Are there other things, aside from these periodic trips, that you guys indulge in to help mitigate the information overload? JM: I use Sun Potion ashwagandha powder—and I’m convinced it works. It’s like a natural cortisol reliever! And I’m into meditation. I’ve been meditating for four or five years now. We also go to this place called Villa Ananda in Puerto Vallarta. It’s an Ayurvedic retreat in a private house, on the beach, on the water, and the whole staff is dedicated to your experience—the cooking, the yoga, the massages. You leave just feeling so energetic. Like, the whites of your eyes are glowing!

Together, Proenza Schouler and L’Oréal successfully turned the designers’ creative vision into reality. The scent is floral and radiant, with a unique mineral signature and, at its core, a creamy iris accord and a white cactus flower accord. The first has been used in perfume-making for centuries; the second has never been used before, but is now possible thanks to modern technology. This is the contrast that McCollough and Hernandez love: old versus new, tradition versus innovation. Then there is the bottle. Inspired by the ravines and ridges that have defined the horizon of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert for millions of years, the bottle is a piece of art in itself, a perfect blend of man and nature. Finally there is the name itself: “Arizona” evokes that vast, mysterious landscape, a place to escape to that has inspired so many artists. We wanted to make it quite feminine, since we are a feminine brand. When you think of perfume, you think of flowers," says McCollough. "Then you see these pictures—we saw some actually—of these beautiful, big white blossoms on these dry cactuses. It was so beautiful. It's such a disconnection—this dry, spiky, hard thing and this beautiful white, feminine flower. That contrast was very interesting to us. They don't actually smell like anything, those flowers. At least, it's not an intense smell. So we thought, what would that flower smell like in an ideal world? It would be dry, not very fruity, very solar, minerally. We started inventing and designing what that would smell like." Arizona Bloom is a clean scent with solar quality; it is fresh and warm at the same time... This is a minimalistic comfort scent; perfect for summer, but I think that it can be worn all year round.