Holiday Gift Ideas for Her 2016

I recently attended a Nordstrom Morning Beauty Event and they had TONS of awesome gift ideas I had to share! If you didn’t know, Nordstrom regularly holds great (free!) beauty events in store where you usually get some really great samples and freebies! They had tons of raffles at mine and I even won a Nest home diffuser! You can see if your store is having any Nordstrom events here. The Nordstrom at the Grove is even having Mr. Francois Nars in store on December 10th from 2-4pm for a book signing.

Also don’t forget to use Ebates because Nordstrom currently has 6% cash back.

My top pick for a gift is either of these: Continue reading “Holiday Gift Ideas for Her 2016”

My Black Friday/Cyber Monday Purchases

It feels like Christmas already with all of the packages I’m getting in the mail from shopping online! Here’s a quick rundown of what I got: Continue reading “My Black Friday/Cyber Monday Purchases”

Sephora VIB 2016 Wish List – Skin Care, Hair, and Fragrance

More of my Sephora VIB 2016 Wish list- this time I’m talking about the skin care, hair care, and fragrance/perfumes I’m lusting after.

Skin Care

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Drunk Elephant Let’s B Clear $82 ($130 value) Just go ahead and give me all the fancy skin care kits please and thank you! Drunk Elephant has amazing products that are actually backed by science so they work. This kit includes some of their best sellers- Pekee Bar, B-Hydra Intensive Hydration Gel, TLC Framboos Glycolic Night Serum, C-Firma Day Serum, and Virgin Marula Luxury Facial Oil. Continue reading “Sephora VIB 2016 Wish List – Skin Care, Hair, and Fragrance”

Sephora VIB Sale Fall 2016 Makeup Wish List

Here’s a few items I’m lusting after this Sephora VIB Sale season:

Makeup

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Huda Beauty Eyeshadow Palette – Rose Gold Edition $65 STUNNING! LOVE me some Huda and this palette does not disappoint! Pigmented mattes, chrome pressed pearls, and 3D metal shadows yes please. Continue reading “Sephora VIB Sale Fall 2016 Makeup Wish List”

Father’s Day Gift Ideas

Last year for Father’s Day I gave my dad a themed gift that was semi-“beauty” related so I thought I’d share the idea here! I’ll start by saying that the photo in this header is from when my dad took me to Turks and Caicos. We’ve been boating and going to tropical locations since I was in the womb (literally) so this is a “fun in sun” gift idea that isn’t actually fun at all, but it is super useful and practical, so… But seriously, thank you so much daddy-o for inspiring my love of travel and exploring!

I’ve posted about how I’ve had melanoma before and my dad had basal cell carcinoma removed from his head somewhat recently. This means I try to be VERY diligent about my sun protection and try to convince my family to do the same since we live in Florida and Southern California. Here’s what I got him:
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 Jack Black ‘Double-Duty’ Face Moisturizer SPF 20 ($28) This is a broad spectrum sunscreen meaning it protects agains UVA and UVB rays (major key). The ‘Double-Duty’ part is that it contains powerful antioxidants that help protect skin from aging from sun exposure. No matter who you are those 2 things are what you should be looking for in a sunscreen. This also had great customer reviews. Also, what man knows how to buy himself a moisturizer… Continue reading “Father’s Day Gift Ideas”

Jade Smokey Eye Tutorial Using Lorac Pro Palette 2 & Simplehuman 5X Sensor Vanity Mirror

I received the Lorac Pro Palette 2 for Christmas and have been loving it! Right on Christmas day I even used it to create this Jade Smokey Eye look that I wore for the festivities as well as family portraits that I took for my dad’s present with my new Canon Rebel t3i. This palette is super versatile, can create day or night looks, and has both matte and shimmer shades. I would say the biggest downfall is you can get some serious fall out (when they eyeshadow gets on your cheeks while applying), but that can be avoided by applying dark or dramatic looks before doing your foundation routine like I did during this tutorial.

Continue reading “Jade Smokey Eye Tutorial Using Lorac Pro Palette 2 & Simplehuman 5X Sensor Vanity Mirror”

The Worst Gifts To Give a Girl

I asked my girlfriends to tell me the worst gift a guy has ever gotten them and the answers were hilarious. Here I separate them by category for you so you know what not to buy the ladies in your life this holiday season:

1. No gift at all– This was the #1 response, no bueno! Don’t do that thing where you act like the holidays don’t exist either that shit’s not cute.

2. Gifts that are a little TOO creative– One girl was given a painting of herself worth several thousand; a shoddily homemade Starbucks drink sleeve; M&Ms custom made with the couples’ face on them

3. Self help she didn’t ask for– Dietary supplements for working out/protein powder; your mom’s cookbook; a 3 month membership to Equinox that implied a) she needed to workout b) he was cheap and c) they would be together for 3 months Continue reading “The Worst Gifts To Give a Girl”

Black Friday Beauty Deals

I don’t know about you, but this time of year I cannot.stop.shopping. The deals are just so good it’s like I would be losing money if I DIDN’T spend it all on these things, right?? So let’s start off this post with how to save some money honey so we can trick ourselves into spending more.

 

Ebates

If you shop online you need Ebates. They have been around for nearly 20 years and you only need a good memory or to install the Ebates Cash Back Button and it will alert you what % cash back your favorite stores are offering at that time. Ebates is free to sign up for and how it works is your favorite stores (Amazon, Ulta, Sephora, Nordstrom, etc.) pay Ebates a fee when you shop through an Ebates link or when the Cash Back Button is activated. Ebates then sends you cash back payment every 3 months as long as you have earned at least $5.01. You can get the money in the form of a check in the mail, deposited into your PayPal account, or send it to your favorite charity. That $$ can add up fast especially if you do most of your holiday shopping online which is why now is the best time to sign up. It’s fast, easy, safe, and can earn you a few bucks. You can use my referral link to sign up and then I’ll get some cash to buy even more stuff! To break it down further here’s how I do it:

 

1. Go to desired website and add items to cart while logged in. Today I was shopping online at Ulta so of course I have an account with them. I logged in and added the stuff I was going to buy to my cart. Then close this window.

2. Go to Ebates and search for the store I’m shopping at. Click their link to go to the website. Today it was Ulta which was offering 8% cash back.

3. Check out per usual. Go to Ebates and make sure it worked. Today I got $2.96 back from my purchase and all I had to do was make sure I checked if Ulta had an Ebates deal!

If you need a picture:

How to use Ebates

 

I know it sounds weird and pyramid scheme-y, but it’s not so go get some $!

 

Black Friday Deals

There’s a deal so good on Ulta.com right now that I already bought it and I wanted to make a post about it so I could tell everyone. Stila has a set of eyeshadow palettes that put the Urban Decay Naked palettes to shame. A few years ago I was looking for a present for a friend and was thinking about getting her a Naked palette and a delightful gay man explained to me “it’s called Naked because you can barely see it” and “it’s good for like… my mom or a mom”. He did a few swatches on his hand and sure enough the Stila palette is WAY more pigmented. The Stila palette is also $39 vs. $54 for Naked. Well it’s $39 usually, but right now all 3 of them are on sale for $20!! Plus if you spend $25 you get free shipping! Let’s take a look at these beauties:

Stila In the Light Palette
Stila In The Light Eyeshadow Palette

Continue reading “Black Friday Beauty Deals”

Cheap Holiday Gifts For Makeup Lovers

Ok so when you give a gift you probably don’t want people thinking it’s “cheap”, but I guarantee any beauty enthusiast would be super excited to receive one or a few of these very inexpensive products. First of all they are trendy- Morphe brushes, Maybelline Divine Wine Lipstick, Colour Pop lippies, and NYX Soft Matte Lip Creme in Copenhagen are all very popular items right now. They’re practical- who doesn’t need another makeup brush holder, a travel makeup bag, a compact mirror, or an extra set of wispy false eyelashes? And they sparkle because gifts should be fun. I will be posting a few more of these so let me know if you have any requests for gift guides! Continue reading “Cheap Holiday Gifts For Makeup Lovers”