Rachel Zoe Box of Style

I used to be on Rachel Zoe's mailing list (I unsubscribed from it in one of my periodic fits of cutting my e-mail list) so I was already aware of the existence of the Box of Style, which is a quarterly box that she offers. It's $100 so I never really considered buying one before, but in the fall Covet Fashion had a promo with RZ that reduced the price to $70, and you got game money to boot, and I looked at the purse in this box and was tempted into buying one of these for the first time. It was totally worth the money.

(Note that what looks like a dark spot on the flap of the bag is something in the camera, not on the actual bag.) I usually carry a larger bag, but I have been wanting something smaller to carry on the weekends, and this turned out to be exactly right. I believe they said that the retail value of this bag was something like $139 (added: the website says $148), and I like that it's a nice, well-made leather bag - but that's really not why I love this so much. It's really cute and neutral, and it's just the right size for my wallet, phone, keys and a few very small things like a mini-lipstick in the zippered compartment. (Actually I had bought a Vera Bradley wallet from the online outlet last summer - for, like, $12! - I love a bargain - and it's a little larger than some so I thought there was no way it would fit inside this, but it does, barely. Originally I was intending to use the little card case which you can see in the top picture, but I didn't have to. It's much easier to just grab the wallet and move it from one bag to the other.)

The white item visible in the picture above is Shani Darden Texture Reform, which retails for $95. It's a gentle retinol creme meant for sensitive skin, which is exactly what I need. Most retinol/resurfacing-type cremes are way too strong for me.

And then this statement necklace is not something I would normally wear (because it's really heavy, not because it's not cute), but I took it as a given that I could find somebody to take it off my hands, and in the end I gave it to my sister for Christmas and she really loved it. It's from Dannijo, and it retailed for over $200.

There were a couple more items that you can see in the picture up top - and there was a bonus item, a little gold necklace with a star and a moon, which is very much more to my taste in necklaces.