This is definitely not my first attempt, although it's been my best attempt so far to create one of these product collages you've probably seen at least once in your Instagram newsfeed.

I created this "collage" with the help of some colleagues during a business trip last week. Between meetings, I spontaneously dumped out the contents of my purse and we all started neatly arranging my makeup and jewelry on the white surface in front of us. Aside from keeping the lipsticks from rolling away, the hardest part was actually getting the background to look white in the photograph, since the lighting kept tinting it grey. It took about an hour in Photoshop to (almost) solve that issue.

This post is not so much a review as a mere compilation of a few of my favorite things, but I just want to spotlight the gold initial necklace. Coco & Marie sent the necklace over and it truly lives up to its name of "The Perfect 'E' Initial Necklace." It's the perfect layering piece, gold plated, and made in the USA! I especially love that the gold is hammered, which gives it a little bit of edge.

As you can begin to see from this photo, I'm a major advocate for gold jewelry and a bit of a ring hoarder. I'm a newbie makeup junkie too (thanks to my makeup artist friend), so let me know in the comments if you'd be interested in a post about my favorite makeup and beauty products.

Pretty Little Things:
Gold 'E' initial necklace: Coco & Marie
Foundation brush: Bobbi Brown
Lipsticks: Mac in Rebel and Matte Ruby Woo
Bronzer: Too Faced in Milk Chocolate Soleil 
Lighting Powder: Hourglass in Dim Light
Gold rings: H&M
Gold ear jackets: Forever 21
Jeweled bracelets: Itchelita

xx Esther