If You Must Take All of My Possessions, Please Let Me Keep The Following.

EDIT: Someone pointed out to me that I didn't list my husband as a favorite possession. First off, my husband is not my possession, he is not an object. He is a human being. I love my husband more than any of these objects and I am grateful to have him in my life. This list is purely stuff. Products. And my husband is not in the stuff category.

I have been thinking awhile about making a list of all the things I can not live with out-or just grateful to have because they make my life easier. I'll break it up in categories to keep it simple.

BEAUTY:

• I use two different types of face wash cause well that's how I roll. I always land up making simple things complicated. I don't use both at the same time but alternate days. They work great together, like a team, so I see no need to stop. For exfoliating, I am obsessed with Burt's Bees Peach and Willowbark Deep Pore Scrub. It cleans out my pores and leaves my skin super soft. Oh and it's 98.4% natural. For some reason that means a lot to me. For my other day of cleansing, I use Desert Essence Thoroughly Clean Face Wash.I love how fresh and squeaky clean my face is after using it. Natalie introduced it to me through her blog and I ran to Trader Joe's ASAP to pick some up. She uses the pads, which I might try later on. If you don't have a Trader Joe's near by, I know that Whole Foods carries the line. Try a natural food store if you have neither. Once again this one is all natural too. 100% vegan. I'm blaming it on Seattle and California for my obsession for all things natural.
• I'm in LOVE with Burt's Bees Herbal Blemish Stick. When my hormones are out of control so is my skin. I use this product as a spot treatment 1 to 2 times a day and by the next day the pesky zit is usually gone. I also love that it's 100% natural,smells amazing, and can be carried with me everywhere I go. It's about the size of a chap stick tube.

• I have found the most amazing eye serum that has ever been invented. Sensaria Optimize Rejuvenating Eye Serum has saved me from dark circles and puffy eyes. Apparently it helps with fine lines too, I just haven't got to that point yet. I have always had dark circles under my eyes and now I never have to fear accidentally poking my eye out with the concealer wand. It's a bit steep in price, but I got mine for $15 because I hosted a spa night. And you guessed it, this one is natural too. Although I'm not sure by what percentage.
• When it comes to the sun, I'm the one it will burn as fast as possible AND I'M ARAB! I never learn my lesson and every year I get burned. Last year I burned so bad that my skin became hard like leather. This summer, I turned around and did the same thing. I don't get my problem, I think it might be an addiction. To help save me from the awful peeling and ridiculous amounts of pain, I use Ocean Potion After Sun Aloe Lotion. It smells good (can you tell that's important to me?), keeps me from peeling, and makes my burn turn into an amazing tan. In conclusion, I might die of skin cancer if I don't seriously stop soon.
• I love everything pumpkin. I eat it, listen to them, and lather it on my body and hair. Every year for Christmas, Brock buys me some "nice" shampoo. When we were in college and dirt poor I would only use my "nice" shampoo once a week and use store brand stuff on a regular bases. This past Christmas, Brock thought it would be cool to continue to feed my pumpkin obsession by buying me Pumpkin Rehydrating Shampoo by Sexy Hair. Little did he know that it was going to become my all time favorite shampoo. It leaves my hair shiny and soft and not a tangled, frizzy mess it used to be. I went to the after Christmas sale at Ulta and stocked up like they were no longer going to make this stuff. Seriously, at 75% off who wouldn't do the same thing?

My mom has always been obsessed with taking care of her skin. So was my grandmother. I remember as a kid watching them get ready for the day or for bed and being over whelmed with all the stuff that they put on their faces. Back then it was cold creams, today it's night and day solutions. My mom gets on to me a lot because I just don't go the whole extra mile like she does. I probably should cause she is approaching 60! (sorry mom) and her skin is flawless. She looks like she could pass for 45. I've tried Mary Kay and some other brands for night and day solutions, but nothing really blows me away. I most definitely need help on this one cause in all honesty, when I'm 60 I want to look like I'm 45.

I don't wear much makeup and when I do, it's very little. I just haven't found any make up that I am totally obssessed with. I'm looking for some suggestions on the perfect foundation and mascara. I want foundation that's not too heavy and has perfect coverage but I'm having a hard time finding one. For mascara, I want BIG BOLD eyelashes. How would one accomplish this? Has any one ever used fake eyelashes before?

HEALTH:

• I experience headaches and stress far more than I would like to. For headaches I use Bath and Body Works Instant Aromatherapy Headache Relief. The price is a little high but over the holidays I saw it on sale for $3 a piece and I bought 3. It doesn't work for me unless I use it as soon as I sense a headache coming on. Otherwise I have to pair it up with some sort of medicine. For stress I love how Sensaria Center Pulse Point Cream calms me down instantly. The peppermint oil and menthol make me want to close my eyes and just sleep. When I first got it, I caught my guy totally sniffing it up one night and saying ahhhh afterwards.
• I love to exercise. I have tons of DVDs, a gym membership, Wii Fit, EA Sports Active (seriously an amazing workout. I start sweating after 3 minutes), and other random exercise stuff. In reality I really only need one thing-my running shoes. I have never been so in love with a pair of running shoes as the ones I'm currently sporting. Asics Gel-Nimbus 11 is the running shoe that saved me from deciding to quit running. With these on, I feel like I'm running on clouds and it supports my high arch foot perfectly. The lacing keeps them from feeling like I have to retie my shoe a million times and the mesh keeps my feet light and breathable. They are worth every penny.
• I measure my food. There, the whole world knows. I learned that trick at Weight Watchers. If I don't do it, I will always over eat. Once at a WW meeting someone said "Well when I measure my food and put it in a normal sized bowl, I feel cheated." Believe me I felt the same way. Then someone explained that they bought some mini bowls at Ikea for $.79 a piece and that solved the problem. So I bought two and I can not live with out them. I use them daily. And since they are exactly one cup, I hardly use a measuring cup any more!
  
• I try to drink a lot of water. Water is seriously beauties best kept secret. It helps you lose weight and does wonders for your skin. At least it does for me. For valentines day a couple of years back the husband bought me a Klean Kanteen Stainless Steel Water Bottle cause I complained about the taste of water in a plastic water bottle. It made a huge difference in taste and kept my water cold. And I drank up like no tomorrow :)

RANDOM THINGS:

• So I had to add that I am more than in love with my iPhone. I would probably be completely lost with out it. Before we got iPhones, I never even used my cell phone. It would always be lost, dead, and I never returned any phone calls (I still don't return phone calls, no cure for that problem). We were paying a good chunk of money to have cell phones and we hardly used them. I'm glad Brock convinced me to upgrade cause well this device is glued to my hip. It has saved countless arguments between Brock and I on petty trivia. It has saved me from calling my mom to have her get on the internet to look up something for me when I'm out and about. We never get lost any more and we don't ever wonder if we are getting the best deal on something. We just look everything up. WORTH EVERY PENNY.

What are your favorite products?