Fall Favorites!

Happy First Day of Fall, Glams and Geeks! Welcome to today’s blog post in which I will be sharing all of my fall favorites! From my favorite beauty products to movies and books, I really wanted to share everything that I look forward to most during the Autumn season! I hope you become inspired by this post, either finding a great book recommendation or even an awesome beauty recipe! This post is intended to be enjoyed and shared!

Here are some awesome books that are perfect for the fall and will either inspire you, or entertain you this Halloween season!

1.       Gossip Girl Psycho Killer by Cecily Von Ziegesar. If you’re a fan of the book series or the show, you will definitely love this dark recreation of the first book!

2.       Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. With eerie photos to help you visualize the characters, this story will envelope you in the world that Riggs has captured on the pages. Super creepy, but an awesome read!

3.       Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. What could be better than a classic novel with some zombies tossed in, some fighting, and gore?

4.       Asylum by Madeleine Roux. This book is written in the same style as Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, including photos of fictional asylums and its patients, adding to the feel of the story. A very dark novel that will keep you on edge!

5.       Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris. If you're a fan of the show, or if you are new to this series, this book gives you a little of everything: Vampires, Love, Mystery, and Humor!

6.       Unnatural Creatures with stories selected by Neil Gaiman. This has to be my favorite book amongst the ones I have listed. Neil Gaiman has selected a series of amazing short stories about a variety of otherworldly, dark, and mysterious creatures. My favorite is the first story about the blob. :)

Because the fall season is usually the busiest time of the year (With school work and sometimes, seasonal jobs, extracurricular activities, etc.), it is so important for me to find things that help me relax and unwind at the end of the day. My favorite things that help me to relax, aside from books, are candles! And in my humble opinion, fall scents are the best!

1.       Yankee Candles Autumn Wreath

2.       Wood Wicks Damask Woods

3.       Glade Cashmere Woods

4.       Bath and Body Works Cider Lane (Discontinued)

5.       Bath and Body Works Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin

6.       Bath and Body Works Leaves

In the fall, I love to take advantage of playing with darker shades, and what better way to do so than with fun, smokey eyes? Here are some of my fave shadows to create smokey-eyed looks:

1.       Bronze- My go to for a classic bronze look is the Naked 1 palette! I love using Smog on the lid, blended out with Naked and Buck, then Darkhorse in the crease and under the bottom lash line.

2.       My all time favorite cranberry shade is from Mac’s Smoke and Diamonds collection. It is part of the Devil May Dare Warm shadows, and its the shade Sorcery, a satin cranberry red that looks great on the lid and under the lower lash line, blended out with Mac's Omega in the crease, and Vanilla shadow on the brow bone.

3.       For a nice rusty-rose look, I love my Naked 3 palette! I use Liar on the lid, blended out with Limit in the crease, then deepen up my crease with Factory, and run that along the lower lash line.

4.       How can you not love a good chocolate colored smokey eye? It compliments all eye colors and works well with any outfit, day or night! My new favorite chocolate colored shadow is ColourPop's So Quiche! Its a rich, deep chocolate shade with brilliant pink shimmers. I apply it to my lid and blend with Nooner from the Naked 3 palette. Then, I run Snakebite from the Naked 2 palette under my lower lash line and into my crease to add some depth!

5.       Gun metal smokey eyes are the best when Im in the mood for something rough and edgy! I have been loving my shades from my Naked palettes, such as Gunmetal from Naked 1 on the lid, blended out with Tease  in the crease, and deepened with Pistol in the crease and along the lower lash line, both from the Naked 2 palettes.

6.       Even though you can go for the “Golden Goddess” look at any time of the year, there's just something about fall that makes it seem so appropriate. Flower Beauty's Good as Mari-Gold cream shadow creates a great base color, topped with Mac's Sunny Daze pigment. Blend with Mac's Always Sunny Pro Longwear shadow, and run Half Baked from the Naked 1 palette along the lower lash line, and there you have it! A nice golden glow!

During the fall, there is nothing better than warm, sweet scents with hints of musk, or wood, or my personal favorite, spice. Here's my Top 5 for the fall:

1. Juicy Couture

2. Elizabeth and James Nirvana Black

3. Benefit Cosmetics Under My Spell Noelle

4. Lush Cosmetics Ginger

5. Tokyo Milk Dark Fate and Fortune Collection in Destiny No. 79

 

There is nothing I love more than the scent of Pumpkin spice during this time of year. Here are some products and DIY recipes that will help you get gorgeous while smelling yummy!

1. DIY Body Scrub

You Need:

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup of Coconut Oil

1/2 tsp of Vitamin E Oil

1/2 tsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice or of Cinnamon

(Optional: 1 tbs of honey and 1 tbs of lemon juice)

What to do:

Mix contents and get scrubbin'!

2. Healthy Sexy Hair Pumpkin Puree Treatment Mask

3. Healthy Sexy Hair Pumpkin Shampoo

4. Lush Cosmetics Jack O' Lantern Bath Bomb (Check to see when they become available!)

5. Bath and Body Works Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin Body Lotion

6. Pumpkin Facial

You Need:

2 tbs of organic canned pumpkin puree or 1 small pumpkin

1/2 tsp of organic honey

1/2 tsp of milk (can be soy or almond milk)

What to do:

Make sure your face is clean and free of makeup and oils

Next, mix pumpkin puree with contents until it is smooth and blended

Now, apply to your face and let sit for 20 minutes

Rinse and Moisturize

Benefits:

Pumpkin is loaded with vitamins and antioxidants that can help cleanse skin, prevent aging, and promote a healthy glow.



With colder seasons comes darker colors! Here are some of my favorite lip shades for the fall!

Nude: Mac's Peachstock lipstick and Maybelline's Nude Lust from the In The Buff collection.

Red Wine: Mac's Sin lipstick and Lime Crimes Wicked Velvetine

Blue-Based Red: Mac's Riri Woo from the Riri Hearts Mac collection

Plum: Mac's Smoked Purple

Dusty Rose: Bite's Cava lipstick and Mac's Viva Glam 2

Chocolate: Lime Crime's Salem Velvetine

I think everyone can agree with me that Halloween brings on a sense of nostalgia and a craving for some childhood favorites like the ones shown above, right? Lol! Here are my faves for the Halloween season:

1. Hocus Pocus

2. The Nightmare Before Christmas

3. Beetlejuice

4. The Addams Family

5. Corpse Bride (A bit more recent, but still love it!)

6. Face Off (Not a movie, but an awesome show! Who else watches it every year?)

7. American Horror Story (My latest obsession! Who else is excited for AHS4?)

8. Repo The Genetic Opera (Great, but gorey movie!)

 

I love playing with colors when it comes to my nails, and especially love to keep an eye on nail trends from Fashion Week for inspiration. Here are my faves from the Fall 2014 Fashion Week as well as some personal favorites:

1. Metallics: I love the look of bold, edgy manicures that use metallic shades on an accent nail or for a full mani! My favorite metallics are Maybelline's Bold Gold from the Color Show line, Essie's No Place Like Chrome (Silver), and Orly's Rage (Rose Gold).

2. Deep Red: This color for me is so classic and traditional for the fall, and looks even better when wearing a matching lipstick like the photo shown above. I love Essie's deep red shade, Bordeaux. It is the perfect shade of deep red and looks just like Red Velvet when worn.

3. Gray: While white is a go-to for me during the summer months, and when black gets too played out, I love going for a nice, creamy gray! Essie's Armed and Ready is my ideal gray as its nice and dark and has a gorgeous peachy glimmering sheen to it that can only be seen in certain light!

4. Chocolate: There is nothing better than a nice, rich chocolate shade for the fall! My favorite is OPI's Suzi Loves Cowboys, a deep, milk chocolate brown.

5. Nude: When it doubt, go nude! Sometimes, you just want that clean look, and that's ok! With gorgeous nudes like L'Oreal's Eva's Nude from the Privee Collection, you can never go wrong!

6. Matte: To add a twist to your traditional mani, add a coat of mattifying polish, like Essie's Matte About You! To make it extra fun, create a French manicure, only adding the matte polish to the tips and leaving the base of your nails nice and shiny!

7. Midnight Blue: Whenever I want to be a little edgy, dark blue nails are perfect! I love Rimmel's Midnight Blue, as it looks like a dark, chromey-blue shade, and reflects amazingly in the light!

8. Black: Need I say more? Black nails are a must for fall! OPI's Black Onyx is the perfect flat, opaque shade!

9. Dusty Mauve: This is a new favorite for me and is great for whenever you want a nice clean color, but are tired of going nude. L'Oreal's Freida's Nude is the perfect dusty mauve and looks so beautiful when worn.

 

Because I live in Florida, where its summer 365 days a year, I don't get many opportunities, other than the three days of cool breeze, to wear fall appropriate clothes. But, I still try and wear some fun key pieces like the ones shown above! Here are my fave fall staples:
1. American Apparel Disco Pants in Black
2. American Apparel Boucle Shawl Cardigan in Black Natural Acrylic
3. Target Footie Pajamas
4. American Eagle Tube Scarf
5. American Apparel Black Wool Floppy Hat
6. LF Leather Ball Cap (LF does not have online store, linked F21 instead)
7. Jeffrey Campbell Stillwell's in Red
8. Tory Burch Black and Silver Reva flats

Last, but not least, my favorite fall treats!
1. Caramelized Popcorn (Make Your Own at Home!)
What You Need:
1 large bowl
1 bag of popped popcorn
Marshmallows (Add as many as you prefer!)
1 tbs of Butter (Glaze over popcorn)
1 tbs Pumpkin Pie Spice
A few pieces of Caramel
What to Do:
Place all of the contents in a large bowl (Popcorn, butter glazed over, marshmallows mixed, pumpkin spice sprinkled all over, and add some caramel!)
Put in the microwave for 30-45 seconds to allow the marshmallows and caramel to mix
Let sit for 1 minute
Enjoy!

2. Caramelized Apples
3. Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Frapp or Latte
4. Harney and Sons Pumpkin Spice tea
5. Blue Bell Spice Pumpkin Pecan
6. Pumpkin Pie!

Thank you all so, so much for reading about my fall faves! Stop by my IG account (@TheGlamGeekConfessional) and let me know what you loved most!