Sabina Socol
“I studied journalism and communication for seven years after graduating high school while doing various internships in French magazines such as ELLE, Grazia, and GQ. After that, I started working as a freelance writer, and then got a job at a high-end magazine as their Social Editor. I’ve always been into social media and everything, so when it sort of took off last summer I decided to quit my job to pursue this path, while writing for some of my favorite publications as a columnist.”
Sabina wears Paul Smith top, 3×1 jeans, Stone Paris earrings, Pascale Monvoisin rings, and Michel Vivien shoes.
On her warm social media presence:
“I’m a regular human, so I’m not always positive in my everyday life. Sometimes you just feel down! But I do like to use Instagram to spread carefree and more light stuff. I think it’s a great platform to get inspired by and to share things I like, like analog photography, for example, and outfits, of course. Besides that, I’m in a pretty happy place in my life right now, and maybe that just transpires!”
Sabina wears Paul Smith top, 3×1 jeans, Stone Paris earrings, Pascale Monvoisin rings, and Michel Vivien shoes.
“I understand how the picturesque and romantic vibe of the French girl lifestyle can be fascinating, especially for foreigners, but I believe it’s kind of a myth. Of course that lifestyle exists in Paris—maybe not all over France, so it would be better to talk about the Parisian woman instead of the French woman, because not all French women lead the same life and have the same style—but it’s been magnified and perfected by social media, and especially Instagram. It’s not at all a bad thing, though.”
“I’m not that big of an exercise addict. I used to go through phases where I’d go to the gym three to five times a week for like three months, and then I’d get sick of it and stop going all together. Now I’ve hired a private coach who I see once a week. I think it’s enough for me, just to stay in shape. I recently went to see a dietician and lost a lot of weight. I feel so much better now that I really know what’s good for me and for my shape. It’s important to feel good in your own skin.”
Sabina wears Reformation dress, Michel Vivien shoes, and Persée Paris necklace.
“I like to put the accent on makeup and a more sexy or studied outfit [when going out]. I like to wear my hair up in a ponytail and wear more eye makeup—with red lips, obviously—and I’ll wear leopard print or a sexy jumpsuit with heels, for example. All that, with some good music and a glass of wine!”
“I just transformed a guest room into a full dressing room, so it’s been much easier getting dressed since then. I like to have fun with clothes, so I don’t really think about it that much—I just play dress-up.”
Sabina wears Tory Burch jacket, Paul Smith top, 3×1 jeans, Stone Paris earrings, Pascale Monvoisin rings, and Michel Vivien shoes.
“I have two scents: one for winter and one for warmer days. The winter one is The Bewitching Yasmine by Penhaligon’s, and the summer one is Tam Dao by Diptyque.”
Sabina wears Paul Smith top, 3×1 jeans, Stone Paris Earrings, Pascale Monvoisin rings, and Michel Vivien shoes.
“For makeup, I mostly use MAC and Glossier products. I use a MAC cream blush and lipstick, and the Wowder powder from Glossier, along with their Haloscope highlighter. I’ve been addicted to highlighter lately.”
“I’m a smoker, so I’d say that’s a pretty bad habit. Besides that, I sort of play by the rules, but that’s very new. I used to not care at all and never took care of my skin. I think age and wisdom have something to do with it. I do have a skincare routine, and that’s pretty recent. I use a lot of Kiehl’s products: the hydrating serum in the morning and the Midnight Recovery Concentrate at night. I always clean my face with Bioderma’s Solution Micellaire. I definitely try to remove all of my makeup—and pollution—before I go to sleep… if I haven’t had too much to drink. [Laughs]”
Sabina wears Reformation dress, Michel Vivien shoes, and Persée Paris necklace.
On maintaining her hair:
“I use a blue shampoo to prevent it from getting yellow. It’s the main thing I do. Besides that, I think it’s pretty much the same as everyone else.”
Sabina wears Reformation dress, Michel Vivien shoes, and Persée Paris necklace.
On her must-have pharmacy products:
“My deodorant. [Laughs] It’s from a brand called Etiaxil, and I really think it’s the only one that works.”
Sabina wears Tory Burch jacket, Paul Smith top, 3×1 jeans, Stone Paris earrings, Pascale Monvoisin rings, and Michel Vivien shoes.
“You have to be generous if you want others to be generous to you. It’s sort of like a ‘don’t do something you wouldn’t like to have done to you’ sort of thing.”
Sabina wears Reformation dress, Michel Vivien shoes, and Persée Paris necklace.
Sabina Socol is a woman after our own hearts. The word ‘cool’ gets tossed around so much these days that it’s almost lost all meaning, but if there’s one person truly deserving of it, it’s Sabina. We can’t think of one single person who can work a pair of denim jeans in the same way she can (ditto a wrap top, basket bag, or cropped cardigan). She’s the definition of “effortless chic,” and we will never admit how much of our time is spent trawling through her Instagram feed.
Authenticity lies at the heart of everything the Parisian beauty does. There’s no denying we’re a generation predicated on projecting our best lives online, often too preoccupied with how our lives are perceived by random people on the internet to actually enjoy it, but Sabina? As enviable as her social media presence is, you always get the sense that she’s keeping it real. Case in point: nonchalantly admitting to having an on-again, off-again relationship with exercise, only recently starting to properly take care of her skin, and forgetting to wash her makeup off if she’s had a couple of drinks too many. This is not hugely shocking or revelatory information—in fact we’ve been ~guilty~ of all of those things ourselves on (way more than) one occasion—but it’s a welcome respite from the impossible lifestyle standards that are plastered all over our news feeds every day.
Sabina’s warm and open online presence is certainly not formulaic. “I’m a regular human—I’m not always positive in my everyday life,” she assures us when we ask how she stays so bubbly on a seemingly daily basis. “Sometimes you just feel down, but I do like to use Instagram to spread carefree and more light stuff.” When she’s not lighting up our feeds, the former L’Officiel Social Editor and current freelance columnist is hanging out on your favourite websites—Who What Wear, Into The Gloss, Man Repeller—offering up pearls of wisdom on everything from French girl style to tricking the world into thinking you’re tall via the way you dress (from one vertically-challenged sister to another, thank you, from the bottom of my heart).
Call it shameless voyeurism, but never have we ever been so excited to go #BTS of someone’s life before. Outside of soaking up her chic apartment and its beautiful furnishings, we picked Sabina’s brain on things like the French girl beauty myth and what she puts on that heavenly, Brigitte Bardot-esque face on a daily basis. Take it away, angel!
Words, Madeleine Woon. Photography, Jean Picon.
