lotions and potions.

i have really sensitive skin with a touch of rosacea that's sometimes dry, sometimes oily and sometimes both, depending on the situation. and of course, it's never kind of any of those things -- no, when my skin decides to be something, it goes all in, much to my dismay. alas.

so, needless to say, i've been honing my beauty-product arsenal since teenagerhood and now have a tried-and-true roster of favorites (see some of them here and here, although i really need to do an updated post soon), with the exception of a good moisturizer. for awhile, i used aveeno's positively radiant moisturizer, and then i didn't like it anymore. i got a sample of some la mer stuff and loved that, but it's way out my price range. and i used kiehl's ultra facial moisturizer last winter, but discovered that, for me, it's too heavy for every day use.

then i read a post on mindy kaling's blog about the wonders of argan oil, and got my hands on some at christmastime (along with some other josie maran argan oil products, too -- thank you, santa). you guys, argan oil is really wonderful. up until this point, i was afraid to put any kind of oil anything on my face, but this stuff doesn't feel heavy at all. it's fantastically moisturizing, it heals chapped skin beautifully and it even gives a little glow. i'm going to keep using it as long as it works, which, hopefully, is forever. plus, it's totally natural. yay!

maran's other argan oil products are really nice, too -- the cleansing wash, ironically, is a little too oily for me, but the gift set i have also includes argan oil lip treatment (so nice for my perpetually chapped lips), lip and cheek stain in a perfect shade of pink and makeup-removing wipes that refresh and remove makeup and smell good. yay again.

what beauty products have you been loving lately? any secret weapons to share?

p.s.: fyi, i kept trying to make the title of this post into something that required a pirate's voice -- like "arrrrrrrgan oil!" be glad i stopped myself.

photo: this elephants