Cool people like cool things, which is why we asked Ali Michael to share a taste of her taste on Perfectly Imperfect.

Ali Michael is a model based in Los Angeles. She’s worked with everyone from Chanel, Dior and Balenciaga, to brands like Praying, Supreme, Parade, Online Ceramics, and Heavn. Ali has always been on the cutting edge of cool, and she showed a generation of girls you could be a model and post like a normal person on social medial without setting toxic beauty expectations. This may be a bit more common now, but in the mid 2010s she made headlines by having fun on her alt insta, @ffrankcadillac. Lucky for us, Ali Michael is here to tell us what she’s been into.

Without further ado

Ali Michael (instagram)

🌞 😎 Sun Exposure

I was a pretty tan kid until around age 12 when I abandoned the outside world for the Internet. When I started modeling at age 14 the extreme paleness i developed as a result of social isolation became part of my commodified aesthetic and I was told to maintain it which I became obsessive about. In August of 2017 I went to Jamaica and wore linen pants, a long sleeve mock neck SPF shirt and a hat nearly the entire time. Over the last few years as I’ve gotten older and recognized the value of actually enjoying my life, I’ve been spending way more time in the sun. I think sun exposure in moderation is good for you.

🌿 Weed

I love to smoke weed sometimes

🧘 Biomat

My former roommate has a Biomat and every night when I lived with her I would lay on it for about two hours and renourish my etheric body from a breakup I had just gone through. We would also do energy work on each other and have the receiver lay down on the mat which often felt psychedelic. I decided to purchase my own this past winter and it’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever bought. I lay on it almost daily and sometimes will fall asleep and wake up extremely overheated and disoriented in a good way.

🤖 🐄 Mechanical Bulls

I grew up with horses and have always specifically loved riding more “spirited” ones which has resulted in me being injured and even trampled (one of my front teeth is fake for this reason), so I really love riding mechanical bulls. I recently went to a party at the Saddle Ranch on Sunset Boulevard where a bull is available to ride.

😱 Screaming

I think screaming is good for you especially when you’re in an open space far away from people. Sometimes I try to scream in my car but I feel Iike I’m just bathing in the energetic reverberations of my screams. But I think it’s important to find somewhere to go do that sometimes.

💆 Self Massage

When I feel an anxiety spiral I find it really helpful to massage my feet with oil to reground and remind myself that I have a body.

📺 🎵 Bjork Youtube Documentaries

Anytime I need to be soothed or particularly inspired I’ll type in “Bjork documentary” on YouTube and either watch the one that is the making of Medulla or the one where she’s talking to David Attenborough. I also watch her old live shows a lot. I will really watch any video that has anything to do with her. I love the way she’s so carnal and wild and elemental but also holds this trust in divination - I feel like she merges both polarities of what it is to be a human so beautifully.

🚗 🚶‍♀️ Parking far away from your destination

I’ve noticed since moving to LA that when people are driving in cars they have this sense of urgency to park as close as possible to wherever they’re entering or exiting from. But in New York a very normal occurrence would be struggling to carry two full and tearing grocery bags in my arms while being pummeled with freezing cold sleet for fifteen minutes before walking up five flights of stairs to my apartment. That sucks but also builds a resilience and a welcoming of discomfort that I feel runs deep. Los Angeles weather is primarily sunny and pleasant so simply putting forth a bit more effort to walk more is really not painful at all. I will add that I am horrible at parallel parking and parking in high-intensity environments (like on the street when there’s traffic behind me) so admittedly this practice has also been influenced by my driving around until I find a spot on the end that doesn’t require any quick geometric calculations of wheel turning and reversing - but I do genuinely find the little bit of extra walking helpful for my mental and physical well being.

Follow Ali on Instagram.

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