7 minute read
Beauty
BEAUTY Summer Glow
Are you using the proper skincare? We sat down with Dr. Bill Murphy, owner and Medical Director of Turquoise Springs Medical Spa, to discuss why Medical Grade Skincare is a MUST.
What is medical-grade skincare, and why is it important? Medical grade skincare offers a higher potency of grade-A ingredients, which gives a quicker delivery system to penetrate the layers of your skin. The best Medical Grade skincare consists of natural, pure ingredients with no chemicals or fillers and contains easily absorbed carrier agents. Medical Grade skincare is essential because you will see a significantly more impactful transformation of your skin rather than using over-the-counter products.
If you had to choose, what would your MUST HAVE medical-grade skincare product/products be for clients? A combination of Hyaluronic acid and Vitamin C serum. Hyaluronic acid helps increase skin moisture and reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant that helps neutralize toxins and brightens the skin. This combination leaves your skin rejuvenated and younger-looking.
What Medical Grade skincare product would everyone benefit from as they age? Retinol because it helps the surface of your skin cells turn over. We have an excellent one that is non-irritating and doesn’t dry your skin out! 4.
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1.Crystal Blue Advanced Hyaluronic Acid Serum 2. Amethyst Body Firming Cream 3. Diamond Turnover Retinol Serum 4. Quartz UltraLight Sunscreen 5. Sapphire Eye Enrichment 6. Citrine Boost & Brighten Morning Serum
Photography by Désirée Shelanskas, Make up by: Irene O’Brien
Beauty news with Dora Vera
Dora Vera, owner of The Look | Makeup & Hair, is a San Antonio native with 10+ years in the hair & makeup application industry. She works with women of all ages around San Antonio, offers one-on-one makeup lessons, and specializes in the “no makeup, makeup look.”
thelookstudiohmu@gmail.com @thelookstudiohmu
Summer Makeup!
It’s summer in south Texas and you know what that means… capricious weather, blistering heat, frizzy hair, and makeup’s arch-enemy, SWEAT! There are a few ways you can maintain the integrity of your freshly beat face starting with a lightweight moisturizer containing SPF. There is also an assortment of waterproof foundations, eyeliners, and mascaras that you can find at your local drugstore or specialty makeup retailer to help you beat the heat and keep your face looking flawless!
One important thing is to stay away from powders! Also, remember to work in light layers and only apply foundation or concealer where you need it. If you are looking for something lightweight that still gives good coverage, you may want to look into Pat Mcgrath Labs Concealers, Glossier’s cream-based blushes (cloud paint), and cream shadows as they are more forgiving as they wear throughout the day. Finally, always, always, always keep blotting paper on hand to help soak up excess oils on your face. I have also found that keeping a face mist on hand is a great way to refresh and cool off during these hot summer months. 1.
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1. Glossier’s cream-based blushes $18 each
glossier.com 2. Pat Mcgrath Labs Concealers $32
A Restarter Home
San Antonio Family Bulldozes Their Old House to Build a Dream Home
By Steve Bennett Photography by Matthew Niemann When a Shavano Park couple decided to remodel their aging house, it didn’t take long to realize that for a comparable cost, they could build a new home on the same shady 2-acre lot, in the neighborhood that they loved. They could also keep their pool and cabana. So, they tore down the old castle and started from scratch.
“Their old house was very pretty, but they felt it was dated and wanted something new,” said Roberto Kenigstein, founder of Image Homes, builder of the new house.
Image, one of the city’s most sought-after luxury builders, typically constructs homes on the north side of San Antonio ranging from 3,000 to 19,000 square feet, priced from $500,000 to $5 million.
“The new home is very high-end,” he said.
Kenigstein refers to the exterior style of the home — whose owners asked not to be identified or interviewed — as “Hill Country contemporary,” featuring metal roofing and a skin of warm gray Lueders limestone, a native stone quarried in North Texas.
Designer Lori Caldwell of Lori Caldwell Designs brought that stone into the entry foyer in drystacked (without mortar) walls set against a patterned Burlington gray and Avalon white marble tiled floor in an original, hand-cut design. It’s a beautiful juxtaposition.
According to Caldwell, the couple toured an Image spec home and really liked what they saw. “There was an opportunity to take what was in the spec home and really make it theirs,” she said. “Why look like somebody else’s house?”
The color palette throughout the 6,800-squarefoot, four-bedroom Shavano home is muted whites and grays, with porcelain white floor tiling and engineered hardwoods with gray tint throughout, Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray walls, and pure white for the coffered ceilings, trim, and doors.
“The artwork in the house, which is very contemporary, provides a lot of color and conversation,” Caldwell said.
Throughout the house, the custom furniture is by Vanguard, and the rugs are from Loloi.
The heart of the home is the great room and kitchen area, with massive wood and steel trusses — a mix of rustic and cutting edge — supporting a 25-foot ceiling.
On either side of the Lueders stone fireplace, with a Nero Marquina black marble surround, are two bombastic abstract paintings by Houston artist Howard Sherman.
The voluminous space manages to remain airy thanks to eight-foot windows overlooking a courtyard on one side, with sliding glass doors leading to the pool area on the other. Sunlight also floods into the room through small rectangular windows near the soaring ceiling.
“We used lighter colors on the walls and ceilings so that it wouldn’t have a heavy feel, and there’s a lot of light that flows into the house,” Caldwell said.
At the opposite end of the room, the kitchen features pure white cabinetry, a gray and white Calacatta Borghini marble island, stainless steel appliances, and an intricate Mosaïque Surface backsplash, with contrasting Delta black honed granite countertops.
“The kitchen is really important because you spend as much time there as in the master suite, at least when you’re awake, and that’s where guests congregate,” Caldwell said.
The sexiest room in the house must be the master bathroom, with hand-crafted blue Lunada Bay glass tiles in a herringbone brick pattern framing a window over a custom tub.
“It really is a sanctuary,” Caldwell said.
Contemplating Hill Country flora and fauna while soaking in that tub must go a long way toward relieving some of the stress of the past year.
“I remember having a couple of our initial meetings on the interior design without masks, but most of it was done during the pandemic,” Caldwell said. Caldwell, whose design vocabulary is simple, elegant, and sophisticated, believes the designer’s primary role is to be a good listener.
“It’s not just about aesthetics, but about functionality,” she said. “Everybody has their own sense of style — just as they have budgetary concerns — and at the end of the day, if a client doesn’t love their house, I haven’t done my job. And the best way to do that is to listen to what they’re saying, to pay attention, from what a client is wearing to pets they may have.”
Left page, top left photo: The Calacatta Borghini marble island is one of the most expensive items in the interior design, offset with pure white cabinetry, stainless steel appliances, an intricate Mosaïque Surface backsplash with gold and gray veins, and contrasting Delta black honed granite countertops.
Left page, top right photo: The breakfast room features furniture by Vanguard and brass lighting by Arteriors. The dramatic black columns separate the informal dining room from a game room.
Left page, bottom photo: The master bathroom features cabinetry in Sherwin Williams Web Gray, porcelain tile floors, which have the look of marble but are more maintenance-friendly, and Lunada Bay glass bricks in a herringbone pattern on the back wall.
Right page photo: The master bedroom features a Vanguard bed with bed linens by San Antonio-based Lili Alessandra, York wallpaper and a Loloi rug.
