My Current Favorite Products

The last time that I talked about my current favorites it was all about fall and the new shades and products that I have been using for the change of the seasons.  It is still technically fall and leaves are falling to the ground but we are all beginning to look toward to the holidays.  I am still wearing my fall makeup shades and fragrances but I am beginning to think about what products I will be switching over to for holiday parties. 

My current favorite shade is red, both for lips and nails and it plays a large role in my favorite products of the moment.  These reds have been working out very well for me all fall season and will go right into the holiday season and the winter months...

MAC Lipstick in Russian Red - "Colour plus texture for the lips.  Stands out on the runway.  Simmers on the street!  What made MAC famous."  Russian Red is described as an "intense bluish-red" and it has a matte finish.  This is the classic red lipstick and I see it on every blog and magazine.  It imparts a cool bright red lip with a long-lasting matte finish and I use it every single season.  This is the most flattering red shade that I have ever used and I recommend this shade to everyone that asks me about red lisptick shades. 
China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Heart of Africa - "China Glaze is a professional-level nail enamel made with a special balance of polymers and resins that combine to create a nail lacquer that is long-lasting, chip-resistant, and resistant to color and shine fading.  Will not thicken in the bottle, no thinners necessary."  Heart of Africa is a deep cherry red with a bit shimmer to it, I just tried this one a few days ago and I fell in love with it right away.  It applies as a full coverage deep red in two coats and the shimmer finish is very attractive.  It stayed chip-free and shiny for about three days before I needed to touch it up.  The only drawback to this shade is that it didn't remove as well as I would have hoped and it left a bit of a red stain on my nails.  This is another one of those shades that works great in the fall months and will go right into the holidays.

MAC Plushglass in Ample Pink - "Sheer lip colour in a pearlized high-shine gloss finish.  Comfortable to wear: lush, multi-dimensional.  Gives a cool-warm, vanilla buzz to the lips.  Moisturizes, soothes, and visibly plumps the lips to make them look luxuriously healthy and well-conditioned.  Contains Vitamin E for added environmental protection."  Ample Pink is one of those lip glosses that works with any eye look and I originally purchased to work against a smoky eye.  This is a favorite gloss of mine and I pull it out all the time, this is one of the only products that I am in a position to need to repurchase within the near future.  This color is a "full soft rose" and it is perfect match for my skintone.  The plumper in it makes my lips looks like soft pillows and I always see guys looking at them when I wear it out on the town.  This is one of the best lip glosses that I have ever made.

Bath and Body Works Creamy Body Wash in Dark Kiss - "Our Dark Kiss Creamy Body Wash is the ultimate luxuriously hydrating body cleanser.  With rich, creamy moisture and a gentle kiss of fragrance, this pampering treatment works hard to nourish the skin while you shower.  With natural soybean oil and our exclusive Triple Moisture Complex of milk proteins, rice bran oil, and acai berry.  It leaves your skin feeling deeply moisturized and soft as silk.  You have to feel it to believe it.  Our exclusive Dark Kiss is a seductive blend of dark berries with a kiss of vanilla to unleash your most primal passions.  Key fragrance notes: Sensual Incense, Mirabelle Plum, and Night Musk."  My favorite Bath and Body Works fragrance is a creamy, hydrating body wash that helps my skin to hold moisture in it in the shower.  My skin gets dry in the fall and winter and I always need to change to body washes and bar soaps that are made to not strip moisture from the skin.  This is a revamped formula from Bath and Body Works and is available in a wide range of fragrances to appeal to everyone.

Thymes Kimono Rose - "Kimono Rose is a modern floral collection that revels in true feminine sophistication.  Sheer and romantic, its vital essence is at turns playful and passionate,  a fragrant dance that glides easily from day to evening.  Effervescent clementine and voluptuous cassis tumble together on a creamy blend of satiny rose, white peony, and jasmine petals.  A gentle kiss of vanilla leaves a sheer, sensuous finish."  This is modern rose scent that works best in the cooler months, the base note of vanilla and the cassic note make the fragrance a deep, spicy version of rose.  This one is very unique and will appeal even to those who don't think that they like rose fragrances.  A few sprays of this lasts all day long and well into the evening.  It is a lovely way for me to bring my beloved rose fragrances into the fall and winter.

Fall is ending and now we are going to head into the holidays, the reds will still be a prominent part of my look through the month of December and all the sweet holiday body products are going to begin to work their way into my rotation.

photo courtesy of MAC

Some Picks for Mother's Day - Thymes

Now onto gift idea number two. This one is from the Kimono Rose collection from Thymes. As many of you might recall, this is favorite fragrance of mine and one that she has often commented on when I wear it. So what could be more fitting than maybe getting several products from this collection for her? My mother is who I got my love of roses from so it is fitting that I give her a rose scent that she will love.

I have this fragrance only in the roll on form but I would purchase her the perfume and some of the body and home fragrance products. This fragrance is slightly heavier than the L'Occitane Peony and for myself, the jasmine and vanilla notes comes out very heavily and makes the fragrance deepier and spicier than my other rose fragrances.

As I stated above, I would start with the perfume for her. I would get her the largest bottle of the EDT since she prefers to only have one or two fragrances open at one time and use through those before she buys anymore. The notes of this fragrance are: clementine, cassis, rose, peony, jasmine, and vanilla. I don't know if the fragrance will be as rich on her skin as it is on mine or it will will turn out to be lighter and rosier.

To start off with this fragrance, I would purchase her the filled candle and the bar soaps for her to decorate with. As stated before, she loves fragranced soaps and the filled candles would be a great extension of the fragrance. The ancillary collection for this fragrance is larger than the other one so I actually have some different choices of what I would pick out for her. Instead of just doing body products this time, I would get her the hand soap and matching lotion caddy. also, since she is an avid gardener and therfore wrecks havoc on her hands this time of the year, I would get her the hand cream from this line. This product contains shea butter and Vitamin E and I can see her using through this cream really quickly.

That was gift number 2, gift number 3 is up next.

photo courtesy of C. O. Bigelow Apothecaries

Thymes Kimono Rose

You may be thinking, "Not another rose fragrance?! How many can she have?" Well the answer to that is that I can never have enough rose fragrances. The one that we will be looking at today is my current fragrance obsession and is one that has even won over those who are not fans of rose. This fragrance is from the company Thymes and it is my first purchase from this company. I haven't really seen many items from this company so I decided to look into the background of this company and learn more about it.

This is a much smaller company than many of the large perfume houses. They believe in botanical fragrances and skincare and strive to combine highly quality botanical ingredients with the latest advancements in science. I couldn't find out what country this company originated in though from the look of their products, I would take a guess that it is either England or the United States.

This fragrance is defined as "Femininity, Redefined". This line of products is available in perfume, body products, and home fragrance items. This is the description of the fragrance from the company. "A sheer, sensuous floral heightened with effervescent clementine and voluptuous cassis on a creamy bed of satiny rose, peony, and jasmine...finished with a kiss of vanilla. Thymes Kimono Rose is a modern reflection of who you are, and who you want to be...all wrapped up in one truly lovely fragrance."

I bought the fragrance in the little roller ball and have been very impressed with it so far. The scent is heavier than most of my other rose fragrances and the vanilla and jasmine notes make the fragrance on the spicier side of rose. It has decent lasting power and hasn't given me any reason to complain so far.

I only have this fragrance in the roller ball perfume right now but I would love to get in the body wash, the body cream, and the candle. I tried a bit of the lotion when I was in the store and I found the texture to be slightly too light for what my skin needs but the cream was much more to my liking.

As I stated earlier, this perfume even appealed to those who normally complain about all the rose fragrances that I have. I think that this one is on the spicy side and is more oriental than many of the others that I own. It also has the jasmine to really balance out that rose notes so it more floral than just a rose fragrance. This line make be hard to find but it is worth a trip to the company's website to view the products and look at the store locator to see what boutiques nearest to you will carry the line.

photo courtesy of Thymes