Lyndsey Butler, Designer, Veda

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'There are so many different ways to go out in New York—you can go to an awesome dinner and run into friends and have a drink afterwards. Or you can go to a casual, neighborhood bar…and then there are the super-clubs and awesome VIP parties. There’s all of it! What I love about this city is that you can have so many different lives here. You move apartments and your favorite restaurant and the places that you go to every day change. I feel like it’s the same with going out; at the moment, I have this awesome work and I love my home life so when I go out, it’s about spending time with friends and seeing people I like. I also think it’s funny how, once you start going out a lot, you immediately get FOMO when you stay in and think 'Everybody else is out!' But I kind of love both ends of the spectrum.

GETTING READY

I take so long to get ready. I hate to be rushed so I’m always late. Plus I like the process of getting ready and hanging out beforehand. I feel as if I get anxiety about actually leaving the house and getting to the place I need to get to…I'm usually just hanging with friends, so when I have to go to something new or an event or a party, I really have to psych myself up for it.

Getting dressed is what takes the longest. I design Veda, a leather line, and I've gotten pretty good at incorporating it into my wardrobe—it's there about 90 percent of the time, but I don't always wear leather. I’m generally pretty casual but when I’m going out, I’ll do something like change up my shoe, wear a heel, wear something a little more revealing. But if I’m wearing something really fancy, I wear less makeup so I don’t feel like I’m in a costume. Or if I’m wearing leather, I don’t want to look like a greaser or something!

HAIR

I really hate taking showers because they’re so time consuming. So if I can avoid washing my hair, that’s great because it buys me a little more time to sit down and not do anything. Because I’ve been bleaching my hair for a while, my hair doesn’t get greasy until about four days in so I can get away with it! When I have to, I use Oribe Signature Shampoo and Conditioner for Beautiful Color and, instead of dry shampoo, I just use baby powder because my hair’s so light.

I also bleach my own brows—I never have problems with it, it’s so easy! I use that drugstore brand Jolen. It’s like a cream with a powder and you just mix it up and then put it on. When my eyebrows are darker, I will usually fill them in and then use a clear brow gel…I like to keep them light but I don't always keep up with the process. My eyebrows aren’t super dark, so sometimes you can’t really tell.

BODY

If I do shower before heading out, I use Dimes Salt Scrub because it smells really nice. For moisturizing my body, I use Monoi Tiare Tahiti Coco Coconut Oil. I love things that smell of coconut, orange, rose, but sometimes I’ll change it up—in the fall, I’m drawn to earthy and smoky scents. I love Le Labo perfume and my Coqui Coqui. I also like to just mix things. I don’t think that scents stay very strong on me, so I kind of just layer it all on. I’ll use the coconut oil and then I’ll put the patchouli on, and then the orange. The oils are great because, if I’m wearing a dress, I have to make sure my legs look shiny. Not dry!

I’m trying to go natural for deodorant. My boyfriend’s family says that if you use rubbing alcohol it basically kills all the bacteria so you don’t smell. It works—unless I’m having a stressful day or something. Then I need something real.

SKINCARE

For cleansing, I use Christine Chin’s AHA Exfoliating Cleanser a few days a week and then the rest of the time, I use Cetaphil. After that I use Christine Chin’s Instant Calm Complex and her Hydra Lift Eye Gel [ed note: discontinued]—I love her stuff. She’s been around for a while and all of her products are really light. My skin tends to be a little bit dry but it’s pretty manageable. I think as long as I stay hydrated and drink enough water, this stuff is good for me.

I have this awesome self-tanning face stuff from Clarins called Intense Bronze Self Tanning Tint—it's kind of fun. You don’t have to glove, it doesn’t break you out, and I think it actually smells really nice. Plus, it doesn’t make you orange. It sometimes feels intense doing it in the morning before work or something, but if I have a party or a wedding I’m going to, then I’ll do it, y’know, if I want to look pretty.

MAKEUP

It’s been a little bit crazy since my hair has been blue, so I’ve had to tone it down with the makeup for a while. Lately, my thing has been like, Bobbi Brown on my eyes, and nose, just evening out my skin tone or if I have a blemish, and then bronzer. I use Nars Bronzer in Laguna or The Multiple in Na Pali Coast and then I wear no eye makeup and a berry kind of lip color. Nars Russian Doll is really pretty because it’s also a little bit sheer, it’s not crazy dark.

I also use this cool brand from Portland a lot, Olio E Sasso. There’s a couple of different colors and I think they’re meant to be multi-purpose, like, you can use them for cheeks, for eye, for whatever… #3 Crimsonis the favorite. I like a tanned, light brow, light eye makeup, dark lip thing. It’s a fun summer look for all the time.”

—as told to ITG

Photographed by Tom Newton.