Caturday with Courtney Trop AKA Always Judging

We all know Courtney Trop has great taste. It’s been documented in the 11,000 Instagram posts on an account (@alwaysjudging) followed by more than 300,000 people. So naturally we were curious to know more. For this week’s Caturday feature we spoke to Courtney about not only her taste in music but also how she spends her weekends, where she eats, where she drinks, how she relaxes, how she looks after herself, you get the vibe. 

AF: What does a standard Saturday look like for you?
CT: If it’s summer, I wake up and go to hot yoga with my favourite instructor, Joe K, at Urban Exhale. After yoga I swing by Erewhon and grab a green tonic and some breakfast, then I get my coffee at Shaky Alibi. I don’t go to the beach every Saturday because it’s a 30 minute drive and in LA we rarely leave our part of town, but my ideal day would include a trip to Malibu with some food and sun on the beach. After the beach I would head to Silver Lake/Echo Park/East side and enjoy some cannabis to make me super hungry then sit outside on the patio at Stella with my friends and good food. This is truly all LA is. People come here for the weather and quality of life/wellness. There’s a constant misconception that LA is a busy city like NYC, but it’s simply not.

AF: If you had absolutely no commitments for a weekend how would you fill the time?
CT: Sometimes I drive to Palm Springs if I can get a group of people together since it’s only a 2.5 hour drive, but my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE thing to do is spend the day at Chateau. When my friends are in town I’ll pack an overnight bag and just spend the whole weekend at Chateau. We hang by the pool, have lunch, then dinner and drinks on the patio. Sometimes I even rent a bungalow with my friends and have a little staycation. If I stayed in LA and Chateau wasn’t an option I would definitely make sure I hiked, did yoga and went to Erewhon at least three times a day for food and smoothies. I also spend a lot of time in my back yard. It’s like a little private oasis so I spend copious amounts of time in the nude laying in the sun with SPF 50. I also really enjoy vintage shopping for my side business, People & Things. My friend Tricia and I do little flash sales on vintage furniture when we both have free time. She runs a full time furniture business as her main gig and has taught me the ins and outs of the furniture business. It’s super fun and I really enjoy the hunt! Oh I also love seeing live music at so many different music venues all over LA. Also in the summer they do movies in the cemetery which I love, love, love!

Click to listen to
Courtney’s playlist

AF: Do you have a favourite restaurant, cafe or coffee shop that you visit at weekends?
CT: My current favourite restaurant in LA is MH ZH on the east side. For drinks I like Stella or Marvin. For coffee I love Shaky Alibi.

AF: Does your style change between weekday and weekend?
CT: I’m going to be completely honest, LA has cool style when it comes to vintage and a more casual laid back aesthetic but after traveling to NYC and Europe so much I really prefer getting dressed in those cities/countries. My style definitely does not change that much between the week and the weekend because there’s not a ton going on here. If I have an event or I’m having dinner at Chateau and am with people who would appreciate style then I have a reason to get dressed up. Aside from that I would say sneakers, casual dresses, jeans and vintage T-shirts with a blazer are pretty much my every day get-ups.

AF: Tell us about your self care routine. Food, exercise etc.
CT: As an adult, and especially an adult living in LA, self care is of the upmost importance. I practice hot yoga at Urban Exhale 3-5 times a week and I try to hike Runyon or some of the other hikes two or three times a week.  I am very active when it comes to working out. My diet is pretty clean for the most part but I do not limit myself of indulging when I feel like it. I eat all organic food 99.9% of the time. Most of my lunches are from Erewhon’s hot bar. I buy all organic meat and veggies and I try to avoid fried food or too much of the same thing. I’ve found that balance is everything when it comes to eating and having portion control. By portion control I don’t think you should focus on eating less but just make sure you’re not binge eating until you are too full to move. There are always chips and snacks in my house and I can sit down, smoke a joint and only eat two servings of organic vegan cheese puffs. This is what I mean, by portion control! I have a dairy allergy so I sadly don’t have any cheese or milk in my diet. Gluten hurts my stomach so I try to only eat one thing with gluten in it every time I have a meal, instead of having toast, pasta, etc.. all at once. Sugar is my main weakness so that’s something I REALLY battle with every day. I don’t have an addictive personality when it comes to drugs and alcohol, but sugar is another story. The first thing I think about when I wake up and at the end of the day is sugar. I try to only have one baked good/cup of ice cream/donut a day. I don’t really consume alcohol that much, I prefer cannabis and chowing down on healthy food versus a night out drinking – although I definitely go through phases!

AF: What are your favourite beauty products or treatments?
CT: My favourite body treatment is the Lymphatic drain at Ricari studios. I see Anna once a month and this has changed my life and helped with all the fluid on my joints and given me energy. Another thing I do a lot is PRP/Vampire facials with Daniel at Modern Aesthetica in Santa Monica. He sees me every three months and this has severely changed the appearance of my face/tightness/fine lines. I have no filler in my face anymore, only a tiny bit of botox in my forehead. I urge everyone to do their research and find someone who does this treatment and go every three months. It will cost you but over time you will be shocked at the results, it’s magic. Something else I live by is Hanacure masks. Do them three times a week for six weeks then once a week forever. Last but not least Biba in Beverly Hills does my facials, and her products are out of this world. She is not currently accepting any new clients but her skincare is the next best thing to seeing her. For skincare I use Biba, a pound of Barbara Sturm Hyaluronic Acid on my face every night, Glossier toner and Barbara Sturm/Tatcha/Skin Ceuticals under eye cream. For moisturizer, again Barbara Sturm/Perricone MD/Youth to the People Kale/Augustinus Bader, SPF Glossier/Skin Ceuticals/Super Goop. For face wash I like Glossier/Barbara Sturm/Kate Sommerville Acne wash/Malin & Goetz/Perricone MD.

AF: How do you wind down at the end of a busy day?
CT: A joint on my couch and some HBO/Hulu/Netflix and vegan ice cream from Magpies.

AF: If you could spend a weekend in one city aside from where you live what would it be?
CT: Italy. Anywhere in Italy because food makes me the most happy! I love the food and the good parts about the culture and quality of life and the overall style of the country! I would live there!

AF: If you were going to set a soundtrack to your weekend what artists would be on there?
CT: This is a loaded question! I love new and old disco, old school hip hop, deep house, 70’s rock, 90’s rock/soft rock/pop, all 80’s even the cheesy stuff, ambient, French house, Electronic dance, any dance music. I mean I have so many different playlists for my mood. You can follow me on Spotify under my full name. When it comes to old school hip hop I love Tribe, Biggie, Pharcyde, Outkast, Mos Def, Fugees, Nas, Wu-Tang, Jayz, Method Man. In terms of new music I like The Blaze, Connan Mockasin, Polo & Pan, Homeshake, Soft Hair (Connan’s band), Toro Y Moi, Tame Impala and Beach House. One of my all time favourite records is Washed Out Life of Leisure and I love all the LCD/Strokes/Pheonix. I was a huge TLC and Eminem fan in high school along with all the Murder Inc. records. My dream is to see Daft Punk play live, I love all their old stuff! Karen O is my spirit animal, I’ve seen her live a ton of times, even alone once. I saw Four Tet at Coachella this year and he killed it. I love Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks is my hero. I’m also a huge Breakbot/Classixx/Nightmares on Wax/Hot Chip fan. I love the Smiths, Tears for Fear, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Chilli Peppers, New Order, Depeche Mode. I love Darkside! Okay I literally just went through all my playlists and started listing things off. I’ve been listening to the Bee Gees a lot lately! The two playlists on my Spotify account right now that I’ve been playing on the weekends the most are “I love my 90’s Hip Hop” and also “Fashion Week Tired AF”. I need to end this question or I’ll go on and on and on! Once I saw LCD three times in the summer and snuck into their trailer at the end of FYF. I crawled under three stages in the dirt and had drinks in their little private area with them and a bunch of people, twas fun! The end!!

www.instagram.com/alwaysjudging/

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