Lucy Blogs Beauty: beauty gift ideas

Showing posts with label beauty gift ideas. Show all posts

Thursday, 23 November 2017

Christmas has arrived at MECCA!

The festive season is upon us and Mecca Maxima have released the most amazing gift sets this year! Do not fear, sometimes buying for friends and family can be impossible, Mecca Maxima has something for everyone in their gifting range. Maybe your bestie is a diehard beauty junkie, your Mum might love a bit of skincare and your Grandma needs a nice new candle, or you want to treat your man to some grooming products, you can complete your Christmas shop at Mecca!

Below I've listed a few of the gifting options available at Mecca

Gift Ideas

This Works Sleep Tight set $26 - This cute Sleep-inducing mini set includes Sleep Plus Pillow Spray (5ml), Deep Sleep Pillow Spray (5ml) and Stress Check Breath-In (5ml) all inside a Christmas ornament packaging you can hang on your tree!

This gift would be perfect for anyone you know that has problems with stress and sleeping patterns. Parents, Grandparents, Partners, Friends, anyone!

SHOP HERE

This Works have a few other gift sets to choose from, depending on your budget. Ranging from $20 - $55 NZD

Mario Badescu Essentials set $59 - Treat your skin to some of Mario Badescus best products with this collection of iconic skincare staples, including Drying Lotion (30ml), Facial Spray with Aloe, Herbs and Rosewater (118ml), Silver Powder (15g), Flower and Tonic Mask (15g) and Enzyme Cleansing Gel (118ml)

This would be a great gift for your bestie, Mum or even your partner! Or for yourself, if you've never tried Mario Badescu products before this is the perfect introduction to the brand!

SHOP HERE

Mario Badescu have a great range of gift sets - Face and Body set, Anti Aging set, Mens Grooming kit, Acne Starter kit and others.
Priced from $45 - $62 NZD

Too Faced Beauty Cracker $38 - Break open this cute Christmas cracker full of Too Faced minis! Including a Melted Fig Lipstick, Better Than Sex Mascara, Shadow Insurance and an adorable heart shaped pin

This cute gift would be perfect for your bestie or your younger family members (siblings, cousins, nieces etc)

SHOP HERE

Too Faced always have the cutest Holiday sets and Christmas ornaments available. This year they range from as low as $20 up to $78 or $100 for the Teddy Bear brush set

NARS Love Triangle $38 - This made-for-each-other duo includes two NARS iconic minis, a lipstick and blush, paired to create the perfect look.

Colour Combos - Dolce Vita Blush & Audrey Lipstick (pictured) Orgasm Blush & Orgasm Lipstick, Deep Throat Blush & Barbara Lipstick, Hot Sand Blush & Rita Lipstick, Impassioned Blush & Anna Lipstick

SHOP HERE

NARS x Man Ray Blush $47 - Get your hands on this Limited Edition collaboration with Man Ray! Two different blush shades to add the perfect pop of colour to your makeup look - "Fetishized" (pictured) a bright pink grapefruit and "Intensely" a bright tangerine.

These would both be nice luxury gifts for your Mum or Best Friend!

SHOP HERE

NARS have the most amazing, luxury sets available. They range from $38 to as high as $255 for the limited edition Audacious Lipstick set

Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliners $36 - Add sparkle to any eye look! Urban Decay have a range of glitter eyeliners to choose from and they're releasing 6 awesome new shades

- "Catcall" Pink glitter, "Pyro" Iridescent and silver glitter, "Gamma Ray" Bright blue and silver glitter (pictured), "Grind" Light pink iridescent glitter, "Stix and Bones" Iridescent maroon glitter and "Punk Rock" Iridescent brown glitter (pictured)

SHOP HERE

Urban Decay have a bunch of other gifting options like mini sets and duos of their most popular products like the All Nighter Setting Spray. Ranging from $34 all the way to $328 for the Naked palette foursome

Gamma Ray and Punk Rock

Mecca Maxima have soo many different brands that all have amazing gift sets available in store and online, so you don't even have to leave your house to Christmas shop, you can get everything you need from the comfort of your living room and all at Mecca Maxima!

Check out these brands too - Stila Cosmetics, bareMinerals, Origins, Frank Body, Mecca Maxima, Mecca Cosmetica, Hourglass, Soap and Glory, GlamGlow, Diptyque, By Terry, Kevin Aucoin and so many others!

Keep an eye out for my full Holiday Gift Guide coming soon!

- Lucy Maria xx

Sunday, 27 November 2016

Colourpop X Hello Kitty Collection Haul

Review & Swatches

OH YES! When I heard this collection was coming out, I knew I'd have to make a purchase. I've always been a fan of Hello Kitty & I love Colourpop so this collab was super exciting to see.

With the red, white & blue theme, it works in well with everything happening in the US at the moment, very patriotic! I would like to of seen different coloured product packaging as appose to the usual white, but the lip products do have cute bows etched into the lids for something different.

This collection is of course, limited edition, like everything these days.. And Colourpop always have new products & collections coming out so I'm not sure how long these will be around, get in quick to get your hands on some cute Hello Kitty prods!

♥

I jumped on the Colourpop Cosmetics website the day of the release & I couldn't help myself, with all the excitement I bought nearly everything from the collection!

The Hello Pretty Kit

Bento Shadow
Sticker Sheet Shadow
Juicy Apple Shadow
+
Fun With Friends Blush
Yummy Cookies Highlighter
+
Ribbon Ultra Matte
KT Shimmer Lipgloss

All for $42USD packaged in a cute box with a mirror inside

Bento Box shadow - Pearlized finish Smokey Blue Gunmetal
Sticker Sheet shadow - Satin finish Cool-toned Taupe
Juicy Apple shadow - Glitter Sheer finish soft Gold topped with Gold Glitter
Fun With Friends blush - Pearlized finish Mid-tone Warm Pink
Yummy Cookies highlighter - Pearlized finish Light Peach with a flip of Silver
KT lipgloss - Sheer Light Gold sprinkled with Pink & Gold Glitter
Ribbon liquid lipstick - Ultra Matte true Blue based Red

Mama's Apple Pie Shadow Set

4 shimmery super shock shadows in
Friendship File
Rainbow
Small Gift
School Bus

All for $18USD

Rainbow shadow - Glitter Sheer White with highlights of Silver & Pink Glitter

Friendship File shadow - Metallic finish warm Peachy Beige with Silver & Pink Glitter

Small Gift shadow - Pearlized finish mid-tone Peachy Pink

School Bus shadow - Pearlized finish Deep Navy Blue

Hello Kitty Collection Singles

I also picked up a couple of the single products, there's more than this too!

Tiny Chum Ultra Satin Lip
Supercute Ultra Glossy Lip
Coin Purse Blush
School Is Fun Highlighter

Lip Products are $6 each
Face Products are $8 each

School Is Fun highlighter - Pearlized finish Soft Iridescent Duo-Chrome Gold

Coin Purse blush - Satin finish Bright Cool-toned Rosy Pink (the site says it's matte, but it's definitely not!)

Supercute lipgloss - Sheer finish Warm Pink doused with Pink Glitter

Tiny Chum liquid lipstick - Satin finish Cool-tone Nude Pink

Overall, I LOVE this collection! Everything from the shade choices to the packaging is on point. The prices are honestly insane, so affordable for great products. I've said this before about Colourpop, I love everything I've tried from the brand so far, except the Matte shadows.. I just don't find they blend very easily in the crease & take a lot of work buffing. Good thing is, there aren't any mattes in this collection.. But I love the shimmers (used with fingers mostly) & the Glitter Sheers formula is new - its a very sheer, almost transparent base packed with glitters, perfect to add shimmer on top of other shades. I love the face products as well, Highlighters are best used lightly with your fingertips & blushes works well with a brush (I like a duo-fibre). Their liquid lipsticks are hit & miss I find, some are amazing, flawless & long-lasting, some are super drying & crumble off..

This collection would make great Christmas stocking stuffers for any Hello Kitty or Colourpop lover!
Available at https://colourpop.com/hellokitty

LucyLoves! xx

Thursday, 17 November 2016

Christmas In New York with Too Faced - part one

Too Faced Holiday 2016 Collection!

I've decided to make some of my blog posts in to two-part reviews so that I actually get them done!

Part one will be mainly about my initial thoughts & first impressions on the product/s with part two showing swatches & talking about each shade. Let me know if you prefer them this way!

As some of you may have noticed, I'm a total Too Faced junkie & LIVE for their cute products & pink packaging. I always try to get something from each holiday collection because the themes are to die for - this year is Christmas In New York following a similar style to last years Christmas In Paris collection. I wasn't too impressed with the products from that range, I felt that they concetrated more on the adorable packaging than the quality of shadows.. So I thought I'd grab a few things this year & compare them to last year!

♥

So I ordered The Chocolate Shop set (similar to last years Le Grande Palais), the Grande Hotel Cafe (similar to last years Le Grande Chateau), Naughty Kisses & Sweet Cheeks set (similar to last years Melted Kisses & Sweet Cheeks) & the Let It Glow minis set

The Chocolate Shop

18 Eyeshadows
3 Larger Highlight Eyeshadows
1 Highlight
1 Blush
1 Bronzer
+
Mini Better Than Sex Mascara
Mini Melted Chocolate Milkshake
Mini Shadow Insurance

Chocolate scented, cocoa-infused powders all for $58USD

First impressions on this set.. It's better than last year, the matte shadows are definitely better but there's one with nearly no pigment when swatched. The purple shade, as usual for Too Faced, is quite sheer compared to the shade in the pan.. Some of the glitter shades are nearly all shimmer with no base pigment.. I don't know where they go wrong with these shadows considering their other palettes are AMAZING! This would be a great palette for someone just starting out with makeup because it's cute with fun packaging & has a variety to play with, just don't expect the same quality as the Too Faced Chocolate Bars..

Grande Hotel Cafe

3 Scented Palettes with a total of -
18 Eyeshadows
2 Blushes
1 Bronzer
+
Mini Better Than Sex Mascara

Peppermint Mocha, Eggnog Latte & Gingerbread Cookie scents, all for $49USD

Ok, first impressions on this one is YES! On par with last years set, each palette is amazing with perfect colour combinations & consistency. The shadows have full pigment but the palettes smell a little off..like cardboard or playdoh? haha
Each have "To/From" on the back & make great little gifts for friends.

Naughty Kisses & Sweet Cheeks

3 Mini Love Flush Blushes
2 Lip Injection Coloured Glosses
1 Lip Injection Clear Plumper

All for $36USD

I love these sets from Too Faced! Just like last years set, the blushes are all nicely pigmented like the full size shades & the glosses are nice for a change from the Melted range. I love trying new products & these sets are perfect for that. Also these are separated into individual boxes making 3 gifts in one, if you can't decide what to get your friends ;)

Let It Glow

Heart-Shaped Kabuki Brush
Mini Love Flush Blush
Mini Candlelight Glow Duo
Mini Snow Bunny Luminous Bronzer

All for $25USD

Love LOVE this set! They didn't have anything similar last year but it's perfect for trying new products, like the Candlelight Glow I've always wanted to try but couldn't bring myself to buy the full size.. And the adorable heart-shaped kabuki, exclusive to this years holiday collection, is SO cute & might be the reason I purchased this set..haha this would also make an amazing gift for a new makeup lover

Part Two will have swatches of everything but for first impressions, you can probably tell what sets I would & wouldn't recommend. The minis are always amazing, & the Grande Hotel Cafe is a pretty cool Christmas present for yourself or to split up & gift to friends. But The Chocolate Shop is a bit disappointing & I don't recommend spending your money on this set unless for a makeup beginner, but even then I think the Grande Hotel Cafe is better for that.

Keep an eye out on my instagram for blog updates & when the swatches go up - Lucymaria_x

LucyLoves! xx