'I work as an independent curator. I started doing it in college—I put together my first show there and I really liked it, so I started to do mostly group shows in the city. Recently I started curating solo shows, which is a little more focused, and a little more time consuming, and a little more stressful. But I’ve always really liked art. I'm constantly accumulating the names of people I want to work with. I approach artists I really like, and they'll introduce me to other artists...It's a very social thing. New York definitely has an art scene to go out in, whereas in France, where I'm from, it's more of a music world where DJs are hanging out at night.
When I go out, I like to take my time getting ready—usually I’ll put French TV on the iPad first. There’s a show called Le Petit Journal which is really good—it's like a late-night show with great reporters all over the world. Then I like to take a shower, because I feel like it wakes me up and gets me in the mood. I need to clean my hair before I go out—it drives me crazy when I'm out with dirty hair. When I wash it, I use this one amazing French brand called Phyto, and after that I use Klorane Conditioner with Oat Milk. I wash my hair every two or three days, but I clean my bangs every day with a tiny bit of shampoo because if I don't, they look greasy.
After I shower, I sit around in my towel looking at Instagram for an hour, and then I'll remember I'm going out and I start picking my clothes. [Laughs] I'll also pin my bangs back to give them a little volume, which is really embarrassing. My hair is really boring and flat...I can try to make it look good and it'll go flat as soon as I leave the house. But I love to go dancing, so I'll usually end up putting my hair into a high ponytail anyway and it doesn't really matter. I also love to put lotion on when I'm getting ready. I moisturize really heavily, it's just something that I like to do. I like Laboratoires Gilbert Liniment—it’s for babies and it’s made with olive oil. I actually stole it from my niece! Then I have this Aesop Rind Concentrate Body Balm when I’m traveling because you can’t bring a whole bottle. This is pretty good, but it’s not as amazing as the other one.
I wash my face with this thing called Simple Moisturizing Facial Wash. I’ve only had a facial once in my life—in France, people don't do that, but here it's a really big thing—and the guy recommended that I use this because I have really sensitive skin, and it's really good. Right after the shower I'll use Weleda Wild Rose Smoothing Day Cream. I was friends with a bunch of hippies in college and they all had it and I was like, whatever, it looks pretty, and then I used it and it was amazing. After moisturizing, I’ll put on the Touche Éclat, and then I'll use Glossier Perfecting Skin Tint to equalize everything. It’s also really nice because you feel like you don’t have stuff on your face. You forget about it. Oh, I have this really great thing actually that I use every weekend...it’s Nars Orgasm blush—it’s so good!
I think beauty is kind of like clothing, in that it should enhance whatever you've got. Because I have thin lips, I like wearing lipstick. It depends on my outfit, but I always put on a chapstick before—I've been using the Glossier Coconut Balm Dotcom. I like Chanel Coco Rouge in Marie, but only if I'm wearing a deeper color. I already have dark features, so oftentimes I’ll go for the lighter Dior Special Edition Holiday Red. Sometimes I do the eyeliner thing, like for weddings or slightly bigger occasions, but I keep rubbing my eyes because I forget I have it on! Before I discovered high-end mascara, I used an eyelash curler from CVS and Maybelline Great Lash. I have big eyelashes, so again, it's all about enhancing. Now I wear Diorshow—that's good when I'm not really doing anything else and I just want to bring out my eyes. Also, I learned that if you highlight your eyes, then it'll make it look like you slept, so I’ll wear Balm Dotcom on my lids.
Tonight, I’m wearing this plaid dress—I don’t know the brand because it was my mother’s from 20 years ago. You can call it vintage! I always wear it—I like that it shows some leg, I like that I can wear it with sneakers, I like that I can wear it with cute little ballerina flats. The look that I like to go for is 'five-year-old boy.' [Laughs] If I have a cocktail party or an opening I'll dress up a little more, but for the bars, this works.
I stay out very late and I always eat somewhere after. There’s this dollar pizza place around the corner and I’ll go with my boyfriend and the guy is so sweet. And then I'll go home and watch TV. I love having the luxury of watching TV really late and knowing that it’s OK because I can sleep late after. I was re-watching all the seasons of Friends last year, so that was perfect for late-night, but that took me a whole year. I just started re-watching Sex & The City. I like these little late-night things.”
—as told to ITG
Lolita Cros photographed by Tom Newton in New York on November 17, 2015.
Learn about model Alexandra Agoston's meticulous loose bun technique and illustrator Joana Avillez' “skinvigorating' cheek tint in the Top Shelf After Dark.
