October Favorites

Can you believe it’s nearly NOVEMBER!?!!? For some reason, my mind still thinks it’s September, but thank god it’s not because I don’t know if I could deal with another month of school. Anyway, I’ve got A LOT of favorites…just bear with me!

Philosophy Marshmallows for Toasting Shower Gel
I got this for Christmas last year, I just haven’t gotten around to using it until now. As you can see, it’s all gone but THIS SMELLS AMAZING! Think caramel, but with more butter, but with more sugar…okay, this just isn’t working. Unfortunately, I think it was limited edition, but maybe you can find it on Ebay or something.

Burt’s Bees Almond Milk Hand Creme
I got this in September, but I have been loving it! I have a post coming up on it soon so I won’t say too much about it except it’s grrreeeatttt (okay – I’ve just seen too many Frosted Flake commercials).

Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula
Like I said, I’m trying to use this word less frequently, but I really am OBSESSED  with this body lotion/creme/butter/best stuff on earth. It’s super thick, but not really heavy. It makes my skin sooo soft and smooth. Plus, it smells amazing! One day I was putting this on after my shower and the hear kicked on in the house…and it actually smelled like chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven. No. Joke.

Caudalie Beauty Elixir
I did a full post on this so check it out here! It works beautifully as a setting spray too. It solves any but of powdery-ness with the most natural looking addition.

Kerastase Elixir Ultime
I’m not a big hair person, but I may or may not have stolen this from my mom (surry), and I really like it. When you haven’t gotten your hair cut in over five months and it goes through as much damage as mine does…you need this. It works really well and conditions the ends of my hair beautifully!!!

Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in Rose Shimmer
I did a blog post on this so you can check that out here. Let me just say one thing – I hate lip gloss, but I love this one (and yes, that may be ironic, but it’s the truth).

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey
I held back on this forever and I really shouldn’t be posting about it because I got it less than a week ago, but I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I think I may do a post on these soon.

Real Techniques Stippling Brush
I have used this to apply foundation nearly every day since I got it and I just can’t stop. Again…I did a post on it here.

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blushes in Natural Beauty and Exposed
I really cannot get enough of these. The colors are so pretty, the formulation is ridiculously easy to work with, and they last a really long time. They have DEFINITELY  become my favorites and *just for emphasis*, I just cannot get enough! I did a post on each of these, and here is the one on Natural Beauty and here is the one on Exposed.

Jemma Kidd Dewy Glow All Over Radiance Creme in Rose Gold
I did a post on this here (what can I say – I’m a blogging machine), but that still doesn’t do it justice. It is perhaps the most gorgeous highlight I think I have ever used. Just check out the post because I need to cut it here or else we’ll be here all night talking about this product.

MAC eyeshadow in Soba
This is a gorgeous eyeshadow. It is a satin, so it just has the perfect, natural looking shimmer, the color works really well with my skin tone (which I would say is light), and, frankly, I just cannot get enough. If you haven’t seen this one, check it out.

| well, that’s it for October favorites. what have been some of your favorite products this month? |

Battle of Caudalie | Grape Water vs Beauty Elixir

I’d say that the Caudalie Beauty Elixir is one of my most loved (“holy grail” if you will) products. I have found that it has done wonders for my skin, and that explains why I am almost out of it. I saw the Grape Water when I was about to buy another one and, seeing that they both had grapes on their bottles, I decided to pick up the Grape Water.

For price comparison, they are both travel size and the Elixir (1 oz) costs $18 and the Grape Water (1.7 oz) costs $8. Obviously, the Grape Water has much more bang for the buck. Now, let’s do a side by side comparison…

Caudalie Elixir
The main ingredients in this bad boy are bitter orange, rosemary oil, peppermint oil, balm mint oil, rose oil, and grape extract. All of these combined are supposed to tighten pores, reduce redness, and supply glowing skin. Personally, the tightening pores aspect isn’t that important for me, nor do I notice a difference, but the main reason that I love this product is because I have found it drastically reduces redness in my skin. After doing a bit of research, I found that this may be owned to the grape extract, which the Grape Water has. One more thing…this as a makeup setting spray is also AMAZING! It gets rid of that “powdery” look and adds sheen without it being  shiny. The scent of this also bothers some people, but it doesn’t really bother me.

Caudalie Grape Water
This only contains two ingredients: grape water and grape juice. After a few days of using this I have found that….it DOES  reduce redness in my skin. I also find that it does supply a bit of moisture as well, but not tons. It doesnt really have a scent (although some claim it smells like grapes).

THE VERDICT
Overall, I find that I do prefer the Caudale Elixir, but I think I may buy the Grape Water more just because it is sooooo much cheaper. That means – if you’ve got the money (which I don’t, but I just plan to ignore that), definitely *definitely* get the elixir, but if you don’t definitely go with the grape water. Or….just get both.

have you tried any Caudalie products? which ones are your favorites?

I Did Too Much Shopping | Beauty Haul

Let’s be honest, the title pretty much explains it all. The good news, though, is that I’m pretty much all shopped out and have much more control over my…obsession now. Funny, my mom recently told me that I need to look at a thesaurus – especially for the word “obsessed”. Apparently it’s a bit too overused on the blog. Let’s get into it, shall we…

Caudalie Grape Water
Since j’adore the Caudale beauty elixr (I really just can’t stop) AND  I’m almost out of it, I decided to try this one since I’ve heard it’s quite similar. I haven’t decided quite how I feel about it yet, but I think I may do a comparison post soon. Oh, for price reference, this one’s $8 and is bigger than the $18 travel size. UMMM YEAH! HUGE difference!

Korres Wild Rose Lip Butter
I already love these and I wanted a more fall-ly lip color, so I figured why not. Well, I guess why not isn’t exactly the best reason….but, I really like it so far. Post coming soon!

MAC Soba Eyeshadow
For some reason, I have been really wanting some MAC eyeshadows lately. I bought this one on ebay for $10 and I have already been using it non-stop. Tell me if you would like to see a blog post on it.

Wet’n Wild Comfort Zone palette
I had to buy this for one of my upcoming shows, but I have actually heard a lot about both Wet’n Wild eyeshadows and this palette. I’ve only worn one of the once (the third one down on the left), but so far I really like it!

Tarte Blush in Natural Beauty
I already did a blog post on this, so I won’t say to much. You can check that out here, but to be completely honest…I just can’t stop wearing this!!!!

Jemma Kidd Dewy Glow All Over Radiance Creme in Rose Gold
Again, I already did a blog post on this (here), but it is just GORGEOUSSSSSSS! I think this may be my favorite all time highlighter!

Real Techniques Stippling Brush
I really cannot get enough of this brush! I use it everyday for foundation and concealer…but I’ve heard the buffing brush is even better! Maybe I’ll have to try that one….well, once I’m not broke. You can check out the blog post I did on this here.

what have been some of your purchases recently? is there anything I should add to my – ummmm – wishlist?

Caudalie Eau de Beaute (skincare obsession?)

For those of you who are not familiar with the Caudalie Eau de Beaute, it is a toner, serum, facial spray, and makeup setting spray ALL IN ONE! To be honest, I’m not actually sure what it truely is supposed to be used for, but as far as I’m concerned, all of those listed above seem to work. How do I like to use it? After I wash my face at night, I will mist this all over my face and let it sink in before I apply moisturizer. Now, I have been obsessed with UK beauty blogs lately and this seems to all be on their lists of obsessions (or perhaps “likes” for those picky ones). Here I am to tell you if this really works. For me-this is my NEW HOLY GRAIL PRODUCT! You may know (okay-you may not) but I have problems with redness in my skin and this. makes. all. that. go. away.

Since it is so expensive ($18 for this travel bottle to be exact), I use it sparingly and therefore only use it on my cheeks (which is where I tend to have most of my redness issues). Again, this is amazing for calming the skin who are blessed with a little too much of a “natural blush”-if you will.

Now, this may not be for everyone, but the rules of probability prove that even if this does not make a drastic difference in your skin, you will be able to use it up. Have you ever seen a product with more uses?!? Some tend to complain about the strong peppermint scent. It personally doesn’t really bother me (I guess I have a pretty high scent tolerance), but for those who it may bother, it doesn’t last for more that a few seconds and it is something that you could definitely get used to.

This is definitely something I will be repurchasing, but I think I want to try the grape leaves one first. Have you ever tried this? What are your thoughts?