Loving This Week: Beauty While You Sleep + A New Black Bag

Monday, March 03, 2014

iLuminage Pillow - Maison Scotch Blazer - Clarins Glow Booster - Foley and Corinna Bag - Cole Haan Shoes

If you haven’t caught Saturday’s post, where I wrote about my visit to the Neiman Marcus Last Call store-wide sale, run on over and check it out. It has all the details of my purchases this weekend. As for online shopping, I’ve been investigating some new stores and products, and following up on some of the items I passed over at Last Call this weekend. Here’s a peek inside my online shopping cart this week…

1. iLuminage Skin Rejuvenating Pillowcase, $60.00
I saw this beautify-while-you-sleep pillowcase on the E! Oscars pre-show in a segment about new beauty products. I was doubtful of its ability to actually improve fine lines and wrinkles just by sleeping on it, but I was intrigued enough to look it up. I found it at Neiman Marcus, where I learned it was an NM Beauty Awards Winner in 2014 and it has been clinically proven to reduce the appearance of wrinkles over time. That’s encouraging.

I’m still a little dubious, but, at the very least, copper – the substance woven into the pillowcase – is well-established as an anti-bacterial agent and I’m super grossed out by sleeping on even slightly dirty pillowcases. I’m putting this on my must-buy list.

2. Maison Scotch Mixed Fabrics Short Blazer, $215.00
I’ve been familiar with the Amsterdam-based Maison Scotch label, as well as the complementary men’s line Scotch & Soda, for a while. But, I just figured out that the company has a full online store, complete with dedicated US shopping site, late last week. I’ve been ravenously tearing through the shop ever since. The items are a little funky, and retain a bit of European flair, despite the fact that the label has truly gone international. Plus, the prices are super reasonable. I’m so in love.

My top pick right now is this blazer, which is also available in four other fabric combinations. I think this version is just perfect though, with its black and white linen blend detailed with perforated leather. It reminds me a bit of Rag&Bone.

3. Clarins Radiance-Plus Golden Glow Booster, $30.00
This is another brand new beauty product that I ran across this week, this time in Allure magazine. Clarins is known for having the best sunless tanning products on the market, and this adds another option to their collection of stellar products. You mix a few drops of this booster with your regular day or night moisturizer and apply as usual. A golden glow develops slowly over time.

I like that it mixes in with your regular moisturizer because sunless tanning products for the face are notoriously drying, and it can be hard to figure out what time of day to use them because you don’t want to end up streaked. This seems to eliminate those issues. Plus, I’m assuming it would be pretty easy to customize by using varying numbers of drops. Sounds smart to me.

4. Foley and Corinna Large Muriella Convertible Tote Bag, $255.00 (was $425.00)
I spotted this tote while browsing the Neiman Marcus Last Call sale this weekend. I tried on, and spent some quality time admiring its looks in a mirror. But, I couldn’t justify adding this to my growing pile of sale finds. It’s still taunting me.

This tote is plenty big enough to be a great work tote – it will hold everything from files to a small laptop with ease – but can be folded over into a smaller sized shoulder bag for days when you don’t need all of that extra room. The snake-embossed leather and goldtone hardware just make it look cool. The super sale price listed here is good through March 5, after which time it will return to the (still quite good) regular sale price of $340.00.

5. Cole Haan Air Violet Textured Pumps, $175.00 (was $248.00)
Another great find from my day at Last Call, I spotted these classic peep-toe pumps as I walked into the dressing room. I told myself that if nothing fit right I was going to pick up these shoes. Everything fit great, so I left the Cole Haans in the store.

These pumps are a high-quality, basic black peep-toe crafted from very subtly stingray textured leather. They come with concealed Nike Air technology built in, which we all now know make Cole Haan shoes some of the comfiest around. Really, they’re just an excellent buy if you are lacking in the black peep-toe shoe department.