Wonder Valley’s Alison Carroll On Rick Rubin, Olive Oil + A Good Body Oil

We've known Alison Carroll for years. First as an olive oil wunderkind, then as the highly creative mind behind swoon-worthy lifestyle brand, Wonder Valley. Pore over Alison's gorgeous Wonder Valley products, then find a few of her favorites, from The Creative Act to a spa mention we can't wait to book ourselves (cedar enzymes!).

My Favorite Things With Wonder Valley Founder Alison Carroll

Clean Beauty
Favorite clean skincare products: Wonder Valley 100%! My favorite is the Oil Cleanser and I bookend each day with a deep facial massage while I cleanse. 2x per week I add in our Olive & Lotus Exfoliant, I love that I can dial up or down the intensity of the exfoliation by controlling how much of this botanical powder use… and I love mixing it in the palm of my hand, the whole tactile experience delights me. Wonder Serum is my forever one-stop product after cleansing; plumps, hydrates, softens.

Spa/treatment of choice: Sauna! Any hot water, preferably in Japan. Or Dunton Hot Springs. There’s a great spa in Occidental, CA that offered a therapeutic cedar enzyme bath — it was a really memorable experience. It felt like laying in a really soft, hot mulch pile! This fragrant heap of very warm wood enzymes detoxes from the inside out, and they offer a great massage afterwards.

For the hair: Our new Sandalwood Yuzu Shampoo and Conditioner. I have been formulating this for years, and I am thrilled it is finally out in the world. It checks all the boxes: removes all the build up without stripping, cleaner ingredients to keep my color from fading, a gorgeous aluminum bottle that’s endlessly recyclable, and naturally scented with essential oils. I notice my hair is softer, my waves more defined. The conditioner makes my waves more defined, my hair feels softer and easy to detangle, and there’s no weighted feeling. I condition with each wash, but only shampoo 2-3x per week, without feeling greasy in between. I use our Rosemary Hair Oil for a deep scalp treatment or just to use on the lengths of my hair for some extra shine and frizz control.

Go-to clean makeup: Kjaer Weiss — I love all her products, particularly the eye shadows and lip tints. ILIA makes amazing mascara.

Skin tool or mask: I love using a gua sha while I’m cleansing. The oil cleanser gives it a perfect slip to glide on my skin and give enough tension, and a bonus that it keeps the tool clean in the process.

Scents: Hinoki Body Oil instead of lotion, which gives my skin a glow to it and layers beautifully with perfume. And an Hermès scent that I love.

Wellness
Recent obsession: My friend Melanie Herring in Maine does incredible facials, I’m not sure if I can even call it a facial… it’s more of an energetic tuneup that happens to leave your skin glowing.

Weird wellness habit: Obscene amount of sleep… 10-12 hours was my normal, pre-baby. I really, really miss it.

Concept/figure that’s inspiring me: I really am getting a lot out of Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act and applying it to how I work and create. It’s helping me break habits of having really intense to-do list’s run my life, and find more flow in how I go about my tasks.

Fitness lately: Carrying around a baby? A walk or yoga is what workouts look like for me right now. Hoping to get into more of a routine now that she’s bigger and I’m feeling stronger.

Supplements or herbs I'm into: My functional medicine doctor has me on a pretty rigorous vitamin routine, but beyond that I love Alexis Smart Flower Remedies and Moon Juice’s Mini Dew.

Home
Favorite designer/instagram account/inspo: I love following along the evolution of @salmon_creek_farm, that’s incredibly inspiring. Interior designers: @communedesign, @reathdesign, and @nickeykehoe for sure. I follow @cabincorn for food, always. I love @anjattyson — such an inspiring account as a new mom of a little girl, and her sustainability work and community activism. It's really beautiful to follow.

Candle: Long, vibrant natural beeswax taper candles. I love everything about them — the way they look on a hook, unused. We have vintage pewter candlesticks or we repurpose old olive oil bottles and let them get very drippy. Post Supply has the best assortment of 13” candles in a ton of colors.

Kitchen goods: Nickey Kehoe has the perfect assortment to me for kitchen staples or one-off vintage pieces and always with the best design sensibility. I have my eye on this enamel teapot from them.

Wellness tech/goods: My friend Zinzi turned me onto this (she has a great Substack called Treehouse!), but it’s this app called One Sec… and it does just that, a simple diversion for the apps that zap your energy and cause mindlessness. For me, it’s Instagram. So every time I open the app, One Sec’s breathing exercise kicks in and gives me the choice to open the app or skip it. It’s enough of a pause to avoid mindless scrolling.

Art/objects I love: My friend Mallory Anita Lawson makes incredible art, but I am particularly fond of her ceramic lamps which she pairs with custom made fabric shades. My sister Claire Haynes is a brilliant artist, she’ll spend months working on a portrait in oil.

Closet
Uniform lately: Rudy Jude corduroy’s and a t- shirt or sweater. I have great ones from Mishka + Puff, Apiece Apart, and a few vintage ones.

Go-to sustainable brands: Caron Callahan is my favorite designer, I always feel most like me — the right amount of color and pattern, timeless and flattering cuts, and incredible textiles. I hope to get a piece from Tony Shirtmaker, our friend in Maine who does bespoke custom pieces.

Never without accessories: Jacques Marie Mage TAOS sunglasses and my Ursa Major signet ring that says AL on my pinky, I never take it off.

Loungewear: P.Le Moult pajamas, the best.

Food + Drink
Fridge staples: Miso, fermented krauts or veg, preserved lemons, Hellman’s mayo (the perfect mayo), capers, fresh lemons and citrus, salted butter, anchovies.

Coffee situation: I don’t do great on a lot of caffeine, makes me too buzzy. Leaves and Flowers offers some beautiful teas, they have a great Genmaicha which has that toasted brown rice in the mix. If I do drink coffee, it’s always for an affogato.

Go-to condiments: WV olive oil, chile crisps, Camino red wine vinegar, yuzu koshu.

Snack always on hand: Rice, to me, is the perfect food. There’s always leftovers in the fridge for a fried rice, topped with an egg, with some cooked or raw greens, with some fermented bits, with broth, with a splash of olive oil and herbs. I truly never get tired of it, any variation.

Favorite cocktail/mocktail lately: I am into the classics — a perfect Manhattan with a great cherry or a 50/50 gin martini with olives.

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