Feels good to be back and that too with a Favorites post. November has zoomed past, and we are already on the doorsteps of year 2015. This year I made some crazy crazy purchases with many turning into absolute favorites and some of the favorites are keepers for life.

Nivea Power Fruit Fresh Body Wash

I love hoarding body washes. At any point in time, I have at least 3 body washes rotating in my shower. Currently, I have the below listed ones:

1. St. Ives Purifying Sea Salt  is a nautical shower gel, with micro salt granules.
2. St. Ives Oatmeal and Shea Butter is a rich and creamy shower gel.
3. Bath and Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar, the quite essential sweet smelling body wash.
4. Nivea Power Fruit Fresh, the star of the month which comes in a transparent purple plastic bottle. The body wash is induced with revitalising Achi berry scent and is rich in antioxidants. It  is a sweet smelling body shower with a tinge of citrus flavour. The new formula produces better foamy lather than its previous counterpart.

Cost: The 250 ml bottle will cost you 185 bucks.

Just Herbs Silk Splash 

This is an iconic product, I use it in the morning, to wake myself up. The face wash is very refreshing and comes in a transparent bottle with a pump dispenser *Thumps up for that*. It smells of honey and oranges and is slightly thick in texture. It cleans and refreshes my normal skin without drying it out. I have a problem with some of the face washes drying my face out, I'm looking at you, Dove face wash!!!!.  This face wash is supposedly suitable for all skin types, is organic and does not contain any Paraben or Sulphate. Rest assured that there are no harmful chemicals that your subjecting your skin to.

Cost: 245 bucks for 100ml.

Chicco Baby Shampoo 

My hair has been behaving pretty well lately, except for the bout of dandruff after every wash. I use Tressme , but realised that the shampoo may be a little too harsh for my scalp. I have been hunting for a Paraben free formula and I found Chicco baby shampoo in my local supermarket. The shampoo comes in a white bottle, is clear and runny in texture with a non describable scent. The shampoo cleans my scalp pretty well , but this shampoo is ineffective in removing excessive oil from the hair. Also, if you have thick hair like mine, you might find yourself using far more product than what your used to.

Cost: The price of 200 ml shampoo is 199.

Real Techniques Powder Brush

Enough has been said about the iconic RT powder brushes, it is a very fluffy brush, with golden handle. You can use this brush to powder your face after you have applied your foundation. The bristles are synthetic and soft, I love how it feels on my skin. They clean easily with MAC cleanser or baby shampoo. Two swirls are all what it needs to cover my entire face. I use it along with my MAC Studio Fix powder. They can easily purchased from Luxola (I bought mine from this store),  RT website or iherbs.com.

Cost: The cost of this brush is 10 dollars.

Maybelline Color Show Feisty Fuchsia 

This is a perfect summery nail polish shade to perk up your dull day. The color instantly lifts up your hand and foot complexion. The nail polish chips of in a week. I have worn this shade atleast 3 times since I purchased them last month.

Cost: 75 bucks

MAC Lip Pencil in Spice

This is a hand me down from a friend of mine who purchased it for her wedding, as her lips were pigmented and all of the lipsticks were showing as double shade on her lips. The MAC MUA suggested that she can use spice lip pencil to hide the pigmentation and then apply any lipstick on top. It did the trick, but she is not cosmetics crazy person and handed this over to me to put to good use. This pencil is the perfect nude shade for dusky beauties. It has slight peach, pink undertone that prevents it from washing me out. Being a matte formula, it stays for 5+ hours. The only issue is that its a sharpen able pencil and does not qualify for Back to MAC.

Cost: 990 bucks (1 year before)

Home Centre  Vanilla Candle 

Coconuty - Vanilla smell, check.
Cute glass holder, check.
Good sillage, check.
Have been burning these every single day.

Socks

I love socks. I love wearing warm cozy socks to keep my feet warm. Winter or faux winter in Bangalore is too cold/harsh for my poor feet, and I need to wear atleast two pairs to keep them warm.

So there you go, these are my favorites for the month of November.

Wish List

This month was absolutely crazy. Starting of with the much hyped Flipkart Big Billion Day Sales, to Amazon Diwali Dhamaka, to the big Nykaa sales, I am pretty much broke now. Iv stocked up some pretty fashion items (mostly from Forever 21 website), somehow I didn't feel like spending money on beauty-related stuff (I am regretting my decision now).

I have been making a mental list of things (beauty-related) that I would love to purchase in the coming months.

1. Anastasia Beverly Hills Tamanna palette

Source: http://anastasiabeverlyhills.com/

A girl can never have enough neutral palette. Dress Your Face MUA's palette in collaboration with Anastasia Beverly Hills is a dream come true. Decently priced at rs. 1700, this is a palette you need to get your hands on. I had it in my Beauty Bay check-out basket for 3 days, and when I actually made up my mind on it, it was already sold out, talk about bad luck!!.

2.  Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz

Source: http://anastasiabeverlyhills.com/

Yay!! I have hit pan on my NYX Love in Paris eye palette (An achievement by itself), that's mainly cause the dark brown shade perfectly complements by brows and I have been using the shade religiously to up by brow game. It's now time to move to the so called cult product from the Brow queen herself.

Note: Has anyone faced any issue while ordering stuff from Beauty Bay?. The check-out address L2 and L3 does not appear in the final address. I am scared whether the package would reach the correct address.

3. Real Techniques Powder brush

Source: Ulta.com

RT brushes are bang on money. I have most of their brushes in my collection, except their powder brush, which has sort of become a must have for powder application.

4. Milani Lipstick in Black Cherry

Source: milani.com

I so wish that I had few of my hubby's cousins visit States again, cause this Milani Lipstick in Black Cherry (deep plum) is so hard to pass by. I was so fascinated by their Bedazzled Fall 2014 collection (especially their Constellation Gel Liner), but then decide to pass it up, when I got to know that the Instagram photo worthy product is just an overspray. I wouldn't mind few of the eye shadows from their collection though :)

5. MAC holiday collection with Prabal Gurung

Source: Vogue.uk

This collection just screams luxury, classy, and sold out!!!. I hope, really really hope that I can at least get my hands on one of the luxurious lipstick.

6. Chanel VitaLumiere Aqua

Source: Chanel.com

I am a big time base junkie, and I believe that a perfect canvas is the starting point for a masterpiece. If you are not blessed with a good skin, fake it!!. Last time I TRIED IT, I was not able to make up my mind on the shade. I have this gut feeling that I will find my right shade next time.

7. Prada Candy

Source: Sephora.com

I love caramel popcorn, caramel shower gel, I don't even mind my guy smelling like caramel popcorn. I love caramel-vanilla deadly combo and Prada Candy is the ultimate candy, but not an ant attracting sweet kinda perfume. I have been hunting one online for quite some time now, as buying perfumes online is much cheaper than buying it in-store. In the process, I did score Marc Jacobs, Lola, Lanvin Me, and Gucci Flora, but no luck with Prada Candy yet.

June Superstars

So, the monthly favorites have been christened as monthly superstars. How do like the name..love it! Hate it!. Some of these are old favorites (well mostly!) and there are few new products that made it into the June list.

Dove Go Fresh Deo in Cucumber and Green Tea: I have forgotten the number of cans I've repurchased. The oldest memory of this deodorant goes back to college. Other deodorants that I tried on would sting my skin so bad. After loving Dove Cucumber and Green tea soap, I tried their deodorant and gwaash I've have not looked back since. It is so soft on the skin, very light, fresh and summer appropriate. If I have few complaints, that would be definitely the white stain on the skin and also the fact that I had to throw away at least 3 semi-empty cans that just refuse to dispense the product. The product gets clogged in the nozzle and you have to open the whole dispensing system to get it cleaned.

Milani Baked blush in Luminoso: Milani is an American drugstore brand. When I bought the two shades Luminoso and Rose D'Oro, I had little or no expectation from Luminoso, mainly because I thought it would not show up on my skin tone. Surprise surprise, never judge a makeup product from online swatches :p. The blush provides a very natural peachy flush of color and imparts a subdued glow to my face. It's now my go to blush for every occasion.

MAC Select Moisture cover Concealer in NC45: I have a friend who loves panda so much that she collects panda goodies. Personally, I love the cuddly panda, but panda eyes not so much. Genetically, I'm blessed with with dark circles (how cool huh). I try to hide em on a day to day basis. I used to use the heavy duty MAC Studio Fix concealer to cover up the dark circles, but they crease badly and look so unnatural. This on the other hand is so natural looking. Ensure you set this with a powder to avoid creasing. It's not a full coverage concealer, it will let your skin shine through with minor imperfections. None of us are perfect to the point we look made up right.

NYX Love in Paris palette in MADELEINES AND MACAROONS: This is one of my earliest palettes. I bought it from the NYX US site and got it shipped to Gs cousin's place. It is a basic neutrals pallets that will help u achieve an effortless look. You can see by the small dents in the colours on how much I love this palette.

Olay Total Effects (Cream + Serum duo): I can't give an opinion on the anti ageing part, but this is one of a constant fixture in my night care routine. The Cream + Serum duo is a thick consistency cream, that gets absorbed into the skin within minutes. It makes my skin supple and smooth. Strictly, a night time skin care product, as the cream itself is a little thick for the day time use. It pricey, cost Rs. 800 ($15) for 40g of product.

Cosmopolitan Magazine: I love this magazine, much more than Femina. It is a light read, covering everything from fashion to food to travel to beauty. G calls it my poison, as I am always on the hunt for this magazine. Hardly very few stores stock them and they are always OOS.

That wraps up my June superheroes , so what are yours?