The Trove: Shalea Walker January 28, 2011

A glowing Shalea Walker at her spa.

Nestled on a quiet block near Jersey City’s Grove Street Path Station, Walker’s Apothecary is a “beauty haven designed to relax and enlighten.”  I went recently to visit the visionary proprietor Shalea Walker and marveled over her radiant skin as a nail technician completed her manicure. We spoke of fragrance, of travel, the brilliance of Michel Gondry and the moody melifluence of Sia Furler. Celebrating her seventh year of business this Spring, she and I met, however years ago while she worked for Harriette Cole’s Profundities, Inc. She recalled securing the interview for the position: “Darin (her friend and Profundities staffer) hooked me up.” At the time she worked in accounts payable at a hospital by day and an Ethiopian restaurant at night. Her lack of experience in media made her family caution her not to get her hopes up.  But “Harriette saw my eagerness and willingness,” she says. “Some core things about us were the same: the love of apothecary preparations, a sense of spirituality, journaling…and we’re both Pisces.”  She credits Harriette for showing her that “big things can be created from very small things and that big business turns to small businesses to execute its needs.”

Her road to entrepreneurship started with an early love of fragrance and skin care. Mississippian Tommie Walker and his Ecuadorian/Irish wife Celia Duffy raised their 3 children “all over Brooklyn–Brownsville, East New York, Canarsie…” Their middle child, Shalea, drawn to her father’s smells started wearing his Brut deodorant and Polo cologne at age 4. By seven, she was “obsessed with soap,” she says. “I’d sit in the bathtub and would rub the Tone beauty bar onto my skin in a thick layer.” She was a fastidious child, “very particular,” about her appearance.  She had “her own way of doing things,” she was no schoolyard clone. She wore only Candies sneakers and her seamstress mom made all her clothes. “My mom can re-upholster a chair, make window treatments…she’s a creator. She’s not interested in making dinner every night, she thinks of bigger things.” When adolescent acne reared its unfortunate head it was mom who introduced Shalea to renowned natural skin care specialists, Christine Valmy “for extractions on my nose.”

The attentive care to skin wellness was established in childhood but the germ of an idea for what would become Walker’s Apothecary was a journal entry when she was twenty or twenty-one: “I want to open my own place. It’ll carry teas, skin care products.” Her mother’s daughter, she thought of “bigger things.” She worked for an IT company to save for beauty school, but was laid off two years later in the aftermath of the dot-com bust. The timing was perfect, she’d felt nervous about being out-of-the-loop during the “corporate years.”  She returned to Christine Valmy to study and become a licensed esthetician.  Though she’d done makeup for years– herself and others, she finally admitted to herself that she was a makeup artist after doing the makeup for a photo shoot.  She soon did the makeup for a feature on a woman with a Jersey City candle shop.  She left thinking, ‘wouldn’t it be great if she didn’t want the business anymore and would sell it to me.  I could have my own business by 26.’ She called her brother Tommie and shared her Piscean fantasy.  “Keep dreaming, that’s never gonna happen,” he said.  She convinced him to visit the shop with her and when they walked in the proprietor said, “Hi Shalea, I’m selling the shop, you are the first person I’m telling.”  So with $5000 from the corporate gig 401k, she realized a dream.

An affirming tattoo.

In the charming 185 square-foot Warren Street space, she launched Walker’s Apothecary in 2004, carrying candles, teas, body oils and perfumes.  A stone’s throw from my cousin’s home, I’d visit the shop whenever I visited him.  There was always some new delight to savor.  Soon clients began to ask if she would offer services. “They begged me to do it,” she says. So she set up an eyebrow grooming station in the tiny space.  “Eyebrows changed the business, it was a segue into other things.” While her shop was growing, so too was a freelance career as a makeup artist, working with beauty expert/entrepreneur Andrea Fairweather Bailey’s Fairweather Faces.  The late Eric Spearman had been the makeup artist to singer Dianne Reeves and upon his passing she didn’t work with an artist until Shalea came along to a shoot at the Thompson Hotel. From working with Reeves to interior designer Sheila Bridges on her television show to creating the signature look for Little Mama, she juggled servicing makeup clients with serving Apothecary customers.

A 2006 feature on Shalea in Black Enterprise. CD covers for Dianne Reeves and Lil Mama.

When Shalea’s friend Ruth shuttered her Mercer Street vintage shop, Shalea seized the opportunity to increase her square footage five-fold and secured the space. She was finally able to offer all the spa services Apothecary clients were clamoring for: facials, nail care, waxing, massage, makeup application, even ear candling.  And of course eyebrow styling.  (She groomed mine to perfection while I was there.)

Stations for makeup application and nail care.

“I had a vision of a business making people’s lives better. It’s come into fruition and evolves as needed,” she says.  The evolution of the business has led to her to develop an in-house, paraben-free, product line. “I wanted to create great product at a great price.” The four face care products, when used sequentially provide at-home treatment akin to a spa facial. The gentle Marine Enzyme Peel draws out impurities, exfoliates and stimulates circulation. The humectant-rich Chamomile Soothing Gel hydrates and soothes. The Green Coffee Moisture Masque deeply moisturizes and softens skin and fine lines. The ultra-hydrating Super Moisturizing Serum delivers anti-oxidants and botanicals to protect and nourish the skin.  I’ve tried them all, it is a great system, but my absolute favorite is the soothing gel, it feels wonderful! My skin breathed a blissful, “Ahhh…”  Though each product is individually sold, Shalea smartly introduced a trial-sized sampler kit.

The Facial-to-Go Sample Set got me hooked, I’ll be back for more.

The body care line consists of light body oils and emollient lotions, each infused with synergistic blends of botanical essences.

Walker’s Custom Blend Body Oil and Body Lotion

She’s a student of global skin care practices, traveling to a different country each year to “explore the skin care culture” of each region. She’s discovered that the French embrace technological advances; in Germany “stringent” use of natural ingredients is followed and in Greece, they use mastic gums. Her research informs the development of her products.  At Walker’s Apothecary, she wants to create “an experience, a discovery” for her clients and “now that we have our own products, people can take a bit of us home.”

We took our interview upstairs to her home above the spa to check out some of her favorite things…

1. My Couch. She found a pretty yellow and cream récamier in need of a little TLC at a Salvation Army store. “I paid $60 for it, thinking I’m gonna get it upholstered one day.”  To complement her spa decor and withstand heavy use, she had it revamped in durable silver and grey vinyl.

This bit of vintage glam now resides in her living room.

2. Fragrance Collection. An “indulgent, decadent luxury,” her growing collection of scents is an “obsession. I can forfeit a pair of shoes, but not my perfume.”

In current rotation: Susanne Lang Tamboti Wood; Pierre Bourdon Iris Poudre, Frederic Malle; Beth Nonte Russell Forever Lily; by Kilian Back to Black Aphrodisiac; Tom Ford Black Orchid; Guerlain Elixir Charnel; Sarah Horowitz Perfect Kiss; Jo Malone French Lime Blossom and Kiehl’s Forest Rain.

3. Journals. Journaling since she was twelve, she keeps them on hand, buying them by the stack.

Among her collection, recycled leather journals from Florentine company, Ciak.  Available through JournalingArts.com

4. Turkish Earrings. She doesn’t do a lot of accessorizing, but she likes the melding of gold and silver, the fringe detail and the manageable size of the gift from her boyfriend.

Her sweetie picked up the fringed lion cabochons during his travels to Turkey.

5. Montauk, Off-season. “It’s so laid back. April, early May no one is on the beach, and even if other folks are there it is like your own private beach. I just drink champagne, sit on the beach and relax into the view.”

Montauk Lighthouse Sunrise, © All rights reserved, Oldsamovar.

6. Hard Cheeses. She loves the dryness; the texture of an aged Parmesan, the nuttiness of a Manchego.

Queso Manchego from La Mancha, Spain is one of the hard ripened cheeses available at The Cheese Store in Hoboken, NJ, just ten minutes away.

7. Karen Oh. “I saw her perform [with her band Yeah Yeah Yeahs] at Liberty State Park, her energy was so live!”

Yeah Yeah Yeahs perform “Heads Will Roll. “

8.Hôtel de Ville. Also known as Le Marais, Paris’ fourth arrondissement was her stomping ground during a one-month visit to the City of Light. She enjoyed the melange of Old Paris and what she’s dubbed “New Age” Paris with its eclectic mix of bistros and boutiques.

Hôtel de Ville, the City Hall from which the area derives its name. Photo: Trey Ratcliff.

9. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. “Kate, the somberness of the music, I loved it.”

The official film trailer.

10. Helen Julia Soft Mink Candle. As a purveyor of fragrant goodies, Shalea has certainly tested her share of aromatic candles. She ranks the bold rose/geranium scent from the Helen Julia line of hand-poured soy candles among her favorites.

Soft Mink, one of several aromatic blends created with love by Tamiko Hargrove for HelenJulia Fragranced Candles.  Each candle is packaged in an elegant velvet pouch.

The Trove: Barney Bishop September 23, 2010

Holding court on West Broadway.

The alliteratively named Barney Bishop was graced with a name befitting his dapper bearing. When we met for coffee recently at Soho’s Ground Support, he sported cufflinks in his white herringbone, French-cuff shirt and a silk pocket square in the breast pocket of his striped linen sport coat.  Relaxing the look a bit were dark denims and a crepe soled loafer.  He’d just wrapped up a semester in the Master’s program in Public Relations and Corporate Communications at NYU and actually had time to sit and chat a while.  As we sat outside, several well-dressed confrères passed by, cigars in tow, asking Barney if he’d be heading to nearby “smoker’s sanctuary,” OK Cigars, where he’s been known to partake of a stogie or two.

When the fragrance connoisseur asked what I was wearing, I sheepishly confided that though I’d intended to dazzle with a sophisticated scent that had long since faded, his perceptive nose was picking up on my Whole Foods lavender hand sanitizer.  Thus began our convo about one of his great passions.  As far back as he can remember, he would steal away to his parent’s bedroom to inhale the aromas wafting from his father’s dresser. His dad would purchase fragrance sets only to get the practical, cooling, scented powders; the bottles of Aramis, Tuscany and so on would go unused, but would trigger a nascent love in his first-born.

In 1994 while working at Saks Fifth Avenue, Jean Paul Gaultier made an in store appearance promoting his new perfume and I remember getting a whiff of it and thinking to myself, this is amazing…what interesting notes. Although it was for women, I wondered why I couldn’t find anything as interesting for men. From that point I was addicted to the power of fragrance.

- From the December 2007 launch of Barney’s blog, Fragrant Moments.

The genesis of the blog is in the exchanges on fragrance between the PR professional and his kindred tonsorial and sartorial spirit, Brian Boye, the Fashion and Grooming Director of Men’s Health. Barney was feeling a creative void and found that “jotting down notes on fragrance” was satisfying.  “It is a labor of love” that is growing– a perfumer even queried him about creating a scent. “Maybe in time,” Barney says.  For now, he is “really having fun with the journey. Though August Bishop was a shared experience and I cherish it, this is mine.”

I met Barney eons ago when his Brooklyn College classmate, the enterprising Dexter Wimberly pulled him in on a freelance assignment getting the word out about Detroit-based designer Maurice Malone. I was working up a fashion story on African-American designers for Essence and I was impressed with the professionalism of the young men.  I had no idea that Barney juggled jobs at Saks Fifth Avenue and UPS and Dexter was a party-promoting, underground rapper.  Dexter’s growing music contacts led him to focus on PR/Marketing full-time and he approached Barney with the idea to create a PR agency.  Barney naively asked, “What’s that?”  The reply?  “What we’ve been doing.”  So in 1995, they launched August Bishop, LLC, the lofty name a combination of Dexter’s birth month and Barney’s surname.  Though he quit the Saks gig, Barney, embracing “working class stability,” continued his UPS job at night.

The young agency got their “big break” in 1998 snagging The Coca Cola Company as a client, which gave them business credibility to land Adidas in 2000. At the time the 3-stripes needed to move “outside the shadow of the [iconic] shell toe sneaker,” the sports fanatic recalls. “We blew the project out of the water.  We over delivered what they expected,” garnering press from not only the usual suspects, like The Source and XXL, but from such publications as ID and One Magazine.  “We did 10 or 11 launches for them, major.” Then Virgin Mobile USA came knocking in 2002 with the pay-as-you-go concept.  “It was not considered sexy,” connoted bad credit, but “we spun the story of [Richard] Branson’s maverick approach, did the consumer launch and within 9 months the program attracted 1/2 million new subscribers.” 2005 brought the “very important client,” L’Oréal as well as their final year of business.  The agency had “a great run,” ten years, but the economy changed things and there were cash flow issues, even with big-name clients. The gents grew “tired of juggling, robbing Peter to pay Paul” and decided to “keep it moving.”

During the August Bishop heyday: Barney Bishop and Dexter Wimberly.

The post-August Bishop years have been wrought with love, fraught with loss and filled with tremendous personal growth.  Robert Bishop, the steadfast 37-year employee of Kingsbrook Jewish Hospital known affectionately as “Pops,” instilled a sense of propriety in his sons, Barney and Lamont.  The sportsman of Bajan legend (in basketball and “one the best wing halves in the game” of football) has been absolute hero to his boys, “communicating many things–values, responsibility…tying ties, grooming.”  Lamont’s doctoral thesis in psychology was on the “influence of authority on Black males. He was getting his PhD because of his experience with my Dad.”

Robert Bishop, athletic hero to Barbados; life hero to his sons. When asked about the secret to his 44-year marriage to the beautiful Eula, he says, “we just work together.”

The family was shattered in May of last year when doctoral candidate and new father, Lamont suddenly and inexplicably passed away. “It rocked us. It was so unexpected,” Barney recounts.  It is in the education advocate Lamont’s memory that Barney has begun graduate school.  “Lamont was super smart–dean’s list all through college.  He could wear the skin of the homeboy and turn on the intellect when he needed to.”

Sorrow turned to joy when a few months later, Barney’s girlfriend of eight years, Eliana Ramos, in a gutsy move, topped their “meet cute” (actually on their second meeting when they each went in to plant a hello kiss on the cheek, their lips met) with an “engaged cuter.”  Eli told her man that she was taking him on a surprise trip and that he should bring something nice to wear.  “I’m particular about my clothes, so I set out a few things for her to choose,” the appropriate garments for the occasion.  At some point in flight, Eliana told Barney to close his eyes; she had a surprise for him.  When he opened them, there were “rings in front of me. I instantly matured.”  “I want to marry you,” she said. “I was speechless,” he remembers. “You’re making me nervous, say something,” she said. “Yes, I’ll marry you, but I need to call my pops for his blessing,” he responded.

When they landed, in Maui, no less, Barney called home.  “Eliana proposed and wants to get married this weekend.”  His dad replied, “you know I’d like to see this but you completely have my blessing.  She’s great!.”  She’d arranged everything in advance so they married at sunset, “no stress, on the beach.”

Of his lovely bride, Barney says “I had never seen her look more beautiful!” Read Eliana’s account on her fantastic blog, A Chica Bakes.

After a couple of hours it became clear that Barney enjoys communion– with family, with the fellas, with his love; that the experience of food, drink, sport, even fragrance is best enjoyed shared.  Check his trove and you too will see…

1. Eliana’s Chocolate Chunk Cookies. “They are so rich…She uses dark chocolate off the bar,” he says of his wife’s variant on the humble chocolate chip. “She makes the batter one day, bakes another. The batter develops as it rests…silky, delicious.”

Chocolate Chunk Cookies, © A Chica Bakes.

2. Couch/Quiche Sundays. The Bishop’s enjoy bistro chic from the comfort of home on Sundays when Eliana whips up a mean quiche, a little salad and mimosas to wash it all down. “We just veg out on the couch and watch the Food Network until it’s time to fight over who’s going to make dinner,” he laughs. Joining them in the Sunday sofa chill is their long-haired, miniature dachshund, Kingston.

BB chills with the incredibly photogenic Kingston.

3. Fragrance. With a highly developed and discerning sense of olfaction, Barney  has been a passionate collector of fragrances since childhood. Everyone who knows him, knows this. Whilst in Paris in 2008 for Eliana’s marathon run, Barney made his way to highly regarded French perfumer, Frédéric Malle to indulge in their scent chambers–”nothing to interrupt the scent experience.” He delighted in the moment as a non-French-speaking, African-American, het man “in this frou-frou place” where “fragrance became the bridge to communication.” When in broken English the shop girl asked him what he was drawn to, his sophisticated response made her “erupt in a smile” and bring out a fragrance for him to sample.  He sniffed and asked if it contained Cumin.  She laughed.  Affirmative. “We bonded,” he says, “dialogued about it,” as best they could.  Before he realized that last summer’s in-flight surprise was a marriage proposal, Barney, true fragrance aficionado, thought that upon opening his closed eyes he’d be presented with a bottle of Musc Ravageur from Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle.

Though he counts 35-40 fragrances in his personal collection, one that consistently tops his list is Rose 31 from Le Labo.

4. Dad’s Steamed Kingfish.  What makes it so good? “It’s just the way he seasons it…plus we get to sit and eat together and rap about whatever is on our minds while throwing back a brew.”

Bishop, père is skilled not only in sports, but in the Bajan art of steaming fish.

5. Killian’s Irish Red. Though he may have had “an occasional Heineken at a lime, West Indian talk for party,” Barney once “hated beer.”  That changed on St. Patrick’s Day 2009 when he had drinks at an East side bar featuring specials on Killian’s Irish Red lager and Johnnie Walker: “the hops and barley of Killian’s offered a depth and complexity that just grabbed me. I drank three more along with shots of Johnnie and have never looked back,” he says with winking smile.

Slow roasting the barley to a rich, caramelized malt lends Killian’s its distinctive ruddy hue and creamy finish.

6. Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken. “There’s just so much damn flavor I can’t even describe it, but I have it every time I go there.”  And he knows good chicken– his southern-born mama can fry the yardbird too.”

“Northern Fried Chicken” from Blue Ribbon Brasserie. Photo, Robyn Lee.

7. Lamont’s Bottle of Penhaligon’s Lp No.9. The popular 1999 Penhaligon’s fragrance for men was one that Barney had “outgrown” and given to his brilliant, beloved younger brother who seemed to fancy it.  The well-loved bottle resided on Lamont’s dresser and provided solace and connection when Barney faced the unthinkable– his brother’s sudden passing.  He shares the story on his blog, Fragrant Moments.

A cherished, fragrant memento.

8. Family. “Family is central to who I am.”  When Robert of St. Michael, Barbados and Eula of Pantego, NC wed, they set the foundation for an extremely close nuclear bond. “We, us four, were mad tight.” Lamont’s death was so unexpected, “it rocked us,” after a life filled with love, respect and no major family riffs.  And as the family cherishes Lamont’s memory, they adore his look-a-like son Aidan and mom Aquila Lovell and welcome Eli, the new Mrs. Bishop.

The “Four Musketeers:” Lamont, Barney, Mom and Dad Bishop in a treasured family portrait.

9. Have a Little Faith. Regardless of Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie fame, sports fan Barney knew him as an ESPN journalist.  He came across Albom’s poignant tale juxtaposing the lives of two men of differing faiths and races, while searching for an in-flight read at an airport bookseller.

Lovingly rendered in Albom’s hands, the faith journeys of affluent Philadelphia’s Rabbi Albert Lewis and inner-city Detroit’s Pastor Henry Covington provide inspiration.

10. Latin Jazz. He hit upon some Latin rhythms while scrolling his tuner in search of WBGO many years ago.  He began to listen “with pen and paper close by” to make note of the tunes which intrigued him and would make the trek to HMV or Tower Records to needle drop at their listening stations.

With their remarkable mimicry of instrumental sounds, Cuban a capella group, ‘Vocal Sampling,’ “blows my mind,” Barney enthuses.  Their version of Afro-Cuban classic,’(Castellano) Que Bueno Baila Usted’ is his favorite in their repertoire.

Blogged Determination July 24, 2008

I don’t have a blogroll.  My one-column blog format doesn’t allow much room for one.  I would, however, like to give a shout to a few folks I know who also find themselves in the addictive realm of the blogosphere.

Grrrl-about-town Nicole Moore has been kicking it in cyberspace for years.  The veteran blogger keeps her readership of smart, progressive urban grrrls informed and inspired with her savvy, of-the-moment observations in her clever, distinctive voice with theHotness Grrrl.

The always dapper Barney Bishop has an urbane, well-designed blog, Fragrant Moments, with his musings on men’s fragrance and interesting interviews with a diverse array of gentlemen who share a passion for it.

In addition to her post as Adjunct Lecturer at Hunter College, journalist, essayist and author of Crystelle Mourning, Eisa Ulen Richardson provides incisive social commentary and a forum for thoughtful and thought-provoking discussion at her website, EisaUlen.com.

Ion, the blog from the design studio, Chemistry, offers the wit, design inspiration and the intriguing collections of principal Todd Wilson in a pristine, minimalist layout. He also shares treasures discovered in his obsessive web-trawling.

I met the multi-hyphenate Evolyn Brooks a few years back when she served as a senior producer and I as wardrobe supervisor on Telepictures’ Queen Latifah, but she has for years created lovely handcrafted soft goods which she now sells online at In My Solitude Boutique. Her blog, a natural companion site to the shop, is a testament to tapping into one’s inner fire–living, loving and creating with fearless abandon.

Rob Fields started Bold As Love, his ruminations on “the mainstreaming of Black rock and the evolution of the new Black imagination.” in February of last year. His passionate immersion into the culture yields timely posts on a genre which embraces elements from a vast musical spectrum, and shatters myths about the very nature of Black identity.

Install This, the visual diary of sculptor and educator, Alexandra Zealand, is the reportage of her work-in-progress and outreach to her distant critique community.  To view her beautiful completed works, also visit her website, AlexZealand.com.

Alexandra Zealand’s  Untitled, 2006 (work-in-progress)

As Executive Editor of Real Simple, Corynne Corbett‘s name reads high on the masthead (and on her posts to their blog,) but her latest title, founder of That Black Girl Site is also one of which she is most proud.  An outgrowth of her personal blog, That Black Girl Blogging, the site is part social network, part blog community exchanging ideas on spirit, politics, lifestyle, health, finance, entertainment and culture.

Here, There and Yon, expands on designer Dorian Webb‘s “belief in enjoying all the random, little things that make life worth living, and prevent us from going insane (at least for now)”  like great food, wine and conversation as well as a humorous sense of the absurd.

In spite of her hectic schedule, Jacquette Timmons, CEO of Sterling Investment Management, financial coach and author of the forthcoming book, Financial Intimacy, still manages to find time to blog at Sterling Choices.

Talented writer (and fellow DC-native) Kenji Jasper is also a prolific blogger, first there is Live from the Grand Lodge: Meditations on Being Young, Gifted and Black on the Writing Rack; then The Cake Man, the online home of his alter-ego, D, author of the novels Got and Cake and finally, Culinary Intercourse, his pursuit of the gustatory godhead.

On Food Lovers Like Me, “self-taught, around-the-way gourmet” Vanessa Bush also shares her culinary quest as she endeavors to transform herself from a “foodie wannabe into a master chef.”  She brings the same spot-on clarity to her posts that she does in her other career as a writer/editor, prompting you to action, be it prepare that recipe, try that restaurant or take that class.

Once again I blog about artist-friend Xenobia Bailey who posts an online Artist’s Journal Her subhead says it all: “My inspirations, Memoirs, Images & Thoughts. Grammatical Disclaimer: This is a quick-fast, in-a-hurry, one-woman, artist-on-the-run journal, please forgive type-o’s, grammar/syntax, incomplete (printed) thoughts and my grocery list. Y’all know I mean to do good.”

Lost City Products‘ awesome Chemistry-designed website features an incredible blog which with its lyrical writing evokes the eclectic beauty of the diverse influences on their collection of hand-embroidered textiles.

“The road to Urgup is pure rock and roll. A flag of Lost City silk flutters on a vagabond tree…”  Lost City