Vanity tour Katia beauchamp

Shopping & Style
Vanity tour
Katia Beauchamp
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The Birchbox cofounder favors quality over
quantity when it comes to her pared-down
beauty storage. By Cristina Velocci
One might expect the head
of a beauty start-up to have
products bursting from every
crevice at home, but Birchbox
(birchbox.com) cofounder Katia
Beauchamp’s uncluttered Chelsea
apartment is an exercise in
restraint. “I’m good at spring
cleaning,” she concedes. “[At
work,] there’s new stuff coming
in weekly and I’m swapping out
monthly.” Much like the beautysample subscription service she
launched with Hayley Barna in
2010, Beauchamp’s personal
stash places an emphasis on
indie brands—although she
admits she’ll always have a
soft spot for luxe goods. “In
high school, I had a friend who
introduced me to [prestige]
cosmetics—she had Chanel nail
polish when we were 16,” the
native Texan recalls. “We had this
boutique that was the only place
[in El Paso] that sold Nars, Fresh
and Kiehl’s, and I would just hang
out there. That’s when I developed
a taste for finer beauty.”
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“The bathroom is where I do
more of the normal skin-care
stuff,” says Beauchamp, who
arranges skin, body and hair care
on designated shelves inside the
medicine cabinet.
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Floor-to-ceiling windows
make Beauchamp’s bedroom
ideal for applying cosmetics.
“You want to put your makeup
on where the light’s good,” she
says. Only items in her daily
rotation get displayed on her
dresser from Pier 1 Imports
(locations throughout the city; visit
pier1imports.com), while excess
inventory is kept in the bathroom.
“I try to keep it simple because
if there are too many things
Beauty
storage
that you have to pull out of the
drawer, you’re never going to use
them,” she explains.
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Beauchamp first came across
Twistband (thetwistband.com)
at Harvard Business School
when she spotted one of its
elastic-trim hair ties around
the wrist of a classmate. She
then cold e-mailed founder
Jessica Frandson to land one
of Birchbox’s inaugural brand
partners. Through the years,
Beauchamp has amassed quite an
assortment, and she keeps them
organized in a glass container
created by Twistband (15 hair ties
with stand $48). “They’re more
comfortable, and they look like
friendship bracelets,” she says.
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A trio of plastic bins from the
Container Store (629 Sixth
Ave between 18th and 19th Sts,
212-366-4200 • 725 Lexington
Ave at 58th St, 212-366-4200
• containerstore.com) hold
fragrances, hair-care and skin-care
products, respectively. “Hair is
my thing,” admits Beauchamp,
who says that particular vessel is
usually the closest to capacity. It’s
currently filled with hair oils, such
as Kérastase Cristalliste Lumiere
Liquide ($42, kerastase-usa.com).
“I use them when my hair is wet
[as a detangler] and to keep it less
frizzy while it’s drying,” she says.
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The bamboo packaging of Tay’s
Sunflower & Grape Revitalizing
Cleanser and Purifying Botanical
Water ($28 each, tayeveryday
.com) doubles as sinkside decor.
“It’s a cream-based face wash,
so it won’t strip you of your
natural oils,” says Beauchamp,
adding that the alcohol-free toner
is also nondrying.
s PBTeen Mini Dot Get-Ready
stand, $159, at PBTeen, 1451
Second Ave between 75th and 76th
Sts (212-879-2513, pbteen.com)
Organize
products
and styling
tools with
these spacemaximizing
items.
22 TimeOut.COM/NewYork March 28–April 3, 2013
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ONLINE!
s Harabu
House
First Vaid box,
$24, at
harabu
house
.com
f Urban Outfitters reclaimedwood storage unit, $139, at
urbanoutfitters.com
f Kangaroom Storage HangHers beauty organizer, $22,
at greatusefulstuff.com
ore beautyTo see 16 m ions, visit
storage solut/newyork/
timeout.comg-style.
shoppin
photographs: vanity tour: Caroline Voagen Nelson; pb teen: SHAUN SULLIVAN DANIEL HEBERT
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