Lifestyle
What It Means to Be a ‘Well Woman,’ According to Amy Larocca, Author of ‘How to Be Well’
When I met the writer Amy Larocca at a cafe in the Boerum Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn on a recent afternoon, I could not help but notice: She had the glow. Or seemed to.
The glow, as Ms. Larocca explains in her new book, “How to Be Well: Navigating Our Self-Care Epidemic, One Dubious Cure at a Time,” is what happens when you purify yourself “from the inside out.” When you never miss a day of your skin care routine, regularly drain your lymphatic fluids and take your collagen supplements. But to truly glow, you must also practice mindfulness, self-care and, ideally, transcendental meditation, avoid processed junk and sleep at least eight hours every night.
Such are the exacting standards of a contemporary wellness culture that has swelled to encompass nearly every facet of life. Not just the serums we slather on our faces or the Pilates classes we scurry off to but the food we eat (always whole foods), the bowel movements we pass (must be “firm and beautifully formed”) and the very thoughts we let enter our minds (intentional ones only).
It sounds like a lot of work. Or one might say it sounds like a lot of work — if it were not so incumbent on a well woman to be perpetually at ease.
After talking to Ms. Larocca, 49, for an hour, I learned she did not do everything a well woman should. She tries to sleep a lot. She exercises regularly. And yes, she wears an Oura ring, the latest in wearable tech for tracking one’s blood oxygen rate, body temperature and other biometrics.
But she does not observe 12-step routines of any kind. She is aware of the fact that dry-brushing may be a great way to exfoliate but that it probably does not drain your lymphatic fluid.
Sometimes, she participates in what she calls “recreational wellness,” something she knows is not likely to achieve what it promises but that nonetheless brings her some form of pleasure. Ms. Larocca, who spent 20 years at New York magazine in various roles including fashion director, is no stranger to the intensely human draw to believe that some of these practices will give her a control over her life and her body that she knows is fundamentally unattainable — which may be the emotional core of our wellness obsession.
This conversation, which took place over a matcha latte and an iced green tea, has been edited for length and clarity.
Going into your book, I had a much more narrow view of what wellness was. But I was compelled by your more capacious understanding of this world.
Wellness is really silly exercise classes. It’s also underserved communities talking about how no one takes their health seriously. We can talk about the way the beauty industry uses wellness as a “get-out-of-jail-free” card when it wants to pretend it’s feminist. We can talk about weird colonic therapists. We can talk about wellness as a socially acceptable term for eating disorders. There are 90 million ways to have a wellness conversation. In the end, I tried to say, wellness is all of this and we just live in this messed-up soup.
At this point, it seems hard to draw any firm boundaries around wellness.
Sometimes you see this when you go to these new medical practices. You’re like, “Am I at a spa? A gym? A boutique hotel? At the doctor? In a Kate Hudson movie?”
You started this book before Covid. How was your idea of wellness shaped by the pandemic?
It quickly became clear who was getting sick and who was dying from Covid. So the concept that was driving the project — coming at it from the perspective of someone who has written about fashion and style all these years — was that wellness had become this thing where we’re being sold our own bodies with the same marketing techniques that people use to sell handbags or shoes or lipstick. It’s incredibly dangerous to live in a society that treats health like a luxury product.
I liked that you pointed out some of the inconsistencies contained within wellness culture. At one point, you mention the concept of a single well-intentioned cigarette — a little indulgence.
It’s because all of these things reside within privilege. There’s a term, the narcissism of small differences. The things that make someone unwell are so much bigger than whatever little wellness protocol. They’re these larger socioeconomic factors.
Something I was thinking about as I read was the gendered aspect of wellness, and wellness as a kind of bonding exercise among women — sharing your insecurities, how you want to self-improve, these personal routines.
I think it can be. Going to an exercise class with friends or to a spa — it’s definitely a bonding ritual for a lot of people. There are wellness social clubs, like Remedy Place. It can also be a form of entertainment or recreation. It’s just a question of understanding its position and your expectations. It’s important to say here: It’s not like I hate wellness. I also participate in a lot of it. I think wellness is too entrenched in our lives to be “pro” or “anti.”
I love the term “recreational wellness.” It seems to relate to an experience I often have, which is knowing something is not going to work but doing it anyway.
It’s a diversion. I exercise a lot — part of it is for recreation, part of it is for actual health. I used to do my red light stuff and drink my collagen. Now I’ve sort of whittled it down. Every once in a while, a friend of mine will call me and be like, “My life has been changed by bovine colostrum!” And I’m like, “I need bovine colostrum!”
Recently, I was in a pharmacy filled with beautiful skin care products in an upscale part of Los Angeles. I knew I did not need anything, but I wanted it. And an elegant woman was floating around the store offering to help customers find what suited them.
It can really make you feel cared for and cosseted. It can feel really nice!
I thought about how it would feel to have all of these things in my medicine cabinet. I would feel like one of the fancy women walking around this neighborhood. Which goes back to the luxury aspect.
It’s the same feeling of, “if I purchase this bag. …”
Why is the pull so strong? We often know consciously that these products are not going to do what they say they will.
Wouldn’t it be so great if they did, though? And in the absence of credible information from actual experts, there’s this incredible opportunity. We want it to be true, and there’s a loss of faith in the systems that are supposed to be protecting us and informing us. And it’s on the left and the right. A lot of the Moon Juice products and the Infowars supplements have some of the same types of ingredients. The message on both sides is, “Prepare yourself for the collapse of the world! Wellness will save us from these terrible inevitabilities!”
Something about knowing that there is so much snake oil and bad information out there can also amplify the feeling that somewhere, hidden among these thousands of products, are maybe the two or three that “actually work.”
Totally! I’m like, “Sometime, one of these Bobbi Brown emails is going to have that tip!” And what if that was the time I didn’t click?
When Halle Bailey moved from Georgia to Los Angeles as a wide-eyed preteen nearly 15 years ago, the city felt like a wonderland of possibility.
“Being from the South, when you first come to L.A., you’re like, ‘Hollywood. Wow. This is where all the celebrities are,’” says the Grammy-nominated singer and actress. At any moment, she thought she might cross paths with Halle Berry — the similarly named actress she’s often mistaken for — on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
But after living in the city for a while, Bailey, now 26, says she realized L.A. is made up of all sorts of different pockets — ones “where people are really Hollywood, bougie” and others “where people are chill, like hippies,” she says. Her favorite neighborhoods are Silver Lake, Venice and “places where people are just like, yeah, one love,” she says, laughing.
These days, Bailey is one of the celebrities people would be thrilled to see strolling down Hollywood Boulevard. She’s built a career that bridges music, TV and film: By 13, she and her sister Chloe Bailey — together known as Chloe x Halle — had signed to Beyoncé’s label; she’s earned six Grammy nominations (including one for her debut solo album released last fall); and she played young Nettie in “The Color Purple” and starred as Ariel in Disney’s live-action “The Little Mermaid,” a blockbuster role she’s recently been reflecting on.
Bailey’s next venture? Starring in her first romantic comedy, Universal’s “You, Me & Tuscany,” which hits theaters April 10. She plays Anna, a young woman who impulsively crashes at a empty Italian villa by pretending to be the owner’s fiancée.
“It felt good to play a young woman who was grown, but still discovering herself,” she says. “I felt like I was playing the essence of the Halle who is finding herself now.”
On her perfect Sunday in L.A., Bailey would have a day of fun with her 2-year-old son, Halo. Here’s what they’d do.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.
7:30 a.m.: Wake up and jump into mommy duties
I love mornings. I leave my curtains open while I sleep because I like when the sun wakes me up. We all doomscroll, which is kind of bad to say, but the first thing I check is my phone. Then I have mommy duties right at 8 a.m. Sometimes before [Halo] wakes up, I get a chance to do some things for myself like go outside and sit in the sun for some meditation or stretching. I don’t get to do it every day, but I try. Or I’ll make some tea or a smoothie and just have a moment of gratitude for waking up that day.
8:30 a.m.: Crank up the music
Once Halo is up, we do breakfast right away. I don’t know why I’m super into boiled eggs right now [laughs]. But I love a boiled egg in the morning with either avocado or hash browns. My baby loves hash browns too. I try to make a balanced breakfast and then from there it’s kind of party time.
We’ve been blasting the new Jill Scott album and it’s really cool how the music you play in your house can just change the mood, the vibe and bring good energy into the space that you’re in. And on a Sunday, I don’t know if it’s just because of the way I was raised, but automatically I think, “OK, I need to straighten up for the week. I need to get the house reset.” So maybe I’m cleaning up the kitchen or organizing toys, or making sure the bathroom is straight, or washing clothes while the music is blasting and we’re dancing around, having fun.
12 p.m.: Solo time while the baby naps
I’ll take a lunch break. If I’m in the cooking mood, I love making comfort food like chicken and rice with cabbage and mac and cheese. Something that is just warm and comfy. If I’m not doing that, I’m ordering Wing Stop or Chipotle. I would chill outside for a while until my son’s nap time, which is around 12:30 p.m. He’ll sleep until like 3:30 p.m., so then I have two hours to myself and sometimes I do nothing. Sometimes I just need to sit down and I’ll be on my phone on TikTok or I’ll watch a show. I recently binged the new “Love is Blind” season. I also started watching “Real Housewives” again, but, like, the beginning seasons. I really love the show “My Strange Addiction.” It’s just so hilarious to me. Those are some guilt-free shows that I turn on and my brain can turn off.
I might even go into the studio if I’m hearing a melody in my head or pick up my guitar. Sometimes I might take a nap too, and that feels really good on a Sunday.
4 p.m.: Go on an easy sunset hike
If I feel up for leaving the house, we’ll go for a walk, to the park or maybe even a sunset hike. I’ve always been a nature girl and I feel like it just grounds me, and I’m able to center myself, especially for the start of a new week. There’s a lot of really beautiful hikes in California, but I’ve found ones that are easy and safe to take a baby on so I’m not stressing if he’s running ahead of me or behind me. On a Sunday, you just want to rest, so you’re not trying to do a full-blown workout. Sometimes we’ll get halfway through and then we’ll turn back and go home [laughs].
Near Studio City, there’s a really good one called Fryman [Canyon]. It’s hard in the beginning, but as you get higher it gets easier and you see the view, and you’re just like, “I can do this.” We recently went to Point Dume, which I had never been to, but I saw the view on TikTok. It’s a really beautiful beach hike in Malibu and I love it there. The hike up is super easy, but there’s a field of flowers that you walk through to get to the viewpoint where everyone takes pictures overlooking the beach.
6:30 p.m.: Bath time
I love a bubble bath. If my son is with me that night, we do a whole fun toys in the bath type of vibe. But if it’s a solo night, it’s like candles, lavender bubbles, lights are dim, jazz music is playing in the background, like Billie Holiday, and that is the ultimate reset.
7:30 p.m.: Dinner and a show
If I have a sitter, I might go out to dinner. I like Lucia, which is a Caribbean restaurant in Hollywood. I think the first time I went, they had a really good oxtail mac and cheese. When I went back the menu had changed and I ordered the jerk chicken, which was also good. Also, I’ve been loving the Blue Note recently. I saw Esperanza Spalding there last year.
10 p.m.: Watch something low–stakes before bed
Sometimes I try to force myself to turn off all screens, all phones and go to bed because I need the sleep. It’s either that or I’m up watching something. I just really like watching things that make me feel like I can laugh and I don’t have to think about it. I get really emotionally invested in shows. If I try to watch “The Pitt” at the end of the day, it feels so emotionally exhausting. During the day is OK, but at nighttime, I just need to laugh.
The Met Gala steps are a stage where celebrities strive not merely to look pretty, but to create indelible, avant-garde fashion moments. The most memorable looks tend to commit to the often abstract theme and take risks not typically seen on award show red carpets. Sometimes that works; other times it ends in disaster.
This year, guests stepped onto a mossy-looking, trompe l’oeil cobblestone carpet surrounded by a backdrop that recalled a Monet canvas. It was fitting for the evening’s brief: “Fashion is art.” It may be a bit on the nose for an event whose raison d’être is to raise money for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s fashion-focused Costume Institute.
There were fake nipples and molded torsos; flowers and feathers; dripping jewels and one delightful burst of bubbles.
For close followers of our past most stylish lists, what follows is a shift in approach. Typically, we bring you a distillation of the looks that got people talking — the good, the bad and the most interesting. This year, since we now give you a chance to vote on your favorite looks, we’re saying, unequivocally, that these were ours (presented in no particular order).
Naomi Osaka
In this Robert Wun gown, spurts of blood — in the form of delicate feathers — spring from incisions in the fabric.
No other garment had quite the same movement as this frosty, fringed frock by Tom Ford that shimmied whenever Taylor struck a pose.
Chase Infiniti
Inspired by the “Venus de Milo,” this primary-colored Thom Browne gown is a no-naked take on naked dressing.
Troye Sivan
In a sea of sequins and other opulent baubles, what at least presented as a pair of distressed denim trousers — by Prada — was like a palate cleanser.
If Vermeer’s “Girl With a Pearl Earring” made a meal of her signature accessory.
Beyoncé
A look that was worth the decade-long wait for the star’s reappearance at the Met Gala.
Gracie Abrams
Gold adornments and jewel accents made Abrams look completely Klimtian in this peachy Chanel gown.
It’s goth meets grande dame. No engagement ring needed to get the people talking.
Alexi Ashe
For the real heads: the Yves Klein Blue body-print dress from spring 2017, one of Phoebe Philo’s last collections at Celine.
Glenn Martens
Other men on the carpet looked as if they had tried needlessly hard when Martens, the creative director of Maison Margiela, appeared in this undeniable tuxedo. This is how every man should dress.
A profusion of bubbles continuously spouting from this teacup dress brought some joie de vivre to the carpet.
Alexa Chung
It should be illegal to look so good for so long on so many red carpets.
Tory Burch
Many tried corsets; several donned sheer skirts. But none managed to look quite so delicate, elegant and demure as Aboah did, in custom Simone Rocha.
Tessa Thompson
More Yves Klein Blue, in whimsical curlicues by Valentino.
Stella Bugbee, Jacob Gallagher and Marie Solis contributed reporting.
Wi Spa, with its hot and cold tubs, specialty saunas and napping nooks, has long been a beloved L.A. destination for rest and rejuvenation. Now Koreatown’s most popular spa is kicking up its wellness offerings, getting ahead of the self-care trend. Or a head of it.
Wi Spa is opening a head spa. It’s more than halfway through construction of Root Head Spa, slated to debut within the next two months. It will be located on the lobby level, in the space that formerly housed a gym, with seven individual treatment rooms.
The idea for this new edition began before the head spa trend became so popular in Los Angeles, says Min Jung, a Wi Spa manager. After researching the various types of head spas, Wi Spa decided to create theirs “in the Japanese Yume Head Spa-style,” she says. Treatments will clean, exfoliate and moisturize the scalp, and they will include a gentle head massage. (“Yume” means “dream” in Japanese, a nod to the sleepy state the treatment leaves guests in.)
“But this is not a massage, this is not a head wash, it is actually a scalp treatment,” Jung says.
Videos of Chinese and Japanese-inspired head spa treatments started popping up on social media in 2022 — the arc-shaped “waterfall bath” is especially visually intriguing. We chronicled the rise of the trend, which first began proliferating in Asian communities such as Arcadia, San Gabriel, Temple City and Rosemead, in 2024 and 2025 — now there are head spas across the city.
Scrubbing the scalp aids circulation, strengthens hair follicles and helps to prevent dandruff, itchiness and inflammation, among other benefits, practitioners and dermatologists say. In our coverage, we said it “might be the most relaxing spa service in L.A.”
Wi Spa’s Himalayan Salt Sauna, a visitor favorite.
(Wi Spa)
An hourlong Wi Spa head spa treatment will cost about $150 to $200, Jung says, adding that prices are not yet set. That’s the upper end of average in L.A. for the treatment. Wi Spa’s $40 entry fee (which includes access to spa amenities) will not be waived with purchase of the head spa treatment, as it is with other Wi Spa services, such as a body scrub or massage, which typically exceeds $160.
Also in the works: Wi Spa is planning to build a wellness center on its third floor, in what’s now a skincare area. The new offering will likely include an infrared sauna and a red light therapy bed, among other things. This past summer Wi Spa also opened a salon for blowouts, called Root Style Bar, adjacent to its women’s dressing room. So (cue the violins) guests no longer have to trek out to their car with wet hair or attend post-spa events with a DIY blowout.
Next up: a spa-wide renovation to freshen up existing areas.
In the meantime, visitors may not know: Wi Spa has an “Aescape” AI-powered massage robot on its premises.
Reporter Deborah Vankin tries out the Aescape massage robot at Pause Wellness Studio in 2024.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
We wrote about Aescape when it debuted at Pause, a wellness center in Studio City — it performs a 3D scan of your body to deliver custom robot massages. (Cyborg butt massages are not to be underestimated.) There are now several Aescapes around L.A., including at Equinox gyms. Wi Spa leased theirs this past summer. Guests can book robot massages for 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes or an hour for $1 a minute, making it more affordable than Wi Spa’s manual massage offerings.
We’re partial to the most affordable massage option at Wi Spa, however: the plush, blue-lighted massage chairs scattered throughout the spa. Bring cash. It’s just $10 for a 30-minute “luxury” full body massage — and it’s surprisingly effective.
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