YOU ARE A BABE
CAMILLA ÅSTRAND, PR AT GANT, BLOGGER
AUGUST 03.2012
by AIMEE BLAUT
"I went to fashion school in Barcelona for three years at Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) where I studied fashion marketing and communications. We started to work a lot with social media in class so I contacted different magazines in Sweden to see if they wanted me as a blogger. My dream day job was to work in PR at a big fashion company and GANT is perfect. It is great because they are an amazing company and there is the challenge of reaching out to new audiences. It is so much fun--really my dream job. I have a background working in beauty as a Beauty Editor at Rodeo and started their beauty blog department. I started my blog at Freshnet two years ago, I have a lot of friends of who blog there and I felt that I didn’t have the time with working in PR to focus on everything, so I went into pure fashion and beauty."
“I am very very tired in the morning [laughs] so I put a lot of ice-cold water on my face when I wake up. Then I use the Daily Microfoliant by Dermalogica so I don’t dehydrate my skin. I don’t like when people write about things that they have never tried, so I try a lot of different products. For the last year I’ve been trying Ole Henriksen, it’s a Danish brand that is really famous. They use a lot of natural ingredients, I like their orange serum with sea vitamins. They also have an Herbal Day Cream with sunscreen, which I always try to wear.”
“I wash my hair two or three times a week, so I’m a big fan of dry shampoos [laughs]. I use a lot of different ones: Karl Lagerfeld’s favorite, Kisby and then Batiste and Kevin Murphy. I really have to have that in the morning.”
“When I was a teenager I had problem skin so I am obsessive about it. If there is enough time I like to use a primer before I start my makeup. I also have this amazing pore minimizing product by Clinique. It’s a classic that they have had for many years. You just put it on your t-zone and it takes away your pores. Next I use Tinted Moisturizer by Laura Mercier. Then I usually use cream blush, I like Topshop’s versions. I also wear some light reflecting concealer. If I want a budget version I buy L’Oréal Touche Magique and if not I use YSL Touche Éclat. Sometimes I use a bronzer and my budget one is from the Body Shop but the best ones are by Nouba.”
“I was brought up by my mother who is really into beauty; she likes all the big brands likes Lancôme and Guerlain. I always try to find budget versions that can be just as good. I never buy expensive mascara; Max Factor 2,000 Calorie mascara is a classic and probably the most sold in Sweden. I always try with makeup to do as I do with clothes, I’m not going to pay just for the brand. I invest in what touches my skin, like foundation or moisturizer but with eyeliner I will use one from H&M and it works great.”
“I do my nails myself and for nail polish I like the Butter London ones a lot.”
“Sometimes at work we have lipstick Fridays. I love lipstick and usually only wear ones by MAC but I try different ones. When I want something extra but don’t want to put on a dress I can just throw on a lipstick. I’m obsessed with orange and it is great because it makes your teeth look whiter.”
Photos by: Aimee Blaut
Tags: Batiste, Butter London, Clinique, Dermalogica, Gant, Kevin Murphy, Kisby, L'Oreal, Laura Mercier, Max Factor, Nouba, Ole Henriksen, Rodeo, The Body Shop, Topshop, YSL
YOU ARE A BABE
PHILIP CRANGI, JEWELRY DESIGNER
MAY 17.2012
by AIMEE BLAUT
"I’m a jewelry designer and I have a couple of lines of jewelry. It really started as a fine jewelry collection — or our take on fine jewelry. I went to RISD, not for jewelry — but I quickly fell into doing jewelry. The jewelry studios were really gorgeous. They were so the opposite of a south Florida upbringing; like this building from the 1860’s with original tools; I was really seduced by the whole alchemy part of it. And I think I really found a voice there. I developed this hybrid technique of using iron and gold together. There weren’t a lot of people doing jewelry at that moment. So I started working for all kinds of different people doing home ware and restorations. More and more, I started doing that kind of decorative art and that is when Courtney became my business partner. In 2001, we started the collection. We started with Philip Crangi and developed Giles and Brother as this sort of less expensive, easier to produce line. Over the years it has really become the driving force — a much bigger enterprise."
“I try to go the gym or do something five days a week. I go running or work out and if I do those things, I get out of bed, eat a crazy breakfast and go. Then I will just shower at the gym. I like the Body Milk for Men by Santa Maria Novella. It smells like Christmas drinks a little bit. I love the spiciness of it. That’s the most complex scent I wear. It is really light so it is good for this time of year.Dermalogica makes a really great daily exfoliant powder and I use that to cleanse my face. I do believe in moisturizing. I use Dr. Dennis Gross Age Erase Moisture, I think it’s important the older you get. I have this Florida skin that gets real dried out up here. I also really like to be tan [laughs]. I didn’t when I lived in Florida but it happened to me later in life, so it kind of dries me out too. Right now I’ve still got my winter tan, which is just being pale [laughs].”
“I spend a lot of time making it look like I don’t do anything to the beard. I trim it just about everyday, just keeping tight. I don’t use trimmers, but scissors and a comb so it takes a while. I am pretty lucky — if I won any lottery, I have great hair. I have a full head of it [laughs]. My friends who are losing their hair are really pissed. I shave my head now but when I had hair I didn’t do much to it. I personally don’t find it attractive in a man to be overly groomed. I love having a shaved head though, it’s really nice. I can go to any barber and just get my head shaved for twenty bucks.”
“I never loved a complex, cologne-y scent. I like a lemon with a pepperiness of patchouli or something. I’m into Aqua Di Parma, which is really fresh, and that Santa Maria Novella Patchouli. I always have Santa Maria Novella Patchouli and I layer something on top of it and make it my own scent. It is really important to me the way things smell; there is so much memory there. When I met my boyfriend he always had Santa Maria Novella potpourri, and I never grew up even thinking about potpourri [laughs]. So he always had this potpourri and I had an almost nostalgic deep connection to it, like something I had always been wanting to smell or smell like. That really affected me, I love that scent.”
“I go through these phases with tattoos where I get like three of four in a month and then I won’t get them for years. It’s been that way since I was sixteen. The most recent ones are ones that I’ve wanted for so long. They’re from ‘Woodstock’ by Joni Mitchell, also by Crosby Stills and Nash. It says ‘We Are Stardust, We Are Golden.’ It’s multi-layered to me because in the true sense of the word we are all stardust, literally. And as inspiration moves through your body and out of your hands it’s almost like a magician with sparkles coming out of the tips of his fingers [laughs]. I have this image of that. When the ideas are really moving and I am immersed and drawing them, I feel most alive. I have this visual component that is part Jem and the Holograms and part Peter Pan.”
“I did so much work outside of jewelry and fashion and that really appeals to me. The thing that was so great about jewelry is that it’s so contained. And New York — just the spaces and everything about it, the bigger it gets the more difficult it is. I felt like I really had something to say that was small. And now I’m feeling like I might have something to say on a larger scale. The idea of doing something in the world of home but super high-end luxury could be next. I want to make things that people are just so seduced by they must own them, and not because they were told to buy it in a magazine. I want it to be beyond trend.”
Photos by: Aimee Blaut
Tags: Aqua Di Parma, Dermalogica, Dr. Dennis Gross, Giles and Brothers, Jem and the Holograms, Joni Mitchell, Philip Crangi, Santa Maria Novella
YOU ARE A BABE
MARIEKE STERLING, MODEL / DIGITAL STRATEGIST
APRIL 25.2012
by AIMEE BLAUT
"I am a digital strategist, copywriter, freelance journalist, occasional model and amateur chef. When I was growing up I wanted to be a ballerina and a book publisher."
“When I wake up in the morning coffee comes first. I wash my face with Neutrogena and then use a Dermalogica toner and a Kiehl’s moisturizer. I have a Greek yoghurt and then I brush my teeth. With my makeup routine I keep it simple and natural with a couple of basic products: Diorskin Nude Concealer, a matte Bobbi Brown eyeshadow in Slate for contour, some mascara (currently YSL Faux Cils) and the Anastasia brow pencil. I use a Dior eye shadow compact and Stila liquid eyeliner if I want to look a little more polished.”
“My most beautiful memory is of playing games of flashlight tag on hot summer nights in Maine.”
“My favorite salon is Ion Studio for a cut and color, Mauricio is awesome!”
“Before I go to bed I brush my teeth with Crest 3-D! Then I wash my face with Neutrogena, moisturize with Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate, and Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream.”
Photos by: Aimee Blaut
Tags: Anastasia Beverly Hills, Bobbi Brown, Cattier, Dermalogica, Dior, Kiehl's, Marieke Sterling, Miss Jessie's, Model, nars, Neutrogena, Yves Saint Laurent
