Friday Night Light is a series that focuses on interesting people and their oft interesting routines. This week is no exception as we spoke with Alpha-H Global Educator, Alexis Clarino — who is one hell of a writer.
Alexis Clarino
Global Educator at Alpha-H, local busybody, forty and fabulous
[Editor's note: Alexis is not on social media, but can be booked for free consultations here!]
www.calendly.com/alexisly
“Allowing oneself to be inactive is a boundary that prevents overextending.”
My week changes quite a bit depending on open projects. I’m usually working on content, translating clinical abstracts to digestible storytelling, hosting trainings, and filming how-to’s that make me cringe on playback. Overall, creating approachable information for inclusive audiences.
Beyond the thrilling events surrounding my refreshing Outlook, I spend most of my time walking around being NOSY. As a native New Yorker, I carry the dominant gene to get all up in people’s business. I love talking to strangers, seeing “what’s going on”, exploring new establishments, lamenting shuttered ones, checking out galleries and impromptu trains to the beach when possible. The pinnacle of delight is finding a good piece of furniture or vase on the curb.
By 6:01, I am already in bed, conjuring the energy to take a Dr. Teal’s Menstrual Relief bath and wash off my makeup before Jeopardy! starts. So, I guess you could say 6:00 is when I turn 60, like Cinderella at midnight. Cute!
In honor of our circadian rhythm, I rarely turn on lights, and they are definitely OFF as I approach an accelerated bedtime. If I haven’t eaten a bowl of ice cream in the tub, you can find that step here in front of one of the four segments of local news I watch religiously and know far too much about each anchor’s personal life as a result. Hi Sade and Lee!
A highlight of Friday evening is knowing construction beneath and on either side of my apartment will cease for two tranquil days. I’ve caught the cherry pickers sneakin’ a peek more than once into these sheer curtains, SIRS!
I am also very, very stoked to be on no one’s time but my own. Sleeping in if I can, waking up early to the stillness in the streets even better. The mental freedom to take things as they come is cerebral sanctuary.
Before Covid, there was no winding down, only turning up. I have since learned the importance of being lazy and doing nothing. Allowing oneself to be inactive is a boundary that prevents overextending. Honestly, life-changing. I feel healthier, more focused, and less unstable with permission to plant myself in a pair of fuzzy tie-dye pants I alone can enjoy in solitude.
Now, Friday night is akin to plugging in my seven-year-old iPad that also takes two days to recharge.
My skincare routine is the one time I fully commit and focus on care for myself. The rest of the time, I’m testing the limits of survival with late-night snacking in place of meals and not drinking water. Anyway, I start with a silk scrunchie and double cleanse with two Allure Best of Beauty Award winners; Melting Moment Cleansing Balm followed by Balancing Cleanser, a perfect pair to remove my highway divider thick eye makeup and the ten pounds of pollution I’ve collected while walking around nosing about. This second step is where I’ll switch it up every other night. Tonight, I’ll use our Vitamin A Serum, a lovely retinol for those looking for a gentle push and plump. Tomorrow, I’ll use Generation Glow: a sensitive-friendly fruit and Lactic acid essence to polish away texture. I find alternating between retinol and acids throughout the week works best with balancing my skin, retaining moisture, and keeping lines at bay. I will follow with either Vitamin E if I’ve been PICKING or Vitamin B if I feel a little imbalanced, congested, or thirsty. I seal this all up with my new absolute favorite Golden Haze Face Oil, a juicy blend of lightweight plant oils and Australian botanicals that leaves such a beautiful finish I often include it in my daytime routine, as well.
After washing up, I get cozy in a secondhand Novogratz fold-out (mustard yellow for visual sake) and start futzing with my bunny ears to get a signal for either Dateline or 20/20, whichever isn’t a repeat. I am now in 70’s style blue light blocking aviators from Brooklyn's own Gabriel + Simone I got in a clearance bin at Lockwood. Here’s where I’ll apply a lip mask (currently Tatcha Kissu, adorable). Sometimes I use a scalp massager, but I find it just makes me want a haircut. Himalayan lamps surround me, although the bulbs have long blown and my inability to replace them is of shocking incompetence, so I sit next to these giant cubes of salt, hoping my own hot hair activates them. I keep dried eucalyptus and lavender nearby and crunch the leaves between my fingers to release the devouring scent of “GOODNIGHT.”
Before drifting off, I create my own sensory deprivation with hot pink ear plugs, two(!) eye masks, a pillow over my head, cradling a white noise machine, and kicking my socks off only halfway. I am disturbingly particular when it comes to sleep. If someone were to break in, I feel like this visual would be my greatest defense.
I’m always getting into something on the weekend. Whether it’s a guilty pleasure Maxxinista run at College Point, a Garden Center spree at Lowes, watching sheep shearing at Queens Farm, or attending the VMA’s. But Saturday morning, I most look forward to a dry inbox, a giant coffee milkshake I’ve convinced myself is healthy, and watering/talking to my 98 houseplants. 😊
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