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Welcome toWell Fed, a column that celebrates how we nourish our bodies, from face to plate.
Inez & Vinoodh
Padma Lakshmi and I are neighbors.
We hit the same Manhattanspice shopto stock our pantries.
(Those chic tasting spoons in all her cooking TikToks?
Lakshmi on location for Taste the Nation, returning May 5.
That’s where she gets em.)
“This is the first place I came to from India when I was four.
But New York feels like home.”
Craig Blankenhorn
Lakshmi is finally back in town after spending most of 2022 on the road.
“It was fantastic.
I used to live in London and I loved being back.
Craig Blankenhorn
In fact, I moved back into my old neighborhood after a couple of weeks,” she says.
“This season did feel a lot different.
Diversifying what viewers and readers consume both physically and culturally is something Lakshmi is known for.
Craig Blankenhorn
Lakshmi on location for Taste the Nation, returning May 5.
“It’s why you create a show yourself.
But now it’s just in the zeitgeist because of Trump’s anti-immigrant pestiferousness.
Lakshmi filming Taste the Nation’s second season.
And I don’t think I would’ve gotten the opportunity to make it 10 years ago.”
(“Who the fuck wants to eat pure butter?
Why do you want to drag a cracker through butter?…
It’s meant for bread.
But she’s also found another benefit to reaching younger generations through social media: spreading endometriosis awareness.
],” she says of the awareness social apps can facilitate.
It’s much beyond wellness.
“Many people don’t even know they have it.
“I’ve boxed for 20 years.
For me, working out serves manifold benefits.
It keeps my body active, it staves off feeling stagnant or rickety.
I lift weights three times a week, I skip rope, I do stairs.
Boxing has given me physical confidence.
And when I did Pilates, it gave me a lot of balance.”
These perks go well beyond fitness.
“It’s also the only time no one can call me or email me,” she says.
“I don’t need makeup; it’s just me and the gym and I love it.
I lift weights, Ilisten to music, I row, I jump rope.
It’s hugely restorative, both mentally and physically.”
To me, that’s the ultimate luxury.”
Much of her skin care is homegrown, too.
“I make my own honey.
Well, I don’t make it.
My bees make it.”
She clarifies: She has a beehive on her terrace.
“It’s totally contained,” she assures me.
So we’ve got tons of honey.”
“I use it on my face to kind of suck out all the impurities from my pores.
“And then once you get it on, you just play piano.”
She flutters all 10 fingers on her cheeks like a pianist on a keyboard.
“Just tap it.
It’s an antiseptic.”
If Im taking beauty advice from anyone so firmly planted in the culinary scene, it’s Lakshmi.
As for her objectively enviable signature waves, that’s more of a team effort.
Lakshmi filming Taste the Nation’s second season.
“I can’t do hair worth shit,” she says.
Now I’m usingK18orOlaplex, but it’s the same principle.
Her history with makeup, though, runs deeper.
I’m super beauty-focused.
“I was doing makeup at seven years old; I used to do my aunt’s.”
Beauty was a family affair: She remembers her grandmother hand-making their kajal, a traditional kohl liner.
“I always wore eyeliner, for as long as I can remember.
I remember wearing it when I was four.
All [South] Indian girls do, and boys wear it too.”
Lakshmi also recalls doing her own glam backstage out of necessity while modeling in the ’90s.
In 2018, Lakshmi releaseda capsule collectionwith MAC Cosmetics “I still use it!
I love it!”
Finding common inspiration through food and makeup is something Lakshmi finds entirely natural.
“I am that sensorial person.
Mixing colors is like cooking.
It’s likemaking my perfume.
It’s like making mybath oil.
“I’ve just always tried to push against the open door.”
Read more about food and beauty here:
Now, watch a chef’s beauty routine:
