Expertise: Beauty writing with a serious passion for fashion
Location: New York, NY
Product: Håkansson Skin vitamin sprays 

Interests: Vintage books, photography, cooking, wine, fashion, spas, skincare, cosmetics, art, travel, language arts (I love how that sounds like a high school class, but it’s just a fancy way of saying I’m learning Italian and Spanish), the perfect dirty martini, and architecture. Oh, and Muppets. I think Jim Henson was a creative genius.

Background: I’m a fashion editor and lifestyle expert. After years covering some of the hottest product launches and parties in Manhattan for various publications (SHEFinds, Marie Claire, Daily Makeover, StyleCaster) and managing my own website, Fashion.Style.Beauty.

Favorite meal: I’m a very simple person with very simple needs. The perfect steak au poivre with herbed butter, rosemary potatoes, truffled spinach and the perfect spicy cabernet-grenache blend makes me the happiest person on earth. If I’m at home with family, honey pecan fried chicken with buttermilk smashed potatoes and green bean casserole with a rich nut brown ale is also a slice of perfection in my book.

Hidden talent: I’m a very good mimic. I can imitate people very well. Although, since I do it often, I’m not sure we could refer to this talent as “hidden.”

Book/film recommendation: My favorite book of all time is a children’s book: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. As far as movies go, GoodFellas is still one of the best films ever made, in my humble opinion.

Restaurant recommendation: If you like seafood, I have to strongly recommend Fishtail by David Burke on the Upper East Side. Every single morsel is impeccable.

If I had $20, I’d… Probably spend it on iTunes or magazines. I’m always consuming media on the go, so I tend to have to mix things up or I get bored.

Transformative travel experience: I once went on a vacation by myself where I worked on a ranch in Wyoming for a week. It was incredibly fun, a lot of hard work and a great lesson in self-reliance. I recommend that every woman travel by herself at least once in her lifetime.

Favorite neighborhood: In Manhattan? Probably the West Village. I can get lost there for days discovering things.

Dream holiday: Six weeks in Italy, starting in the Italian Alps, hitting every major city and ending in a villa on the Amalfi Coast. It’s my dream vacation.

If I could solve one problem, it would be: Cruelty. We’ve become a culture of people who think it’s fun and okay to say some of the meanest things about people. I don’t understand how making fun of people has become sport but I’d love to find a way to make it stop.

I wish people cared more about: Each other on a regular basis. We’ve become so closed off as a society.

Recent aha! moment: Honestly, trying on a Rick Owens leather jacket was probably as life changing as it gets. It convinced me to start a) dressing better as a general rule and b) gave me an incredible appreciation for craftsmanship. I’ve started saving for one.

The world would be a better place if: Everyone found one thing that made them happy and shared that with someone else. We need to share more good news and things that make us happy. I think enthusiasm and joy would be the best epidemic the world could ever have. Oh, and we should all have more spa treatments. That would also make it a happier, more relaxed (and more attractive) world.