Granted we haven’t had a winter on par with the hell on earth that was last year, but winter still sucks. It sucks to drive, it sucks to wear Uggs (OK, it sucks 50% of the time) and it sucks the life out of my skin. I’ve been battling with the cold and dry weather and believe me, working retail does not help the cause. Here’s how I’ve been fighting stupid old winter.

Lac-Hydrin Five AHA lotion. ($15 at CVS) Since I have KP (keratosis pilaris, aka those tiny red bumps on my arms), I’ve been using Lac-Hydrin/any version of Lac-Hydrin faithfully for about two years and it’s the only thing that has ever worked. During the winter, I mix it with oil (see below) after I bathe/shower and slather it all over. In the summer, it’s only necessary for me to use this wonderful gem on my arms.

Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Body Oil ($5 at drugstores) Generally I pour Trader Joe’s Vitamin E Oil in my baths, but I’m fresh out. (That being said, it’s awesome and please, add it to your repertoire. It erases scars too!) I grabbed Palmer’s Oil on a whim on a Walmart beauty supply spree and have been adding it to baths and body since. It smells kind of chocolaty, which is why I only use it at night. I’m a girl, not a dessert.

Malin & Goetz lip balm ($12) THE GREATEST AND BEST LIP BALM EVER. I promise. Cough up the $12 and buy it.

By Elizabeth Dehn Shea Butter (discontinued) You can’t get it anymore, sorry, but I’ve got enough to last me a few years since all you need is a tiny tab. My cuticles and rough heels love this stuff.

For Working Hands balm (HOME DEPOT) I wrote about this last year - it was the only thing that saved my split skin on my poor, tired shopgirl hands. Thanks to my mother for discovering it. It works just as well on my dad’s farm hands as it does on mine. 

What a sweet gift! This pretty package arrived a few weeks ago from the lovely ladies at Kiehl’s Nordstrom MOA and duh, I love pretty packages. (Almost as much as I love Instagram. SORRY. Instagram makes my life look so nice!) 

I am a big Kiehl’s girl. The $7 lip balm in those cute little squeeze tubes? Love them, and I finally broke my mama of her Blistex habit (bad!) with them. I lost two tubs of the Olive Fruit Oil conditioner to my mother and baby brother and I like to give the aforementioned product stealers the Imperial Body Balm (mama) and Ultimate Man bar (bro) as gifts. 

I have long been interested in the idea of eye cream and I’ve definitely dabbled, but I haven’t really decided if I need one. I guess being 24, I probably do, so right now I’m using the legendary Creamy Eye Treatment (when I remember, anyway.) It’s made with avocado and looks so lovely and pea green and feels deliciously creamy.

What I’m REALLY loving, which comes as a complete surprise to my picky ass, is the Amino Acid shampoo and conditioner. We all know the sob story that comes from being post-platinum. My hair is kind of a mess right now, but it’s trying. The Amino Acid duo, which are full of my beauty love coconut oil, actually make it feel soft. For me with my coarse horse hair, that is absolutely HUGE. I’m buying these in full-size.

I love face sprays. I think I own five - they’re especially great in the summer when it’s hot as balls and you need a pick-me-up/your makeup is globbing all over your sweaty face. The Acai Damage-Protecting Toning Mist promises to protect against free radicals and all the bad things floating away in the air just waiting to get all up in your pores … I just really like to spritz it all over. I’m a child.

A few more items that have made their way onto my beauty wishlist.

Kerastase Elixir Ultime - When I went brunette last winter, I bit the bullet and bought a bottle of this (it’s about $50) blend of three oils to help nourish my hair. I’ve been using it steadily since going back to blonde - and I went PLATINUM blonde, which is way more harsh to your hair. I’m not sure that it’s working miracles, but my bottle is almost gone and I’m kind of afraid what my hair’s going to do without it. It smells good too; not as good as Moroccan Oil, but that dried my hair out. Santa could slip this in my stocking … or a bottle or two of the It’s a 10 leave-in.

Rescue Beauty Lounge polish - This is the best nail polish ever, bar none. It’s $18 a pop, which is kind of nuts, but I’ve been lucky enough to score them during the yearly 50% off VIP events. (I used to skip class for it, I was that dedicated.) Chinoise is my favorite red polish of all time; I wish it came in coordinating lipstick. But there wasn’t a big sale this year, so I’m forced to add a few to my Xmas list. I got my mom into RBL too - the only polish she’ll ever wear is their Coral and she’s getting two bottles from me this Christmas. This year, Santa/Mommy, I’d like Grunge, Bruised and Opaque Nude. 

Arcona “Problem Skin” Five - Arcona is skincare you dream of and yearn for. Mommy bought me the five-step “problem skin” set on Black Friday, when the whole kit & caboodle went 40% off. It’s still expensive, but I’ve used it for two days and honestly, 100% honestly, I am madly in love. The Cranberry Gommage scrub alone is worth its weight in gold. I feel like a whole new girl when I use it. Detailed review to come after a few weeks. 

Diptyque Tubereuse candle - Merry Christmas to me, from me! I bought the $28 mini at Nordstrom. Diptyque, Voluspa, Illume - I love me a fancy candle. 

I’m not going to apologize for my lack of posting lately. Let’s just be happy that I’m back - and hopefully, finally to stay!

I’m 75% done with my holiday shopping, which most definitely means I can buy myself a gift or two, right? Obviously my utmost wants & wishes are beauty related - here’s what I’d like to see under my (imaginary) tree.

La Mer The Concentrate - At $275+, this is a total wish. I’ll never ever get to call La Mer The Concentrate my own, unless my student loans just magically disappear into thin air. (THAT’S my Christmas wish, Santa.) But oh is it heavenly. I can’t even describe how pleased and swoony I feel when I get a sample to use for a day or two. My bad, temperamental skin is in love with this stuff.

Caudalie Beauty Elixir - I am obsessed with face sprays! (Currently I’m alternating between By Elizabeth Dehn, Wyndmere and All Nighter, Urban Decay’s makeup setting spray.) I think Caudalie’s version will make its way into my Sephora cart very soon - it’s just $16 and if supermodels are using it, I should be too. It’s half-toner and half-serum and just the thing for a little spritz during a manic Saturday at the MOA.

Cartier Baiser Vole - Lily perfume. ALL lily. Florals are not my thing; I belong to the spicy/sexy/warm/oriental/gourmand perfume camp judging from the fragrances I use (Prada Candy, Angel, YSL Elle, Prada, Shalimar), but I fell hard for this elegantly feminine green floral when I smelled it last fall. I think this is my Spring-Summer 2012 fragrance. Plus the bottle! I mean, just look at it! The lid flips up like a Zippo!

NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencils - I’ll take Damned, Cruella, Red Square and Dragon Girl, please. I don’t know how I resisted Dragon Girl for so long - it’s my third or fourth favorite red of all time. Besides the fact that you have to sharpen them with a special NARS sharpener, these things are my new lipstick jam. It’s like a lipliner AND lipstick (matte, of course) in one. Obsessed.

You’re like, OMG Kara, what IS that? It looks like some weird granola bar, but it’s not. It’s soap. African Black Soap to be exact, and it is the greatest skincare discovery in the history of my life. The soap, which I purchased via Amazon and paid about $15 for a huge pound of, has changed my skin. I’m not kidding. I use it day and night (occasionally with the Clarisonic) and wake up glowing. I have terrible skin, but the African Black Soap is turning it around like an angel from heaven. Essential.

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I decided to take three days off to visit my family farm in North Dakota. It’s snowing. Well, OK. That’s fine, I guess. I was in it for the food, the quiet and the hugs from my aunties anyway. I can pack a bag in approximately 10 minutes, if not less; here’s what comes with me from a beauty standpoint.

1. L’Oreal eyeshadow - This is my eyebrow powder. This, or an eyebrow pencil, MUST be with me at all times.

2. Benefit Stay Don’t Stray eye primer - I have really oily eyelids (thanks Mom) and this primer helps shadows stay ON.

3. Mario Badescu Glycolic Foaming Cleanser - This is misleading. It doesn’t really foam. It does encourage cell turnover, though, which is why I like it. 

4. Kate Somerville Anti Bac Clearing Lotion - Because I have shitty skin, remember.

5. Urban Decay Afterglow cream blush in Crush - Bright reddish pink cream blush. Wakes me up.

6. Lancome Hypnose & Maybelline The Falsies mascara - Gotta have two in case I feel like layering. Spider eyes are IN, you know.

7. Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer - It’s (almost) spring, therefore I can forego the foundation and use this amazing weightless TM. It’s worth the $42.

8. NARS powder in Mont Blanc - Not 100% essential, but I do like to keep it around to set my makeup and for a little more coverage. I also use Laura Mercier’s pressed powder foundation.

9. NARS The Multiple in Copacabana - My favorite illuminator EVER, a shimmery pearl white. It also looks kinda cool on your lips.

10. NARS bronzer in Zen - I alternate between this one and Laguna. I apply it with my mom’s old (seriously old, I remember this brush from my childhood) dusting brush. It just works, ok?

(End note: I don’t require all of this 24/7. I’m good with mascara and eyebrows and a tiny bit of concealer. The rest comes along in case I need to, you know, socialize with people in a setting that requires a more … polished face. In North Dakota I am all about no makeup, hoodies and baseball caps.)

Various fancy things I’ve purchased/found/been gifted over the past few weeks. I would blame Sally Beauty for all the polishes; it’s buy two, get one free for the whole month of April. (For Ardell lashes too!) Included in this stash: Lolita Lempicka Fleur de Corail (don’t love, anyone want it?) perfume, China Glaze neon polishes, Essie Mesmerize, Bumble & Bumble hair powder spray, Dior Addict Lipstick in 578 Diorkiss. (That’s the one Kate wears in the commercial.) 

As I’ve said before, I have bad skin. I’ve never had clear, pristine, glowing skin and of course that’s all I want. (I’m pretty sure that “the grass is always greener” never applies in this situation. Nobody wants shitty skin.) I’ve tried it all: Retin-A, Differin, antibiotics … the list goes on. My skin will clear up, sure, but it holds on to all the scars so it always looks like I’m plagued with a bunch of hormonal hotspots. I hold on to the faith that one day I’ll wake up with a beautiful, spot-free complexion. (The fine folks at Uptown Dermatology may or may not help out with that one.) I know exfoliation is key when trying to get rid of pesky scars, but no scrub, serum or facial was really helping.

My Clarisonic was a gift from my mother. I’m not one to push (or use, really) pricey gadgets, because I do think that in most cases (flat irons do not apply) there is a budget version that works just as well. But the Clarisonic, ringing up at $200 ($150 for the travel-size Mia), is worth it. I promise. I love to wash my face with its vibrating, deep-cleansing little self. I could do it all day; it’s like a mini-facial every night. I love to see all the makeup come off in the vibrating brush. I love how clean and exfoliated my skin feels. I love how products seem to absorb better post-Clarisonic. It hasn’t cleared up my scars, but it is definitely working to clean up my skin. (Even though right now I’m in the middle of a nasty purge, which I’m assured is normal.) This baby is no joke. Come over and try mine; I bet you’ll get addicted. (My mom ordered her own immediately after giving mine a spin.)

(Kerastase Elixir Ultime, Aveda Smooth Infusion Glossing Straightener, Crest 3D White, tiny sample of La Mer The Concentrate, SkinCeuticals Phyto+, NARS cleanser, Earth Science Almond-Aloe Moisturizer)