At Home With Shen
We've now passed the please-make-it-stop milestone of a month and a half (it feels like so much longer) into quarantine and we're betting you are just as bored as we are. While we recognize that quaran-boredom is a privilege and we are all very lucky to be healthy and safe right now, we also recognize that we're hitting the wall on finding new ways to occupy ourselves — and we have a feeling some of you might be, too.
In an effort to support each other, the Shen team got to chatting about the things we are doing around our homes to keep ourselves from running up the walls and sitting in a corner rocking slowly in the fetal position. Being the sharing types we are, we decided it was a good time to pass on the things we're reading, making, watching, doing, and using to hopefully give you some new ideas and inspiration.
Keep reading to see how Jess, Samson, Josh, Pedro, and Lara are doing while Shen is on our brief hiatus.
Jess Richards
Founder & Owner
@jessicarichardsbeauty
My Quarantine Personality Is: I’m in warrior mode — home schooling my two boys and working in the store to pack and ship orders.
What I'm Watching: I'm on season three of Ozark. I like that it’s dark and I love Laura Linney. I also find it interesting (especially right now) the schemes and lengths they go to to keep that business alive.
What I'm Reading: I just finished Shoe Dog, a memoir by Phil Knight who is the founder of Nike. It's fascinating from a business inspiration perspective. Also, it's a bit comforting and helpful to know we all experience downtimes and how to come out on top.
What I'm Listening To: For some reason I’ve been super in to Alanis Morissette Jagged Little Pill. I think because I’ve been so angry at the world.
What I'm Eating: Carmelo avocado oil tortillas heated in a pan with parmesan cheese and arugula. It’s healthy and filling, but super easy to do. I just throw the tortilla in a pan and crisp up on both sides, then pile on the cheese and arugula and drizzle with olive oil and add a dash of salt and pepper.
My Essential Beauty Product: Skin Design London On The Spot Acne Superstar Serum. I wear my mask whenever I leave the house and it's been causing me to break out. I use this every day to help control the pimples — it helps prevent new ones from forming, minimizes the look of existing ones, and speeds up the whole process so they don't linger for days.
Josh Beeler
Brow Architect
@hashtagiwokeuplikethis
My Quarantine Personality Is: I’ve been staying busy with my garden and home projects. My bf and I most recently brought back a haul of driftwood from Montauk, which we turned into a bench and then rearranged our jungle bedroom. My garden is coming back fiercely: We have mint, lavender, rosemary, fennel, strawberries, a rose garden, thyme, oregano, lemon smudge and tarragon.
What I'm Watching: Pretty much everything, but RuPaul's Drag Race and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills are my favorites.
What I'm Eating: I’ve always loved to cook, so that is something I’ve been doing a lot of. My most recent culinary time killer was split pea soup. We roasted a pork shoulder and I saved the bones and created a bone broth. I simmered split peas in the broth until they softened up and then I added two cans of veggie broth, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, shallots and white onion. Tons of garlic and then I just let it all cook together. I made croutons and added some ham and it was delicious.
My Essential Beauty Product: Definitely May Lindstrom The Blue Cocoon — it's been my skin savior.
Lara Kaiser
Aesthetician
@lararosebudbeauty
My Quarantine Personality Is: Homebody! I've even been doing a little embroidering which has been really fun — I ordered a kit off Etsy.
What I'm Listening To: A lot of audiobooks. I’ve really been enjoying the Jessica Simpson autobiography. She reads it herself and gets choked up in parts. It makes me very nostalgic for the '90s/early 2000s!
What I'm Eating: I’ve mastered eggplant parm and this krispy kale kimchi fried rice that’s so good. You leave it in the pan on low for like 20 mins and don’t stir and the bottom gets that crunchy paella texture. Plus it’s healthy! If you want to make it a bit naughty I make popcorn chicken and add that. I've also been making tons of smoothies to get my kale quotient in since I’m not getting Sweetgreen after Shen shifts.
My Essential Beauty Product: I’ve finally had time to take care of my body more so I’ve been doing a two step body-care routine. I’ve been using the Environ Derma-Lac Lotion, followed by the Lavido Thera-Intensive Body Lotion. It’s a delicious combo. I’ve also been using the Christophe Robin duo of the Cleansing Purifying Scrub With Sea Salt and the Regenerating Mask With Rare Prickly Pear Oil and letting my hair air dry. Truly luscious!
Samson Smith
Lead Makeup Artist
@samson_smith
My Quarantine Personality Is: Bob the Builder. We just finished a bedroom for a 4-year-old and 1-year-old all by ourselves!!
What I'm Watching: Reruns of The Office and lots of Paw Patrol (the 4-year-old's favorite show).
What I'm Eating: HelloFresh! Amazing meals that are super-easy. Tacos, lemon chicken, pizza (of course), and loads of snacks.
My Essential Beauty Product: Haoma Nourishing Cleansing Balm. It's a two-in-one mask-style balm that rinses clean and leaves skin soothed and smooth.
Pedro Boyer
Aesthetician
@pedroatshen
My Quarantine Personality Is: Outdoor enthusiast. My boyfriend and I got in my car mid-March and drove down to northern Georgia to stay with my dad at his country house. The local geography has blessed us with tons of nature walks and hikes and being in the countryside of northern Georgia where their normal social distancing is more like 6 yards instead of 6 feet, has made it simple to keep our distance and safe.
What I'm Watching: Netflix & Amazon Prime gave us The Face, Making The Cut, The Collection, Britannia, and a revisit to some classics like The Birdcage and The Bodyguard.
What I'm Reading: Before bed, Stephen King’s The institute, and I also found an old box of freshman year books, so I’m revisiting A Passage to India and Siddhartha.
What I'm Eating: The New York Times had some amazing giant chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and everything but the kitchen sink cookie recipes which we’ve mastered after a dozen tries of each.
My Essential Beauty Product: With all this free time, weekly facials for my boyfriend and I have become the norm, and with Zitsticka Killa patches and Skin Discipline supplements, our skin has never looked so good. Not to mention Irene Forte Prickly Pear Body Cream and Rose Body Oil have kept my psoriasis tamed and my bf silky smooth. We are both obsessed with her products.