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.