Sweater Weather Tag!

Ah, yes, welcome to Tuesday already. Kristin (alittlefille) tagged me in this one last week and what a cute name it is so let's get into it!

1. Favorite candle scent?

My all time favorite fall candle is Cider Lane. It smells pretty much exactly like caramel apples which I adore and always reminds me of fall. Burning it brings back all those memories of apple orchard field trips as a kid.

2. Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?

It pains me to have to pick but, being a working girl, I've got to go with coffee. I love a good dark roast or the Salted Caramel Mochas at Starbucks. Peppermint Mochas are my all time favorite, but I feel like that might be jumping the gun a little bit with this very autumnal tag.

3. What's the best fall memory you have?

Picking an all time favorite memory is really hard to pin down, but I just always cherish all the memories of going to soccer games with my family – be it my own or my brother's or for the team my dad coached. It was always a big weekend event and I'll always look back on those times fondly no matter what.

4. Which makeup trend do you prefer: dark lips or winged eyeliner?

Dark lips! Super dark vampy lips or cranberry lips have been my favorite all season long. I think they're pretty easy to wear once you kind of take the plunge and have some confidence. Winged eyeliner is always a staple but I'm so into dark lipsticks right now.

5. Best fragrance for fall?

I don't know about best but I've been pretty much only wearing PINK Warm & Cozy. I mean, I guess it makes sense for fall because it really is a comforting scent. Sometimes I spice things up with a little bit of Taylor by Taylor Swift over it.

6. Favorite Thanksgiving food?

Chestnut stuffing! I mean, I will take any and all types of stuffing you'll give me, but my aunt makes the most delicious chestnut stuffing. It's full of cranberries and chestnuts and sausage; it's incredible. You can just have a little slice as a meal and be full for hours.

7. What is autumn weather like where you live?

I live right outside of New York City, so our autumn is pretty picturesque and what you might imagine autumn would be like. It's a bit warm in the beginning and then it'll transition to very very chilly days – like today. (I'm still cold and I've been home for hours.)

8. Most worn sweater?

Honestly, my most worn sweaters are the cardigans I picked up from Target earlier in the season. They're super versatile and I wear them at least three times a week because they're so great to layer for work. My favorite sweater is a super cute grey one I got from Old Navy last year – it has sheep on it.

9. Must-have nail polish this fall?

Navy. I'm all over navy for all season and even into winter I think it's going to be so great. My favorite is Butter London Royal Navy.

10. Football games or jumping in leaf piles?

I don't really know how these compare unless they mean a pickup football game in the yard with your brother and friends or something? Either way I'd definitely pick football. Playing football, going to football games, or watching them on TV; I'm a huge huge football fan.

11. Skinny jeans or leggings?

I can't believe it, but I'm going to pick leggings. I work my PINK leggings almost every day this week, today being the first day in a long while I broke out the skinnies. And I've actually put my leggings back on as soon as I got home. They're just so comfortable and easy and they go with most outfits.

12. Combat boots or Uggs?

Combat boots, only because I don't have Uggs right now. But I am looking into getting some soon, I think.

13. Is pumpkin spice worth the hype?

Pumpkin spice is delicious and anyone who tells you differently shouldn't be trusted.

14. Favorite fall TV show?

American Horror Story! Every season has been so good and creepy and so perfect for the season of Halloween but Coven has been so so incredible. It's the perfect mix of creepy and campy fun and it's about witches! There's a lot of moments that are definitely pushing boundaries but that just makes everything so much more interesting.

15. What song really gets you into the fall spirit?

Every year, as soon as September comes around, I have to breakout Death Cab for Cutie's Transatlanticism. I know that's a whole album but it screams autumn to me and every track is perfect. If I had to pick one song from it it'd be "We Looked Like Giants".

Thank you so much for reading and definitely do the tag if you want to! It was a fun one!

Caitlin x

Holiday Lush Haul

They are coming!!! The holidays are literally right around the corner and the air is cold and crisp and it could snow any second, so you know what that means: it's time to pop into Lush.

Now I'm pretty new to the whole Lush thing, having not really considered myself a bath person and being a little intimidated by their multitude of projects but I've decided to give it a go with a little hand-holding from my love, Kristin of alittlefille. Plus their limited edition holiday products are a little hard to resist.

That being said, I might have gone a little overboard on both permanent and holidays things. Disclaimer: the products in this post are actually from two separate shopping trips, as if that makes it any better.

 

The first thing I picked up was Ocean Salt – a great face and body scrub made from fine and coarse sea salt, lime extract, and vodka! I've been using it pretty regularly since I picked it up a few weeks ago and it's extremely wonderful. The sea salt exfoliates and brightens my dreary, dry, winter skin while the avocado and coconut hydrate. It's great for all skin types: oily, dry, or combination. Now, since my skin is pretty sensitive, I've been using it twice a week in the shower but if yours isn't quite so fussy, you can use it as often as you'd like! Plus it smells incredible! Like a tropical cocktail!

Next up, is a limited edition facial cleanser called Bûche de Noël, named for a French Christmas dessert often made from from almonds which makes sense since this thing is packed with them! In the shop, the Bûche de Noël comes as a little log and they just slice you off a tiny piece which is very cute – like you're getting a little slice of cake. Then when you get your slice home you break off a tiny piece, get it wet, and it'll make a frothy little paste to scrub over your face. So far, I've been loving it. The smell isn't as nice as I thought it might be seeing as I adore almond and almond scents, but in the end it's so effective I don't really care. The ground almonds exfoliate while the almond oil and cocoa butter hydrate and there's a little shot of brandy to tone as well. 

Another face product I picked up (can you tell I'm a little obsessed with skincare at the moment?) is the Mask of Magnaminty. I've actually only used this once so far, but I think it's pretty great. It's a clay mask made with fresh peppermint to deeply clean out your pores and it's made with vanilla absolute and honey to calm and soothe redness which I've been seriously struggling with lately. Now, because of the peppermint, if you have sensitive skin, the girl in the shop told me to only use it for five minutes but following those instructions I've been totally fine. They also say you can use it on your back (or anywhere else on your body, I imagine?) but I'm not really sure how you're supposed to apply it unless you have a helping hand.

 

Moving on to the fun stuff!! I know this one is a little bit dated but when I was in the store last week they still had a few left and they're still up on the website! This is Pumkin and isn't he the cutest little bubble bar you've ever seen!!! I picked up two of him, actually, a few weeks ago and he smells lovely – much like the Figs and Leaves soap – very fresh while musky. He turned my bath a lovely bubbly orange as well. His eyes are made of chocolate chips and he has a stem made of licorice, both of which the shop girls said you could eat, but really I don't think I'd recommend that. They both melt into a hot bath anyway.

I also picked up this FUN Christmas set. Now, if you are unfamiliar with FUN it's this play doughy like thing that you can use as bubble bath, soap, or even shampoo. And you can mold and play with it too! Now, I'm guessing it's mostly made for kids to make bath time "fun" but when you're a grownup with your own money you can do whatever you want. Since I haven't used FUN before, I decided I'd try a little bit of few of their scents with this little gift set (that I'm gifting to myself). In this one, is red (smells like mandarins), a green (smells like lemons and limes), and a bit of their limited edition gold FUN (that one smells like a honey toffee).

Now isn't this Magic Wand just precious! It's a bubble bar right on a little stick so you can cast some bubble right in your bathtub. It smells deliciously like cotton candy– just like Snow Fairy – and makes your bath water pretty and pink. It's a great bang for you buck too since you can use this for up to ten baths. The one pictured above has already been used twice!

 

The Golden Wonder bath bomb is so gorgeous both to look at and to use. The bomb itself is a little gift box coated in a gold shimmer with a cute little white bow on top. It smells like a fruity-citrus champagne and when you drop it in the bathwater it bursts with a gorgeous teal color on the inside along with teeny little stars that will eventually dissolve as well. It's probably the most fun bath bomb to use and it'll leave your skin with a faint sparkle as well.

I think the Melting Snowman bath melt is going to be my favorite of this whole haul. I've yet to use him, but he smells fantastic – like spicy cinnamon and cloves – perfect for winter. He's also a bath melt so he's got lots of hydrating butters – like Shea and Cocoa – plus some almond oil to help soften dry winter skin. Plus how freaking cute is he!

I make sincere apologies for being so awful and using up half of these two wonderful bath bombs but I wanted to mention them because I adore them. The one of the left, called So White (clearly), beautifully smells of apples which is my all time favorite scent. It looks boring on the outside but it looks a little bit like a snowball which is cute plus the inside is a purply-pink to turn your bathwater. The one of the right is Lord of Misrule. Named for the ruler of the Pagan Feast of Fools, this bomb smells like spicy black pepper and patchouli. The outside is so cute – green and specked with pink and yellow with a little inlay that mimics those little paper hats that come out of Christmas crackers (which apparently come from the Lord of Misrule, himself). The inside of this is also a lovely purple.

The Comforter bubble bar is massive! And gorgeous too! The scent really is comforting – a sweet, but not overly sweet, black current. I just want to run a bath and make heaping bubbles with this and forget about the world. Plus did I mention it's huge! You could easily make several baths out of this one, depending on how bubbly you like your baths to be.

 

 Lastly, I picked up a new lip scrub because my old Bubblegum one was pretty nasty and I was so pleasantly surprised to see they had a new limited edition flavor. Santa's Lip Scrub tastes freaking delicious, like cherry cola, and it's super cute too with tiny little edible hearts inside. If you've never used a Lush lip scrub before I highly recommend them especially for this season of super chapped lips.

That's my whole exhausting haul! Let me know if anything has sparked interest for you or if you have any other Lush recommendations! 

Caitlin x

NOTD #1: Butter London Royal Navy and West End Wonderland

Today my nails have a little bit more pizazz than I usually go for. I love sparkles, I do, but glitter nail polish is difficult in many ways – mainly it's a huge pain to remove even with all the tips and tricks I've uncovered over the past few years.

However, I've been feeling extremely festive lately (I've had two peppermint mochas in as many days) and the quickest way to showcase that is to add a little bit of sparkle on my fingertips. I didn't want to go too seasonal, as it is still a bit early, so I skipped the reds and greens and opted for my go to color this fall – Butter London Royal Navy. It's a gorgeous deep creamy navy and an overlay of Butter London West End Wonderland really makes it pop. I feel like I'm looking into a midnight sky on a clear night after the first snow of the season. It's such a beautiful combination and I've received a few compliments on it already!

What's on your nails this week, lovlies?

Caitlin xx

October 2013 Favorites

 

How in the world is it November already? It feels like only last week we were ringing in a brand new 2013! But that's okay because it's time for Christmas music and decorations and... well, let's not get ahead of ourselves! 

October has been a rather busy month for me – mostly busy working to be honest with you. But I've had my fun and a lot of that fun did indeed involve spending a lot of money on things I maybe didn't need, but wow, I've fallen in love a few times.

My first favorite this month is Tarte's Lights, Camera, Flashes Statement Mascara. I'm a huge mascara junkie and sometimes my collection of 11 full size tubes gets a little overwhelming (yeah, I know I don't know who needs 11 mascaras either). I've had this one for awhile and for some reason decided to get it a try again and I've rediscovered my love for it ten times over. It makes my lashes full without being clumpy and they still feel soft, not crispy. The formulation holds the curl of my lashes all day and it's super black too which always adds a touch of glam. Seriously just a little concealer and this mascara and I feel put together.

I do have two lipstick favorites this month (surprise, surprise) and the first is Rimmel London Lasting Finish by Kate Lipstick in the shade 09. It's a beautiful pinky berry red that I am obsessed with for fall. The color payoff is stunning and the formula is shockingly hydrating. The wear doesn't last outrageously long as the name might suggest, but considering it's a drugstore lippy it doesn't really bother me to have to reapply it every few hours (actually, I kind of always feel a little bit fancy pulling out my lipstick and compact in public). 

My second favorite lipstick this month is Mac's lipstick in Just a Bite – a limited edition shade that was a part of their Indulge Fall 2013 collection. First off, I'm obsessed with the name and maybe that's half the reason I picked it up in the first place. It makes me think of sexy vampires or something, which is appropriate since the shade is a beautiful vampy brick red. I love that it's not too dark so it's work friendly (for me, at least) but it still makes me feel like I could sprout fangs or turn into a bat or something.

As I mentioned earlier, this month has been crazy for me, mostly work-wise. I'll have a late night and then have to be at work at the crack of dawn. Needless to say, my under-eye circles have been monstrous and Origins GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream has been a life saver. The formula really brightens up my eyes, reduces puffiness, and makes me feel awake even when I could probably sleep for another four hours.

Now that fall is definitely here, my skin has been feeling it. Luckily, Clinique was having a gift this month so I moseyed on over to the counter at Macy's (actually moseyed is definitely not the word to describe my experience at the counter but that's another story) and picked myself up a new foundation (also another story) and discovered the Moisture Surge Intense Skin Fortifying Hydrator. It's been so hydrating for my combination skin. The only thing is that it doesn't contain any SPF so I've been using it just at night before bed with a different moisturizer in the morning.

This next one started out as a bit of a joke. I was in the market for a small travel sized hand lotion to keep in my purse because autumn dries out my hands something fierce. I went into Pink and fell in love with the Warm & Cozy scent but of course they didn't have it in a travel size but I still wound up buying a few full size things anyway. One of them was the Pink Warm & Cozy Luminous Body Butter. First off, this scent is to die for and the whole range is really part of my October favorites because of course I now own everything in the line. The toasted vanilla and peony is light and absolutely makes me want to curl up with my blanket like the name implies. Now, the body butter itself is rich and creamy and melts right into my thirsty skin and it leaves a little bit of a shimmer as well which maybe isn't for everyone but it makes me feel like my skin is bright and healthy. And yes, I eventually did pick up my travel sized hand lotion.

Did you know that I love Taylor Swift? If you didn't I'm definitely curious to know how you stumbled here because she is one of my absolutely favorites and her scents are so spot on; I'm obsessed with all of them. Her latest scent, Taylor by Taylor Swift, released a few months back and I finally picked it up (well, my mom gifted it to me). Taylor is fresh and more mature than the Wonderstruck scents but still has lovely fruity and floral notes. It's delicious and it feels like it suits me.

Lastly, I've been burning the crap out of my Bath and Body Works Pumpkin Pecan Waffles candle. It smells deliciously like brown sugar and maple syrup with a hint of nuttiness and spice and it makes me so hungry. Now everyone knows that the Bath and Body Works candles are spot on but seriously, even when this isn't burning the scent lingers and sometimes I'm half expecting there to be fresh waffles cooking in the kitchen. The mason jar is also a nice touch and adds a little rusticity that's perfect for fall.

One last favorite, of mine that's not pictured at all is Taylor Swift's new song (I told you I'm in love, okay) "Sweeter than Fiction". It's so upbeat and I envision it playing over a montage of my life while I struggle to make it in the big bad city or something and it makes me feel like I can do anything! Check it out if you haven't yet.

I hope y'all have lovely Octobers and that November looks to be shaping up well. It finally is feeling like a good chilly autumn out there which I love because I have so many great cozy hats and scarves and other fun cold weather things to break out. Let me know what your favorite things have been this past month and what you're looking forward to in the rest of 2013!

Caitlin xx