my favorite beauty products

I'm sharing a roundup of my favorite products in four different categories. Ever since I was a little girl, I've been interested in beauty products. My mom would patiently let me put makeup on her, and I still remember what the compact containing her Prescriptives blush looked like. I remember visiting the makeup aisles at Target or the drugstore with my cousin, Erika, and browsing dreamily at the powder compacts, lipsticks, and eye shadow palettes.

1. My first category of favorites has to do with skincare. I know all-natual is gaining a lot of popularity and, while I see the value in that, I am not quite 100 per cent on board the natural wagon. So if you're into that, you may not want to read on.

I love CeraVe products. I use the cleanser and the daily lotion, and I picked up some of their heavy-duty hand cream for Stella this winter because her hands get so chapped from using the harsh soap at school throughout the day. I just started using the Thayers Witch Hazel Toner with Aloe Vera and Cucumber and the Acure Seriously Glowing Face Serum two weeks ago, and I love it! The toner is free of alcohol, and so gentle and refreshing. I opted for the cucumber one, but their original is rose. The Acure oil smells Aveda-ish, which is pretty wonderful in my opinion; it helps hydrate my skin after I wash it. I'm also impressed with Paula's Choice products, which I have used on and off for the last several years. This one contains retinol, and is very gentle and packed with antioxidants. When I want some extra pampering for my dryness-prone skin, I used Clinique's Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion. I purchased the Thayers and Acure products through Vitacost, but I've seen the Acure oil at Whole Foods (and for the locals, at Lunds and Byerlys). I also love micellar water cleansing wipes...aah, feels so nice to swipe that over the face at the end of the day because it's so refreshing and cool.

I forgot to include face masks! I have quite a few favorites, but I'm blanking on the brand names! I love ones that contain hyaluronic acid, cucumber, aloe, or rose.

2. Let's move on to haircare! My hair is very fine and can get limp pretty quickly. When I was a kid, I thought it sounded braggy to say that my hair was "fine" so I would say "thin" instead. LOL! Not the same thing...

I like to use volume-building sprays to give my hair a boost. I by no means use all these products at once, but I assembled them together to show my favorites. My mom gave me the Living Proof products for Christmas, and I use them nearly every day, so they have lasted a good while! I especially like the thickening cream. I put a little of it in my hair before blow-drying in the morning. If my hair needs a pick-me-up in the afternoon, or before going out in the evening, I spray a little of the dry volume blast or Drybar Triple Sec at the roots, or shake out a little of the Bumble and bumble pret-a-powder and run it through my hair. The Ouai texturing hair spray is good for creating some dimension and piece-y waves, and adds a little volume (although my hair tends to be very straight, but other reviewers with wavy hair can really achieve the beachy look with it). Last, but not least, I LOVE Lush's Big Sea Salt Shampoo. I need all the BIGness I can get with this fine hair of mine. It smells HEAVENLY--like citrus fruits and jasmine.

3. Makeup. I recently ran out of the fabulous Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat, and so I picked up another tried-and-true of mine: Benefit's Erase Paste. I still use Anastasia brow whiz to fill in my sparse brows. For eye liner, I alternate between Marc Jacobs and Maybelline's Master Precise Skinny. The Maybelline one is very easy to apply because it's so fine-tipped. The Marc Jacobs color is the perfect brown for my complexion, but it's harder to apply because it's thicker at the tip, and you have to sharpen it with the sharpener frequently (at the opposite end) to keep it to a point. The Buxom lip gloss (I think Bare Escentuals make it) plumps up the lips a little and has little minty zing to it which I love. Honorable mentions: lipstick by Bite and Marc Jacobs. I got to pick out a gift for my birthday at Sephora (if you're into beauty products, sign up for the free Beauty Insiders so you can get little perks like birthday gifts), so since I had recently run out of my favorite NARS blush, I thought it would be fun to try out Tarte. The color is Paaarty, and is great for a fair complexion. I use a dab of the Urban Decay primer potion on my eyelids every day for a great base for the eyeliner to stick to. I don't usually wear eye shadow, so I just try to apply it near the upper lash line where I put eye liner.

I didn't include mascara because I am constantly trying out new brands. I usually resort to Maybelline's Lash Sensational and, recently L'oreal Telescopic. When I want to treat myself, I buy "They're Real" mascara by Benefit.

4. Scents. I always sprtiz a little something on before leaving the house, or even if I'm going to be house-bound all day. It just makes the day feel a little more special. I wore Abercrombie perfume in high school (lol!) and have worn Clinique Happy Heart since college (and a lot of Cool Water in college, too). In the past two years, I've worn Acqua di Gioia or Clinique Happy Heart. I recently bought Illume's Sugar Blossom at Patina. I just love the beautiful package it comes in! I purchased the Aerin Mediterranean Honeysuckle after reading a glowing review of it on another blog, and it's summery and beautiful. I had some Sephora points to spend (hooray for freebies!), so I selected the Atelier Cologne Clementine California, and I'm so glad I did because it's fresh and citrusy.

So, there's that. Any other product junkies out there? What are your favorites? Are you a Sephora Beauty Insider? It's a great way to score lots of samples! :) What are your favorite scents?