Happy Holidays!! Holiday Kits are here!

It’s that time of year again!

I love Christmas time not only for the lights, family, rum and eggnog, and endless desserts but also for the HOLIDAY KITS that flood the cosmetic counters!! This year I have spent many of my Saturday mornings perusing my local cosmetic counters for this year’s finest and here is what I have come up with :)

As usual the always inventive MAC Cosmetics have released their holiday eye, face and lip palettes as well as their famous brush kits. When I worked at MAC in University, the brush kits would sell out first, and it’s no real surprise that they do. They are a perfect travel size of four of MAC's more popular brushes packaged together in a sassy holiday bag. The average price of MAC’s holiday kits range from ($27-$58), very reasonably priced sets given that the average eye shadow sells for $16.00. Smashbox also has AMAZING kits this year, the Smashbox sample kit that has all of their signature products (Mini Artificial Light in Glow, Mini Photo Finish Foundation Primer SPF 15 + Dermaxyl, Mini Photo Finish Foundation Primer Light, Mini O-Gloss Intuitive Lip Gloss, Mini Photo Op Under Eye Brightener, Cream Eye Liner Duo (full size!) in Caviar/Midnight Brown, Mini Eye Shadow Trio in Headshot, Mini Baked Fusion Soft Lights in Stardust, 2 Mini Lip Enhancing Glosses in Pout & Afterglow) for only $35.00! If you find yourself venturing into Sephora, Kat Von D has a gorgeous eye shadow holiday set called True Romance for $34.00, all stunning high pigment colors perfect for your holiday parties! So enjoy one of these fabulous pre christmas gifts to yourself, why not, you deserve it!

Make me Blush...

Blush is HIGHLY under rated in my opinion. Having a good blush is like finding the perfect shade of lipstick, you know, the kind you get compliments on because it just works so well with your complexion, eye color, hair, etc. It pulls together your look with one final application. Blush should be just as valuable to your daily makeup routine as your lipstick. A good blush can liven up your look in 2 sec flat! But be weary, blush applied incorrectly could have you looking like birthday party clown. Here are a few tips and tricks for finding the perfect color and the perfect application.

Find a color that matches your cheeks when they're flushed after exercise or being out in the cold. For a quick test, pinch your cheeks & use the resulting color as a guide. Another helpful trick is to match your lip color. Fair skin looks great in rose, olive in peach & dark skin in apricot or even red.

Now that you have the color, choose the right formula for your skin type. Powder is typically best for oily & combo skin. Cream is great for dry skin. Liquid and gel are great for oily skin. For even better results, combine cream & powder together. "It helps my blush stay on longer & looks more luminous," said makeup artist Laura Mercier in O Magazine.

Using a professional full brush will give you the best results. (I like MAC's blush brush No. 116), but don't use the same brush you use for your powder. Annabel, Maybelline, and Quo also offer some less expensive alternatives.

Since you want a healthy flush, it's best to apply blush only to apples of your cheeks. Keep color light & blended. If you're using gel or cream, NYC makeup artist Carlo Geraci (in O Magazine) suggests dabbing it on with your middle finger, then blend with your ring & middle finger. The clean finger will pick up any excess blush.

If you've gone a bit too heavy on the powder blush, a bit of translucent powder over it will calm it down. For cream blush, blot the color off with a tissue. Since gel & liquid blush 'stain' the cheeks, the only way to lighten them is it wash your face, moisturize and reapply your makeup, this time more sparingly.

Finish your look with a sweep of translucent powder.
Blushes to write home about:

MAC Mineralize and Powder Blushes - a wide variety of colors and finishes

Maybelline Mineral Power Illuminator - 100% micro-minerals brighten up your complexion for a year-round, sheer shimmer, healthy glow.

Clinique Blushwear Cream Stick -Convenient touch-on, stay-on, cream-to-powder cheek colour. Glides over the skin with fingertip control. Blends easily. Blush stays see-through while it builds in colour. Transfer- and water-resistant. Colour-true.