Hey guys! After nearly a year, I decided to bring back monthly favorites. Admittedly, a huge part of that is because this month had some outstanding favorites for me and I really, really wanted to share them with you guys. For the most part, this has been new to me products, but there are a couple of old favorites in here as well. I'd love it if you'd let me know if Favorites posts are something that you guys really like in the comments,  because some months I know I'll be excited to do them and others I know I'll feel like they're a bit of a chore, but I'm happy to do them if they're something you guys like!

Keep reading to check out what I'm currently obsessed with... because that really is the state of this month's favorites!

I don't review a lot of books here on the blog, but I recently got the opportunity to check out the book Style Tribes: The Fashion Of Subcultures* and I was instantly in. I've always been fascinated with subculture for how it inevitably eventually influences popular culture and the way that people express their feeling of belonging to that subculture through their fashion choices. Admittedly, I've gone through a lot of different fashion stages in my life - with the one I'm currently in being lazy and comfortable - and many of them were influenced by how I saw myself fitting in the world and how I defined myself through my community, or tribe, if you will.

Keep reading for more!

 

THE HUNGER GAMES:

MOCKINGJAY PART 2

My Rating: ★★★★☆

I got the opportunity to head to a screening of the new (and final) Hunger Games movie last night and I have a lot of feelings about it. I'm going to do my very best to avoid spoilers, but if you really don't want to be spoiled at all, I would say maybe just avoid any and all reviews of the movie until you've seen it. I would also like to let you guys know that I (someone who always seems to skip to the last page sometime while reading the middle of the book) didn't actually finish reading the trilogy because I didn't think I was going to like the ending so I went into both of the Mockingjay films without actually knowing what was going to happen. So all of that said... Keep reading to see my review!

As the summer is coming to a close, I realize that I haven't put much of a spotlight on my non-beauty favorites for the past few months. There's definitely a lot of things I've been loving this summer! I just picked a random selection of TV shows and entertainment in general, some snacks and beverages, and a couple of accessories that really jumped out at me while I was thinking about what I've been loving this summer. I'm not sure that this type of post will be a regular occurrence, but I liked the idea of it so I figured I'd put it out there.

If you're interested in seeing what I've been loving - and I think you should be, because I feel like I have some really good recommendations - keep reading!

Why do I love some good Young Adult fiction, you ask? I think there's a few reasons. The first is that there's something nostalgic about the way things mattered when we were all coming of age. Everything was over the top, every emotion felt like a hurricane, and every relationship seemed like the most important thing in the world. There's something about going back to that headspace as an adult who knows better. Ultimately, I feel like there's been a surge of movies based on teen fiction because both the book and movie industries figured out how big the market is there, and that it's not just going to be teen girls enjoying them.

I'm going to spoil this review from the very beginning and tell you that I loved this book and absolutely hated the movie. I probably would have enjoyed the movie a touch more if I hadn't read and appreciated the book so much, but not by much. 

Anyway, keep reading to read my thoughts on the book and movie, and all of the things lost in translation that left such a bad taste in my mouth after watching the movie.

WARNING: There will be spoilers for both the book and the movie in this review. Just saying. Also, it's long because I have feelings. Skip to the VERDICT at the end if you want the Cliff's Notes version.

I'm gonna come out and say right now that I am a jerk. Why am I a jerk, you ask? Because my favorites this month includes 3 products that are limited edition and no longer available. I considered not keeping them in, but I wanted to really just feature the things that I've been using the most this month and these are them. Also, I feel like there might be some people who have these things tucked away in their collection like I did, just waiting to be used. And one more also... There's one product that I'm hoping to put out into the universe in hopes that the vibes will make the company bring the product back for another limited run. We'll get to that later!

This month's favorites is very makeup heavy, which I always find to be more exciting, and this month it was all about that face... 'bout that face... (Har har, I hate myself.) Anyway. if you're interested in seeing what I've been loving this month, keep reading!

So... To be entirely cliché... Can you believe we're already two months gone in 2015? I can't. I'm pretty much floored by this and when I think about it, I end up thinking too much about aging and time passing quickly and how it's going to be no time until I am an old lady. Yes, I have anxiety. And yes, this time of year seems to be particularly flooring on the anxiety front. Anyway. At least February is a short month, and therefore it's supposed to pass more quickly than other months. AND I WILL BE YOUNG FOREVER. Ahem.

When I put together my monthly favorites, I don't think too hard about it. I go with my gut on the things that I just instinctively feel are my favorites of the month. This month happened to feel very thematic when I came out the end of it. The theme, you ask? MOISTURE. I swear, this month has been the absolute worst as far as dry skin and hair and I've been slathering myself up with everything I can find to try and combat that, and I've found that there are definitely some very solid products that take care of this for me.

Without further adieu (and neuroses... because HOLY on that first paragraph!)... Keep reading for a look at my February Favorites.

While I was thinking about doing a Christmas wishlist for this year, I decided that I wanted to branch out from beauty gifts into other ideas. It started with a few books that I'd love to find under the tree this year and it went from there. I mean, even beauty lovers are going to want other things, right? Granted, it's not necessarily as easy for me to make an online wishlist for non-beauty items as it is for makeup-and-skincare-and-haircare- oh-my! but it's doable and I'm sure that a lot of the people in my life would rather get me other things this year since my collection is generally insane.

So keep reading for my picks for great non-beauty-related gifts for this holiday season!