Out of all the gifts I got last year in the beauty world, Benefit had some of the best value ones.
The beauty brand that is known for their brow products always has an amazing line up when it comes to holiday sets. Best part is that they usually come in the cutest packaging and a lot of them even come in a fun reusable tin.
Although the brand has a ton of great holiday items this year, I’m totally digging two in particular; one of which is similar to a set I got last year.
So without further ado, let’s dive right in…
If you have someone on your list that has never tried out Benefit before, then the Life Is a Pretty Party set would be the perfect gift for them. This set (C$40, valued at C$91!) comes housed in a cute yellow tin and contains three products, two full-size ones and a mini.
Open up the yellow tin to reveal a full-size of their BADGal BANG! mascara, a full-size of the Dandelion blush, and a deluxe mini of The POREfessional Primer. Although Benefit is known for their brow products, their mascaras and blush boxes are also iconic.
The BADGal BANG! mascara is one of their newer mascaras and it promises 36 hours of volume. The Dandelion blush is also one of their staples and is a beautiful baby pink blush that will give you the most perfect flush of colour. Finally, the The POREfessional Smoothing Face Primer is another popular product and is a great primer to throw on under your face makeup to make it last longer and fill in any imperfections.
I love this set and the value on it is incredible. The mascara alone retails for C$33, so you are also getting another full size product and a deluxe mini for C$7 more! This set is available at Shoppers Drug Mart and is currently sold out online, but if you can find it in store, grab it!
Okay, this next set is one of the best holiday sets I have come across this year.
Benefit Cosmetics released a similar item last year and I felt this way about it then as well. The Magnificent Brow Show set (C$66, valued at C$160!!) contains five full-size brow products. Available in four shades, this set includes enough brow products to last you the year and then some!
Included in here is the Precisely, My Brow Pencil; the Goof Proof Brow Pencil; Gimme Brow +, Ka-BROW, and the 24-HR Brow Setter. The great thing about this set is that although it’s five brow products, they all kind of work in different ways, so you can either use them together or separately depending on your mood or the look you are going for.
This set seems to already be sold out on Sephora, Benefit, and Shoppers Drug Mart, but if you can find it, grab it! One of their brow products alone retails for around C$30, so you are getting three more for the price of just two.
Now I do want to add that although this set is amazing, they only offer it in four different shades, so if you have a colour that you always use in their products, they might not have that exact one, but they will have one most likely close enough. They offer this set in the shades Light, Medium, Deep, and Dark.
Benefit has a number of other sets available, some of which are still available online. If you have stores that are open near you though, I recommend popping in to see them in person and to make sure you actually get them before the holidays. Out of any of the sets I have received for this season, these are definitely some of the best value.
Are any Benefit sets on your wish list this year?
Please note, product provided by PR. All opinions are my own.
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Aside from bath and body, another great gift idea is fragrance.
You can really never have enough perfumes since it’s such a personal preference and if you’re like me, I have different scents for different seasons and moments in my life. I have everyday scents, vacation scents, fragrances that remind me of certain moments in my life… I can go on and on.
Just like other beauty products, the holidays is a great time to pick up a new scent since there are usually great gift sets available, and most beauty stores offer special holiday discounts this time of the year as well (fragrance doesn’t typically go on sale that often).
So, if you are on the hunt for a new scent, or want to gift someone fragrance this season, here are some new picks to look into.
YSL LIBRE Eau de Parfum Intense
I love the original YSL Libre Eau de Perfume, so I was ecstatic to find out that they released a new version recently.
YSL Libre eau de parfum Intense (C$138/50 ml) is a warm floral fragrance, similar to Libre, but leans more towards vanilla notes as opposed to something musky like the original. Libre Intense contains lavender essence (which the original has), as well as orchid accord, and vanilla. It’s a floral scent but has musky and creamy notes as well and will be something that is sure to stand out in your collection.
Other notes include burnt orange blossom, smooth vanilla, glowing amber accord, and grisalva, an ambergris note. This one is a perfect year-round scent and one that you’ll want to wear everyday.
Lancome La Vie Est Belle Intensement
I love the original La Vie Est Belle by Lancome and it will forever have a special place in my heart since I received it during a Lancome event in Toronto. It was one of the first big events I have ever been to as a blogger and it will forever be a memory that I cherish forever.
Anyways, one of the items in the gift bag was the original La Vie Est Belle perfume, which whenever I smell it, I always think of Toronto.
Lancome’s La Vie Est Belle Intensement (C$121) is a beautiful new take on the classic scent. This perfume comes in the same bottle as the original, but with darker pink liquid and a red bow on the neck of the bottle. This perfume opens with bergamot oil, pink pepper oil, and raspberry accord; in the middle there is sambac jasmine absolute, orange flower absolute, and heliotrope accord. Finally, it has base notes of patchouli heart, iris concrete, benzoin retinoid, and vanilla bean.
I would say this is a pretty distinctive scent compared to the original, so if you were looking for something similar to La Vie Est Belle, I wouldn’t say this is it. It is a nice perfume though and is a beautiful scent. If you have someone looking for something new and love the original, then I would recommend this.
Giorgio Armani Si Passione Eau de Parfum
Giorgio Armani Si is another perfume that I have and really enjoy. It’s one of those scents that is such a great everyday fragrance and something that wears well throughout the day as well.
Recently the brand came out with a new fragrance in the Si family, Si Passione Eau de Perfum (C$90/30 ml), which is a fruitier version of the original.
Si Passione is categorized as a fruity floral scent and is a great everyday scent like the original. It opens with sparkling pearl followed by rose and a woody-vanilla base.
This version comes in the same bottle as Si, however, features a sexier red colour.
Avon LYRD Artisan Cherry Vetiver Eau de Parfum and IYRD Santal Muse Vetiver Eau de Parfum
When I got Avon’s LYRD Artisan Cherry Vetiver Eau de Parfum (C$75, on sale for C$60), is a unisex scent and is crafted by master perfumers with the finest ingredients.
The Artisan Cherry Vetiver perfume is a fruity scent that opens with wild cherry, fresh raspberry, and crisp pear. From there, you’ll smell heliotrope, violet, and marshmallow. Finally, it ends with vetiver, cedar wood, ambrox, and fluffy musk.
Avon also has another scent in this line, the LYRD Artisan Santal Musk Eau de Parfum (C$75, on sale for C$60). This one is also unisex and is also fruity.
It opens with Asian pear, peony, peach nectar and bamboo. From there, it follows with matcha tea, dewy violet, raspberry blossom, and rose sandal absolute. Finally, it features base notes of Australian sandalwood, guaiac wood, and white musk.
Azzaro Wanted Tonic and Wanted Girl Tonic
For men, Azzaro has followed up to their bestselling fragrance, Wanted, with Wanted Tonic (C$102/100 ml), a woody and spicy take on the original.
This fragrance has notes of patchouli (which comes from responsible sources, guaranteeing a fair income for producers and communities), as well as indigo lavender, grey amber, ginger, and lime.
This fragrance comes in a unique bottle that is shaped like a grenade and is a fresh scent that will transition from winter to summer flawlessly.
Match your man with Azzaro Wanted Girl Tonic (C$97), which is also new and a different take on their Wanted Girl fragrance.
This scent comes in a similar grenade bottle with a pink liquid (the brand says it’s a floral-shaped bottle, but it totally looks like a grenade to me). It is a woody, fruity, floral scent that contains notes of ginger, açai berries, and bamboo wood.
I actually really like this fragrance and found it to be sweet and pleasant. Totally something I would wear more in the spring and summer months.
Mary Kay Illuminea Extrait de Parfum
New from Mary Kay is Illuminea Extrait de Perfume (C$80), which is a floral and warm scent that contains 20 per cent concentration of fragrance oils, meaning it will wear longer than other fragrances.
This perfume opens with mandarin, quince, pink pepper, and morning dew. From there, it has red apricot, orange blossom, scarlet peony, water lotus, and honeysuckle. Finally, it has Florentine iris absolute, violet leaves, cashmere woods, vanilla and white moss.
I really like this perfume since it’s such a nice fragrance, I also love that it is made with oils, meaning that it will last longer than a typical scent.
Nest New York Festive Votive Trio
Okay, so this next one isn’t a perfume, but I wanted to throw it in here since it’s home fragrance.
Another great staple gift if candles, and Nest New York make some of my favourite candles ever. In fact, I love when this time of the year rolls around since they are one of the brands that I get most excited for.
For the holidays 2020, they have released a bunch of different sets, including the Festive Votive Trio. This set comes with three votives in the Birchwood Pine, Holiday, and Blue Cypress & Snow scents (the latter of which is brand new for the season).
I love these sets since a) they come in the most giftable box, and b) it allows you to experience three scents for basically the price of one of their candles. Although they are votives, they will last you awhile and guarantee a 20-28 hour burn time (which is longer than your typical candle).
This set seems to be sold out online, but if you can find it in store (they sell Nest New York at Sephora), I would grab it. Nest also offers a ton of other sets featuring their candles and diffusers. They even have some cute ornaments featuring their votives as well (I got the Birchwood Pine one, which is such an iconic holiday scent!).
I know that there are a bunch of different gift sets with these fragrances if any of them peak your interest. I would recommend picking up a set since these always have great value and allow you to layer the fragrance with a body lotion, a body wash, or even both.
Any of these scents are perfect as gifts, especially since a lot of them are sister fragrances to bestselling ones. Like I said, you really can’t go wrong with a perfume, plus if you are gifting it to someone special, it will also make them think of you when you wear it.
Will you be gifting any fragrances for the holidays?
Please note, products sent by PR. All opinions are my own.
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Want to gift someone a little luxury but not looking to spend thousands of dollars? Then Dior Beauty will be right up your alley.
I love Dior Beauty’s makeup items since it’s the easiest and most affordable way to give a little Dior. I have found with previous collections that their items have been a little hit or miss, but for the holidays this year, the items that I got to try out were all winners in my book.
For their Golden Nights collection, the luxury brand has released a number of sets and stand-alone products full of sparkle, shimmer, and all our favourite holiday shades. Dior says that this collection has a rock n roll twist and I couldn’t agree more. There’s lots of golds and reds, but there are also more edgier shades such as deep purple and metallic gunmetal.
So what’s included? Well, keep reading…
Okay, so first up obviously Dior had to come out a couple new 5 Couleurs palettes (C$75), which are their iconic eyeshadow palettes featuring five shades. For the Golden Nights collection, they have released two colour ways, one featuring more neutral bronze/gold shades and the other having darker/silver colours.
The first palette is Golden Snow, which is the more everyday palette out of the two. It features neutral shades in pink, brown, gold, and champagne, and is definitely a palette after my own heart.
The second palette, Black Night, features more edgier shades in silver, burgundy, black, greige, and grey. Although I don’t usually gravitate towards these palettes since they are more what I like to call “weekend palettes”, I did find this one to be really nice and was a nice change up from my usually neutral shades.
Both palettes feature creamy colour that blends nicely and they have a special snowflake motif embossed on the powders making them extra festive.
Pair the shadow palette with their DiorShow 24H Stylo (C$37) in the shade Sparkling Black. I have a few of these gel liners from a previous collection and although I found those to be on the dry side, this one is actually a lot creamier. Not sure if they were just a bad bunch or if they toyed with the formula.
Also available in a gold shade, this eyeliner is black with silver micro glitter (which, to be honest, isn’t really that noticeable). This limited-edition liner is waterproof and helps to define the eyes and finish up your holiday eye look. The other end of the liner also features a smudging brush tip to help blend colour for a smokey effect.
For the lips, Dior has a few goodies in store for the holidays. First up is their Diorific Golden Nights limited-edition lipsticks (C$51). These lipsticks come housed in a beautiful gold casing and open up to a beautiful colour that features snowflakes embossed in the bullets.
Available in four shades, these lipsticks feature a creamy finish and are quite comfortable on the lips. The finish has a slight shine and Dior promises that these will stay put for hours on end.
I was sent three of the four shades and love the colours that they chose for this collection. There’s a red, a rose, a nude, and a vampy purple, which is such a unique colour for the holidays. I love how these feel on the lips and the finish they give. My favourite part is definitely the look of the lipsticks, which makes them such a great luxe gift option.
Dior has also released some limited-edition shades and packaging for their Rouge Dior Lipsticks (C$46) as well. Available in six shades (all different shades of red), these lipsticks have snowflakes embossed in the lipstick bullet itself and promise 16 hours of comfortable wear.
The brand sent me the shade 999 The Iconic Red and I do have to say that it’s a beautiful red colour and the creamy feel makes it super comfortable to wear.
Now it’s not the holidays without a little sparkle!
For the cheeks, Dior has released two new shades in their Rouge Dior Powder Blush (C$57). These blushes aim to sculpt and illuminate the cheekbones, which depending on the colour you choose, they do just that.
Dior sent me the shade Golden Snow, which clearly is not a colour I would use as a blush. This product is a beautiful golden illuminator which works wonders as a highlight. I do think it’s a strange shade to release for a blush, but as with any makeup product, you don’t have to actually use the product for its intended purpose. Instead, I like to sweep this on the high points of my face for a beautiful holiday glow.
Finally, for the nails, the brand has released a couple holiday shades in their Diorific Vernis collection (C$33). There are two shades to choose from, as well as a snowy silver topcoat, which will take your nails rom festive to fun in a flash.
There are two shades that were released in the actual polish collection, a red and a deep purple. I received the dark purple shade, Dark Nights, which is not your typical holiday colour, but I love how it’s dark and vampy and is the perfect shade to wear during the winter months. Make sure to top it with the Diorific Top Coat in Golden Snow to give your manicure a pearly glitter finish.
Dior also sent along some of their Backstage Glow Face Palettes (C$55), which aren’t part of their holiday collection, but would make such wonderful gifts nonetheless.
Use the darker palette (Copper Gold) to warm up the face and contour. This is one of their newer palettes in the range and feature four shades with warm copper tones. There is a coral with a glitter finish, a copper with a metallic finish, a bronze with a shimmer finish, and a golden bronze with an intense finish (perfect as a contour shade). I like to either use these separately or swirl my bronzer brush in all four for a custom colour that helps to sculpt out my facial features.
For the cheeks, use the Rose Gold palette, which is also a new palette in this range. It features four shades that are perfect as blush and highlights. You have a gold with a rose gleam, a pearly pink, a champagne pink, and a golden peach.
I really like these palettes as well since they are such versatile pieces and everyday items that are perfect to gift.
I really love what Dior has released for the holidays this year and I would have to say that this collection is one of my favourite ones from the brand this year. I love the shade range they chose and feel like it’s the perfect mix of holiday-appropriate colours, but still neutral enough that they would work for everyday wear as well.
Are any Dior Beauty items on your wish list this year?
Please note, products sent by PR. All opinions are my own.
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