The eyebrow guru and natural beauty—with past clients including Emily Blunt and Rachael Weisz—takes a different approach than the average waxer or threader. Using tweezers alone (which she finds more precise and gentler on the skin), she pioneered her style, “The Feathered Brow,” highlighting thickness and the organic shape of the brow with a less extreme arch. “A little less perfect looks more natural, fresh and young,” she says. “Think Brooke Shields.”

Streicher brought this relaxed look to the Warren Tricomi salon in New York City via her childhood home in Grass Valley, California, near Lake Tahoe. Growing up, her parents were both artistic. Her mother, into D.I.Y. projects, even made her own mineral makeup. (Those creative impulses rubbed off: Kristie Streicher’s two equally “craftsy” sisters—makeup artist Jenn and hair stylist Ashley—are also big names in the beauty world.)

Like her siblings, the eyebrow expert eventually migrated to LA. She straddled both coasts for a bit, and still heads east every eight weeks to service clients, but her home base is in California. “I was feeling so transient, like a gypsy. I had to pick a place and I fell in love with the snowboarding and surfing in LA because I love to be outside,” says Streicher, also a certified yoga instructor and avid hiker. “Growing up in Northern California, you appreciate the outdoors. My parents were such hippies: Nature was kind of our religion. Now I need to connect with the earth.”

No matter how flashy Streicher’s world may get, she is still guided by that relationship with nature: In 2011, she opened her debut Kristie Streicher Beauty Bar inside Warren Tricomi’s new Melrose salon and, as of 2012, began selling a homemade Aforé oil blend that she’d been using on clients for years. Packaged in old-world apothecary-evocative brown dropper bottles, the concoction of virgin organic Moroccan argan oil, aloe vera oil and essential oils of lavender, tangerine, orange, ylang ylang, patchouli and blue tansy softens the hair and skin pre-tweeze. “Aforé helps hairs slide out of the follicles, but also the essential oils smell good and relax people, as I massage the product in,” she explains. The blend can also be used to spot treat peeling sunburns, soften cuticles and the soles of feet and condition eyebrow hair.

Recently, Streicher launched a second product: Après Calming Cream, an anti-microbial blend with aloe vera gel, calendula and essential oils to soothe skin post-tweeze. It also reduces puffiness around the eyes, itchiness from bug bites and sunburn and shaving irritation.

When tweezing at home, Streicher suggests: “Instead of plucking any hair you see come up, give your brows a hiatus to show their personality. People pluck out the sprouts because they grow straight up or hairs towards the ends because they think their brows are too long. But you can keep them arched with a lift to the brow, but let the front grow in a bit, let the ends be looser and less contrived. Then use brow gel to brush them up.”

To read about Kristie Streicher’s Top 10 Beauty Obsessions, go to blog.organicspamagazine.com

Photography by Natasha Phillips

Candle Café West mixologist Gabriela Martinez

RUM PUNCH

2 oz. Papagayo spiced rum infused with apple and pears (see below)

1 oz. of Combier orange liqueur

1/2 oz of Marie-Framboise cognac

2 oz. of apple juice

2 oz Shiraz

1. Add all ingredients in Boston shaker topped with ice and shake.

2. Serve on a rock glass with ice and two slices of fruit on top.

RUM INFUSION

1 bottle of Papagayo spiced rum

2 apples and 2 pears

1. Cut apples and pears and let sit with the rum for 2-3 days.

2. The fruit will soak the rum and release sugars and flavor

THE MISTLETOE

1 1/2 oz Berkshire bourbon

1 oz sweet vermouth

1/2 oz Pedro Ximenez sherry

1/4 oz of maple syrup

3 drops of bitters

Smoked clove

Orange twist

1. Add all ingredients in mixing glass with ice and stir.

2. On a small plate burn about 6 cloves and cover with snifter so the smoke with coat the glass with flavor.

3. Strain cocktail into snifter and top with a clove and an orange twist

– from The Organic Holiday Party

Recipes from the Candle Café West Restaurant, NYC

(More recipes available in Candle 79 Cookbook, Ten Speed Press)

PORCINI CRUSTED SEITAN

Serves 6-8 people

2 lbs seitan, sliced into 1/2-inch thick pieces

2 tbs balsamic vinegar

3 tbs soy sauce

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 tbs onions

1/4 tsp garlic

1. In a large mixing bowl combine balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, black pepper, onions and garlic.

2. Whisk together and pour the mix over the seitan.

3. Let marinate covered in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Crust:

1/2 cup porcini mushrooms, chopped

1 cup unbleached flour

Pinch of salt

Pinch of black pepper

1. In a large bowl, mix porcini mushrooms, unbleached flour, salt and pepper and set aside.

2. Drain the seitan from the marinade and squeeze the excess liquid out of the seitan.

3. Dredge each piece of seitan in the crust, pressing the crust in with your hands to ensure that the seitan remains completely covered.

4. In a large sauté pan over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of oil, and let the oil become hot without simmering.

5. Add the seitan to the hot oil. Let it cook for about a minute on each side or until golden brown. Take the seitan out of the pan and place on paper towels to absorb the excess oil. You may need to add more oil if the pan starts to become too dry.

MUSHROOM GRAVY

(Serve with seitan and mashed potatoes) 

Makes 1 Quart

2 tablespoons brown rice flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup white onion, diced

1/2 cup celery, diced

1 cup oyster mushrooms, washed and sliced

1 cup crimini mushrooms, washed and sliced

1 cup white mushrooms, washed and sliced

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

2 cups water

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1. In a sauté pan over medium heat toast brown rice flour. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and whisk until well mixed. Turn off heat.

2. In another sauté pan over medium heat, sauté onions and celery in 1 tablespoon olive oil for 3 minutes.

3. Add mushrooms and thyme and bay leaf and sauté for another 3 minutes.

4. Pour in water and add salt and pepper and bring to a boil.

5. Transfer to other pan with flour mixture and whisk together until smooth.

6. Simmer 20-25 minutes.

7. Serve warm.

GARLIC MASHED POTATOES

Servings: 4

1 1/2 cloves fresh garlic

1 1/2 tbsp Earth Balance, melted

1/4 cup plain soy milk

3 medium Yukon gold potatoes

1. Place potatoes in a large saucepan and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook until potatoes are tender; approximately 20-25 minutes.

2. Mix garlic, soy butter, and soy milk together then add to the potatoes. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher to make a fairly smooth puree. If a creamier texture is desired, add more soymilk. Serve immediately.

PUMPKIN BUNDT CAKE

Serves 10-12

2 cups unbleached flour

1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cups Florida crystals (unrefined sugar)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 pinch salt

1 cups safflower oil

3 cups soy milk

1 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease a 12” bundt cake pan.

3. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, Florida crystals, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt

4. In another large bowl mix safflower oil, soy milk, apple cider vinegar, and pumpkin puree.

5. Add dry mix to wet and mix till smooth.

6. Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick and it come out cleanly.

7. Let cake cool for 10 minutes and then remove from pan.

8. Decorate with powdered sugar when cool. Serve with your favorite variety of vanilla non-dairy ice cream or sprinkle.

– from The Organic Holiday Party

Photography by Natasha Phillips

Candle Café West sommelier Cynthia Goddeau is a wine-world veteran, having earned her stripes at lauded Italian restaurant Del Posto in Manhattan. “We choose organic wines [because of] the quality of the grape and the way they are handled from the vineyard to the winery,” she says. “It takes us on a journey and delivers us sheer happiness.” Here, she recommends a wine for each progressive course of your holiday feast. Recipes are on the following page or in Candle 79 Cookbook (Ten Speed Press):

Raventos I Blanc Sparkling Rose Cava, Spain (Certified Biodynamic); with Arancini.

Girasole Pinot Blanc, Mendocino (Certified Organic); with Risotto and Seitan Cakes.

Benziger Pinot Noir, Carneros (Certified Organic); with Spinach Ravioli.

COS Nero d’Avola, Sicily (Practicing Biodynamic/Organic); with Porcini Crusted Seitan.

Tarrantas Sparkling Rose, Spain (Certified Organic); with desserts

– from Organic Holiday Party

Photography by Natasha Phillips

Recreating Mom’s classic dishes for the holidays is always a festive choice. At least, it seems that way until we realize exactly how many sticks of butter, out of season frozen fruits and heaping tablespoons of Crisco are involved.

All is not lost. We can create versions of those traditional holiday treats—and even innovative new favorites—without clogging our arteries and wasting resources in the process. Just ask husband-and-wife team Joy Pierson and Bart Potenza, who pioneered organic dining in New York with their restaurants Candle Café, romantic fine dining hotspot Candle 79 and, most recently, the new Candle Café West on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. They’ve also published two cookbooks and launched a line for Whole Foods.

The duo—supported by their expert team of chefs, sommeliers and mixologists—clearly knows a thing or two about creating a healthy but truly sumptuous holiday spread. (The food happens to be vegan, but that’s really a footnote to the organic, socially responsible and healthy mandate here.) “The food is the convincing factor,” says Pierson. “Once people taste it, they realize they don’t have to compromise. Ninety percent of our customers are carnivores. Eating this way just makes you feel good.” Devotees include Paul McCartney, Woody Harrelson and Alicia Silverstone, to name a few.

Here, the restaurateurs guide us through creating our own organic holiday feast. This healthier supper still evokes happy memories of traditional family gatherings past, but, in the best possible way, this is not your mama’s holiday spread.

The Set Up

Before the food is even prepared, it’s important to set the right tone. “Healthy to us means that it not only does no harm to the individual, the planet, or others, but that it also nourishes the body, the soul, and the community,” says Pierson.

Leading by example, the owners are notably respectful of their staff (which, for us at home, might correspond to not snapping at a spouse or other family members acting as sous chefs). The “flow of energy” in the space is important too. For their newest restaurant, they brought in Feng Shui expert Judith Wendell of Sacred Currents and recommend reading up on the interior design practice, as there are some smaller, easy adjustments to make.

The Food

As Potenza explains, raised awareness about farming practices and the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables now available have helped to elevate organic cooking. The freshness of ingredients is key. “When we think ‘traditional,’ we think of food that comes straight from the earth and from the farm,” says Pierson. “The biggest pitfall is when individuals don’t take advantage of all the fresh vegetables, herbs, and spices available. Sage, rosemary and thyme are exciting touches to add to holiday meals. These ingredients, at their peak, are bursting with flavor.”

Executive Chef Angel Ramos and Chef Jorge Pineda first learned to cook from their mother and grandmother respectively. Thanks to a passion for food, they’ve managed to harness those traditional styles, cooking with 98 percent organic ingredients, locally sourced as much as possible, which they say “just tastes better.” And preparing healthy food does not limit innovation to what’s simple or dull. The team regularly frequents the most haute restaurants to get a sense of what’s trending and to compare their own translations. “The secret is that any dessert can be vegan because every ingredient has a more friendly substitute,” says Pineda, whose specialty is desserts. “For eggs, there are flax seeds. For butter, there are non-dairy vegetable based options. For milks and creams, there are almond, rice, soy, and many other non-dairy alternatives.” Adds Ramos, “We can combine and play to create all different types of international cuisine.”

That includes nut-based cheese plates, root vegetable-filled dishes like risotto cakes with butternut squash veloute and roasted brussels sprouts with dried cherries and a poblano dressing and desserts like sweet potato cheesecake with vanilla frosting and candied almonds, pumpkin cake with lavender sauce (the last perhaps inspired by Ramos’ Mexican background). These two even make their own almond milk, so they know the source of the product.

The Festivities

Much to the relief of newbies at the healthy food table, alcohol is abundant. “Organic wine has gotten better and better since I’ve been in the industry,” says sommelier Cynthia Goddeau [See Link at End of Article]. “And vegan food has evolved so much over the years, so I love the challenge of pairing the wines and flavors.”

Even specialty cocktails can be responsibly created, according to mixologist Gabriela Martinez. For the bar, she searches out spirit companies that are not only using organic and sustainable grains and raw materials in small batches, but that find ways to “help their neighbors” through charitable foundations and organizations.

Garden ingredients come into play here too. “When I make a drink, I want it to be well-balanced with a layered sphere of flavors,” says Martinez, “so I experiment with a lot of herbs and fruits.” That mindset was behind the creation of their Rum Punch and, created by Liverpool-born bartender Stephen King (no relation to the writer!), the Mistletoe with Pedro Jimenez sherry, sweet vermouth and Berkshire Bourbon, served in a snifter with clove smoke. “When you smell it, it’s like being in a cozy cabin in the woods in front of a fireplace,” Martinez laughs.

Wine Pairings for this Article

Recipes for this Article

Cocktails for this Article

PHOTO: CHRISTIAN ANDRE SCHNYDER; MAKEUP/HAIR: APRIL METCALF

Whoever said “beauty is skin deep” clearly never met Renata Helfman. The renowned celebrity makeup artist, long-time natural product advocate and former owner of Vert, the first green beauty emporium in Los Angeles, just launched the Lipstick Angels Foundation (lipstickangels.org). A nonprofit that rolled out at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in LA, Lipstick Angels was created to boost the spirits of hospital patients with much-needed eco-pampering.

Helfman—whose “day job” includes beautifying celebrities like Molly Sims and Jennifer Jason Leigh for print, film and TV—cared for her two ailing grandmothers during respective bouts of cancer and, after her own health scare, learned about the toxic chemicals in many cosmetic and skincare products. After that life-changing event, Helfman made it her mission to demonstrate that nothing is lost in going natural and that green beauty products can be glamorous. Creating a nonprofit that combines her candy-striper impulses with her eco-beauty knowledge was a logical next step.

Through Lipstick Angels, top makeup artists set up shop in the hospital three to five times a week. They draw often-depressed patients out of their rooms for makeovers, hand massages and little gifts of eco-makeup and skincare. Key to the program is Helfman’s own carefully vetted makeup kit filled with organic and natural goodies donated by green brands like Jane Iredale and tarte, among others. “We’re using healthy, beneficial, really yummy natural products,” says Helfman. “The patients notice how great they smell and feel, like when you eat something that’s completely organic and natural—you know the difference.”

A break in the institutional gloom is welcomed by everyone from patients and their family members to hard-working nurses. But the beautifying itself has real value too. Just ask Valérie Grandbury, who founded her organic skin-care line Odacité (which she donates to Lipstick Angels) after surviving breast cancer. “Feeling beautiful and forgetting about the disease for a moment really helped my morale,” says Grandbury. “This has nothing to do with vanity. It’s about feeling ‘normal’ again. That was a big part of my healing process.”

Helfman hopes to expand the program to involve more hospitals, makeup artists and partners nationwide. From the first day, when she worked with a 16-year-old and a 92-year-old patient and saw how much more comfortable they felt when their visitors arrived, she knew that Lipstick Angels could make a difference. “Whether I’m putting makeup on a patient or an actress, it just feels good,” she says. “I love when someone feels really beautiful when they leave my chair. Beauty is such a powerful tool to really uplift.” lipstickangels.org

Not long ago, honey was served alongside hot tea to sweeten or soothe a sore throat and that’s where the story ended. But that was before the onset of Colony Collapse Disorder—the widespread, almost spontaneous decimation of bee populations in North America and beyond. As a result, socially conscious hotels and resorts across the United States are doing their part to conserve the bees by erecting onsite apiaries, often beside their sustainable herb gardens. Now, the honey bee buzz has become a roar. The sticky stuff is regularly featured on farm-to-table fine dining plates, but the newest phenomenon involves harnessing locally grown honey’s therapeutic properties for skincare treatments at high-end spas. “Raw honey contains anti-bacterial properties known to heal wounds or serious skin conditions,” explains Marina Peredo, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and director of Spatique Medical Spa in Smithtown, NY. “Honey contains a small amount of natural alpha-hydroxy acids, which can act as an exfoliant. It also contains pollen and propolis, the glue bees use to make honeycomb, which contains a large amount of antioxidants, enzymes and vitamins to reduce fine lines and wrinkles and promote new tissue growth.” Spas across the country are catching on in swarms.

BUTTERMILK FALLS INN + SPA

Located in the Hudson Valley, this sweet, historic 10-room inn with seven barn suites sits on 75 bucolic acres and is a pioneer in “gentleman” beekeeping. Across the bridge, Millstone Farm is home to a thriving vegetable and herb garden and animals from llamas to chickens that lay organic eggs. Five thriving Italian honeybee hives are watched over by gardener Dawn Marnell and local “Doc Bee” Chris Harp. “We wanted the bees to provide honey for breakfast and afternoon tea, and we saw it as an environmentally responsible initiative in that bees are so critically important to the eco-system,” explains owner Robert Pollock. “Soil To Spa” treatments using fresh farm ingredients including an anti-aging Lavender Honey Massage, with honey slathered on the body along with homemade lavender body lotion. buttermilkfallsinn.com

THE RITZ-CARLTON ORLANDO, GRANDE LAKES

In its commitment to sustainability and conservation, the resort has developed its own on-site apiary. Four hives tucked amidst the pine trees about 100 yards off the golf courses’s first hole allow visitors to experience the benefits of honey-infused culinary offerings and spa treatments. “The time of year determines what is blooming in the area,” explains Chef Daniel Yates, who leaves the apiary he started three years ago as a legacy to the property as he moves onto his next gig. “The last batch tasted similar to orange blossom. Last year, the honey had a piney note.” The resort’s spa combines honey with pineapple and papaya cells in a “hot honey glaze” drizzled over the body, then incubated in a wrap during their Harvest Glow Honey Treatment. In concert with a milk bath and shea butter body massage, the service calms skin irritation or redness. ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/Orlando

INTERCONTINENTAL BOSTON

Of course, it’s one thing to maintain bees in balmy weather and another to keep hives healthy in Massachusetts. Just ask Cyrille Couet, urban beekeeper and sous chef at InterContinental Boston’s Miel Restaurant (“honey” in French). Couet has taken care of her little yellow charges since the apiary launched on a fifth floor roof deck overlooking Fort Point Channel: “The hotel’s engineering team built boxes around the hives to insulate and protect them against strong winds during the cold Boston winter,” she explains. Honey is harvested twice annually, in August and October, from three hives, which amounted to over 200 pounds last year. Some was allotted to SPA InterContinental for treatments like La Peau au Miel, a brushing with warm honey to exfoliate and moisturize before an olive oil-infused body cream application. “Honey’s antibacterial and natural humectant (moisture retaining) properties help protect and provide the ingredients for skin to heal itself when damaged,” explains Travis Umpleby, Spa Director. “Our guests comment on how the treatment connects them physically and environmentally.” intercontinentalboston.com

CARMEL VALLEY RANCH

On 500 acres with 7,000 lavender plants , Carmel Valley Ranch now has, about 60,000 bees, presided over by lavender expert and semi-resident beekeeper John Russo. Guests who don’t care to don bee suits and harvest honey (and learn more about the vanishing bee problem) through the resort’s hands-on program, can head to the spa for a Lavender Honey Manicure or Pedicure. Honey is the perfect remedy for hard calluses and cracked skin, a gentle lavender sugar polish exfoliates, and a honey mask nourishes and deep conditions the skin. “Honey is a great natural moisturizer,” says Spa Manager Clint Wall. “It is able to rebuild the moisture level in the skin without making it oily. It’s known as liquid gold!” carmelvalleyranch.com

CALISTOGA RANCH

Just one month after launching a “Bee Well” program last year, honey hit the Bathhouse Spa at this restorative retreat nestled into a private canyon. Napa Survivor bees (from Rob Keller’s Napa Valley Bee Company) and Italian honeybees (from Beekind in Sepastapol) live in two Oak Savannah hives in a sustainable garden behind Sotero Vineyard. Resident beekeeper Steve Ferrini, watches over them, but Spa Director Cindy Reilly’s father and grandfather were actually beekeepers too. “The program is close to my heart,” says Reilly, who is interested in honey’s anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties. “Our honeybees create our special varietal—a mixed floral honey with orange blossoms, lavender, rosemary and roses from the garden.” Among several sticky sweet services is a new addition this summer, the Honey Dream Treatment, which begins with a myofascial massage to release muscle tension and then moves to an application of bee propolis, honey and honey ginger oils as a facial mask. Guests also love the Rosemary Honey Hair & Scalp Treatment that adds moisture and shine to hair. calistogaranch.com

NORA ZELEVANSKY’s writing has been featured in Elle, Self, The Los Angeles Times, Vanity-Fair.com and Newsweek/The Daily Beast.