Some of us find inner peace through guided meditation. Others go for a run or snuggle with their felines. Eva Mendes, on the other hand, finds her joy at the kitchen sink.
“Even when I have to do work, when I have to get something done — I cannot do it with my kitchen being a mess. And specifically my sink being messed up,” she says.
Like so many of us, the Covid-19 pandemic turned Mendes into something of a germaphobe. The mom of Esmeralda Amada, 7, and Amada Lee, 6, with her longtime partner Ryan Gosling, “went into super-clean mode,” she says. “I was going through sponges like crazy. And I was realizing God, these sponges suck.”
So she’s partnered with Skura Style, which makes antimicrobial sponges. Now she’s an active partner in the business. So active, in fact, that she waxes poetic about sponges the way a designer expounds on patterns and fabrics.
“It rinses dry really, really quickly. It harbors way less bacteria and it fades when it’s time to change it out,” she says. “Your sponge will tell you when it’s time.”
And that’s a good thing because Mendes says her domain is the kitchen. “My man cooks. I do the dishes, happily. I find it meditative. It makes me happy. I can practice my mindful meditation because maybe pre-kids, I used to do TM — transcendental meditation — and stuff. Now it’s like, are you kidding me? I don’t have five minutes to sit. But right now I’ll take it where I can get it. And, usually, it’s when I’m in the kitchen and that’s when it happens for me.”
But when she’s on the road, she likes to have comforts by her side as well. Mendes knows what she likes and how she likes it. Here’s what she always carries with her when she’s traveling.
$498 at Cuyana
$110 at Amazon and True Botanicals
$34 at Houzz
$7.99 at Target
These microfiber wipes are a great way to cut down on single-use paper towels. Each of the Wipe Envy cloths can be used up to 20 times?— wet or dry. Plus, they’re machine-washable so you can just pop them in for a wash before their next use.
$35 Coop Sleep Goods and Amazon
If she has to leave home, Mendes takes the scent of her nearest and dearest with her. “I do have a travel pillow, but it's just a kid pillow that I travel with — it's not one of those fancy [ones]," she says. "I always take a used pillowcase that we've been using because it has the smell of home or our family, so it's just a super-small pillow." The Coop Sleep Goods pillow is machine-washable, making it easy to take on the road and then wash when you get home.
$29 at Violet Grey
$17.99 at Amazon
$35 at The Wrap Life
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