April 07, 2017apothecary

Pamela Love Rituals : Kimbra Audrey

Kimbra Audrey is a photographer living and working in Paris after an eight year stint in NYC. She takes self-portraits exclusively on film which she develops and prints in her at-home dark room. She doesn’t edit her images and finds beauty in the natural imperfections that occur on film. This is Kimbra's Routine.

"I haven't always been comfortable in my skin. I worked as a model for nearly a decade, and that gave me an extremely unhealthy relationship with my body and a very skewed perception of beauty. While I was modeling, I became frustrated with the images that I was a part of, most of the time they felt very superficial to me. I wanted to be a part of creating real honest images, which is one of the main reasons I began taking self-portraits and shooting on film. After being photographed by so many people for so long, I wanted to capture the way I saw myself. Taking self-portraits for the past several years has helped me develop my self-confidence and given me a new, profound relationship with my body."

"Self-care is incredibly important for my mental and physical health. If I don’t feel good in my body, I won’t feel inspired to create. Being the subject of my work is just another reason why self-care is so important. I also travel a lot for photographs and might be hiking alone for twenty miles in the sand with five of my cameras (which I have actually done before) so it’s important for me to feel strong in my body."

"Nutrition is something I'm very committed to. I’ve been vegan for the past six years, which in Paris can be difficult, so I cook at home a lot. I have a tiny kitchen but a very romantic view from my kitchen window. I also love to go to the farmer's markets here and stock up on organic produce and fresh flowers, which I like to dry at home when they start to die."

"I practice yoga at home a few times a week. I used to go to Yoga to the People in New York religiously, and now I do their podcasts at home in Paris. I also love sleeping and try to get at least 8 hours every night, but I could honestly sleep more."

First Thought

The first thing I think when I wake up in the morning is "coffee." I’m not a morning person. Breakfast is also really important to me, and I usually make avocado toast. Avocados are without a doubt my favorite food, and I like to eat at least one a day, if not more!

Morning

"I love Mario Badescu Acne Facial Cleanser; it took me a long time to find a face wash that didn’t make me break out and now I’ve been using it for years. I even have it shipped to Paris from the States."

"Since I develop and print my film at home, my skin gets parched from wearing gloves and handling the chemicals so I use body oil to rehydrate. I love Daughter of the Land Deep Moisture Oil and the Sans [ceuticals] Goji Face + Body Oil."

Midday

"I have a cigarette. No one’s perfect, and it’s my guilty pleasure. Living in Paris, it's basically part of the culture. I don’t like the smell of cigarettes at all though so I always burn palo santo in my house after smoking. I take my B vitamins and try to drink a lot of water. I also try to take self-portraits everyday, even if I only take a few frames, it’s therapeutic for me."

Evening

"I shower at night as it helps me wash off my day and I like to go to bed clean. I also dry brush my skin before showering. I don’t wash my hair every day, and because it’s so long it can be hard to manage but when I do, I use Sans [ceuticals] balancing hair wash and their Moisture + Protein Infusion 20 which has really helped my ends!"

Last Thought

Simba! He is my stuffed animal lion that I have had since I was three years old and I can’t sleep without him. He has traveled all over the world with me, and I’m not embarrassed to say I still sleep with my stuffed animal.