chronic styleholidays

Gift Guide For Beauty Lovers (+ Giveaway!)

 

Gift Guide for Beauty Lovers & Giveaway Sponsored by A New Kind of Normal

It is that time of year and in addition to love shopping, I love shopping for others this time of year! Today’s post features this year’s Gift Guide for Beauty Lovers (ahem, like myself!). I had planned on getting these gift guides up last week but as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I got a little held up. I’ll make it up to you. I promise (hint: there’s a giveaway at the end of this post!).

Just like the focus of Chronic Style, this gift guide and the ones to follow are focused on affordable yet quality products. I know like many spoonies, budgets are limited but that doesn’t mean we can’t treat our friends and loved ones to some amazing gifts.

Enough rambling, let’s talk some amazing beauty deals in this year’s Gift Guide for Beauty Lovers:

1. Colourpop Blitzed Eyeshadows: I mentioned this set in my fall makeup wish list but it is so beautiful, it is worth mentioning twice. I am a huge fan of Colourpop. The prices are amazing and the products are out of this world (I plan to do an entire post dedicated to the brand after the New Year in a series of my favorite affordable makeup brands so I’ll try to keep my gushing to a minimum). The shadows included in this set are all absolutely stunning and one thing I love about Colourpop is that they always give swatches of the products on a variety of skintones so you always have an idea of how the color will work on your skin. All Colourpop shadows are $5 so this set of 6 is the most expensive set on the list coming in at $30 but you can use the code THANKSBABE to save $5 and they are so absolutely worth every penny!

  1. Colourpop Foxy Ultra Matte To-Go Set: This is another amazing holiday gift set from Colourpop. I have been a passenger on the matte liquid lipstick train for some time now and Colourpop Ultra Matte Lips are some of my favorites so this gift set is perfect for those who may be new to liquid lipsticks, new to Colourpop, or just enjoy a variety of lipstick shades. This set includes 5 mini-sized ultra matte lippies in some of their best selling shades for $20. They also have another holiday set called Kitty Ultra Matte To-Go which includes all new, limited edition shades. Both are equally gorgeous and on my wish list!

  2. ELF Artistry Eyeshadow Palette: This palette is a new discovery and one I cannot wait to get my hands on! If you are familiar with higher end makeup brands, the setup of this palette looks a lot like the Urban Decay Vice palettes but for less than half the price coming in at $20. ELF is another one of those brands that is very affordable but has some amazing, quality products in their lineup. This is a limited edition palette for the holidays and includes 20 shades ranging from neutral to vibrant in a variety of finishes. The palette also houses a large mirror which definitely adds bonus points in my book!

  3. ELF Illuminating Palette: Lately there are two things I cannot get enough of: liquid lipsticks and highlighting powders. I’ve already mentioned some of my favorite lipsticks so now its time to talk highlights. This palette includes four different shades of illuminating powders to suit any skin tone and for only $6, this makes a perfect stocking stuffer!

5. ULTA Sophisticated 4 Piece Brush Set: You can never have too many makeup brushes (does anyone else hate washing brushes as much as I do?) and this cute little set is a perfect stocking stuffer and is also perfect for holiday travel. The set is a $52 value but is a steal at the regular price of $20 and to make it even better, it is currently on sale for only $10 making it another perfect stocking stuffer!

  1. Makeup Revolution Ultra Blush & Contour Palette: As I mentioned a few minutes ago, I have become a sucker for highlighting which makes this palette a dream as it includes contour, blush, and highlighting powders. Makeup Revolution began as a UK Brand but has now made its way to the US in ULTA which is uber exciting as they are another affordable brand with a wide range of products. I have not gotten my hands on a lot of Makeup Revolution products yet (with a big emphasis on yet) but I have tried some of their highlighting and bronzing powders and they are stunning which is why I had to add this palette to the list! For only $10, the palette includes 8 shades of blushes, bronzer, and highlight. The palette comes in two shades: Sugar & Spice (which is described as a “pinky palette combines warm and cool tones to help you achieve your ideal demure flush”) and Hot Spice (which is described as “rusty neutrals and pinky peaches smolder with intensity in this spicy collection”). Did I mention these palettes are only $10?
  2. NYX Cosmetics Rocker Chic Eyeshadow Palette: This was another item that showed up on my fall makeup wish list and since posting, I have added two out of the three palettes to my collection and I am in love. I have been a big fan of NYX for quite a while and these little palettes pack quite a punch. I own California Dreaming and Tainted Love and definitely wouldn’t mind rounding out my collection with Heart of Gold. Each palette contains five vibrant shadows that allow you to take your look from soft to rockin’ and the fact that the palettes are studded just makes my rocker heart go pitter-patter. The palettes are regularly priced at $17.99 but are currently on sale for $13.49.

  3. Essence How To Make Your Face Glow Palette: This is another great all-in-one palette to keep your face glowing at holiday and New Year’s Eve parties. Essence is another affordable brand that surprises you with many products that pack a beautiful punch. This handy palette includes a bronzer, blusher, and highlighter along with a guide to achieve different looks for only $9.99. This palette makes a great stocking stuffer or party gift for playing Dirty Santa (or White Elephant as its sometimes called).

 

Some other options include giving a gift voucher for beauty subscription boxes such as Ipsy or Birchbox to name a few (these are two of my favorites).

Of course another gift option for your beauty lover is to make your own gift box or stocking including your favorite beauty items like this:

Gift Guide for Beauty Lovers Giveaway Sponsored By A New Kind of Normal

 

 

I’ve compiled a lot of my favorite beauty items into a beautifully decorated Christmas box and one of YOU will be the recipient! The box contains some of my favorite powders, highlighters, mascara, eye shadow, eye shadow bases, lippies, nail polishes, and more! This box is full to the brim!

This giveaway is open to anyone in the US and will run through Wednesday, December 16, 2015.

To enter this giveaway:

  1. *Mandatory Entry*: Leave me a comment telling me what beauty product you would add to this gift guide for beauty lovers with a link to the item so we can all check it out!
  2. For an additional entry: Tweet about this giveaway and leave me a separate comment letting me know that you did with the URL of your tweet.
  3. For another additional entry: Share about this giveaway on any other social media platform (Facebook, Instragram, etc) and come back here and leave me a separate comment letting me know that you did with the URL of your post!

 

There you have it folks! My 2015 Gift Guide for Beauty Lovers! I hope you enjoyed it and got some shopping ideas for friends and loved ones (and entered the giveaway of course!).

Stay tuned for the rest of the week as I will be sharing my Gift Guide for Spoonies and my Gift Guide for Bloggers. See you soon!

 

P.S. If you want to save even more money while doing your holiday shopping (especially if you are an online shopper like myself), be sure to check out Ebates. You earn cash back on just about everywhere you shop online and Ebates also keeps track of current promo/coupon code offers so no more scrambling between different sites looking for the best deals. Ebates often offers double cash back which makes the deals even sweeter! There is even a plugin you can add to your web browser so it basically does all the work for you so all you have to do is shop and see your cash back add up. There is a mobile app as well to use on the go. This is not sponsored but I am a huge fan of saving money which makes me a huge fan of Ebates. I have linked my referral code (I am all about 100% transparency) so if you’d rather not use it, I totally understand but I still recommend signing up directly on the Ebates site so you get the sign up bonus & start earning cash back right away. 

P.S.S. Just as an FYI, this gift guide, nor are any of the gift guides in this series sponsored. I am just sharing my favorite products and brands with you guys and the giveaway in this post was put together by yours truly. Just want to make sure its all out on the table 🙂

chronic style

Fall Makeup Wish List 2015

Makeup Wishlist

Fall is an exciting time for makeup! Its time to break out the vampy lipstick and there are loads of new releases in stores in preparation for the holidays. I will do a holiday gift guide later on but I want to share a few items that are on my Fall Makeup Wish List. Most of the items are affordable, drugstore brands but I did include two splurges. Let’s start window shopping, shall we?

1. NYX Rocker Chic Eyeshadow Palettes – $18

NYX-ROCKER-CHIC-EYESHADOW-PALETTES

Source: NYXCosmetics.com

Anything with studs, sign me up but I think these palettes are so adorable and are packed with such fun shades! If you are used to neutrals and want to do a little experimenting without buying a large palette, these are a great option without a big investment (even though Heart of Gold is still a great neutral option). If you love an edgy look and want a compact palette to take with you when you are traveling, these work for that too! The names of the palettes front to back are California Dreaming, Heart of Gold, and Tainted Love (which is my personal favorite). These palettes are available on Ulta.com but the packaging is slightly different (you lose the the studs in favorite of a clear palette cover) but we all know it is hard to resist the deal and the coupons of Ulta.

2. NYX Los Angeles Eyeshadow Palette – $20

NYX-LOS-ANGELES-EYESHADOW-PALETTE

Source: NYXCosmetics.com

NYX is on it with their new palettes they are releasing. I love this palette as well as the small Rocker Chic palettes. This palette contains ten shades versus five and contain a nice variety of neutral and bold shades. There is also a NYX California Palette that is also gorgeous but contains lighter shades. I love the pops of color and I think you could make some fun neutral looks with a pop of color that would match perfectly with some vampy lips, don’t you think? I would assume these palettes will eventually make their way over to Ulta but at the time of publishing this post, they were only on the NYX website.

3. NYX Custom Pro Palette – $15 for palette; $5/$6 for each pan

NYX-PRO-PALLETTESource: NYXCosmetics.com

NYX completely has their game face on. Consumers were asking and they listened and there is finally a Custom Pro Palette  where you can full customize your palette with not only your choice of twelve different highlight and contour shades but they also offer twelve different high definition blush pro shades. I would assume (and pray!) that they bring these options to Ulta but at the time of publishing this post, it was only available on the NYX site.

4. ULTA Illuminating Powders – Reg. $10, sale 2 for $10

ULTA-BRAND-ILLUMINATING-POWERS

Source: Ulta.com

I really, really want to try out these highlighters because 1) I’m obsessed with highlighting, 2) these actually look like enough for my uber pale skin and can give of a “glow from within” look (at least that is what the reviews are say), and 3) I love a good highlight. Ulta is currently running an amazing sale of select products in their makeup brand. They have mascara, foundations, powders. setting sprays and primers 2 for $10! They are also offering their eyeliners, gel eyeliners.eye shadow, lips, and nails for $3 for $9! I wish I had gotten this post up earlier to share the good deals. I have head amazing things about the Matte Lip Creams so I will definitely be try those. I think I might do a battle of the Matte Lip Cream (since every brand seems to have on now right?) – would that be be something that you guys would be interested it?

5- Colourpop Forever Freshman Eyeshadow Collection – $30

COLOURPOP-FALL-2015-FOREVER-FRESHMAN

Source: ColourPop.com

You cannot make a wishlist without including anything from Colourpop and you most definitely cannot create a fall wishlist with including anything from the new Fall 2015 Throwback Collection. I will admit that I own most of the single eyeshadows from the fall collection (ok, I admit I own A LOT of ColourPop shadows in general which are all $5) but I have been drooling over this collection for its unique, limited 1edition shades. I love Baby-T which is the deep blackened blue but it really is way too hard to chose a favorite! I want them all!

6- ColourPop Ultra Matte Lips – $6

COLOURPOP-ULTRA-MATTE-LIPS

Source: Colourpop.com

With the matte liquid lipstick craze in full swing, ColourPop also hopped on board with these these Ultra Matte Lipsticks. They do dry down matte but without being too overly drying and I have the ColourPop Lippie Primer that I use before and that makes a huge difference. I own six shades I believe but I added this to my Fall Wishlist because they came out with some beautiful fall shades and some plain ol’ fun shades! How fun are Dr. M and Jellies? I know not everyone wants to wear blue or green lipstick but some days it just calls for something different!

7. ColourPop Lippie Stix – $5

COLOURPOP-LIPPIE-STIX

Source: ColourPop.com

Last Colourpop product I promise and I will make this brief! In addition to the matte liquid lipsticks, ColourPop also has Lippie Stix with matching Lippie Pencils (which makes matching your liner to your lipstick a breeze!). The reason I put these particular products on my wish list is because these colors are a part of the Fall Collection and they take me straight back to the 90s.I’ve got flannel shirts, chunky heeled shoes, choker necklaces, and these shades of lipsticks on the market. I feel like I’m back in high school again! Since my October Loved & Loathed Beauty Products will be centered on ColourPop products, you will definitely be hearing more of my thoughts!

8- Butter London Lady In Red (Online Only at Ulta.com) – $22

BUTTER-LONDON-LADY-IN-REDSource: Ulta.com

I considered this choice to be a middle of the road between affordable/drugstore prices versus more high end. I love Butter London nail polishes but those are $15 on their own so considering this is both a nail polish and a beautiful lipstick, you really cannot beat the price. I seriously cannot own enough red lipsticks. Especially now that my hair is back dark, I could easily rock a red lip every time I left the house and be perfectly ok with it. I must admit though, now I can’t get the song out of my head! If you don’t know what song I am talking about, you are too young! LOL

9- Urban Decay Moondust Eye Shadows – $21

URBAN-DECAY-MOONDUST-EYE-SHADOWS

Source: Ulta.com

As I mentioned in my September Loved & Loathed Beauty & Style Products, I picked up one of these shadows in Moon Spoon (with a name like that, how could I pass it up?) and fell in love so of course I had to put a couple more shades on my wish list. You can always use a good purple (Ether) but I have to admit that Scorpio and Solstice look the most unique. The best way to apply them is to use a glitter glue eyeshadow primer (ELF has an awesome one for $2) and then use your finger to apply. Whenever I create a look with a sparkly shadow, I always do my eyes first so I can do damage control after! My plan is to record my first tutorial but that will depend on how this flu and upper respiratory infection progresses!

10- PUR Cosmetics Eye Polish Pure Pigment Eye Primer & Top Coat – $26

PUR-EYE-POLISH-PURE-PIGMENT

Source: Ulta.com

I had never really even heard of this brand or paid it any attention until these little pots started showing up all over YouTube and caught my attention (definitely watch – and follow –  Jessica Braun’s review (formerly JAMBeauty89). The colors swatch absolutely gorgeous and the reviews are through the roof. I want them all but if I had to pick, I think I would go with Caviar sit is the most unique I think and I think it would go well with my hazel eyes. We will just have to see if any late birthday presents show up or any coupons come in the mail! LOL

Those are 10 things that are on my Fall Makeup Wishlist? What items are on yours? What do you look for to changing out when the seasons change?