7 New Holiday Makeup Gift Sets (Tarte, Too Faced, bareMinerals, Smashbox, Clinique)

I wanted to do an update post about makeup items that have already been released for the Holiday Season. I won't be re-mentioning the ones that I have already posted about, so if you're interested in the Too Faced Everything Nice and La Belle Carousel sets as well as the Anastasia Tamanna palette, you can check them out in my previous posts.

The bareMinerals READY Convertible Eyeshadow Palette ($39) is an ingenious little gift. You can purchase this set and pop out the inner top third piece of the compact to take "to go" and the 12 eyeshadows are convertible so you can pop them in and out - thus you can create your ideal eyeshadow trio! This is a really cool idea, I like the color selection, and if the quality is anything like the regular READY eyeshadows, this would make a great gift set for the holidays.

The Smashbox On The Rocks Photo Op Eye Shadow Palette ($39) is another 12 eyeshadow palette, full of glorious shimmery gem-tones, a few highlight shades and some smokier shades. This is a great gift for a shimmer lover or someone who prefers bolder makeup. The pigmentation is smooth, the glitter isn't very chunky and I think this set is very reasonably priced, it is however much smaller in person.

For classic lovers of Clinique, try A Black Honey Affair palette ($36). This palette features 8 mauves, nudes and browns to create everyday looks. These shades were all inspired by the cult classic Black Honey lipstick shade.

Tarte's Brush With Destiny set features 5 bamboo brushes and a beautiful travel case ($44). Each set features the following brushes:

• contourtuinist bambo cream blush & contour brush
• the balancing act bamboo foundation brush
• the buffer airbrush finish bamboo foundation brush
• double-ended bamboo eyeshadow brush
• undercover lover bamboo concealer brush

Too Faced Beauty Wishes & Sweet Kisses set ($34) is an adorable bronze themed gift for the beauty in your life. It features 3 cocoa-infused eyeshadows from the Chocolate Bar Eye shadow palette, a matte Chocolate Soleil bronzer and the Sun Bunny bronzer as well as a deluxe version of La Creme Gloss in Naked Dolly (to be released Spring 2015).

If you're gifting someone who is a huge lover of Tarte Amazonian Clay Blushes, you'll be happy to know there's a deluxe, limited edition set Chic to Cheek ($35) which includes the following colors:

• amour (candy pink)
• classic (soft apricot pink)
• prim (plum nude)
• daydream (rosy pink)

bareMinerals has yet another great value, the Magic Act ($39) set featuring 6 of their Ready eyeshadows, 3 blushes and a luminizer.

• Eye Shadows: Celebrate (yellow cream), Fortune (light pink), Shazam (pink), A-ha (brown champagne), Pumped (bronze brown), Foreshadow (brown truffle)
• Blushes: The Close Call (bronze taupe), The Natural High (gold peach), and The Indecent Proposal (plum)
• Luminizer: The Premiere

Stay tuned for my next post all about the Urban Decay Holiday 2014 new releases!

IPSY Unboxing - July 2014 "Sensationally Sunkissed"

This month's Ipsy bag featured a wide variety of products, a quick gloss-over reveals nail polish, sunscreen, hair treatment, lip balm and cream eyeshadow. This is definitely a subscription service for those who are looking to expand their overall beauty collection.

The first item is a full sized Models Own nail polish in "Red Sea" from the Splash Collection. I'm happy with this since it seems to be a full color polish with the added bonus of chunky glitter. Retail value: $8.57 (Full Size)

This month I received another item from Pixi Beauty, a Mini Tinted Brilliance Balm in "Pretty Pink", this is a deluxe sized sample. Retail value: $8.40

I also received a Bare Minerals 5-in-1 BB advanced performance cream eyeshadow in "Divine Wine", this is a deluxe sized sample. Retail value: $5.40

This month's bag contained Marrakesh Split End Mender & Preventer (Retail value: $5.99) as well as Pur-Lisse sunscreen/moisturizer (Retail value: $16.18). Both are deluxe-sized items that I will get use out of as I tend to over-wash my hair and dry it out with various shampoos and hair dyes. The sunscreen is an essential item and it's so small and cute that I will be happy to carry it in my purse or in the car for emergencies!

 I have heard many complaints from various beauty bloggers that they didn't really like the bag this month but to be quite honest, I really do. It's a larger more square-ish configuration than the usual and it has cute lace detailing. Since the bag isn't overly patterned or busy, I think this is the ideal sort of bag for carrying my travel cosmetics.

The value of my July 2014 IPSY bag was $44.54 which is a wonderful value for the $10 I paid. If you want to sign up for your very own IPSY monthly subscription, click here. 

IPSY Unboxing - March 2014

It's that time of the month again! It's IPSY unbagging time! The theme for this month was "Destination Beauty" and I can't say I was disappointed with the items! Watch my video unboxing below:

My bag contained:
1. bareMinerals - Marvelous Moxie lipstick - Get Ready - small deluxe sample - value $7.50
2. Chella - Eyeliner pen - Indigo blue - full size - value $24.00
3. Pixi - Flawless beauty primer - value $9.00
4. NYX - Love in Rio eyeshadow trio - Moonlit skinny dip - full size - value $6.00

I paid $10 for this bag with shipping included in that price and the total value of my bag was $46.50

To join IPSY - http://www.ipsy.com/r/1lfc
To join BIRCHBOX - https://www.birchbox.com/invite/jmzfg

To join Glossybox - http://www.glossybox.com/subscribe