by Randy Dunbar | Jan 8, 2022
Getting hydrated and plump skin can be hard to achieve, especially if you live in a place with a hot and dry climate. Dr. Caren Campbell, a dermatologist in California, stated that residents living in places with hot and dry climates are more likely to suffer from dry and dehydrated skin. Due to the lack of water in the air, the natural moisturizing components on your skin evaporate at a faster rate than normal. Recognizing the impact of the climate on your skin, you need to hydrate regularly to keep your skin healthy and glowing. Here’s what you need to do:
Maintain a regular skincare routine
You may not be able to control the climate in your area but you can still provide the best conditions for your skin by practicing a regular skincare routine. Though this may sound like a lot of commitment, a proper skincare routine for dry skin can be completed in just three steps. First, you need to cleanse your skin from irritants and dirt using a cleanser. Next, you can address dullness and dehydration by applying a moisturizing treatment at least twice a day. Then before heading out, you must protect your skin against environmental aggressors by applying sunscreen all overexposed areas.
Apply a hydrating serum for an added boost
On extra hot and dry days, you can apply hydrating serums to complement your regular skincare routine. Many people prefer serums since they contain high concentrations of ingredients for maximum efficiency. So, if dry skin is your concern, you can apply serums with humectants before you put on moisturizer. An example of this ingredient is glycerin/glycerol, a moisturizing component that naturally occurs in the body. Another kind of humectant is urea, an organic compound that is part of your skin’s natural moisturizing factor. Thus, applying serums with humectants on extra hot and dry days can help in restoring your skin’s natural hydration levels.
Keep yourself hydrated from within
Aside from following a moisturizing skincare routine, you need to maintain your body’s natural hydration levels by drinking lots of water. After all, your skin contains 64% water, so you need to consume enough of it to maintain optimal health. In fact, our article on the bad habits that affect your skin emphasizes that dehydration can actually lead to dryness and even breakouts. Aside from drinking about eight glasses per day, you also need to avoid drinking sugary beverages and coffee, which can make you urinate faster. On top of that, limit your alcohol consumption because it causes your body to remove fluids from your blood, making you dehydrated at a faster rate.
Use a humidifier at home or in your office
Finally, you can improve the air quality in your own space during extreme weather conditions by utilizing a humidifier. These appliances produce and disperse water vapor that adds more moisture to the air. Since your environment can affect your skin’s health, humidifiers can ease irritation and dryness caused by poor air quality. You can even opt to purchase humidifiers that emit cool mists to further balance the environmental conditions in your home. To illustrate, evaporative humidifiers contain a fan that evenly distributes the cool humidity across a room. You can also alleviate dryness by using an impeller humidifier, which has a rotating disc that releases mist into the air. Whichever option you opt for, a humidifier should make it easier to maintain your skin health.
You can keep your skin healthy and hydrated by caring for it, both inside and out. Following a proper skincare routine, adding a hydrating serum, drinking enough water, and using a humidifier are good practices that can boost the hydration levels of your skin. Stick to these tips and, before you know it, you’ll have hydrated skin all day long.
by Randy Dunbar | Jul 9, 2021
Fun Facts: Palm Springs has the largest concentration of midcentury modern residential architecture in the world, showcased every February during the Modernism Week celebration.
With more than 70,000 pools, Greater Palm Springs can boast that it has more pools per capita than anywhere else in the country.
Greater Palm Springs is the home of more than 100 golf courses, which is why many refer to us as the Golf Capital of the World.
Every city has its personality. Something to consider is whether or not that city is a city of night—or day? Los Angeles by day, is frankly an often-unattractive attraction of template malls—especially if the background light is the opaque gray that haunts the the early summer. This has become a topical discussion in such masterworks as John Rechy’s City of Night and the Door’s L.A. Woman, which begged the question: ” Are you a lucky little lady in the City of Light? Or just another Lost Angel? City of Night”. Los Angeles by night actually has some glamor. Take a visit to the Griffith Observatory to see a panoramic view of the city with all its twinkling and a parade of heatwaves and enjoy. The daylight will reveal a sprawling endless scenery of freeways and buildings—hardly the stuff of Hollywood dreams.
)As we head southeast to that cozy town of Palm Springs and its environs, we are treated to a different perspective: this is not a city you want to be in the daylight. In the summer the heat can settle in at 108 degrees and above. Barefoot walking not recommended for humans or animals. It is a perpetual Play Misty for me as the misters create a watery gloom of vapor that quickly evaporates in the mid-day sun. But then comes the night—The Palm Springs night, the night of the cashmere wind, the whispering hush of palms trees swaying—sounds poetic? It is. For at the close of day, the lights come on, lines get drawn, the temperature dips, the rattling of cocktail stirrers begins—it’s time to party!
There is something unique about the desert night—there is little humidity in fact, Palms Springs with the exception of June 23, has not had any rain in 128 years, but there is a slight breeze and that makes everything sexy. This must be true as it explains the proliferation of bedroom mirrors that are everywhere in Palm Springs—closets, ceilings, walls, everywhere there are mirrors—which is surprising given that this is to a large extent an older community, weathered and worn by the perpetual and endless summer. There are also plastic surgery centers on nearly every block.
As with all good things, PS summers, despite the heat draws hordes of sun-seeking tourists willing to battle getting there—it’s actually the leaving that is difficult. But like that other “resort” town, Las Vegas, the key is in their being unique as cities—quite unlike any other cities in the US—and in this case, one best seen at night.
Book in advance (as in February).
1. The Tropicale Palm Springs
A chic and sophisticated décor provides the setting for our distinctive “world cuisine”, a provocative mix of zesty influences that creates a delightful dining experience in Palm Springs, California. Plush high-backed semicircular banquettes surround our dining room and offer comfortable and private seating. The cuisine has a light, exotic feel with an emphasis on Pacific Rim specialties, from Chilean Sea Bass baked in Banana Leaves or Kahlua-Barbecued Pork Chops to all sorts of tasty tapas, salads, wood-fired pizzas, and desserts. The Coral Seas Lounge, a hip mid-century style bar is lined with sexy black leather bar-stools and is reminiscent of the upbeat lounges of old Palm Springs. It wraps around the dining room and leads outside to a lush, tropical, 2000 square foot dining patio where a variety of specialty cocktails and old-school favorites are mixed – an ideal place where friends gather and martinis are sipped under the starlit desert sky.. Map
1 Korakia Pensione
257 S. Patencio Rd., Palm Springs, California 92262, United States
This Mediterranean style bed and breakfast bills itself as a retreat. In the heart of downtown Palm Springs, the Korakia Pensione (the name translates to “Crow Hotel”) is a magnificent oasis made up of multiple buildings spread across an acre and a half. The heavy stone, almost tiki look, exterior spreads from the outside to the rooms and villas inside.
HOTEL INFO
Phones: 760-864–6411
. Map
2. Sparrow
Originally built as Castle’s Red Barn in 1952 by MGM actor Don Castle and his wife Zetta, it was one of the original resort getaways for Hollywood elite. Legend has it that iconic actress Elizabeth Montgomery had her first marriage at the Red Barn. The property also has had incarnations as Catalina Palms, El Rancho Lodge and now Sparrows Lodge. The Lodge was fully restored in 2013 and many of the original buildings are still in use with modern updates retaining the charm of the original Red Barn.
THE LODGE:
Sparrows Lodge is a completely restored 1950s retreat. You will be welcomed roadside with a simple hand-painted sign with two Sparrows. The Lodge has a modern rustic vibe that carries through to our rooms, communal barn, outdoor fire pit and vegetable garden, accented by a collection of fine art including works by Ruscha, Kelly, Katz & Baldessari. The 20 rooms feature exposed beam ceilings, russet red walls, concrete floors with inlaid pebbles and butterfly chairs. Swiss army blankets top plush mattresses, and instead of closets you’ll find a metal footlocker along with hooks and hangers. Our bathrooms feature rain showers, and many include horse troughs as bathtubs. Most rooms have private patios. All rooms have AC/Heat and ceiling fans. With no televisions or phones in the rooms, there is an environment of ease and simplicity.
Sparrows Lodge
1330 East Palm Canyon Drive
Palm Springs, CA 92264
tel. 760 327 2300
Day 1
RELAX, JUST DO IT
Time to chill, get some sun, take in the fresh air and relax. There are more pools per capita in Palm Springs than the entire United States—enjoy one, you’ll like it.
Day 2
THE PLANE, THE PLANE!
The Palm Springs Air Museum is home to one of the world’s largest collections of flyable WWII aircraft and from Korea and Vietnam; and unlike many other museums, our air-conditioned hangars have no ropes to keep you from interacting with our exhibits. In addition to our aircraft, exhibits and activities allow visitors of all ages to gain a fresh perspective of World War II — the unparalleled event that shaped the world we live in. A new hangar opened May of 2017 holds exhibits and aircraft from the Korea and Vietnam Wars.
Day 3
RISE ABOVE IT ALL
Leave the city, the heat and the margaritas behind an head on up the mountain in the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway—the world’s largest rotating tram car—travels over two-and-one-half miles along the breathtaking cliffs of Chino Canyon, transporting riders to the pristine wilderness of the Mt. San Jacinto State Park. During your approximately ten-minute journey, tram cars rotate slowly, offering picturesque and spectacular vistas of the valley floor below. Once you reach the Mountain Station—elevation 8,516 feet—enjoy two restaurants, observation decks, natural history museum, two documentary theaters, gift shop and over 50 miles of hiking trails.
by Randy Dunbar | Jun 7, 2021
NeueHouse is proud to announce Andy Warhol: Photo Factory, a groundbreaking new exhibition of ultra rare photographs by Andy Warhol, opening to the public on Wednesday, June 16th, 2021
for a limited 40-day run.
An incredibly comprehensive survey of Warhol’s photographic oeuvre, this exhibition features over 120 images — 20 of which have never been seen before — paying homage to Warhol’s iconic New York City studio and offering a distinctly intimate visual diary of the artist’s life and work. Andy Warhol: Photo Factory is the largest west coast exhibition of Warhol photography to date, with many of the images kept in a private collection until now.
© 2020 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Member Preview June 4th – June 8th, 2021
Public Viewing June 9th – July 9th, 2021
10:00 AM – 7:00PM
For tickets go HERE
NeueHouse Hollywood
6121 Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90028
by Randy Dunbar | Apr 10, 2021
The drive to the Griffith Observatory is always a fun-filled drive. It is where Vermont Avenue meets the hills as one passes the rich homes of Los Feliz, the open spaces where the coyotes roam, the Greek Theater and up the hill to the Observatory. On a recent Friday night, the drive was interrupted by the twinkling of lights on the left—and a parking lot full of parked cars! Turns out, it was The Cinespia Drive-In at The Greek Theatre, a drive-in movie presentation in Griffith Park.
Make it an “Only In LA” event (an event that is popular but you need to be on some very hip list to know about it), but it looks like great fun. On April 17, the film Hairspray will be played against the backdrop of foliage and landscape. Here’s what we know:
Sat, April 17, 2021, 8:00 PM PDT Doors at 6:30 PM It is $45 per car.
Limit 4 customers per car.
Patrons must remain in their car, masks must be worn when using restroom.
Bring food and drink, no alcohol permitted. (ah huh)
Occupants of your car must be members of your household.
by Randy Dunbar | Oct 4, 2020
Travel History
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Recent Travels
There are none. Since March 2020, life as we knew it changed.
My Upcoming Trips
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Jenny’s Top 10 Sites to See
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Travel Gallery
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by Randy Dunbar | Sep 3, 2020
It is with great pleasure that the Fahey/Klein Gallery announces the new exhibition dates for Paul Jasmin: Lost Angeles, a selection of works celebrating Jasmin’s long career and the gallery’s first exhibition by the legendary Los Angeles photographer.
Paul Jasmin’s photographs are a dreamy tableau that takes the viewer on a journey of seductive beauty and erotic ennui. Lost Angeles highlights the last 50 years Jasmin has spent photographing L.A.’s young dreamers. Jasmin’s images eloquently mirror the mythology of the city in the vulnerability and intangible cool of his subjects. There is life in his portraits of smiling girls and strong and frail men – and the never fading love for the Los Angeles street scenes. There is a nostalgic myth of a splendid and ideal aesthetic, stopped and caught forever.
“Each one reminds me of a time in my life, a place or a person,” Jasmin explains. “The old and the new.”
Paul Jasmin has had a long career as a fashion and art photographer. He was born in Helena, Montana and in 1954 left to begin an incredible journey that would take him to Paris, Morocco, New York, and eventually “the city of dreams”, Los Angeles. Paul had been an illustrator, a painter, and an actor before picking up a camera – at the urging of his friend, Bruce Weber.
Jasmin’s images of real and imagined dreamers evoke a sensual and glamorous ideal while firmly rooted in reality. His Editorial work appears in Vogue, Teen Vogue, GQ, Details, V Magazine, V Man, Vogue Hommes, W, Nylon, Interview, Mr. Porter, APC, Ron Herman, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks, and Nordstrom. Paul Jasmin lives and works in Los Angeles where he teaches at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Paul Jasmin’s photography books include the much-acclaimed Hollywood Cowboy (2002) and its follow up, Lost Angeles (2004). In December 2010, Steidl/7l published Paul’s third book, California Dreaming.
September 24, 2020 through December 31, 2020
Opening Reception – *By Appointment Only*
Thursday, September 24, 2020, 10am – 5pm
by Randy Dunbar | Jan 2, 2020
Don Saban knows LA; he’s photographed it for a long time yielding images that are difficult to pin down in time. In fact, his eye for details found in Los Angeles create a visual proposition that they could be places found in Europe. His works has range—deep, black and white, to the new mundanity of color found in Uber scooters in a line. What is always apparent is his unfailing eye for the art of photography—his images rise above the ubiquituous cell phone portrayals and lead us in and back into a time when photography had meaning.
At what age and was there anything in particular that compelled you to pick up a camera and make it a career?
I was in grade school, and I can’t remember exactly what age I was, but very young… always the family photographer, so I guess that’s where it all started. I never really quit making photographs, and continued on with my first class in photography my junior year in high school, where I got very serious about it and made the decision that this is what I would do in life, and as time went on, nothing else captured my imagination or interest…so it was decided!
It’s 2020—what is the state of photography in a digital world?
It just keeps getting better and better, and the printers as well. It has allowed me to do things I could only dream of back in the old film and darkroom days. That all seems so antiquated now, which in a certain sense, it is. With the advent of digital technology, it has inspired me immensely, and now allows me to do things I could never do before, so in a sense, the technology has finally caught up with my vision.
… on that note, what is your best method of advertising your work—instagram, twitter, etc?
I’m very active on Facebook and Instagram. I was posting a lot of my work on Flickr until it changed and is no longer unlimited for free accounts. I hit the limit for that a very long time ago, so I don’t really post there anymore. I also have websites of all the different bodies of work, which includes my video work, and can be seen here at the master site: http://donsaban.com/index.html
The Los Angeles project, how long have you been working on these images?
I think at least going on 20 years.
What photographers do you admire, living or dead that inspire you?
George Hoyningen-Huene, Horst P. Horst, Cecil Beaton, George Hurrell, and Vivian Maier to name a few…oh, there are so many, and I like them all for different reasons. I’m so glad you didn’t asked which is my favorite. How could I ever decide!
Is there a photographer that you mentor, and feel they are going places?
As you know, I’ve photographed a lot of jazz musicians over the years, and was introduced to a young lady who is just starting out by a mutual friend. I’ve sort have taken her under my wing and I’m passing along my knowledge of performance photography. She has a great eye, so I’m mostly helping with all the technical aspect of low light photography, and editing in Photoshop and Lightroom. She’s a very quick study, which makes it enjoyable to share what I know.
MEET THE PHOTOGRAPHER: DON SABAN
Don Saban, a native of Phoenix Arizona, received his formal training at the prestigious Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, and simultaneously was a private student and studied art and photography as protege of professor William A. Rohrback, University of California Santa Barbara, who was a student of Minor White at Berkeley in the early 50’s. Saban stayed on in Santa Barbara after finishing his studies and was a member of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art Photography Committee. During his tenure in Santa Barbara, he was one of the first photographers to be in Art Life magazine and was the first photographer to be on the cover.
After coming to Los Angeles, he taught at Otis/Parsons and continued his photographic work which was published in numerous magazines. After 10 years in Los Angeles, Saban accepted the position of Principal Photographer at the University of California Santa Barbara. During that period, he was commissioned by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art to go to Budapest and do the photographs for the book, Standing in the Tempest: Painters of the Hungarian Avant-Garde. Saban then returned to Los Angeles once again, and in 1999 was brought on board as photography consultant to work on the Tokyo DisneySea project. Saban found a new home with the Walt Disney Imagineers, and 21 years later, is still providing photographic expertise and working closely with the team on all their projects. Saban continues to exhibit his work, and has had many one man and group shows, has appeared in books, magazines and various publications, and is in private and public art collections both nationally and worldwide.
by Randy Dunbar | Jul 19, 2019
Steven F. Arnold (1943–1994) Born in Oakland, Ca., he moved to Los Angeles and set up a studio on the bend of Beverly and Virgil. His studio was dark—only when he lite it did you see all the extravangrant props and elements of his photography. In some ways, he felt San Francisco—though every visit to his studio would have someone from the movie business; Ellen Burstyn and Grace Zabriskie were regulars. He shot mostly from a tall ladder looking down. It was the first time I came to realize that a six pack could be created in illusion by painting shadows. He mastered in tromp l’oei (to deceive the eye) and the creation of photographic tableaus.He was also a filmmaker, painter, illustrator, set and costume designer, and assemblage artist.
This Sunday, Outfest presents the documentary about his life.
Angelica Huston narrates this exploration of the spectacularly dreamlike world of Salvador Dali’s protégé and PWA, Steven Arnold, and his strikingly creative and influential body of work filled with occult rituals, Hollywood camp, and surrealist art nouveau whimsy. Taken from more than 70 hours of original and archival footage, including rare scenes of Holly Woodlawn, director Vishnu Dass digs deeply into the decadent countercultural and inspiring life of this unheralded multimedia artist of the queer community.
STEVEN ARNOLD: HEAVENLY BODIES
by Randy Dunbar | Mar 24, 2017
The Mexican Rivera, which lies to the far west and dips into the majestic blue seas of the Caribbean is a famous tourist destination for Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel and many smaller islands that dot the landscape. We can soon add the quieter destination of Holbox (pronounced Hol-bosh) to that list as the dusty little seaside town starts to get noticed.
A mere three-hour bus drive from the hustle of touristy Cancun, this is a ride through the countryside of Mexico replete with small food stands, school children and people commuting from town to town. If you are not on the express bus, it can seem like a long journey, but once deposited in Chiquila, the short boat ride to Holbox is worth the wait.
This is the northern tip of Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, far removed from the large tourist ships and a journey back to a time when tourism hadn’t consumed the population with Starbucks and McDonald’s. They are not here, yet. And hopefully, it will take a long while for the tourist trade to discover this gem. What you will find is an island with few cars, the main transportation is a golf cart, rusted by years of sea salt exposure, and a driver, with some English experience—it is of no consequence, the island is so small there is little hope of getting lost.
The main attraction to Hotbox is its lagoon—which seems to go miles into the sunset and is walkable and is rich with flamingoes, pelicans, and other birdlife.
Once in town, which is a series of dirt roads that all meet in the center. This is a 26 square mile island (same size as New York City!) so the ocean is never far off. For the adventurous traveler, there are so many walkable treks that lead to sudden lagoons, singular piers that stretch to the sunset and of course, there is always the seashore. But let’s get back to the bars. There is the Bar Arena Isla Hotbox which is a rooftop bar complete with a hot tub. The new kid on the block Básico is an open shell bar with a mixologist who conjures up spices and liquors, and if so inclined the occasional grasshopper delicacy is to be found here.
Side streets offer some great eating experiences, in particular, Milpa. Which a family run vanguard restaurant with Mexico-City-born-and-trained chef, Adrian Barajas. Reservations are converted into name tags as you come to the restaurant and the entire affair is treated as an experience, which it is. The menu offers such interesting dishes as Drunk Octopus Roaming Valladolid, which translates to roasted Octopus with bacon bits, bell p[pepper caviar, cacahuazintle corn and courgette filled with beer salsa with Valladolid chorizo.
By day, the beach, tourist cruises to see fish, whales, and lounge in the many hotels with their beachside bars and restaurants. Casa Las Tortugas, situated on the shoreline is stunning at night. Amber lights and reveal walkways and bridges. The hotel offers twenty-four romantic rooms and suites with a variety of views.
As we all know, the world is becoming fabulous—every distant corner is suddenly recognized as social media, the camera-phone and other recording devices take note of the splendor and beauty of places we have rarely visited. Holbox is such a destination: not quite touched by commercial hotels, restaurants or tourist attractions and yet accesible, compelling and a perfect place to experience Mexico in a new and different way.
