June asks a lot of skin.

The days are at their longest. The sun sits high. Dinner moves onto the sidewalk, the windows stay open, and people stay out late because the light has postponed the dark.

July may run hotter but June runs brighter.

June is also the month when skin begins behaving as though it has been given several conflicting instructions. Heat and humidity outside. Arctic air inside. Sun, salt, late nights, not quite enough water. By evening, that bronzy glow reads dry, flushed, blotchy or all three.

The usual beauty advice is to manage it: mattify the shine, swap in a lighter “summer version,” correct what the sun did. We don’t. Summer skin can be oily and dehydrated at the same time. Reach for a calming face oil made to reduce the look of redness and irritation while replenishing dry, depleted skin. Reach for it when sun, heat, air-conditioning, travel or over-exfoliation requires skin to settle down.

Stay calm. It’s only June.

What's in the name?

June is long not because it has more days, but because its evenings seem to contain more life.

Biography was born in New York. I named Long June for the love of early summer and the desire to extend that serenity and light all year-round. At nine o'clock, there is still somewhere to go and enough light to get there. For a few weeks each year, New York appears to relax without actually slowing down.

I wanted this face oil to feel like that hour: light, clear and quietly restorative.

Biography, in the Wild.

Beginning June 15, Biography will be in residence at Alvin Valley in the Hamptons with VAVRA New York. Dianne Vavra spent two decades leading press and celebrity relations for Dior Beauty.

My best line to describe Dianne's PR prowess is she could get a ghost to RSVP.

Her collection of vintage jewelry and handbags makes many new things look like rough drafts. We are the only skincare brand invited because summer skin needs fewer, better decisions.

Vavra's archive. Our Biography. One very good address.

We are also planning an event with Laura Rubin, author of The Big Unlock and the woman behind some of our most memorable writing gatherings [link to Journal]. This one will be larger, more public, and worth leaving the house for. Details soon.

And finally, we went looking for one summer intern and hired two. They will be helping us with the work now moving from idea to in the wild and we're excited to have them join team Biography.

Every biography, like a growing company, needs new characters and clear principles.

More on all of it. Until then, drink water, wear sunblock and use oil.

Stay calm. It's June.

—Linda