Favorite Photos is our regular interview series where we feature recent favorite photos from the most interesting people in the wellness community.
We start this series with our good friend, Dara Kennedy, founder of Ayla Beauty, the San Francisco-based and online destination for all things healthy beauty. We’re curious what Dara would have in her favorites folder, and what she delivered was everything we hoped for: behind the scenes time with brand founders, wellness rituals, and running her store. We know you’ll love this as much as us, enjoy!
(1)This is a photo of our storefront in SF, where it looks like we’ve set up for a small-group evening event. I love those. Chatting with our customers is one of my favorite things.
(2) Every time I go for a drive down Highway 1, I’m in awe. There is nothing like the California coastline and the sense of freedom and expansiveness it conveys. My gratitude that such beauty exists is one of the things that inspired our Sea Soak.
(3) This is my usual Sea Soak setup. I took this post-bath; you can see my little bag of seaweed sitting there. I often add some drops of Bach Flowers to the bath water, too, and this Sleep blend from Les Fleurs de Bach is fantastic.
(4) I love Dr. Anna Gold! What a cool, smart, hilarious person. Here, she’s showing us how to use a Gua Sha tool to ease neck and shoulder tension. Which I often have.
(5) Pedro! I love him, too! I am so lucky to get to work with these founders. Here, he’s taking the Ayla community on a tour of the SF Botanical Garden. I loved how he’d jump into the shrubbery and root around for things to excitedly show us. The best.
SHOP THE PRODUCTS
(6)I love Annee de Mamiel, too! She came to visit from London for this masterclass, which was fantastic. I learn so much from her. She told me about this crazy point just under your eyebrows where, if you push your thumbs into it, it’s a massive stress releaser. Maybe if I did that more, I’d have less neck and shoulder tension…
(7) They will kill me for including this, but I love this photo and the people in it so much. It’s of Marie Veronique and Kristina Holey the last time I was able to convince them to come in for a photo shoot with our photographer, Justin Buell (who’s incredibly patient with reluctant camera subjects).
(8) Ha – I love Robin and Ingrid from MyHavtorn! This is such a funny photo. Robin sent it to me along with “Hej, we all have COVID!” and it was just so classic. This is his adorable younger son, Vince, popping out behind him. I aspire to be that chipper in cold, snowy weather.
(9) Another founder I love! Gérard Wolf, from Les Fleurs de Bach. Last summer, I drove through the most remote part of the French Alps with him as he searched for wildflowers for his Bach Flower blends. He has the most astoundingly high standards; these flowers weren’t good enough. He was just showing me what one of the varieties looks like.
(10) I love Kevin and Stephanie (the founders of 27 Rosiers), too, and the last time I visited Paris with my family, Kevin gave us the best list of places to visit. In this photo, you can see him having dinner with my kids. Thanks in large part to Kevin’s suggestions, my kids adore Paris as much as I do!
