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Beauty has a way of summoning us. It beckons the spirit to try it on for size. We’re not just talking about the large Amazon delivery box full of exactly one bottle of toner that arrives at 7:26 p.m., minutes before it’s time to head out for dinner at Mother Wolf. Or the cosmetics pop-up fire sales. Or the probably too clever wheat-paste ads on fences trying to get you to walk inside the new flagship store. Beauty tempts us from different places — commercial, sacrilegious and sacred. It lures us in with the strength of its promise.

She’s staring at you in her metallic bikini as you pass by her on the 10. They’re walking in slow motion in a short procession through the Arts District as a cameraman films for a new campaign. He’s recommending the latest performance-enhancing supplement for your workout: Pedialyte. The images that one encounters in Los Angeles are fantastically marketed to Angelenos’ deepest desires. The brand ambassadors make you feel as if beauty is within reach. They look, for all intents and purposes, beautiful.

It’s easy to get caught up in ideals — what beauty should look like and why. The representations and oversimplifications are omnipresent. But no matter who is put forth to represent the correct version of the ideal — who is hired to be the standard bearer of real beauty — Angelenos are keen on finding ways to access beauty on their own terms. They set up shrines in the mirror. They lay their clothes out on the bed. They set up the makeup kit and put the record on to get in the zone. Ritual is about carving out space for the magic to happen.

What transpires in that space is the work of seeing beauty as it is, understanding its potential and realizing what it can be through labor. It takes practice to be and to become who or what one wants to be.

Toward a working definition of beauty. That’s what “Elevation” is all about. In this issue, we examine beauty as a state of being, a process of realization. We thought it would be nice to show you the magic of becoming that happens when the self is free to figure things out. So our contributors took the prompt and we're excited to show you what they came back with. Author Rembert Browne unpacks what it felt like coming of age as a boy without a hairline. Musician Arima Ederra tells us how L.A. gave her the air to embrace who she is. Writer Devan Díaz homes in on what tweezing can do for the soul. Critic Jason Parham explores healing through song, revisiting the oeuvre of the Smokey Robinson of hip-hop, Nate Dogg.

We also were interested in the beauty that unfolds when no one else is around. Filmmaker Rikkí Wright let us hang with her during her self-care sessions. Photographer Naima Green followed artist Lacey Lennon on her morning spiritual at Kenneth Hahn. Those aren't the only regimens we observed from up close. We won't spoil everything, but you might leave feeling inspired to adopt a routine of your own.

Just make sure you commit to the bit. “The great hope of beauty,” Parham reminds us in his Nate Dogg opus, “is to awaken.” Let "Elevation" be the alarm going off in your head to get out there and see the beauty for yourself.

Ian F. Blair
Editor in Chief


Image logo by Sean Dong For The Times


A man without a hairline

A man without a hairline

Coming of age between the salon and the Black barbershop  Read the story  👨🏾‍🦱  
Nate Dogg’s eternal harmonies live on in L.A. Nobody did it better — and never will

Nate Dogg’s eternal harmonies live on in L.A. Nobody did it better — and never will

Like our greatest practitioners of the form, Aretha and Marvin and Whitney and so on, Nate’s voice was a bridge, scrubbing away the pain of life and making room for its simple sweetness  Read the story  🕊  
The story of L.A. beauty past, present and future in one zine

The story of L.A. beauty past, present and future in one zine

There’s an energy radiating through the city. Lizzo’s hairstylist Shelby Swain, Hollywood’s Local 706, the nail artists of L.A. and @c0mptonkitty can show you what’s up  Read the story  💅🏾  
Issue 14 cover

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Issue 14: Elevation

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It’s a good time to pull your hair out

It’s a good time to pull your hair out

I still haven’t dealt with everything we’ve lived within the past two years, and I am beginning to distrust my memory of it. Fittingly, the new space above my eyes gives me a look of wonder  Read the story  👁  
The pleasures of performance with artist Lacey Lennon

The pleasures of performance with artist Lacey Lennon

With work that spans genres and disciplines, Lennon functions as part conductor, part witness  Read the story  🌱  
The mullet is the haircut that refuses to die

The mullet is the haircut that refuses to die

How a cut once deemed déclassé is now at the forefront of chicness  Read the story  💇🏻  
Arima Ederra wants to be a vessel for you

Arima Ederra wants to be a vessel for you

You’re always writing lyrics in your head. On ‘An Orange Colored Day,’ the L.A.-based singer shows what it looks like to get them down  Read the story  🎙  
The Black beauty routine as a metaphor

The Black beauty routine as a metaphor

Anything that has some sort of repetition puts you in a meditative, trance-like state. Getting ready intentionally allows you to zone out and be with your thoughts  Read the story  🧴  
The more you look at this you’ll see how beauty illuminates the evil in the world

The more you look at this you’ll see how beauty illuminates the evil in the world

‘The Value of Destruction Is Worth More Than The Value of Construction’ follows an old strategy: Seduce the viewer and have them stay with the work to see the truth  Read the story  🖼  
20 products from L.A. brands to help you feel beautiful inside and out this fall

20 products from L.A. brands to help you feel beautiful inside and out this fall

From Flamingo Estate mud bath to Black Girl Sunscreen to Ranavat Fortifying Hair Serum, elevation is the name of the game this season  Read the story  💧  
13 L.A. events, shows and drops to elevate your October calendar in all the right ways

13 L.A. events, shows and drops to elevate your October calendar in all the right ways

From the Ralph Lauren runway show to fashion week to Didion at the Hammer, the Drip Index can make your schedule hit  Read the story  👟