February has come and gone quickly as always! The month is only a couple of days shorter than the rest, but it seems to make a big difference for some reason. I managed to rack up quite a few favorite things despite the abbreviated month, which I’d like to share with you here. These range from clothing, accessories, and beauty items to home goods, multi-media picks, and food.
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Clothes & Accessories
✻ Plaid Scarf (no longer available) – I’ve received many questions about this scarf when I’ve shown it in recent vlogs and Instagram pics, so I thought I’d share it here, even though it’s a general winter time favorite, not just one for the past month. I purchased it from Abercrombie & Fitch several years ago. It’s 100% acrylic, easy to wash, and easy to wear with the bright plaid pattern that matches all of my winter coats. I couldn’t find an exact dupe to share, unfortunately, but there are tons of acrylic scarves available online in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes if you search for them.
✻ Eloise Reversible Seamless Tank – A good camisole/undershirt is an essential staple in my wardrobe. It’s surprisingly difficult to find the right fit and over the years I’ve tried several different brands and varieties with little enthusiasm for them. That all changed when I happened to try on the Eloise tank at Anthropologie earlier this year. It’s the absolute perfect fit for my curvy figure and stays put without riding up. It’s also super soft, warm, but breathable. I love the two-sided neck feature, which allows you to wear it V-neck or scoop neck style. These tanks have been a layering staple for me this winter and I see myself using them year round and for many years to come.
Beauty
✻ Parfum Divine de Caudalie – My husband, Don, gave me this perfume for Christmas after seeing how much I enjoy using my Caudalie Divine Oil on my skin and raving about the scent. It is delightful and possibly my most favorite perfume of all time so far! I love how subtle and natural it is, with notes of Pink Pepper, Grapefruit, Rose, Cedarwood, Vanilla, and White Musk. I like to think of it as a non-perfume perfume. If you’re a bit sensitive to the strength of most perfumes like I am, this might be worth a sniff for you!
✻ Too Faced Semi Sweet Chocolate Bar Palette – I had so much fun using the original Chocolate Bar palette last month I decided to try out this newest addition to the collection. It did not disappoint! The shades are pigmented, easy to blend, and long wearing just like with the original. It maintains that light chocolate scent thanks to cocoa powder in the formula, but it doesn’t linger once on the skin in my experience. This palette has a bit of a warmer tone compared to the original one.
✻ Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil Bronzer – I’ve been saving this bronzer for my palest time of year since it is so light. It’s the perfect shade to subtly warm up my winter complexion. Just like the eyeshadow palette, this bronzer is formulated with cocoa powder that gives it a light chocolate scent that I do not notice once it’s out of the pan and on my skin. It’s blendable and buildable for a soft glow. As you can see, I’m really enjoying the chocolate line of products by Too Faced lately!
✻ Tarte Tartelette Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush – This light pink blush adds a beautiful soft flush to warm up my winter dull skin. It adds dimension subtly for that just popped inside from a snowy walk glow!
✻ bareMinerals READY Luminizer in Love Affair – The last piece to complete the trio that helps keep my skin from looking so flat this time of year is this beautiful highlighter. I pop a little bit right on top of my cheekbones to add just the right amount of shimmer for a nice glowy effect.
✻ Urban Decay Sheer Revolution Lipstick in Sheer Liar – A perfect MLBB (My Lips But Better) shade for me, this amazingly creamy formula feels so luxurious on the lips! It lasts a surprisingly long time for such a moisturizing effect.
✻ Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in Rose – I’ve enjoyed using this this creamy light pink lipgloss this past month. It helps make it feel a little bit like spring even if though it’s still very much winter outside! I wasn’t sure about the sponge tip applicator at first, but I find it provides a more even application, which I really like.
Home Goods
✻ Charter Club Damask Stripe 500 Thread Count Sheets – My parents generously gifted Don and me with these amazing sheets for our birthdays this year and we’ve completely fallen in love with them. They are soft yet substantial, and warm without being too thick. I haven’t been this excited about sheets ever! We have both a stripe and a solid set, which I alternate between every week. I find that the sheets wash beautifully and seem to get softer each time. My Mom swears by these sheets and has used them for years as her tried and true favorites.
Multi-Media
✻ A Feast For Crows by George R.R. Martin – I am enjoying the fourth installment in the popular Song of Ice and Fire series every bit as much as the previous three! If you like epic style fantastical fiction, you might enjoy this series as well. There are quite a lot of characters and subplot lines to keep track of, but once I got the lay of the land and the who’s who down, I found it easy enough to navigate. I like the variety this kind of storyline provides and Martin does it very well.
✻ Yes Please by Amy Poehler – Surprise, surprise, I chose another female comedian/writer self-narrated audio book to listen to this past month (do you notice a theme here?). Amy Poehler’s book is my most favorite of this kind that I’ve listened to so far. She mixes laugh out loud funny personal anecdotes and observations with genuine and thoughtful wisdom all wrapped up in her unassuming and approachable sense of humor.
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✻ Make Magic Do Good by Dallas Clayton – I had the great pleasure of seeing Dallas Clayton speak at the Altitude Summit conference I attended earlier this year. I was really inspired by his keynote, which you can now watch online (I suggest listening to 01:04:45 – 01:08:45 to hear him recite his newest (yet to be published) poem on creativity) and I started buying up his books once I got home. While I have a deep fondness for children’s book and have amassed quite a collection over the years, I think that Clayton’s work is truly suitable for all ages for someone in the need of a little motivation and a lot of food for thought. I especially like this compilation to get a good sense of his style.
✻ Beethoven Piano Sonatas by Nodar Gabunia – I’ve been on a classical music kick lately, specifically enjoying this beautiful selection of Beethoven piano sonatas. Sometimes when I have a lot of things racing around my brain, I find that listening to classical music helps to settle the dust. Plus, I love the sound of piano. I used to play growing up and have really been missing the practice as of late. I’m even considering taking lessons again to help get back into the discipline of a regular practice and also because I am quite rusty after so much time away from it.
✻ Downton Abbey Season 1 and Season 2 – Don and I finally started watching this super popular British drama and flew through the first two seasons. It did take a bit of time for us to really get into it, but once we did, we both started feeling very invested in the characters and their stories. This is the sign of a well made show in my books! We’re taking a little break from it now just for variety, but I look forward to watching subsequent seasons soon.
✻ Game of Thrones Season 4 – This show is amazing! I must admit, I do prefer the books, but only because they’re so much more detailed. I think the producers do a really good job making the series work as a show. Once again, if you’re interested in epic style fantastical productions much like The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, you might enjoy this show.
✻ Fleur De Vlog – I’ve spent quite a bit of time on the elliptical machine this month since I haven’t been running lately due to some minor back issues. Time on the elliptical means time to watch YouTube videos and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed following Fleur’s FebVlog series where she vlogged every day last month. I love her down to earth personality and interesting life as she shares her experience with her first book launch and tour.
Tasty Treats
✻ Sumo Citrus – I tasted this tangerine-orange hybrid earlier last month at my local Whole Foods and promptly bought a bag each week ever since. I think I’ve had one most every day since. They are the juiciest and sweetest citrus I’ve ever tried and I am bonafide obsessed! I love that they are seedless and easy to peel, making them perfect to pop in my bag for an on-the-go snack.
✻ Simply Balanced Organic Dark Chocolate Trail Mix – I received this yummy trail mix in my target=”_blank”>Popsugar + Target Special Edition Must Have Box earlier last month and became instantly smitten. It includes raisins, cashews, pumpkin seeds, almonds, and generous chunks of dark chocolate. As I said in my open box video, “A little chocolate everyday keeps the grumpies away.” A serving of this trail mix with a Sumo Citrus and a cup of tea is my snack of choice as of late.
If you’d like to hear more about my February favorites, check out this video:
It’s giveaway time! I wanted to share the awesomeness that is the Too Faced Semi Sweet Chocolate Bar Palette with you. The February 2015 Favorites Giveaway will run until Tuesday, March 10, 2015 at 6 PM CT. The giveaway is open internationally. All entrants under the age of 18 must have parental permission to enter. TWO winners will receive a Too Faced Semi Sweet Chocolate Bar Palette. You can enter by following the directions in the Rafflecopter widget posted below (check out this blog post for more information on entering Rafflecopter giveaways). I’ll announce the winners on THIS blog post and contact them directly through email, as always. Good luck!
** GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED ***
Congrats to the winners of the February 2015 Favorites Giveaway!
The Poll Results for *Are you brand loyal with makeup products?* out of 1162 entries:
No, I tend to choose by individual product, not by brand (670) 58%
Yes, some brands are always winners in my books (492) 42%
Sometimes Rafflecopter experiences technical difficulties. If you can’t enter for some reason, try again later and it will probably work.
I would love to know what some of your February favorites were if you care to share. I hope March is off to a great start for you!
* Post contains affiliate links. This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are genuinely my own. *
