Okay, My 4 Latest Beauty Purchases Are Kinda Weird

Like any other member of the infamous Girls-watching, iPhone-using, dissatisfaction-prone Y generation, I'm always looking for ways to make my life better. As an avid proponent of crunchy hippie skincare, I recently snagged four new products that I'm hoping will transform my autumnal beauty arsenal. I realize that "products" may be the wrong term here — three of the four don't belong anywhere near the bathroom mirror. But in the spirit of seasonal transformation, I'm diving headlong into autumn and hoping for the best with these strange little warriors by my side.

First: the magical avocado, which gets its name from the Aztec word "ahuacatl," a fact you can cite at parties if you're feeling needlessly pretentious. When it comes to healthy fats, avocados absolutely top the list. They're hugely anti-inflammatory, good for your heart, and full of carotenoid antioxidants.

I tend to have dry skin, and with the onset of cold air and biting wind, I'm determined not to spend the season with a tight, itchy face impairing my tragedienne expressions. So I've been eating at least half an avocado a day as sort of a preventative — moisturizing my body from the inside, if you will. Gah, that sounds disgusting. But an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of flaky skin, am I right? Maybe I should add "guzzling water" to the list, while I'm on the inner-moisture train.

Next up, the most expensive honey money can buy. It's called Manuka honey, and the cute guy at Whole Foods assured me that this particular brand is at the top of the Manuka honey food chain. It cost $26, but that's about the price of a moderately high-end face wash.

And "face wash" is exactly what I use this baby for. I've been washing my face with honey for a while now, because it's basically the most amazing thing you can do for your skin, in my opinion (read Crunchy Betty's treatise on washing your face with honey for extensive details). It's antibacterial (great for acne), super moisturizing (great for fall), soothing (great for sensitive skin), and full of enzymes (great for anti-aging). Manuka honey is way more potent than regular honey, and it's full of Methylglyoxal – the higher the Methylgyloxal content, the more antibacterial the honey is. (That's what the "MGO 250" in the top picture refers to.) I've loved what normal raw honey has done for my skin, so I'm upping my game with the really elite stuff.

This third product is the priciest thing on my list by far: Phylia [de M.] Connect, a leave-in treatment for the scalp that you can snag for the low, low price of $60. Cha-ching!

See, I'm of the mindset that it's better to invest your money in products designed to make your hair and skin healthy, rather than pouring your money into products designed to disguise unhealthy hair and skin. That's why I choose expensive facial oils over expensive foundation, and why I'd rather drop $60 on an all-natural product that strengthens my hair from the roots up than buy frizz-reducing serums and repairing conditioners. You follow?

Anyway, this magical little spray is 100 percent organic, and uses a "highly concentrated core proprietary blend of pure humic-free fulvic acid, aloe, and tannic acids to restore your body’s inherent ability to grow healthy hair." In short, it's designed to improve your hair from the roots up. Connect is designed to be used with the matching shampoo and conditioner, but who has that kind of cash? (Fine, I may or may not be saving up for the whole kit.) Maybe it's a placebo effect, but I swear my hair feels healthier already. Plus, it's really fun spraying things onto your scalp.

The final product in my fall arsenal is living proof that I rarely eat kale salads and only make green smoothies once in a blue moon.

I read about this green powder in Jane Pratt's interview with Into the Gloss, and after a few days of deliberation ("Isn't this a total rip-off? Shouldn't I just eat more kale?"), I decided to go for it. Here's my thinking: Sure, green powders probably aren't as effective as their makers claim, and obviously it's better to eat real live raw vegetables drizzled in olive oil and sprinkled with flaky Himalayan sea salt. However, that's just not in the cards for me every day — or even every week, yikes. With this powder, at least I'm ingesting some form of greens every morning, and since we all know how important greens are, I think that's a pretty big deal for someone whose ideal breakfast is coffee and infinite bagels.

I haven't been transformed into Cate Blanchett yet, but it's only a matter of time. Will report back ASAP. In the meantime, what are you weirdly obsessed with this fall? Tweet me!