2010 Makeup and Beauty Gift Giving Guide

For anyone who is a beauty junkie like me, recieving any kind of gift set from a store like Sephora is heaven. Here is a list of holiday must-haves, perfect for gift giving!

Bath and Body

1. Any Philosophy Gift Set. Philosophy has numerous holiday scents packaged into cute little gift sets. This years scents include: Gingerbread, Candy Cane, Peppermint, Cinnamon Icicng, Marshmallow, and Snow Angel.

If you've never experienced a Philosophy scent you''re missing out! They are highly fragranced and smell exactly like what they say they smell like. Philosophy has sets containing an all-in-one shower gel, bubble bath and shampoo, matching lotion and lip gloss. Definetly check out their gift sets to WOW your loved one.

2. Bliss Bubble + Butter Spa Blends in Orange and White Pepper. Sephora says: This perfect skincare duo in Bliss' invigorating Blood Orange and White Pepper scent delivers a rich lather and moisturizing benefits for your softest skin yet. Soapy Suds cleanses while nourishing skin with aloe and vitamin E. Body Butter features a super-absorbent, non-greasy formulation with coconut oil to soften skin and sodium hyaluronate to lock in moisture. I say: Sodium hyaluronate is one of the best things for hydrating your skin and the smell is said to be like The Body Shop's "Satsuma". $35

3. Fresh Brown Sugar Escape Set. "Both of our grandmothers used sugar, a natural antiseptic, to heal our scrapes. Wanting to pass this effective ritual on to the world, we bottled our shared tradition." —Lev Glazman and Alina Roytberg, Fresh Co-founders. This set includes body polish, body cream and oval soap. $75

Makeup


1. Sephora Endless Color Blockbuster: This is Sephora's biggest holiday set to date, with 13 new products added I bought the set for myself last year and I love it. It's my go to palette for lip colours. This is a must have set for any makeup artist or junkie. This set includes 98 x original, iridescent effect eyeshadows, 70 x shiny lip glosses, 6 x cream eyeliners, 2 x lip liners, 3 x eyeliners, Mascara, 4 x applicators. $48

2. Stila Color Wheel Shadow Shadow Palette: This set is inspired by the colour wheel and has easy to follow instructions included for even beginner makeup junkies. 37 colours are included in this palette. $38

3. Sephora Favourites Glitz and Glam: This is a deluxe sample makeup kit with products that sparkle and shine. This is a perfect kit for holiday makeup. $39

4. Stila Lip Glaze Set: A collection of 8 gorgeous lip colours, in a clickable pen package. This set includes 4 top-selling colours as well as 4 new limited edition colours. This set is a fantastic value and will thrill any lipgloss addicted girl! $25

 

5. Tarte Ring It In Cheek Stain Set: Tarte's products are formulated without parabans, sulfates and basically anything synthetic. This set includes 3 shades and a fashion ring. $25

Skin Care

1.Clarisonic® Plus with Dr. Brandt, Peter Thomas Roth, Ole Henriksen and Perricone MD. This set contains some of Sephora's best skin care products. The Clarisonic is an automatic face cleansing brush designed to superclean your skin. Watch Gilber Soliz talk about this product. $225

2. Philosophy The Joy of Great Skin. A collection of Philosophys award-winning products. The set includes, cleanser, exfoliator, moisturizer and lactic peels. This brand is also formulated without parabans, sulfates and other other preservatives and synthetic materials. $85

3. Bliss At Home Oxygen Kit. A threesome of products that oxygenate the skin while nourishing with vitamin C. Sephora says "Bliss Spas are famous for their triple oxygen treatment. This set of full-sized, spa-at-home essentials provides skin with a blast of oxygen, including the basic products for simulating the skin-reviving results of their number-one selling facial. These all-star glow-getters boost depleted oxygen levels in dull, sallow skin to kick-start a brighter, fresher, more radiant complexion." This set is definetly on my christmas list. $84

Nails

1. Sephora by OPI Mini Nail Colour Set. A collection of 18 mini nail colours. I wasn't going to include nail sset in this post but I had to include this set because of the awesome value. OPI nail polish at Sephora is normally $9 a bottle, this set works out to be $2.60 per bottle. $48

Stocking Stuffers

Marc Jacobs Daisy Rollerball $20

Sephora Colour Wand For Lips $10

Philosophy Lip Gloss $10

Sephora by OPI Brush on Cuticle Oil $9

Michael Kors Leg Shine to go $12

Clean Anti-Bacterial Hand Cream $10

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5 Pieces That Makeup My Life

After thinking carefully about which products I use every single day no matter what I came up with this list...

1. Concealer: How any woman can live without concealer is beyond me! It's a miracle in a jar, stick, tube, pot- however you use it. Concealer is what covers all imperfections without looking cakey(if applied right). It conceals dark circles, redness, pimples, scars...so again how does anyone live without this??
2. Foundation: This goes hand in hand with concealer. While some people like to use one or the other, the way to get the most from these products is to use them together! No matter what type of foundation you choose to use it will blend your skin tone to make it look like you have perfectly even skin. Because you have already covered your imperfections with concealer, all that's needed with your foundation is a light application and your set!
3. Blush: If I had perfect skin this would be number 1 on list! Blush gives your face an instant glow. If you were to apply concealer and foundation with no blush it tends to make you look washed out and as some people would say- dead.
4. Mascara: I'm sure this is in most womans top 5! A quick swipe of mascara can take you from looking tired to wide awake! Not only does it make your lashes longer, thicker and fuller but it opens up your eyes making you appear less tired.
5. Lip gloss/stick: Everyone should keep their lips moisturized- why not add shine&colour while doing it! Plus, gloss makes lips look extra luscious...who could resist that!

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To Prime or Not to Prime

What is a primer? Just like paint, makeup needs a primer. Would you paint a wall or a canvas without first priming it? Probably not. Adhesion, hide, and colour retention are reasons why you use a primer before painting... so doesn't it seem logical that you should use a primer on your face as you are ultimately painting your face? Foundation primers have many benefits which include: creating a perfectly smooth surface to apply your makeup to, filling in fine lines, creating a base for your makeup to adhere to so it doesn't rub off half way through your day, and providing an easier application of concealer and foundation as they glide over your skin instead of building up product resulting in a "cakey" look.

Most prestige brands now have one or more primers in their product line, some of course are better than others. While I would absolutely love to be able to try every primer and write my opinion about it I don't have the time or $40+ per bottle to experiment! I will however write about the primers I have used as well as knowledge I have gained from doing some online research about primers I haven't tried.

The few brands I have tried are Smashbox, Faces, and Laura Mercier.

Smashbox: They are said to be the undisputed leader of the pack with one of the very first primers available. Smashbox now has 5 different primer formulas spanning from the 1st edition to colour correcting. As a makeup artist I started out with a smashbox makeup kit, primer included. So what's my take? I wasn't a huge fan! While Sephora reviewers give this product 4.5 out of 5 stars, I wasn't crazy about it. Yes it did what it was supposed to do by prepping a face for makeup and yes it was smooth and makeup did glide on but if the user doesn't get the exact amount of product needed it rolls off of the face in balls leaving it not so smooth. Perhaps you would disagree, but I was not sold.

Faces: This has to be one of my favourite primers. It feels so nice being spread onto your skin, with a creamy, thick consistancy. This product does contain silica which some people have a problem with but I don't mind. That is what gives it such a rich, smooth feeling. If you take too much product, no problem it blends right into your skin!

Laura Mercier: I bought a Laura Mercier gift set while at Sephora which included their primer. This is not my favourite primer but I do like it and it gets the job done. It creates a smooth base and feels more like a moisturizer than a primer. It is enriched with vitamins and is not greasy. I may or may not purchase this again, I haven't decided. They currently have 5 formulas of primers incuding regular, oil-free, hydrating, mineral liquid and mineral powder.

Below are some brands I haven't yet tried but would like to...

Dior: How can a girl not love anything Dior? I have loved every product I have tried in Dior's makeup line so far so I have high hopes for their primer. Dior's skinflash Primer claims to have an anti-fatigue remedy and is boosted with Photo-smart Pigments which adapts to all types of lighting. Sephora user ratings are 4 out of 5 stars for this product!

MAKE UP FOREVER

I loveeee this brand! They have amazing eye products and ohhhh the lashes! I do own the green colour correcting primer but I only use it in clients with red toned skin and not on myself. I do like the way it goes on and it has a nice smell. Sephora reviewers say this is a very good moisturizing primer. I would liek to try the clear one for myself!

Guerlian

I had to had this to my "to try" list. Why? The fact that it is made with 24-karat gold has won me over. The 24-carat gold-infused cooling gel sinks into the skin, retaining moisture. Applied to bare skin, this skin enhancer and makeup primer smoothes fine lines and tightens facial features. Rated 4 out of 5 star on Sephora.

Sephora

Last but not least, I have added the Sephora brand to my list to try because it is the cheaper alternative to any of the primers mentioned above. This brand was also one of the highest rated at 4.5 out of 5 stars. It is said to be lightweight and non-greasy. You can compare this price of $15 a bottle to the other brands starting at $30 a bottle.

www.enchantmentmakeupartistry.com

Holiday Makeup Trends 2010

The holidays are all about glaming it up and making sure you shine! The trend this season isn't too far off from that. We're seeing alot of smoky and glittery eyes, lusterous cheeks, and bold red lips.

Eyes

Nothing attracts better attention than a smoky, sultry gaze. To amp up the drama, use shimmery white, silver and black shadows. If your eyes are small, keep the dark shadow close to your lash line and smoke it out. You can add a bit of glitter to the corner of your eyes to open them up and make them appear wider.

Another favourite holiday look of mine is a full lid of glitter! This is a really fun look and not for the faint at heart! It's a fantastic statement look and great for parties or New Years. To achieve this look line your lids with a liquid liner. When its dry apply a primer or a glitter base so the glitter has something to adhere to. Apply the glitter to your lid using as much as you desire. Note: you will have glitter that falls onto your cheek no matter how hard you try to avoid it. My advice... go with it!

Cheeks

If you choose to go with the smoky eye, make sure to add shine to your cheeks. Luminescent skin is a must! Add a shimmer lotion, powder or gel to you face for added shine and glow. If you decide to do glitter on your eyes, don't use a shimmery product with big particles of shimmer- it will be too much.

Lips

What says "come kiss me" more then beautiful, red lips. People are drawn to red lips, and there's a reason...they're hot! To make the most out of this look line your lips with a pencil in the same colour as your lipstick. Make sure to be careful when lining with a red pencil, a slight mistake could cause your lips to look clownish. (If you make a mistake, take a q-tip dipped in makeup remover and carefully wipe away the smudge, then cover with matching concealer.) Fill you lips in with lipstick- voila! sexy red lips! To avoid looking costume-ish use your judgement, but a good rule of thumb is to either wear a dramatic eye with a nude lip, or a dramatic lip with subtle eyes. Being a holiday look, you don't have to down play the 2nd feature as much as you would on a normal day.

Dolce & Gabbana Holiday Makeup Ads 2010

Scarlett Johansson at the Dolce & Gabbana Holiday 2010 ad campaign shoot. Photo: Robert Bellamy for Dolce & Gabbana

Dolce & Gabbana's holiday 2010 advertisement. Photo: Courtesy of Solve Sunsbo

These Dolce & Gabbana photos are a prime example of holiday makeup trends for 2010! In the first photo, Scarlett has bold red lips, with a semi dramatic eye. In the second photo she has very dramatic smoky shadows, making her eyes pop, paired with a nude, glossy lip.

Whatever look you choose to wear for this holiday season, have fun with it. There are no set in stone rules to makeup, just guide lines. And remember, don't forget to sparkle and shine!

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www.enchantmentmakeupartistry.com