Shimmy on up the digital couch and make room for Lili Aghaei the LA Luxury Vintage Reseller here to dial in on our Golden Hour Chats.
As you probably already know by now, our Golden Hour Chats are a laid-back, open conversation about beauty, fashion, and sunless tanning. It’s a super eye-opening, and exclusive opportunity for those connected with our brand to get a glimpse of the hearts, minds and relatable lifestyles of key beauty and fashion icons making waves in their industry.
So what invites Lili Aghaei to our little digital corner of the world? As a trendsetter in beauty and fashion, Lili's aligned values for blending the old and new perfectly align with Sontse's approach to sunless tanning. At the end of the day, we celebrate the timeless principles of beauty—after all, a healthy tan can elevate any look. However, we believe this should never come at the cost of your skin's health and hence why we introduced a new, more skin-safe approach to achieving a radiant glow – Golden Hour Self-Tan Mousse. Loving our vibe, Lili chose to feature our sunless tanner at her inaugural event, gifting it to her esteemed guests, including big influencers, entrepreneurs and editorial magazine editors such as Anastasia Souris, Gab Waller (Vogue), Kat Collings (editor in chief Who What Wear), Anna Henderson and Courtney Falsey (WWW), Jamie Ridge (model), Holly Liss (entrepreneur), and Amanda Thomas (Luv AJ jewelry designer)…. we know, our jaws dropped too!
Ready to get an unfiltered take on beauty and fashion from the experts themselves? Keep on reading as we roll out the interview with Lili.
Q: Ok Lili, it's Thursday, you're popping on a sunless tan to be event-ready for the weekend. What do you look for in a self-tanner?
A: I love a self-tanner that looks effortless and natural – the kind that gives you the look of a sun-kissed day at the beach. Also, I love ones that have natural, clean ingredients and don't require much time for application. As a business owner and mumma to a one-year-old, time is my biggest asset!
Q: We can only imagine that your niche of blending luxury fashion and vintage fashion isn’t easy to master. How did you start the business and did you always know you wanted to do this?
A: That is such a great question. I started The Vintage Marché as a little side hobby in January 2023 as a way to source rare designer bags, shoes, and jewellery for myself that no one else had. I was also three months pregnant with my first baby so it was a way for me to dive into a creative outlet.
As a child, I had always loved going to consignment stores or thrift stores with my mum and grandma and finding hidden gems. That had led to a passion for going to flea markets in places all over Los Angeles such as the Rose Bowl Flea Market, Fairfax Flea Market and Santa Monica Airport Antique Market during my teenage years and early 20s.
Whenever I would travel, I always made sure to visit those consignment stores in each city because I knew each store truly held hidden treasures. I have travelled to Mexico City, Nashville, Palm Springs, Paris, Dubai, New York, and more and each city has shown me such incredible pieces I knew I had to share with others.
With the industry today, everyone is wearing the same thing as everyone else and it's really hard for people to dive into their unique style and taste. This business started to combat just that – it became a way for me to share my unique luxury vintage finds with others on Instagram and it quickly grew after that initial post in January 2023 for our first drop.
Now we have had almost twenty drops, launched a website, partnered with incredible skincare and makeup brands such as Westman Atelier and Summer Fridays, been featured in magazine editorials (Who What Wear), had our first PR event in LA, and worked with incredible stylists, fashion brands, and influencers.
The real passion of mine, however, is speaking with my clients and hearing their joy over receiving their luxury vintage pieces – there is no better feeling than that.
Q: What is your weekly beauty regime you can't live without?
A: I love my nighttime skincare routine – I think it is something I look forward to every day because it is a time for me to reflect on the end of a busy work day and just take time for myself – no reading emails, no running after my toddler, and no barking dog. I use the Osea Seaglow Resurfacing Scrub as an exfoliator two times a week on my face and follow up with a moisturiser. Right now I'm loving the Summer Fridays Jet Lag Mask and the Dr Dennis Gross Dewy Deep Cream. I'll then dab a little Water Drench Hyaluronic Cloud Hydrating Eye Gel under my eyes from Peter Thomas Roth and follow up with their under eye patches which I keep in the fridge for extra coolness – it is just incredible.
For my body I've been loving Osea's Body Balm and Body Butter post-shower as well. For everyday makeup, I keep it really simple. I use the Peter Thomas Roth SPF Water Drench Moisturizer, apply a little blush from Goop Beauty, Merit or Westman Atelier, dab the Eye Want You Mascara from Westman Atelier, and apply a small drop of Colleen Rothschild Illuminating Tinted Eye Cream. That's it!
Q: A beauty/fashion trend you’ll be glad to kiss goodbye forever:
A: Ooph! I think going over the top with everything! I've been loving the concept of less is more and a really simple, clean chic look. I think if you are going to go out with a statement piece of clothing then you have to simplify your accessories and makeup and vice-versa. I'm really excited to see that a lot of others have been following a similar path with this concept.
Q: Your funniest wardrobe malfunction?
A: This one was recent! The dress I wore for our PR event in August, was this gorgeous De La Vali dress in my typical size; however, literally day of the event an hour before everyone was set to arrive, it would not zip up and close! For the life of me, nothing would fix it and my husband was like "Babe, you can't wear this dress it won't zip." I legit panicked because it was the perfect dress and I had to wear it. Finally, my intern and nanny were able to zip it up together almost 20 minutes before the first guest arrived!! We all cheered and I definitely needed a glass of wine after that.
Q: Your ethos/manifesto when it comes to personal fashion?
A: I believe in the mantra "Look good, feel good, do good."
I think I heard it in the sorority house in college from our president and it has stuck to me ever since. If you are looking good, say it's with your clothes or you did your hair or you just put on a little makeup, whatever it is to you, then you automatically just feel better, which makes you happier in your day-to-day. It doesn't have to be anything special.
I remember postpartum my mum would always come over and tell me to go upstairs and blow-dry my hair. I realise that she was telling me this because she knew if I did my hair, then I would feel good and be happy, especially during a time when women typically don't feel their most confident or their best.
Q: How did you come across Sontse and what made you want to reach out?
A: I came across Sontse on social media randomly! I thought wow this is a clean beauty product owned by a woman and a mother, and I knew I had to reach out to see if they were interested in sponsoring our PR bag. I am so happy I did! The owner, Jayde, is quite frankly one of the sweetest, intelligent, warm and delightful women I have ever met. She was always quick to respond, helpful with any questions I had, and was so eager to learn all about The Vintage Marché.
Q: We were recently at NYFW, and we HAVE to know, in your expert opinion, what item is most important in making or breaking the outfit?
A: I might be biased here (haha) BUT I strongly think a handbag is the best part of an outfit. From all the different colours, materials, sizes, brands, etc., you really can drastically change an outfit just by choosing which handbag you wear. My personal favourite at the moment is our Vintage Fendi Baguette. It is just such a unique bag with so many colours and patterns, it's remarkable. Whitney Port has actually styled some of our vintage handbags for her yearly NYFW debuts!
Enjoy reading about this incredible fashion expert paving her own unique path in beauty and fashion? Inspired to see who else Sontse invited into our Golden Hour Chats? You can catch up on our Q&A with celebrity hair stylist, Chris Dylan or learn more about Jayde Houndalas in our recent Golden Hour Chat.
Written By Liana Pantalone – Beauty & Skincare Copywriter at Climbing Vine Co.
