My Uniform
Beauty Favorites From a Fashion Exec Turned Chic Basketweaver
With her soft-matte red lips, chunky gold chain necklace, Miu Miu beret, mile-long legs extending from billowy bloomer shorts, and an oversize basket swinging from her arm, Erin Pollard looks incredible. The former fashion exec and Brooklyn-based mom founded Underwater Weaving Studio—a gorgeous line of luxe, handwoven baskets that are as beautiful as statement handbags as they are for home decor—in 2023, and the brand has taken off. Pollard and her mom hand weave them all themselves: there are quaint breakfast trays, rustic flower bouquet sleeves, something called a boob basket that’s never not sold out, a pleasingly giant “it” handbag, and more.
Pollard’s style balances between the masculine and feminine. “I’m typically bra-less and wearing one of my husband’s t-shirts,” she says. “I focus mostly on my skin—I like it to look bare and bouncy with moisture, so goop vitamin C and face cream are my best friends. But I add a red lip, and, poof, I’m a woman again.”
Pollard grew up in Maine watching her mom weave baskets as a hobby. As an adult, the then-fashion executive turned to weaving, an antidote to the grind. “Work can be overwhelming,” she says. “You know: ‘hey, I Slacked you about the text that I emailed you about.’ Making something with my hands felt meditative, and I liked that it connected me to my childhood and my mother.” When she started posting her baskets on Instagram, people really responded. As her creations caught on, the fashion world responded, too: Designer Maria McManus sent models down her runway clutching Pollard’s whimsical creations, and Pollard hosted basket weaving classes for brands like Ulla Johnson, Rhode, Shopbop, and Mama Farm, actress and model Isabella Rossellini’s Long Island party venue and bed and breakfast. She also launched a weaving club ; members get bi-monthly basket weaving kit deliveries, as well as video tutorials and invites to weaving parties and events.
Pollard, once a team member of ours here at goop, is as passionate about clean beauty as she is about style.
MY LOW-MAINTENANCE RED LIP
“I’m traveling a lot right now—up next is teaching basket weaving at a retreat for female founders in the Cotswolds—so I’m not interested in the perfect red lip, I don’t have an ‘application process’, I just put this on. Easy. It smooths right on and stays put.”
NO-MAKEUP MAKEUP
“My eyebrows are fading away, so I put them back on with this pencil. It looks super natural and clean. I’m not doing a bold brow—I see TikTok makeup videos and I’m like, ‘good lord.’ I just want my brows to be there: I fill in the places that are sparse, I don’t go outside the lines or create a new scene.
“I dab the smallest amount of this moisturizing balm onto the apples of my cheeks to add a little warmth. I blend it in with my fingers until my skin beams. The tint doesn’t even look like makeup. I’m really into all the colors in this set.”
HOW I GET THE GLOWING SKIN
“I love exfoliating with this cleanser. It smooths my pores, washes away the day, makes my skin look fresh, and the texture—little beads gently buff my skin—is just so fun and sensorial. You can feel it doing something.
“My skin is dry. Like I could pour olive oil over it and probably not break out. Every morning I smooth on this vitamin C serum made with hyaluronic acid. It’s brightening and powerful, with the hit of moisture I need. My skin looks noticeably different since I’ve been using it. I massage some onto my neck, too.
“Next I layer on this cream—it’s just amazingly moisturizing and creamy and feels so soothing on my skin. I also apply it every night, after retinol.”
“Last, I slather myself in sunscreen. I love that this one leaves a glow, and it’s a little skin-perfecting, too.
“At night, I use this retinol-alternative serum. I love the firming, plus I’m obsessed with how everything from True Botanicals smells—herby and nice. I layer the face cream on top almost like a mask. It cushions my skin.
“Also part of my uniform: Cutting out alcohol last year did wonders for my well being. I eat dinner at 5PM like I’m 90 years old, and this beautiful Martini bath that smells incredible and is the most relaxing thing on the planet before bed.”
