Beauty
Holiday Gift Guide: Prescriptives Makes You Aglow
I hear the words "all-over highlighter" attached to a jar full of beads and I become suspicious. Imagine my surprise and delight when the Aglow All-Over Highlighter is actually a stellar product. The sparkle is so fine that it actually brightens your skin instead of attracting attention to pores and imperfections. The final color is a sheer wash of the slightest pink shimmer, even though the jar contains silver, pink and brown beads. It makes sense that a company capable of custom blending foundation could perfectly blend a highlighter. Since I am so blush sensitive, I'm quite fond of using this product as my one and only cheek color.
The real shock from my Aglow experience was how much I love the Warm Eye Color Quad. How useful could a quad of neutral toned eyeshadows be? Very useful indeed. I turned these four shadows into the perfect party smokey eye. First I used the top left cream shade all over from lid to browbone. Next, I used the bottom left shade and blended it well along my crease and slightly down to my lid. After that, I used the shimmery shade from the top right corner to highlight my browbone and inner corner of my lower lash line. To complete the look, I used the deepest cocoa shade from the bottom right as a smudged liner for the perfect smokey eye. Don't second guess neutral-toned quads ladies. They pack a mighty punch.
Holiday Gift Guide: Perfect Holiday Hair By Goody
Everyone knows Goody for their bobby pins and hair elastics available at local drugstores - but did you know they make great hair accessories as well? They've created a stunning Holiday collection (and a stunning Holiday lookbook) that is sure to not only make you dash to your local drugstore in search of the styles, but it will also give you plenty of hairstyle ideas for the Holiday season. Our picks include the jeweled headbands - a headband is a quick way to cover up a bad hair day and channel Gossip Girl all at the same time.
Holiday Gift Guide: Urban Decay's Beauty Bounty
The line has a lot of small details that can easily be overlooked if you become overwhelmed by the mass amounts of purple packaging and graffiti details. This Holiday season, Urban Decay has compiled some pretty amazing gifts for anyone on your list.
24/7 Eyeliner Sets $29
These eyeliners glide on like butter - they color payoff is amazing, and they blend well to boot. I like how the colors are grouped - VIP is for the bright color loving club kids and Velvet Rope is more muted earthy colors. The liners aren't full size - they're about as big as the palm of my hand - so they're perfect for your traveling gal pal.
Sustainable Shadow Box $36
I cannot say enough good things about Urban Decay's shadow formula - these are for the girl who likes serious color payoff - with or without the help of UDPP. Not only does the Sustainable Shadow box come with a brush and a travel Primer Potion, the packaging is created from Sustainable materials (like bamboo). Best-selling colors included are: YDK, Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, Flipside, Flash, Grifter, Oil Slick, Uzi, Kiddie Pool, Half Baked and Twice Baked.
Book Of Shadows $45
I consider Book of Shadows to be the creme de la creme of eyeshadow palettes. Considering it's the most elaborate and largest palette Urban Decay has ever offered, I'd say $45 is one heck of steal. Not only does it include 8 best-selling shades, but it also houses 8 shades never offered before. The top features pop-up cutouts that remind me of pop-up cards my parents gave me when I was younger. Even though this palette is sold out online (I truly wish everyone could have one), it's worth the added effort to call local Sephora locations to get one of your very own. It's a Sephora exclusive, so get to calling!
Even better than palettes full of eyeshadow are the stocking stuffers!
Limited Edition Luxury Lipstick Cap $15
This cap, designed to replace the standard issue, plastic Urban Decay lids, adds a certain heft and glamour to any Urban Decay lipstick. After slipping this into her stocking, she won't know what shade to choose.
Stoned Poison Ring
The Stoned Poison ring brings a whole new meaning to lip gloss rings. Others may be cheaply constructed, but not this one. This ring means business (and by business I mean it's hefty), and comes with three shades of gloss, depending on your mood. What's not to love?
Free Shipping & 25% Off At Origins - Today Only!
Our friends at Origins (and yes, they certainly are our friends after the Peace Of Mind they've given us) are offering 25% off (today only) plus free shipping on all orders. If you're in the market for last minute gifts, may we recommend the Alternative Roots giftset? The ginger scent is light and fresh and provides a lovely boost to what could otherwise be a dreary day. The set comes complete with a body scrub, bar soap, body cream and body oil.
If you're looking for simple, snag a couple bottles of Peace of Mind (with the discount they're $7.50) for stress relieving stocking stuffers.
With sales this good, why wait until after the Holidays?
Holiday Gift Guide: Dress Your Lips
Sally Hansen Lip Inflation Extreme
$9.99
Sally Hansen Natural Butter Lip Treats
$9.99
Sally Hansen Natural Butter Lip Treats
I simply adore this set of sheer lipsticks and glosses. It's perfect for any woman, young or old. Teens will adore the neutrality of the sheer colors and glosses and women of any age will enjoy the compact size. Made of 97% naturally derived ingredients, I dare you to find a woman these aren't perfect for. Sally Hansen products are found in drugstores nationwide.
Sally Hansen Lip Inflation Extreme Holiday Set
There are many lip products out there with the promise of plumping your lips - some deliver, some don't. Similar to another major branding utilizing cinnamon for plumping but at half the price, Sally Hansen Lip Inflation Extreme delivers. The initial shock of cinnamon certainly takes some getting used to, but once you get acclimated you'll wish for the sting again and again. The bee stung lip result is better than collagen injections without the pain or "ugly" period. For the Holiday season, Sally Hansen has created an adorable gift set, complete with a gold encased, full sized Lip Inflation Extreme, plus 2 mini sheer pink glosses in a darling lip pouch. Pucker up! Sally Hansen products are found in drugstores nationwide.
Dianne Brill Panties In A Bunch
Former party girl Dianne Brill has turned her glamorous blonde-bombshell status into a successful cosmetics line. In her aptly named gift set, Panties In A Bunch, each gloss is named after a type of panty. Each pot of gloss is wrapped like a bon-bon, helping remind you that makeup should be a treat to yourself. Unlike other cosmetics companies, Brill pays equal attention to the packaging and the product. The sublimely pigmented colors are tacky, not sticky, although I would highly recommend applying the gloss with a brush vs your finger. If you're looking for a gift set that both delivers and delights, give the gift of Dianne Brill.
Holiday Gift Guide: Sally Hansen Salon Manicure Kits
Sally Hansen Salon Manicure Kit
$9.99
Sally Hansen Salon, most notable in fashionable circles for their exclusive collaboration with Tracy Reese every Fashion Week, has created mini nail polish quartets perfectly designed for stocking stuffers or the gal who has beauty add. Either way, I promise you know someone who would flip for these. The kits come in two colorways, the Classic Holiday and the Fall Trend, each featuring a clear coat. The biggest strike against these sets is that each color is not labeled - not on the bottle or on the packaging, so if you fall for a color there is no way of finding it again unless you're great at finding needles in haystacks.
The Classic Holiday colorway features a flat white, a red with pink microglitter, a dazzling silver and a lighter gold. The Fall Trend colorway packs the standard Fall heavy hitters - a deep metallic bronze, a medium deep navy, a bordeaux, and a deep dark purple.
The Sally Hansen Salon Manicure Kits can be found at CVS, Duane Reade and Rite Aid, as well as any other drugstore locations where Sally Hansen Salon products are sold.
Sarah's Top 5 Picks Right Now
(click through for the full story) There are so many great Holiday products on the market right now, and I've been fortunate to test my fair share. These five products I currently can't live without and I'm convinced you won't be able to either. Even if it's the smallest $4.99 lip treat, getting into the Holiday spirit is of the upmost importance - how else are we going to fix this darn economy?
Holiday Gift Guide: Seasonal Senses
Warm Amber Bath Oil
$18
Vanilla Spice Shimmer Soap
$5
Joyful Armoas Gift Set
$32
Cranberry Hand Caress Gift Set
$25
For The Gal On The Go: Portable Perfumes
Lush, a company often referred to by those are unfamiliar with their breadth of products as the "soap store", has an amazing offering of solid perfumes. This Holiday Season, Lush has released three solid perfumes, each retailing for around $12. The Comforter is a sweet and uplifting fragrance, featuring notes of cypress and bergamont. Snowshowers can be described as a holiday-themed citrus. Sakura is soft, with notes of jasmine and mimosa.
Principessa Beauty, a company that subtly appeals to our inner princess, offers roll on pure perfume oil priced at $35. I tried Insolina, defined as Principessa's signature scent. I like to describe as bottled pink. Where cotton candy, bubble gum, sophistication and Elle Woods collide, Principessa somehow managed to bottle that event.
HollyBeth, a line which prides itself in utilizing natural ingredients, created a roll on fragrance featuring 100% essential oils, jojoba and vitamin e. Described as "sensual, earthy and floral", the scent is great for ladies who prefer more earthy notes in their fragrances. HollyBeth products are made in the US, which makes them perfect for your eco-conscious friend who seeks natural luxury.
