is a little dried out. Sometimes, I’ll just use it on the bottom lashes because the brush doesn't get as much product on it as the Eyeko one. I like to put mascara on my bottom lashes really more for nighttime. And then for my lips, I use a nude lip liner. It contours your lips and just helps with bleeding, too, if you're going to wear lipstick with color. But my problem with that is sometimes your lip color doesn't go with what you're wearing, so I just prefer nude.”

—as told to ITG

Alix Brown photographed by Tom Newton. Read other DJ's going-out routines, like Matthew Mazur and Leslie Kirchhoff, right here.