September Favorites!

Is the title of this post right? Is it the end of September? I can't believe it!Autumn is officially here! My wedding is a mere two months away! (insert scream here) Anyway...here are the things I have been loving during the month of September.

Benefit Benetint: Liquid Cheek and Lip Tint $30 specialty cosmetic retailers
Maybe I'm late to the party on this, but I know a lot of people love Benetint. I got this in a gift set, so it's not a full size. I was kind of ignoring it for a while and the intention was actually to use it as a lip stain. The color didn't take that well on my lips, so I put it away for a while. Then I picked it up one day and used it on my cheeks. What a great little cheek stain this is! I didn't know if this would show up on my deep complexion, but it does and you can really build up the color. It gives you a subtle "glowing from within" look and as a bonus, it smells like roses. I think it's a little expensive, but you can often grab it in a lot of Benefit gift sets.

Naked 2 Eyeshadow Palette (Urban Decay): $54 Specialty Cosmetic Retailers
Maybe this post should be titled, September favorites that everyone else discovered 2 years ago. I bought a Naked 3 palette in April and I have been loving it. I didn't think I would get much use out of the Naked 2, but I have been LOVING this palette. I am finding it a bit more versatile than my Naked 3 for every day looks. This palette makes me feel like I know what I'm doing.

Atelier Cologne, Orange Sanguine: Travel Spray $25 at Sephora
This is now the SECOND time this has happened! I got sent this as a sample with my Sephora order in a "Niche Perfumes" sample set. I passed by it at first in favor of the Nest Amazon Lily. However, I went back to sniff it a few times. I do mess around in my perfume sample collection because it's out. Here is how I store my samples. They are next to my full size perfumes and because they are in this little acrylic drawer unit, I often go through them and play around with them.

This scent caught my attention because it smelled pretty heavily of blood orange. I didn't know I could like it so much, but the more I smelled it, the more I loved it. It also smelled really good with my body chemistry and I used almost the entire sample. So, one day after I did a voiceover gig, I stopped by the mall and picked up a travel size. It's kind of a summery scent, but I plan to wear this well into fall. If you are in a Sephora or live near an Atelier Cologne shop, definitely check them out! This scent is so special and totally unisex.

Ole Hendricksen Grease Relief Cleansing Cloths: $15 for 30 cloths at Sephora
I did NOT want to fall in love with these, but alas...they are amazing. My face is an oily mess and these cloths have a textured side and a smooth side. It won't remove your eye makeup, but it will clean up everything else (or at least, on my face since I don't wear foundation) and it makes your skin feel amazing. It's exfoliating, refreshing and smells like eucalyptus. I hate that I love these because they are so damn expensive. And that's an empty package you see there. SADNESS.

Lush Cupcake Fresh Face Mask: $7 Lush Store Locations
If you don't live near a Lush, then I'm sorry. They won't ship fresh face masks because they have to be refrigerated and have a short shelf life. This mask is for oily skin and its made with cocoa and mint. CHOCOLATE MINT ON YOUR FACE. Do I have to say anything more? this stuff makes my face feel amazing and it's only $7. Looks like brownie batter, smells like brownie batter with a mint overtone. This makes my skin feel amazing after I've used it and takes care of blemishes. Winning.

Coffee Mate Extra Sweet and Creamy: About $4 grocery stores
Okay, I feel like I'm a terrible person for having this as one of my favorites, but it's a guilty pleasure. If you live in New England or have ever been to New England...you know about the wonder of Dunkin' Donuts. I like to grab my coffee from there and have it taste like dessert, extra sweet and light with cream. Well, this stuff makes my coffee taste like I went to Dunkin' but at home. It's super sweet and super creamy just like it says. It's probably terrible for you and I probably shouldn't be ingesting so much sugar early in the morning, but I drink about one cup a day. Cut me some slack.

Lastly, I have been LOVING a dress *that was sent to be to try by the lovely folks at eShatki.com...my review is forthcoming!

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsore. All products in this post were purchased with my own money, except where indicated with an asterisk(*)

Vacation Luxuries for your inner Princess

Sometimes, there are crazy things you by from Sephora and you don't know why you spent that much on a single product. It doesn't make sense, it's probably not worth it and you probably didn't need it. But when I am on vacation, I like to have crazy, unreasonably-priced luxuries to make me feel like I'm royalty at my home away from home. Here are some of the crazy things I've brought with me on my beach vacation.

Caudalie Beauty Elixir: My friend Sara turned me on to this stuff and I'm not even sure what this does. On the Caudalie Website, it says it gives you a glow, minimizes your pores and sets your makeup. I'm not sure I believe all of that nonsense, but you know what it DOES do? It smells amazing and it feels amazing on your face when you spray it. It's got a rosemary, floral sort of smell and a slight tingle when you spray it on your face (eyes closed of course). This stuff is $49 for the full-size and I'm not even sure what it is. But you can buy a small little tiny size at Sephora for $18, which is just as stupid, but less of a sting on the wallet and was a perfect size for my purse. It's steamy and humid at the beach here and this has been so amazing in the middle of the day when my face is kind of feeling gross and hot. If you have money burning a hole in your pocket and you're vacationing somewhere hot, pick it up and treat yourself.

Ole Hendriksen Grease Relief Cleansing Cloths: I am super into cleansing cloths. Maybe because I'm lazy. My current favorite are the Yes to Cucumbers wipes for sensitive skin. I don't have sensitive skin necessarily, but for some reason, I love these wipes. They smell faintly of cucumber and they get your makeup off mostly. I had heard a lot of buzz in the beauty community about these (Ole Hendriksen) brand of cleansing wipes. I couldn't imagine that a stupid face wipe could be so amazing. I saw the little 10-count sample at the checkout at Sephora for $8. So it's $0.80 for each of these stupid face wipes, which is INSANE. But...

They are amazing. They feel amazing on your skin, they smell fantastic and they have a cool side with bumps on it that exfoliates your skin. I have oily skin and I enjoy anything that reduces the amount of grease and crap on my face and the fact that these wipes have AHA's in them is a huge plus for me. They leave my skin feeling clean, refreshed and smelling fantastic. The 30-count is a $15 which is a little more reasonable at $0.50 a wipe. I think I will definitely be going back for the big size, but maybe I can't buy them all the time. I don't use these to remove eye makeup (I use Clinique Take the Day Off Remover), it just takes off my blush and face powder and primer.

SUPERGOOP! Sun-Defying Sunscreen Oil: Sunscreen Oil, eh? Sure. I was attracted to this product initially because as a darker-skinned person, I didn't enjoy the blue-ish white cast that creamy sunscreens leave on my skin. Maybe I'm vain, but I think it looks really terrible. This product seemed like a good alternative because it was an oil. I initially didn't think an oil could really protect you from the sun because I believed that white-cast was coming from whatever chemical was keeping you from getting sunburned, but I took a chance on it anyway. It's $10 for a 1-ounce spray of this. That CRAZY. But I was going on vacation and this was a chance to be luxurious and treat myself like a princess. Well, I really love this product. It's waterproof up to 80 minutes and it feels really good going on your skin. Not greasy, but silky. I was out playing golf on a hot, sunny day and I did not get burned.

Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15: This is the most ridiculously expensive lip balm ever. It's $22.50 for a full-size, which is nuts because you only get 0.15oz worth of product. However, this is the best lip balm I've ever used. It goes on remarkably smooth and is incredibly moisturizing and the colors are usually very pretty. I have this balm in at least 5 colors but my favorite is the newest shade, Tulip. It's a pretty, bright pink and it's the perfect MYBB (my lips but better) color. Big ups to Fresh for compelling me to buy an insanely over-priced product in almost every color that they offer.

So, that's it for my ridiculously over-priced vacation luxuries! Are there expensive guilty pleasures that you enjoy?