It’s late winter/early spring, which means New Product Launches for a lot of my favorite brands, especially skin care launches. Also, Valentines. I love Valentines stuff, even though I’m not really all that big into the holiday itself. I just like fun products. Here are five things I really wish I had the budget to buy!

1. Boscia Tsubaki Beauty Oil. I loooooove facial oils. I like to use a drop or two either by itself or under moisturizer at night. They make my skin happy. This facial oil contains camellia oil and rice bran oil (both of which my face likes a lot), as well as some really nice essential oils. I wannit!

2. Many items from Flower Cosmetics, which has launched at Wal-Mart stores and online. I love the packaging for this product line, AND the price points! I really need to get on over to a Wal-Mart to check it out.

3. This Red Ruby Groovy Natural Body Wash from gud smells THE BEST. Strong grapefruit scents are basically instant cheerful in a bottle, for me. I just need to use up a bottle or two of body wash, and then I can justify buying this.

4. Grapefruit must be a thing for 2013 because Yes To has launched a Pink Grapefruit product line targeting skin brightness and clarity. I want the eye cream and the serum and the towelettes. I already love the Blueberry and Cucumber towelettes, so I’m guessing I’ll love the Pink Grapefruit ones too.

5. Lush’s Valentines stuff sounds lovely, and DAMN THEM! These perfumes… oh God. I don’t love all of Lush’s perfumes, but the ones I like I LOOOOOVE. They’re seriously killing me here.

Since I’m on a budget, I’ve been more and more interested in checking out drugstore makeup brands. Most of these brands are owned by or are the parent company of department store brands, so a lot of the “fancy” formulas find their way into mass market products. Here are five new mass market products that I want to check out, in no particular order.

1. Physician’s Formula Super BB All-in-1 Beauty Balm Powder. I KNOW, I KNOW, the Western co-opting of the whole BB phenomenom is annoying at best, and offensive at worst. Let’s just set that aside for now, and ignore the purported “BB” aspect of this product, and focus on the fact that it looks like a pretty awesome face powder. It seems like a pretty nice formula for a face powder (just looking at the ingredient list) and I really want to try it out.

2. L’Oreal Shine Caresse Lipstains. L’Oreal doesn’t seem to have these on their website yet, despite the fact that I’ve seen them on displays at Fred Meyer. Annoying. Anyway, they are purported to be a mass market dupe for YSL Glossy Stains (L’Oreal owns YSL.) L’Oreal makes my current favorite longwearing lipgloss (Infallible Gloss), so I really want to try these glossy lipstains.

3. Cover Girl Lip Perfection Jumbo Gloss Balm. These just look cool. It seems like everyone is hopping on the “gloss balm stick thing” bandwagon, but I like the way these look the best.

4. Flower Cosmetics. I got January’s Allure magazine and Drew Barrymore’s makeup line Flower was featured. It’s going to be a Wal-Mart exclusive, and I am DYING to check it out.

5. The Total Intensity eye products from Prestige. I need to visit an Ulta soon and check these out!

As a partner to my last 5 Things post, I wanted to make a list of five mascaras that did impress me, enough that I’ve re-purchased them and/or recommend them!

Let’s refresh what I want in a mascara. What do I want? Full, soft, individually defined lashes. My lashes are decently long enough already, so I mostly go for volume. I prefer not to have to bust out the lash comb to separate lashes, but a brief brush is ok. With that said, here are five mascaras that made the cut.

1. Kiehl’s Marvelous Mineral Mascara is gentle on the eyes, requires minimal work to make it look good, doesn’t flake off or smudge during the day, and washes off easily. I repurchased this twice.

2. Maybelline Volum’ Express One-by-One Washable Mascara. Oh my. This may very well win the award for Claire’s Favorite Mascara Of All Time. I’ve gone through two tubes, and will probably buy a third. It is FABULOUS. My lashes have volume, but also separation, I almost NEVER have to comb, it lasts all day with no smudging or flaking… dare I say, it’s practically perfect?

3. Maybelline Volum’ Express Colossal Cat Eyes Washable Mascara. Hate the waterproof version, LOVE the washable version. This one is all about the brush, which really does seem to help with curling, and getting all your lashes. I love it almost as much as the One By One.

4. Maybelline Lash Discovery Mascara. This one is all about the mini-brush. You can get right down to the roots without smearing mascara on your eyelids with this mini-brush. Nice formula too. I’ve purchased this at least twice now.

5. L’Oreal Extra Volume Collagen Plumping Mascara. I really liked the bigger brush on this mascara, and the plush look of the formula. It’s good stuff.

Mascara is a tricky thing to blog about. It’s hard to get decent lash pics, and quite frankly, most of the time my lashes come out looking the same because I want them to look a certain way – and I’ll fuss and futz to get them that way. So generally my criteria for mascara doesn’t really depend on what the end result is, but rather how hard I had to work to get there.

What do I want? Full, soft, individually defined lashes. My lashes are decently long enough already, so I mostly go for volume. I prefer not to have to bust out the lash comb to separate lashes, but a brief brush is ok. With that said, here are five mascaras that DIDN’T excite me.

1. Maybelline Volum’ Express Mega Plush Mascara. I wanted to love this. It’s got this gel formula that’s supposed to leave your lashes softer, not brittle, but with volume. It has a “flexor” brush, that’s supposed to be a plus, but I don’t really see that it helps anything. Mostly, the formula is a little too wet, which means my lashes stick together and have to be separated with a lash comb. I do like the results, but it fails the “too much work” test. I won’t re-purchase.

2. Maybelline Great Lash Lots of Lashes. The famous pink & green tube is supposedly a perennial favorite of women everywhere. I’ve never liked it. But, being a sucker, I picked this one up because the brush looked cool and it had potential. After all, it’s supposed to give good separation and definition. Does it? Nope. First, I have to layer on a zillion coats, because this is a really thin formula. It’s also really wet, so my lashes want to stick together and I have to comb. FAIL. If I spend WAY TOO MUCH TIME fighting with it, I’ll get to something like the results I want. But life is too short to fight your mascara. I really hated this one.

3. Rimmel Glam Eyes Lash Flirt. See my review here. It didn’t suck terribly, but it didn’t float my boat either.

4. Maybelline Lash Stiletto Voluptuous. To be fair, this one falls into a “sort of floated my boat” category. I liked the formula quite a bit, but the brush is a little wonky and means I have to apply it verrry carefully, or I get it on my eyelids. I didn’t pitch it, but I won’t re-purchase either.

5. Maybelline Volum’ Express Colossal Cat Eyes in Waterproof. You’re probably thinking, Geez what is this woman’s obsession with Maybelline mascara? The thing is, when I find a Maybelline formula I like, I LOVE it. So, I keep trying new ones hoping to find my next holy grail. This one, in the waterproof formula, isn’t it. (The regular washable one, however… but that’s another post.) I love the curved brush, I like the results, I loathe waterproof mascara formulas. I wasn’t paying attention when I bought this, and bought the waterproof by mistake.

It’s been a while since my last THINGS I WANT post, so I decided it was time for another. In no particular order, here are 5 things I have been lusting after recently.

1. Shiro Cosmetics has new eyeshadows and new lip colors. Look at Badger! Look at it! EET’S SO PRETTY! There are eight new Intertubes, and they all look so fabulous. I CAN’T DECIDE.

2. Detrivore Cosmetics has new lip gloss! Again with the can’t decide. They’re all really pretty colors!

3. The Body Shop has body mists in scents to match their body butters. This is totally genius, and I want to go smell them. Also, I saw these Beautifying Oils in the store last time I was there. They are really nice. I am kind of overstocked on body oil right now, but if they’re still around when I need more (or at least, have put something of a dent in my stash) I will try them!

4. I want more Darling Clandestine. Specifically, I feel like I need to try Cloudswing, Circassian, and Vardogr.

5. Every time I turn around, I’m lusting for more One Hand Washes The Other solid scents. I’ve added Eva, Queen Bea, and Violette to my list. Also, after falling completely in love with the wonderment that is Black Magic Scrub, I must try the cream soap at some point. Preferably, soon.

Some of my favorite companies have come out with new products that look really interesting. Some of these are new to me, but not necessarily newly released products, as well. In no particular order, here are five new products I want to try!

1. Nature’s Gate Lemon Verbena Moisturizer and Borage Serum. I really love Nature’s Gate hair care, so I’m quite curious about their new skin care offerings.

2. Yes To Tomatoes new Acne Repairing Lotion and Blemish Clearing Facial Towelettes. I’m a HUGE fan of the other Yes To towelettes (Cucumber and Blueberry) so I’m really wanting to try the Tomatoes version. I am starting to get suspicious that Neutrogena is discontinuing my go-to acne serum (Oil-Free Acne Stress Control® 3-in-1 Hydrating Acne Treatment) so I’m curious to see if the Yes To Tomatoes lotion is a similar formula – once they have ingredients on the website, I’ll be able to compare.

3. Speaking of Neutrogena, it’s time for me to start thinking about summer sunscreens, both for face and body. I usually rely on SPF 15 either in moisturizer or makeup for most of the year, but once we start seeing regular sunshine I plan to be outdoors more this year than in past years. That means I’ll need a higher SPF sunscreen! I’m interested in the Clear Face Liquid Lotion Sunblock SPF 55 the most for face, since it’s supposed to be for acne-prone skin.

4. I really want to go to Target and check out Nip+Fab. I’m interested in Shine Fix especially.

5. I REALLY want to try One Hand Washes The Other’s Black Magic Scrub!!

So I’ve been using a couple of new hair products lately, and while I’ve been wanting to review them, I never feel like I can devote an ENTIRE post to just a single shampoo. So, we’ll make it easy and do a 5 Things devoted to the hair products I’ve been wanting to talk about…

1. I bought this Suave Professionals Color Care Shampoo because I liked the scent – Black Raspberry & White Tea. I also liked that the plant-based ingredients came BEFORE fragrance on the label, which is generally a good indication that there’s more than just a sprinkle in the product. It smells really good, and gets all the sticky stuff I use in my hair out with no residue. The dye I use in my hair is semi-permanent, so I can’t really comment on if it really protects color or not. But it seems pretty gentle, my hair isn’t super-dry despite being bleached.

2. I do tend to buy things based on smell… This Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk conditioner smells like coconut. In the dead of winter, I like that beachy scent to remind me that, yes, the sun does exist. Somewhere. Anyway, since all the plant stuff (coconut oil and extract, etc) comes AFTER the fragrance, I don’t think it’s all that great shakes as a “natural” product. But it smells nice and makes my hair soft so I’m happy.

3. Acure Organics also makes hair care, so I decided to pick up a bottle of their Moroccan Argan Oil + Argan Stem Cell Conditioner. It smells like almonds. Yes, please! This product does have good cred on the “natural” front – it’s chock full of plant stuff like argan oil and cocoa butter. I can definitely tell a difference on the parts of my hair that have been damaged by bleaching when I use this (vs when I don’t bother with conditioner). My hair is a lot softer and smoother.

4. KMS California Sea Salt Spray is a styling product that works better on hair that has a bit of length – like mine, when I’m desperate for a cut. It’s basically a texturizing spray for that “right out of the ocean” look. I like it when I want something less “styled” looking, so I spray it generously in damp hair, tousle with my fingers and let it air dry. If your hair is too short, it won’t do much for you. It’s probably fantastic in chin-length or longer hair.

5. KMS California Gel Wax is meant to have the support and control of a gel with the flexibility and shine of a wax. You can use it in towel-dried hair and blow dry. I usually apply it to dry hair for a lot of separation and hold. It’s got a shinier finish than the molding paste, but otherwise I find them quite similar. I think my preference lies with the molding paste, but if you’re looking to do a lot of sculpting this might be more versatile.

I’ve been neglecting the blog lately, so sorry! Other things were cropping up this week to distract me and I also wasn’t feeling very pretty.

I bought a fair amount of perfume this year (and wanted a fair amount more…) so here is a short list of my five favorite scents from 2011. Some of these are limited edition, so if you want to try them you’ll have to hurry.

In no particular order:

1. The Body Shop White Musk Libertine is such a creamy, soft scent. I’m really happy I bought it. It’s a good year-round scent, never too heavy or overwhelming.

2. Balenciaga Paris was a big splurge this year. The peppery violet notes are very feminine and beautiful though, like the perfume equivalent of a cashmere sweater.

3. L’Occitane Immortelle de Corse is the perfect winter scent. It’s warm, vanilla-y, but also spicy and just a teensy bit floral.

4. Lush Imogen Rose is a luscious, rich rose fragrance with baby powder overtones. It is KNOCK YOU DOWN strong, so a little goes a loooong way.

5. Lavanila Pure Vanilla is my current favorite vanilla perfume. It’s easy to wear, never too strong, and lasts for a reasonably long time.