Lauren Santo Domingo, Co-Founder, Moda Operandi

Lauren Santo Domingo
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Lauren Santo Domingo
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Lauren Santo Domingo
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Lauren Santo Domingo
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Lauren Santo Domingo
Lauren Santo Domingo
Lauren Santo Domingo
Lauren Santo Domingo
Lauren Santo Domingo
Lauren Santo Domingo
Lauren Santo Domingo
Lauren Santo Domingo

“I’m 8 ½ months pregnant and not much has changed—it’s been pretty easy, I haven’t had any sickness…I’ve been really really lucky. In fact, my hair has grown two inches! [Laughs] I’m the same size, in everything that goes above or below the bump. I don’t really have cravings. When you’re in New York, and you can get your hands on anything, it doesn’t really feel like a craving. All of a sudden when you’re like, ‘Oh, I want a Belgian waffle,’ or, ‘I want a bagel with lox,’ it’s outside your front door. When you’re in the middle of nowhere and you can’t get it, I’m sure that feels strange. My husband cooks a lot and last night he made mashed potatoes with bacon and chives…that’s kind of what I want all the time.

During my pregnancy, I’ve been trying to go more all-natural with my beauty products. I used to use a lot of Clarins and Chanel, and I’ve slowly phased all that out. I’ve been using Tata Harper—I love it. I use the Regenerating Cleanser and the Hydrating Floral Essence; sometimes I just put that on in the morning and go. And she does a Rejuvenating Serum that I use as a moisturizer. I also like the Nude line. And then I’ve got the Mustela body moisturizer. For hair—not like I wash my own hair, I can’t even remember the last time I washed my own hair—I have Avalon Organics shampoo and conditioner. But typically, as far as skincare goes, I’m kind of like a wizard. I know you’re supposed to get your skin used to some sort of regimen but I don’t. I’ll think, ‘Oh, today I need to exfoliate,’ or, ‘Today, it needs essential oil,’ or, ‘Today, I’m definitely going to do a serum—five serums, layered on top of each other!’ I did go through a whole Eve Lom cleanser phase though—the cloth, the whole thing—for a long time. I did that for a good year-and-a-half…that’s probably been the most consistent ritual I’ve had, since, like, Clinique’s 3-Step Program in the 6th grade. And I do have to say that my face looked amazing when I was doing it.

When I go out at night, I definitely trust the professionals—I get a blow-out, I get my makeup done—I just can’t be bothered to do it myself. I can do my makeup well, but I don’t feel as good…I just prefer to have it done for me. I love Daniel Martin, and Melissa Silver. But on a regular day, my makeup is pretty straightforward: I wear the same concealer (Koh Gen Do), the same mascara (Trish McEvoy), and the same blush. My Chanel blush, Orchid Rose, it’s like a non-color—that’s probably the one thing I’ve been using for a really long time. And who even knows if it’s the right color for me? It’s just the one I had, and nothing else seems to work. I feel like a lot of people can go without blush—I can’t. I’d probably take blush before mascara and lipstick. But I do have tons of lipsticks—everyone’s kind of made a move toward lipstick these past few seasons and I’m no exception. The one I’m wearing now is the most amazing red on the planet. I got it in a gift bag at a fashion show; it’s Ruffian Red by MAC. It’s like crack. It was limited edition and they just redid it for me…I got six tubes. I’ve been doing a lot of throwbacks too—like Clinique’s Black Honey. I used to wear it in 7th and 8th grade, and hadn’t picked it up since then. But now I rediscovered it and it’s the perfect color.

My lipstick changes depending on who I’m meeting with and what time of day it is. It usually starts lighter in the morning and then gets darker by the evening, so I typically have five or six tubes on me throughout the day. I would probably wear red lipstick in the morning, but there’s something I find so unappealing about lipstick on coffee cups, Starbucks cups—for that simple reason I start with nothing. Once I’ve had my coffee I’m fine. I just don’t want to be walking around with my Starbucks cup with big red lips on it. Whenever I see that, I cringe…it just seems so vulgar. Nightime’s a different story. Also someone taught me a really good trick, where you go like this [licks the rim of her glass and then sips] which is kind of gross—and you have to be really discreet—but it really works like a charm to keep lipstick from sticking to your glass.

Fragrance changes depending on what I’m wearing, where I’m going, who I’m with. My husband hates fragrance, so if I’m going somewhere with him, I typically don’t put any on. Most of my scents are pretty subtle and girly and flowery—quite young, almost immature. I’m not advanced in my fragrance choices.

I cut my hair right after I got married, three years ago, which I highly recommend. I think that whenever you have a change, a haircut’s good. You need to do something to change the scenery, in a way. I think it’s really important. So, I cut mine into a bob, and I’ve been growing it out really slowly, but now I want it to be really long—like Kirsty Hume. She’s my hair muse.

I do a blowout once every five days, I go to De Berardinis, it’s right around the corner from my apartment. They have so many people, and every single one of them is good, which is so rare. I don’t really book appointments—I just call and say, ‘Do you have anyone in 20 minutes?’ That’s about as far in advance as I can plan. It’s usually when I have 100 emails to do—when I look at my phone and I see 65 emails, it’s my cue for a blowout. [Laughs] I’ve probably blown dry my own hair three or four times…I’m just bad at it and I don’t feel like learning, when there are such good hair stylists in New York.

My color is an epic saga. I’ve been through everyone: I started with Parveen at Bergdorf’s, I went to Kyle [White] for a few years, then David Mallett in Paris, then I went to Marie Robinson who is so great, but I couldn’t get an appointment to save my life. And then my friend, who always had great color, recommended this place Butterfly Salon. When I called to see what times they had, they were totally open! And I thought, ‘Hallelujah.’ I’d never in my life experienced getting a color appointment so easily. So I’ve been going there, to Tara, ever since.

In terms of other services, I get facials from Carole at SLR, which is half a block away from me. Margherita Missoni recommended her to me. And if you see me with a manicure, it means you must be the Queen of England. I can’t sit still that long, for a manicure. So I just go au naturale. I always feel really dorky with a manicure, to be honest. It feels so contrived. For fitness, I haven’t been doing anything, but I have my trainer all lined up for when I have the baby—he’s the guy who does all the Victoria’s Secret models—his name’s Justin Gelband. And Karolina Kurkova’s Pilates instructor, Clea Starkes. I’ve never really worked out before in my life, but now I’m getting ready.”

—as told to ITG

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