'My name is Meghan Folsom [@megamegaprojects] and I am the co-founder of Mega Mega Projects, a fashion showroom and press office in downtown NYC. I try to have a holistic and practical approach to beauty, fashion, and business. To feel beautiful, I drink tons of water, practice yoga, and try to maintain a balanced lifestyle. Working in fashion has definitely made me more conscious of my appearance—but it has also given me an immense appreciation of women for their deep, inspiring, and powerful beauty. My work day is often totally wild so I try to set aside time for myself in the morning for mediation and exercise before I let the world in.
I’m from Alabama where women really take beauty to a whole new level. Both my father and grandfather were in politics in Alabama so the women in my family always held themselves to incredibly high standards. I have always experimented with everything—I cut my own hair when I was a child, and my mom let me dye my hair 'chocolate cherry' in 7th grade. I looked like Neve Campbell and was super into Tori Amos and The Craft. I also bought a piercing gun and gave piercings to all the girls in boarding school—I think I had five in one ear—only in the '90s could you buy your own piercing gun at a drugstore!
My grandmother was a total Southern babe and had an eponymous cosmetics line when she was in her 20s called 'Jamelle.' She was the First Lady of Alabama when she was 19 and one of those legendary beauties that you read about in William Faulkner novels. She always had pink nails and dyed her hair black 'like Elizabeth Taylor,' she'd tell me. When I would stay at her house as a little girl, she would put me in the bathtub while she 'put her face on' at her vanity for an hour. She always overdid it but always looked fabulous! Southern women always overdress. My mother takes incredible care of her skin—and it shows. She has been telling me since I was a teen that every time you go to bed without washing your face, it adds 18 hours of age to your skin. I’m not sure how scientifically accurate this is but it makes sense to me...
I try to use organic, all-natural products. I’ve bee freaked out by some of the crazy chemicals that are in conventional beauty products—how did beauty become so toxic? My former boss Melanie Ward told me that she would never put anything on her skin that she couldn’t eat. That said, I do use a conventional mascara and occasionally a lipstick—it’s really hard to find organic lipsticks in fun, bright colors.
It sounds crazy but I oil my body with organic coconut oil every morning when I wake up. OK—this is total hippie stuff, but coconut oil is a miracle. Yes, you can use it on everything, but you need to know about oiling your body—don’t be afraid! My guru Dr. Deb Kern taught me about Ayurvedic oiling rituals and it changed my life. I make my own body oil with organic coconut oil and my favorite essential oils. For me it’s a mix of lavender, peppermint, and frankincense—it’s calming, rejuvenating, and meditative and really gets me going in the morning long before I’d had coffee. You keep the oil in a jar and heat it in a pot of warm water. First thing in the morning, before you’ve showered, before you’ve exercised, take it with you to the bathroom, lock the door, and play some tunes. You start oiling from the bottom of your feet and move upward, always rubbing in an upward motion towards your heart. This ritual wakes you up and fills you with an immediate sense of well-being and self-love! Then you can exercise, shower, and go about your day feeling totally beautiful and ready to conquer the world.
My entire morning ritual happens in about seven minutes in the shower, including the toothbrushing. I usually only wash my hair once a week with Aubrey Organics Green Tea Clarifying Shampoo and then do an argan oil hair mask. I do a quick face wash, also with Aubrey Peppermint Cleansing Cream that feels super invigorating in the morning. I take a deep breath and let that peppermint relax me as I meditate on the day ahead. For makeup I use some mascara and a swipe of red lipstick at most. Maybe a little black eyeliner for a fancy night out. On a super-luxurious night at home I’ll finish off the evening with a nibble of dark chocolate, a Yogi Tea Berry Detox Tea, and a mask from the Mayan Clay Spa in Tulum. Pure heaven.”
—as told to ITG
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