Interior Designer Michael Bargo on the Singular Scent He Buys in Paris

In the head-spinning age of multistep skin-care routines and mic-drop makeup launches, The One is a space for minimalists to sound off on the single beauty product that’s found a longtime spot in their carefully curated routines.

The Manhattan loft of Michael Bargo—the interior designer of choice for Mark Ronson and The Row’s Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen—is like no other: An Andy Warhol Polaroid of Dennis Hopper hangs above a bulbous lamp and Noguchi light sculpture; elsewhere, Dana Arbib’s one-of-a-kind glass vases rest on a 1930s cabinet from the collection of Françoise Lafon. Such curatorial impulses are not only evident in his rotating collection of rare accents, but, in fact, in every corner of his Financial District apartment and by-appointment gallery, from his wardrobe of Bode and Prada button-downs to his vanity where striking cosmetics are neatly arranged on Josef Hoffmann and wicker Hermès trays.

“I buy products based purely on looks,” Bargo says, pointing toward Dr. Barbara Sturm’s glass-encased skin saviors; Santa Maria Novella’s cyan-colored body oil, which he swears by post-shower; and an array of perfumes whose bottles are as captivating as their blends. Of the olfactory bounty on display—Frédéric Malle’s Lys Mediterranee, Buly’s Eau Triple Mexican Tuberose—perhaps his most cherished cologne is one he discovered while walking along Paris’s Place Vendôme. 

“I saw the tiny gold lettering on the door and thought I would go in and see some wild, whimsical jewelry,” Bargo recalls of the moment he entered JAR’s velvet-walled boutique. To his surprise, he was met instead by a handful of fragrance-filled flacons. (Though he wasn’t entirely off-base: The perfumery’s founder, Joel Arthur Rosenthal, happens to also be one of the world’s most famously elusive jewelers.) After careful deliberation, Bargo settled on Shadow, an inimitable, musky scent, which he now reaches for just two or three times a year. “There are those moments when you want to feel a bit more elevated,” Bargo muses. “This feels really special, like wearing black tie.”