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Alexis Benveniste

I’ve started a new gig writing for bikini.com, covering health and beauty topics. My latest is a post on waxing, and if you’ve ever had a wax or thought about having one, then following these tips from esthetician Alexis Benveniste will ensure smooth sailing.

Benveniste, who has more than a decade of experience in skin care, started out as a makeup artist (she has worked with numerous fashion magazines, including Elle and Flaunt) before moving on to brow and body waxing. I’ve been going to her for a few years now at Wax on Melrose Avenue, and she really knows her stuff.

Here are some of her tips:

1. Wait Around 5 Weeks
About a quarter of an inch is the ideal length. “Any shorter, and the wax won’t pick it all up; any longer, and the roots get stronger,” she says. Stronger roots = more pain.

2. Know Your Cycle
“Your skin is more sensitive to waxing a week before, during and two days after your monthly cycle,” Benveniste says. Those hormones are messing with you. Plan accordingly.

3. Work Out Before Waxing
Benveniste says working out before, and not after, waxing lessens the likelihood of getting those nasty in-growns. “Working out after waxing causes swelling, and moisture from sweating can invite bacteria into your freshly waxed follicles,” she says.

Head over to bikini.com to read Benveniste’s last two tips. Hint: they have to do with those pesky in-grown hairs!

I’m not a big makeup person. In fact, I rarely wear any (I’m more about skin care). But every once in a while, I have to get dressed up, and that includes putting on makeup, especially filling in and taming my eyebrows. Since I use makeup so rarely, it’s great to find online tutorials to help me ensure I don’t look like a crazy person. This tutorial on eyebrows from my friend Sarah Sori Kim offers quick and easy directions.

Sarah Sori is a former model and beauty queen, so she knows a thing or two about makeup. She also has hair styling tips, too. Check out her Instagram for more makeup pointers.

Now those are some nice eyebrows. Sarah Sori Kim.

Saint Martha interior

It’s rare that a restaurant truly surprises you. Sure, I’ve thought that many dishes at many restaurants were good — very good, even. But to find what is almost literally a diamond in the rough is simply a delight.

That’s what I found in Saint Martha, a new restaurant in a Koreatown strip mall serving up modern American cuisine. Following in the footsteps of Chef Ludo Lefebvre’s Trois Mec and Petit Trois, Saint Martha restaurant offers a fine-dining experience in an unassuming location. Named for the patron saint of cooks and servants, Saint Martha is the brainchild of the Farmer’s Daughter Hotel and TART restaurant team. Executive Chef and partner Nick Erven (formerly of Mess Hall) and General Manager and Sommelier Mary Thompson have put together a food and drink menu that would be impressive even if the restaurant weren’t in a strip mall.

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Old School at Choco Chicken

By now, you may have heard about Los Angeles’ latest food innovation — chocolate fried chicken from Choco Chicken. The brainchild of AdVantage Restaurant Partners’ Adam Fleischman (Umami Burger, 800 Degrees pizza), Choco Chicken offers all kinds of chocolate-infused foods, including mashed potatoes, french fries, meatballs and cocktails, in addition to the fried chicken.

The fried chicken, which is marinated in a secret sauce and fried in a batter mixed with chocolate and spices, isn’t as strange-tasting as it sounds. It’s kind of like the fried version of chicken mole, Oaxaca, Mexico’s famous dish. It’s much more savory than it is sweet. The chocolate-dusted fries and white chocolate mashed potatoes are just sweet enough to make them interesting, too. The cocktails are on the sweet side, though, but I suppose that’s less surprising.

Chocolate fried chicken

Choco Chicken fries

Choco Colada

The standout dish here is the Old School (pictured at top): a chocolate fried chicken thigh on a butter biscuit topped with white gravy. This is comfort food at its finest. Every component of this dish is rich with flavor and complements each other perfectly. The butter biscuit — order this one over the bacon one, if you’re going a la carte — is a revelation in fluffy butteriness.

Caramelized bacon biscuit

Note: This meal was hosted.

Taliesin West

When I think of Scottsdale, Arizona, spas, golf and swimming pools come to mind. But now, after having spent some time there, I know that art — in all forms — is just as integral to the city’s identity.

I had the opportunity to visit two of Scottsdale’s cultural centers: the Musical Instrument Museum and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West. I would go back to either in a heartbeat. Each was a unique experience that left me wanting more.

The Musical Instrument Museum, which is actually in neighboring Phoenix, houses more than 6,000 instruments from 200 countries and territories. This collection makes for hours of fun education for anyone interested in music and world culture. The upper level is categorized by region of the world, and the lower level features special collections, including an exhibit of self-playing instruments and an experiential gallery. There’s even a concert hall with live performances. Allow at least half a day here. Our two hours were not enough!

Guitar exhibit

Chinese instruments

This fall, on Oct. 18 and 19, the museum will host an outdoor, two-day music festival celebrating musical traditions from all over the world, with musical performances, dancers, street performers and food trucks.

We also toured Taliesin West (pictured above), architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s West Coast home, studio and instructional campus. We took the 90-minute tour of the grounds and house that includes a lot of historical information from informed docents who clearly enjoy what they do.

I’ve also heard that the Museum of Contemporary Art is a must-see as well. This fall and winter, from Sept. 28 through Jan. 11, 2015, the museum will house the Donald Rumsfeld-inspired “Covert Operations: Investigating the Unknowns,” an exhibit from 13 international artists based on the idea of expansion of federal power and infringement of constitutional rights in the wake of 9/11. Given Arizona’s Republican leanings, this should be an interesting show.

So next time you’re thinking about taking a trip, especially one within driving distance of Los Angeles (6 hours by car), then consider Scottsdale. You can relax at the spa, play the links and take in some culture.

Note: These visits were hosted.

Burrata and peaches at Wood & Vine

Hollywood’s Wood and Vine has gone through a few changes over the years, but the restaurant’s new summer menu from Chef Marc Johnson might be its best yet.

With a sharing-plates concept, you can try many dishes at Wood and Vine — a good thing, considering the high quality of each.

Start with the burrata and peaches (pictured above) served with prosciutto crisps and micro basil. I love stone fruit, so summer is always exciting for me, and the peaches in this dish pair well with the smooth cheese and crunchy ham.

Move on to the braised bacon with fried grits, cheddar, pickled ramps and jalapeno. The pork belly is super tender, and the fried grit balls topped with the pickled veg are an interesting way to get a creamy sourness in as an accompaniment.

Braised bacon

For your pasta course, get the basil capellini. The basil-flavored pasta topped with charred cherry tomatoes, proscuitto, mushroom, preserved lemon and duck egg yolk is somehow light and substantial at the same time. My favorite part is the lemon.

Basil cappelini

The striped bass comes on top of an interesting concoction of nduja (spreadable salami), peaches and cauliflower, and is topped with fresh peppercress. The fish is perfectly cooked with delightfully crispy skin, and its lightness paired with the flavorful meat combo is a pleasant complement.

Striped bass

For dessert, get the butterscotch pot de creme. No question. Its sweet-and-salty combination makes me happy.

Butterscotch pot de creme

Don’t forget the cocktails! Wood and Vine’s bar manager Justin Stidham’s summer drink menu includes some good ones. The Black Star, with House Spirits rum, Giffard Banane (banana liqueur), housemade orgeat, Angostura bitters, fresh pineapple and lime, is summer in a glass served over crushed ice. And the Street Spirit, with its slightly sour combo of Buffalo Trace bourbon, fresh lemon juice, strawberry balsamic shrub, sherry, ginger beer and lemon peel, might not be for everyone, but it is certainly for me.

Black Star

Street Spirit

Note: This meal was hosted.

Margherita pizza

Do you love pizza? Like, really, really good pizza that has the perfect balance of toppings and cheese on a crispy-but-chewy crust? Then we share this love, you and me. So let me tell you about DeSano Pizza Bakery, a Neapolitan pizza joint in East Hollywood where you can not only eat these delicious pies but also learn how to make them.

Tomorrow, July 12, DeSano’s proprietors, Italy natives Marino Monferrato, formerly general manager at Cecconi’s, and pizzaiolo Massimiliano Di Lascio, will host a pizza-making class that includes tastings and your own dough to take home. Maybe you’ll get to make the classic Margherita (pictured above), with San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, basil and garlic. Or maybe you’ll make the San Gennaro, a sweet-spicy-tangy combination of sausage, peppadews, buffalo mozzarella, garlic and caramelized onions.

San Gennaro pizza

You’ll use ingredients sourced from the Campania region of Southern Italy, and you’ll be firing up these pies in one of the restaurant’s four 6,000-pound, 900-degree wood-fired ovens imported from Italy and traditionally named after Italian saints.

DeSano’s pizza ovens

While you’re there, try a calzone. The Vesuvio, with spicy salame, prosciutto, pepperoni and garlic, is a meat lover’s dream.

Vesuvio calzone

For dessert, get a housemade cannoli or biscotti, or a small-batch gelato made by local Alessandro Fontana (his is the recipe over at Cecconi’s, too). Or get more than one; no one will judge. The blood orange sorbet is amazingly creamy, given its lack of dairy.

Ricotta cannoli, left, and chocolate cannoli

Blood orange sorbet, left, and salted caramel gelato

This is the third location for DeSano Pizza Bakery (the other two are in Nashville and Charleston, South Carolina). DeSano’s space is cavernous, so you can bring a bunch of friends, order a bunch of pies, and eat them with abandon — hopefully with a bottle of something Italian soon (wine and beer will be served here as soon as the license gets worked out — a notoriously difficult process).

More information on the Neapolitan pizza-making class:

Saturday, July 12
3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
$40 per person, which includes personal instruction from Massimiliano DiLascio, a tasting of the pizzas prepared and dough to take home.
Call (323) 913-7000 for reservations (ask for Marino Monferrato)

DeSano Pizza Bakery
4959 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90029

Unplug Meditation

Life can be overwhelming. Sometimes, you just need to slow down. Easier said that done, though, right?

That’s where Unplug Meditation comes in.

Unplug, located on the eastern edge of Santa Monica in West Los Angeles, is a studio dedicated to the art of meditation with 30- and 45-minute drop-in classes that focus on everything from simple mindfulness to stress reduction while driving in traffic. Many of the studio’s guides have advanced degrees and are trained in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) techniques. Unplug Meditation’s founder, Suze Yalof Schwartz, is a former fashion editor who opened the studio as part of her own spiritual journey.

I recently took one of these classes. I was curious to see how the guiding process would go, considering my idea of stress reduction has been yelling, “Serenity, now!” Rest assured, there is no yelling at Unplug Meditation. My guide was Natalie Bell, who calmly and gently guided my small group to be present in the moment. She didn’t tell us that we had to put all thoughts out of our minds, but that we should allow our thoughts to come and go as they please. We sat on the floor on comfy pads that could be flattened or folded up like chairs in a darkened room with soft, soothing music. Interestingly, my classes consisted of three men and me. For whatever reason, I thought there would be more women, but maybe it was just my particular class that day.

I left Unplug Meditation feeling relaxed — maybe too relaxed. It took me a while to kind of snap out of it. Luckily, there are 15 minutes between classes, so you can take your time leaving. And the first class is free, with no obligation to sign up for more. No stress here. (Pro-tip: LivingSocial is currently offering a deal on classes, for when you decide it’s for you.)

Note: This class was complimentary, as are all first classes.

Fairmont Scottsdale room

I recently visited Scottsdale, Arizona, and had the opportunity to stay at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess resort. Located in North Scottsdale, it’s a little out of the way, but that may just be the whole point.

The Fairmont Scottsdale is a sprawling resort complete with multiple pools and eateries, as well as a two-story wellness spa, for maximum desert-style relaxation.

First, the rooms. Our room had ample space, with a walk-in closet, desk, seating area and private balcony. The bed was comfy, and the bathroom had both a stand-up shower and a tub, as well as Le Labo bath products. No complaints.

View from our room

Welcome amenities at Fairmont Scottsdale

Amply stocked minibar at Fairmont Scottsdale — with my fave Macallan 12

Fairmont Scottsdale bathroom

As Scottsdale is known for its luxurious spa experiences, I naturally partook in a treatment at the resort’s Well & Being at Willow Stream Spa, which offers everything from traditional spa treatments and a rooftop pool to aerial yoga classes and nutrition and fitness consultations. I opted for a full body scrub and light massage with natural Body Bliss and Naturopathica skin products, all of which are derived from natural and/or organic ingredients. My provider Mistie made me feel comfortable right away and explained everything to me. And with access to the open-air pool, grotto waterfall, steam room, Swedish dry sauna, eucalyptus inhalation room, Swiss shower, hot whirlpool and cold plunge pool, as well as a full spa cuisine menu, you can easily spend a full relaxing day here. Oh, and fitness classes are included in your booking. Score!

Aerial yoga

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You like snacks. More specifically, you like chips. But you struggle to balance your desire for delicious crunchy goodness with eating healthily. (And by “you,” I of course mean “me.”)

Enter The Better Chip. They’re made with few ingredients that are actually recognizable, are gluten-free and vegan-friendly, and are non-GMO Project verified. What also makes these chips stand out is the use of whole foods baked right into the corn chip base; I spied part of a kale stalk in one of my chips, so they’re legit.

I’ve tried all The Better Chip flavors: corn, beets, spinach & kale, chipotles, and jalapenos. I like them all, though beets doesn’t have as much flavor as the others. Chipotles and jalapenos are spicy — remember, the peppers are baked right in! — so watch out. The chips are a bit on the heavy side but are still crispy, so they make for a good nacho base.

Speaking of nachos, The Better Chip has come up with some World Cup-themed recipes that you can enjoy while watching the games (most of these teams are still in contention, too!):

• Germany Kraut Nachos: The Better Chip beet chips topped with sauerkraut, finely diced bratwurst, diced bacon and drizzle of brown mustard
• Ghana Tatale Nachos: The Better Chip chipotle chips topped with grilled marinated beef, fried sweet plantains and fresh baby spinach, sprinkled with unsweetened coconut
• Greek Salad Nachos: The Better Chip spinach & kale chips topped with hummus, chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, black olives and feta cheese (grilled lamb optional)
• Japanese Sashimi Nachos: The Better Chip jalapeno chips topped with chopped up yellow tail, diced avocado and a drizzle of wasabi-infused soy sauce
• Mexico Authentic Nachos: The Better Chip chipotle chips topped with marinated carne asada, pinto beans, crumbled queso fresco, cilantro and guacamole
• Brazilian Samba Nachos:  The Better Chip corn chips topped with feijoada (Brazilian black bean and meat stew) and a fresh mango, onion, cilantro and tomato lime salsa
• American Hawaii Style Nachos: The Better Chip jalapeno chips topped with pulled pork, grilled pineapple and a drizzle of melted cheese
  

  Greek Salad Nacho

Even if you’re not into soccer, these recipes would make for some fun international-themed party eats. I even made some satisfying gringo-style nachos with the chipotle chips topped with melted shredded cheddar cheese, refried beans and salsa (don’t judge — it’s all I had in my fridge), so anything is possible.

Note: These chips were complimentary.