best bets

Artisan Home Objects in the West Village, Rare Cookbooks in Cobble Hill, and CoverGirl’s First Store

Photo: Courtesy of the vendors

First Look

On December 10, Showfields, a four-story space where digitally native brands can pop up, will open its wellness-centric first floor (11 Bond St.).

Illustration: Jason Lee/Courtesy of the vendors

1. Nuria: The brand-new skin-care line will have samples of its products, like its Replenishing serum, made with flower oil and squalane ($43).

2. Gravity: A comfy seat where you can test Gravity’s 15-, 20-, and 25-pound weighted blankets ($249).

3. Boll & Branch: The bedding-and-home company will let you try out its mattress (from $2,500), loomed in North Carolina.

4. CityRow: Visitors can test the rowing-workout class’s water-based rowing machine ($1,395).

5. Quip: A functioning sink where you can try the start-up’s sonic-vibration toothbrush (from $25).

6. It’s By U: A bar where you can create your own floral arrangements using the start-up’s kits (from $20).

2x2: High-Design Tissue-Box Covers

It’s sniffle season.

Photo: Courtesy of the vendor

Square
Pricier: Dusen Dusen tissue box, $275 at fredericksandmae.com.
Cheaper: Landon Boutique tissue box, $25 at bedbathandbeyond.com.

Photo: Courtesy of the vendor

Rectangular
Pricier: Azmaya tissue box, $90 at shop.nalatanalata.com.
Cheaper: ColoriHome tissue box, $35 at etsy.com/shop/colorihome.

IRL

On December 4, 57-year-old cosmetics brand CoverGirl opened its first brick-and-mortar (719 Seventh Ave.). CMO Ukonwa Ojo talks virtual try-ons and makeup-themed bibs.

Photo: Courtesy of the vendor.
Photo: Courtesy of the vendor.

“We’ve been around since 1961, and since then 100 percent of our product has been stocked in drug, grocery, and mass stores. Our new space has every single one of our products in stock — our LashBlast Volume Mascara ($9), our Matte BB Cream ($9). We have different ways for people to try everything on. Makeup artists — who we call BFFs — will help you put together a look. Or if you’re wearing a full face of makeup and don’t feel like taking it off (which, let’s face it, is likely — we’re in the Theater District), we have virtual stations where you can see what certain lipsticks would look like on. Oh, and we have merch. Like a bib that says, MAKEUP ARTIST IN TRAINING.”

Ask a Shop Clerk

In late November, Elizabeth Young opened her eponymous rare-cookbook store in Cobble Hill (212 Degraw St.).

Photo: Scott Heins

What’s your rarest book?
Easy: It’s from 1569, it’s Italian, and it’s all about the production and storage of olives ($2,000). I’ll also stock a sprinkling of new cookbooks, though, like Japanese Cooking With Manga ($15), which pairs step-by-step Japanese recipes with hand-drawn illustrations. And then we’ll have ephemera, things people who don’t frequent rare-book fairs would never see. Like a beautiful stove catalogue from the turn of the century and a handbook that explains how to use the first refrigerator.”

She Said, She Said

Dina Epstein and Éva Goicochea have brought Maude — their minimalist, thoughtfully designed line of sex objects — to Williamsburg (63 N. 3rd St.).

Photo: Courtesy of the vendor.
Photo: Courtesy of the vendor.

Dina: We only have five products in our line: a candle to get in the mood ($25), a vibrator ($45), two types of lubricants ($25 each), and ultrathin latex condoms ($12) that come in packaging that peels off so you don’t have to rip them open.

Éva: The store is going to look like our packaging — subdued, pale colors. The idea is that people can come in and actually test how these things feel; they can put the organic lube and the silicone lube on their hands and ask us which will work best for them. They can feel how powerful the vibrator is.

Dina: And by the way, it’s a really powerful vibrator. It was to begin with, and then we moved the motor toward the top. So now it’s even more powerful.

Top Five

Through December 22, made-by-artisans home-design company The Citizenry will pop up in the West Village (379 Bleecker St.). Co-founder Carly Nance on her favorite Portuguese linens and Indian trays.

Photo: Courtesy of the vendor

“This is a mix of a safari chair and a sling chair ($1,195). It has a light wood frame, with a sling made of Mexican leather. It sells out every time we restock.”

Photo: Courtesy of the vendor

“Our Baya pillow ($195) is handwoven with sheep’s wool and dyed in shades of red using the super-vibrant cochineal bug. It’s very Southwest looking.”

Photo: Courtesy of the vendor

“We wanted to make the softest linen bedding on earth, and we did. This set (from $435) was made in a linen mill in Portugal that’s been operating since 1921.”

Photo: Courtesy of the vendor

“These hammam towels (from $30) were hand-loomed by artisans just outside Marrakech. They’re Egyptian cotton, which means they’re supersoft.”

Photo: Courtesy of the vendor

“This platter ($265) is our very modern take on those beautiful serving trays you see at Indian restaurants. It’s made of a food-safe metal called kansa.”

*This article appears in the December 10, 2018, issue of New York Magazine. Subscribe Now!

Artisan Home Objects, Rare Cookbooks, and a CoverGirl Store