currently coveting: skin care

Do you ever wish you could forgo paying bills just to get that really light moisturizer, or that awesome body scrub?

Yeah. Me, too.

These are the top five skin care products I'm craving this week:

1. Clairsonic Mia Skin Cleansing System

Duh. Who doesn't want this? Can't you just imagine all of the dirt in your pores screaming and running when it sees the beautiful spinning brush of doom headed it's way?

It removes 30x the age-expediting nastiness that hand-washing does. I just imagine feeling so ... clean. Like after a trip to the dentist ... but for your face.

Plus it comes in teal, my faves.

2. Body Shop Ximenia & Salt Scrub

I got my first Brazilian a few weeks ago (TMI? ... that's a story in itself ... or, a whole 'nother ball of wax ... haha). My beautiful, wonderful, kind esthetician told me I needed to exfoliate, a scrub being one of the options. I'm pretty sure that's an acceptable excuse to get this. She's basically a doctor.

What's better: it's made from Fair Trade products, meaning The Body Shop sources it ethically, paying the women who produce the ingredients a fair wage, and even pays them a premium to invest in community projects.

3. Sephora Favorites Summer Crushes Collection

Basically, this is all you need for summer. The totes adorbs (blegh. I hate abbrevs) travel bag carries 11 essential summer products for your face, hair, body, lips and feels, all from some of Sephora's best-selling brands.

Some of the stuff in there is so beautifully, fancifully girly, I don't even know what it is. Like the divine oil. But I know I need it.

It also has tanning mousse and a mitt, surf spray, vanilla coconut fragrance, a restoring mask, SPF lip balm, sun screen, special shaving stuff, and something from DERMAdoctor called "Shrinking Beauty." I don't know what that is, either. But, I love DERMAdoctor and am a huge fan of anything named "shrinking."

4. The Body Shop Aloe Calming Kit

As cool as I pretend to be, I can be a pretty anxious person. So, one of my favorite things to do after a rough day at work or a trip to Wal-Mart (let's be honest: that'll make anyone a basket-case), one of my favorite things to do is relax with a soothing lavendar bath or aloe face mask.

Enter the calming kit, which includes face wash, day cream (to prevent you from letting Wal-Mart get to you), night cream, and a mask (there it is). And, as mentioned above, The Body Shop has fair trade policies with the aloe vera farmers in Guatemala. TBS is able to source completely organic, preservative-free aloe vera gel for its products, so you can completely relax, knowing you're helping the environment and Guatemalan farmers ... and getting in some good aloe time along the way.

5. CLINIQUE Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+

There's just something about CLINIQUE that makes me feel more feminine ... more ... like a woman. Like I'm about to have a soul-bonding moment with Aretha. (OK, so, maybe I already did that.)

I had a sample of this lotion and I absolutely loved it. It feels light, without being too watery, and has a pleasant, but not overwhelming scent. I never want my face to smell overwhelming. It makes me think of people who get the meat sweats ... Lord, don't ever let me get meat sweats.

I digress.

I think I may personally need their moisturizing gel, though, as my skin tends to be a bit oilier, especially during the Louisiana summer. So, dry combination to very dry skin, this one's for you. We oily girls get the gel (that almost sounds counter-intuitive, huh?).