What Lola Kirke Can’t Live Without

At some point in my early 20s, as a girl from New York City, I got turned on to the idea of the American West. This friend who was from the mythical place of California told me about the piñon incense, and it became my favorite thing. I thought this spirit of adventure would manifest in its smells. The piñon was basically my way of manufacturing the essence of pioneers out there. [Editor’s note: Writer Caroline Bankoff has written about this same incense before.] So wherever I’ve traveled over the years, I’ve brought it with me, and it makes me feel like exactly where I want to be — in the mountains.

I’m a very thrifty individual and see so much waste everywhere. I think we as human beings have responsibilities to minimize that waste, and these water bottles have been a constant in my life since I became aware of the human footprint on the Earth. We all need to stay hydrated and drinking water is the secret to life and beauty and not being hung-over. Also, not spending money on bottles of water or adding to the mass of plastic on Earth is great. I like Klean Kanteen and Lifefactory water bottles. “Have a fucking water bottle” is my motto in life.

I’m wearing one right now! Cora makes them in New Orleans, and I just love them because they’re really easy and convenient for keeping everything you need right on you. Fanny packs have a reputation for being unsightly, but Cora’s are really beautifully designed without being crazy expensive.

So I have two Fenders actually — I have the regular acoustic guitar with a pickup, and I have a shell pink reissue of a Stratocaster that I bought online that was made in Japan. I really just love how simple Fender guitars are. They’re totally classic. I’ll play on them as much as I can, pretty much every day. I have my record coming out this summer and I put the single out in March so I’m always practicing and playing when I can.

Menstrual cups, I think, are the greatest things that have ever happened to women. You use one a year instead of an exorbitant amount of pads and tampons, and in my experience, they’re far more comfortable, too. And in a lot of countries women don’t have access to pads or tampons, and Ruby Cup has a one-for-one initiative where every time you buy one, they donate one to someone in need in a developing country. I really think if we are consuming we should at least do it in a responsible way that shares with others.

So my friend’s aunt works at Arbonne, and she set up this little facial party — it was like the Avon lady — and I went over there and learned that all skin products that aren’t vegan use animal byproducts, which are nothing I want on my skin. She told us, it was something like 1,500 chemicals that aren’t approved in Europe are approved by the FDA but Arbonne follows European regulations, so I was all about the products. The CC cream is my favorite because it’s a little bit of a tinted moisturizer, which is a nice beauty trick for hiding imperfections.

Tack is made in Los Angeles, and it’s sexy, comfortable, very fun non-gendered underwear. I love the idea of underwear that defies the regular standard. These are made for men and women and queer people and gender-nonconforming people. It’s for everyone. I have the one with the little angel on it and one with a clown. Even though clowns are scary, they’re not scary on the underwear.

My mom had this company and shop called Geminola for years, and I spent most of my early adult and late teen life working there, and so did a lot of my friends. It was this great boutique in the West Village that she recently shut, though the line is still available. It was such a pleasure because they were these vintage slips that she’d updated or dyed in this really easy, feminine way.