What I Got For Christmas (Beauty-Related)

Hi, folks! I haven't posted since April because it has been a busy year. My husband and I are trying to adopt, so most of my emotion, time, and energy has been focused on that. But that is off-topic, so I thought I'd show what I got for Christmas that is beauty-related and in the coming year, I will try my best to post reviews and hauls to my blog because I know I rely so heavily on others' to decide on my purchases.

First, in my stocking, my husband gave me three nail polishes. I am a huge fan of the OPI designer series, and I have had my eye on these after seeing some swatches online. I haven't had a chance to wear them yet because my Christmas manicure is lasting so long! I did it on Saturday and have yet to see any tip wear or chipping. For those who are interested, I used Gelous as a base coat, 2 coats of OPI Smitten with Mittens (China Glaze Ruby Pumps is very similar), an accent nail of Sephora's OPI Only Gold for Me topcoat on each hand, another coat of Gelous on all my nails, and finally a coat of Seche Vite. I find that this gives me the strongest manicures yet the Seche Vite helps it to dry fairly quickly.

OPI DS Luxurious, OPI DS Bold, OPI DS Indulgence

From left to right, these are DS Luxurious (orange with gold), DS Bold (pinky red), and DS Indulgence (red with gold). They are really beautiful. The two on the ends are more foil-like and the one in the middle is glittery. I can't wait to play with them.

One of the palettes my husband gave me is Anastasia Want You to Want Me. It comes in a velvety box with a magnetic closure. Inside, there is a mini palette that is removable that houses nine nude and plummy eyeshadows. Also in the outer box are a mini clear brow gel, a liquid eye liner, and a mini eyeshadow brush. I haven't had time to play with this yet because I've been sick the last few days.

Anastasia Want You to Want Me

My husband also got me the Bare Minerals quad in The Happy Place.  The four shades are described as muted apricot, smoky taupe, rose gold, and eggplant. I'm extra excited to see how this plays with my greenish eyes. I have two eight pan BM palettes and the quality is excellent.

Bare Minerals The Happy Place

Finally, although I only have two eyes, my husband knows about my obsession with makeup and got me MORE eyeshadow. Makeup is the only thing that always fits and can change your look the most easily. So he got me...the LORAC pro palette! This little beauty has SIXTEEN eyeshadows in a variety of neutral-ish shades with half of them matte and half shimmer. I think this concept is great because so many other lines only make shimmer palettes, and a nice matte in the crease or on the browbone can really finish off a look. I was able to wear this once on Christmas in the evening, but again, I have been sick so I haven't gotten to experiment much. I did notice that although the shadows are very pigmented, they also tended to be very powdery. Meaning, if you didn't tap your brush off before applying to your lid, you would get fallout on the tops of your cheeks. I did get two compliments on my look, though, and I only saw my immediate family that night (who've all seen me in bajillions of neutrals before). Oh, and did I mention a mini primer is included? I use this stuff daily (it beats Urban Decay, Too Faced, and NARS for me) so I'm happy about that, too!

LORAC Pro Palette

As little extras and stocking stuffers, my uber sweet husband also included this limited edition two-pack of Maybelline Baby Lips in Coral Crush and Twinkle.

Maybelline Baby Lips Coral Crush and Twinkle

He's also Sephora-savvy enough to know to use a good code when ordering online so he gave me a bonus OPI bag filled with samples that he got.

OPI makeup bag with samples

Finally, he got me this perfume rollerball that I'd been wanting to take around with me. I've had bad luck with atomizers leaking so I wanted a rollerball. He got me Betsey Johnson Too Too Pretty which I find so fresh and pretty...just like the name, I guess.

Betsey Johnson Too Too Pretty perfume rollerball

At my mom's house that evening, I found my stocking there to be filled with all kinds of good (and bad for you!) things to eat. Along with that, she'd (or Santa) gotten this Tarte set for me from Ulta on Black Friday. It contains an Amazonian Clay blush in Flush, a cream shadow in Slate, and a stiff brush that you could use for the shadow or concealer, probably. I LOVE these blushes, so I was pretty excited about that. I wore the cream shadow with liner and mascara when going on a few errands yesterday and there was no creasing on my very oily lids, but this line of shadow DID crease on me during the summer. So we shall see.

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Flush, Slate cream shadow, eyeshadow brush

And that's my crazy big Christmas beauty haul! I also *might* have used some Christmas money to order even more yesterday on boxing day. =X But I'm going on a low or no-buy in 2013 so I had to get all of my lemmings fulfilled now. I will work on posting reviews and looks in the future. I hope you are all having a great holiday season and will talk to you again soon!