The Juice is Loose

I cleansed out of curiosity for the first time in June, at which point the idea of avoiding salt, caffeine, alcohol and solid food seemed exotic and experimental. Driven by visions of vibrant skin and detoxed organs, I forked over $195 for the three-day option and led the monastic life Monday through Wednesday — a time that included watching friends consume spicy pina coladas at the Rusty Knot while I solemnly sipped a concoction of kale, spinach, green apple, celery and cucumber juice (“It goes down easier with a straw,” noted Nick, a WWD fashion assistant). By Thursday, the results were in: I didn’t lose any real weight, but I felt lighter. No magic there; I hadn’t eaten for three days. And as a person prone to puff, the dramatic de-bloating effect was priceless. On the downside, the cleanse killed my social life — so on Thursday I broke the post-cleanse rules and had two glasses of champagne at a Jil Sander party. Friday morning found me prostrate on my bathroom floor after paying homage to the porcelain god (Roxanne, WWD’s accessories director, reports she had a similar post-cleanse experience when she had a peppered-tuna steak). Still, I was satisfied enough to sign up for a sequel with Sarah Taylor, W senior fashion features editor, earlier this month.

The results the second time around proved less thrilling than the first, although Taylor says her skinny jeans felt a little less skinny afterwards. Maybe I’m just not in the same shape I was during the summer, but this time, I felt less dramatically detoxed post-cleanse. Of course, I don’t have any scientific evidence to prove a difference and it could have been all mental. After all, my cheekbones hadn’t looked that chiseled since June.