Beauty Gift Ideas for Christmas | Part Two | Sephora!

Oh it's all about Christmas at Sephora today loves!

In October this year, I was kindly invited to attend the Sephora Holiday Showcase for 2015. Needless to say, it was such a lovely morning, and I had the opportunity to view some of the holiday gifts sets that would be available for Christmas 2015, and to chat to some of the brands founders and representatives. A wonderful opportunity for which I am very grateful.

I'd love to share with you a couple of beauty gift ideas that tickle my fancy from Sephora, so grab yourself a cuppa/wine/eggnog and read on!

Aromatherapy Associates London - The Star
Revive Morning Bath and Shower Oil RRP $22.00 AUD.

So far I have had three baths with this gorgeous Aromatherapy Associates oil, and I'm now trying to save it for special occasions! Every wonderful thing you hear about these beautiful oils is absolutely true. Packaged ready to gift in a beautiful star ornament, I think this would make such a lovely gift!

You can see in the photographs below a couple of the other Aromatherapy Associates Christmas gifts sets that are available... these might just be on my wish list! Imagine opening these on Christmas morning...

Tarte Deluxe Amazonian Butter Lipstick set   RRP $27.00 AUD

This set of four mini lipsticks from Tarte is just beautiful. The Tarte Deluxe Amazonian Butter Lipstick set features a range of shades from neutral to rosey tones, and one deeper berry shade, perfect for the holiday season. The texture of the Butter lipsticks is as you would imagine by the title, smooth and moisturising and they feel just lovely on the lips. A gorgeous affordable gift! 

Stunning Tarte Holiday Gifts Sets!!
Back Left - Tarte Lips for Days Lipsurgence 5 colour set  $46.00 AUD.
Middle - Tarte Light of the Party gift set  $79.00 AUD.

Tarte Bling it On Blush Palette $59.00 AUD 

I have been dreaming about this palette since the Sephora Holiday Showcase event! 

Have you picked up this palette yet? Feel free to enable me! Don't the words "limited edition" strike fear into the beauty lover's heart?!!

Formula X is looking after your nails this Christmas with some gorgeous gift sets!

Formula X The Look CLIX two piece gift sets retail for $13.00 AUD.

Formula X The Happy Hour CLIX four piece sets retail for $22.00 AUD.

Both sets are great value, and are perfect for travel!

However, I have my eye on that stunning rose gold packaging at the back... that my friends is Formula X "Alchemy" and she will most definitely need to find a home at The Beauty Vine HQ! I believe she might be a limited edition for Christmas, and she will set you back $17.00 AUD.

Skincare can be tricky to gift to someone, but these next two brands are absolutely worth considering in my opinion. 

Edible Beauty is fairly new to me, and I had the pleasure of meeting naturopath and nutritionist Anna Mitsios, the founder of Edible Beauty at the Sephora Holiday Showcase. 

"The Edible Beauty Australia product range includes luxurious "edible" toxin-free skin care and therapeutic Beauty Teas made with organic and wildcrafted ingredients...if it's not good enough to eat you will not find it in our products"

Anna smoothed, spritzed and massaged almost every product onto my hands and face that morning, and kindly gifted me a deluxe sample size of the Belle Frais Cleansing Milk to try. I fell in love with it immediately, and have since purchased the full size, a hefty 200ml which retails for $45.00 AUD. The cleanser is lightweight, whisks away makeup with ease, smells beautifully citrusy, and is the most refreshing cream cleanser I have ever tried. Highly recommend.

This set above is the Edible Beauty on the Fly - Core 4 Travel Kit and retails for $73.00 AUD. Now, I have not tried all of the products in this gift set, however judging by my love of the cleanser I have no doubt that they too are just as beautiful. I will certainly be exploring this brand more in the new year, and will keep you updated!

I had the absolute pleasure of bumping into the man himself, Ole Henrikson, during my very first visit to Sephora in February of this year. I took a big deep brave breathe, introduced myself, and had the opportunity to ask him for some recommendations. I was already a huge fan of the Pure Truth Melting Gel Cleanser ( holy grail ) so I decided to purchase, on Ole's recommendation, the Three Little Wonders kit. This is the same kit pictured above, which also contains a complimentary African Red Tea foaming cleanser. 

The Three Little Wonders set retails for $95.00 AUD.

This kit will give you everything you need for both your morning and evening skincare routine. The Truth Serum Collagen Booster is used in the morning after cleansing, and provides the skin with hefty dose of Vitamin C to brighten and protect, along with soothing green tea extract to calm and soothe. Follow this with the Sheer Transformation moisturiser, which is just beautiful. Perfectly lightweight and refreshing, it absorbs immediately and provides a lovely base for your makeup. Those with combo/oily skin will appreciate it's lovely light texture, whilst still providing excellent hydration for the skin. The Invigorating Night Treatment is your evening serum, promoting cell turnover, and assisting in improving skin tone and the minimisation of pores thanks to it's cocktail of glycolic, lactic and citric acids. Even though it is quite active, it is also very gentle, I have not experienced any irritation whatsoever, just a healthy glow. Love Ole... such a lovely man!

On the same day that I purchased the Ole Henrikson skin care, I also purchased this gorgeous IT Cosmetics Je Ne Sais Quoi lip duo. It was in the Isle of Doom... you know that part just before the checkout where you are tempted with little minis and little kits of all these very cute and lovely things that maybe need to come home with you??

I'm happy to report that I have enjoyed them both very much, and was pleased to see that they were included as one of the IT Cosmetics Christmas Gift Sets.

Like the entire IT Cosmetics range, these two lip products are full of fabulous ingredients that provide skin care benefits, plumping and nourishing the lips every time you wear them!

The Je Ne Sais Quoi lipstick and lipgloss are self adjusting, and give a mid-toned pink flush to my lips. Undoubtedly, one of the most comfortable lip products I have used to date. They just feel so good!!!!

The IT Cosmetics Je Ne Sais Quoi gift set will set you back $42.00 AUD.

IT Cosmetics also have another gift set that is one my wish list this Christmas, The Naturally Pretty palette with the Hello Lashes Mascara ( one of my faves ), which also retails for $42.00. It contains 7 beautiful eyeshadow shades, and a mini Hello Lashes Mascara. It looks beautiful, and I am yet to try any of IT Cosmetics eye shadows!

It Cosmetics IT GIRL Christmas Gift Sets RRP $42.00 AUD.

Elizabeth And James Nirvana Black Body Oil... utterly lush.

The Elizabeth And James Nirvana fragrances are loved by many, and for good reason. They are just beautiful!

I like the White, but I LOVE the Black. 

Sephora have some beautiful Elizabeth And James Nirvana gifts for Christmas. 

The cute little ornament gifts below contain a 7ml rollerball, and would make the perfect affordable little gift at only $12.00 each. So gorgeous!!

If you have a little more to spend, go for the Elizabeth And James Nirvana Gift Set. It contains a 30ml Eau de Parfum, Perfume oil, and a mini rollerball, and retails for $75.00 AUD.

Did I mention that I love the Black?... 

Elizabeth And James Nirvana White...

Elizabeth And James Nirvana Black... it's my jam.

An epic display at the Holiday Showcase of all the gorgeous Sephora Christmas Gift sets!!

Spear Brilliant Beauty Box  RRP $64.00 AUD.

Sephora Let it Snow Velvety Body Moituriser  RRP $22.00 AUD.
Sephora Impeccable Bun set  RRP $18.00 AUD.

Two lovely gift options from the Sephora brand, the Let it Snow body moisturiser is beautiful, and smells gorgeous too! It has a slightly sweet, clean and powdery scent and is nourishing without feeling heavy or greasy on the skin... gorgeous.

The Impeccable Bun set is a brilliant idea, and gives you everything you need for a rockin' top knot or killer side bun. The perfect stocking filler!

Sephora Color Around the World Face and Eye Palette Collection  RRP $22.00 AUD.

The Sephora Color Around the World gift set would make a gorgeous gift for either the makeup lover or the makeup newby.

The four gorgeous palettes contain shades for the face and eyes, and take you on a journey around some of the world's major cities and their colour inspirations... Paris, New York, Rome and Rio.

Each palette has sturdy cardboard packing, and contains a mirror, and some instructions for placement of the shades. The packaging is gorgeous, with each palette featuring art work particular to each city and its unmistakable landmarks.

The overall quality of these palettes is excellent. There are a couple of shades that don't have particularly good colour pay-off, but that is in no way a deal breaker in my opinion.

For $22.00 AUD, I think you absolutely need to pick this up!!

Sephora Color Around the World Collection - Paris.

Sephora Color Around the World Collection - Paris.
 Swatches from the bottom - Blush, Pink Macaron, Rooftop, Jazz Club, Perfecto, Pearl.

Paris is your smokey eye palette, I love the shade Jazz Club, a beautiful cool toned taupe, and the blush Pink Macaron is a really pretty peachy pink.

Sephora Color Around the World Collection - New York.

Sephora Color Around the World Collection - New York
Swatches from the bottom - Blush Romantic Date, City Trench, Hot Mocha, Peanut Butter, Trick or Treat.

Love this one. Love. The only slightly disappointing shade in this palette is the blush... it's not terrible, but it is a little dry and powdery, and does not adhere well to the skin ( apologies for that part of the photograph being out of focus! ).

The eyeshadows are gorgeous, my favourites are Hot Mocha and Peanut Butter. 

Sephora Color Around the World Collection - Rome

Sephora Color Around the World Collection - Rome
Swatches from the bottom - Blush Gelato, Panettone, Caffe, Romantico, Tiramisu.

The Rome palette is pretty consistent in terms of pigmentation and colour pay-off. A great warm neutral palette with a very pretty blush. Love.

Sephora Color Around the World Collection - Rio

Sephora Color Around the World collection - Rio

Rio's blush is more of a light glowy bronzer, though it is very smooth and blends nicely. The two light matte eyeshadow shades are good. Aqua, the beautiful blue needs to be built up, and would benefit from a primer underneath it. The gold in this palette Tropical Bird is disappointing. I found it very hard to do a decent swatch because it just kept falling off my skin. It would still look pretty, but you will likely get more glitter than gold on your eyes.

Overall, I think this is an absolutely brilliant, affordable gift set! Apart from a couple of misses, I absolutely love it, and the little palettes are perfect to pop into your makeup bag, or to take on holidays.



So that wraps up Part Two of my Christmas beauty gift ideas loves! I hope you enjoyed it and maybe got some ideas for your family and friends ( and maybe you *wink* ).



Do tell me what is on your Christmas Wish List?




Thanks so much for stopping by!




Blessings,




Lou xx

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TARTE Rainforest After Dark Eye and Cheek Palette | Swatches and Chat!

If you read my post on the Tarte Be Mattenificant palette, you may recall me saying that as soon as I saw photographs of it I knew in my heart that I would simply love it. Well... history has indeed repeated itself, and it would appear that I am now the proud owner of the Tarte Rainforest After Dark Cheek and Eye palette. And oh my... she is a beauty! 

Now being the good girl that I am ( sometimes ) I hadn't laid a muddy finger on this palette until today, for the purposes of pristine photography of course. As such, this post is not a full review, instead just a lot of oooohhing and aahhhhing and swatches, and me telling you that you maybe, possibly, really might need it in your life as well...

So...come and have a look inside...

tarte rainforest after dark coloured clay eye & cheek palette

Gurl...you talk 'bout purdy!!

Swatched in natural light, as the shades appear in the palette 

L-R bare to explore, make a mauve, plum away with me, up to no gold, tan-gled up in you, don't turn a-brown

These shadows are just beautiful...stunning!! Just as creamy and smooth, and silky to touch and swatch as the matte palette that I own. A good mix of matte and shimmer shades, and options for both everyday, and more dramatic eye looks... I can't wait to play with this! Look at that gold! Look at that plum! Look at all of them! *goes and makes a cup of tea to calm down*

Swatched in natural light, as the shades appear in the palette

L-R Champagne (highlight) Park Avenue Princess (bronzer) Unleashed (blush)


The highlight, Champagne has a beautiful pale gold undertone... so pretty! I have always wanted to try Park Avenue Princess...it is beautiful! It is showing up a touch warmer in my photograph than in real life, and though it is matte it has a subtle luminosity...I think it will be gorgeous on the skin! Unleashed is a beautiful pink blush shade with slightly warm undertones...the sort of shade that you can wear with any makeup look. It feels like silk... can't wait to get this on ma cheeks!!


So there you have it lovelies. I apologise for my overuse of the following adjectives; beautiful, silky, creamy and smooth.


I purchased my palette on eBay, from a seller in the US. I believe she only had two of the palettes, and both have sold. I will check again, and let you know if she has any more listed. If you would like the seller's name, leave me a comment below and I will add it to the post as an edit.

You girls in the US are so lucky to have Tarte!! It is really hard for us poor Aussie girls to get a hold of!

So, are you tempted? Have you already purchased this palette? Do leave a comment below and let me know what you think of it!


Thanks so much for stopping by!


Blessings,


Lou xo

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TARTE: CC MATTE be MATTEnificent Palette, Photos, Swatches and Review

As soon as a I saw a picture of this palette, I just knew in my 'makeup heart' that I would love to own one of my own. The lovely Zoe from Zoeblogsbeauty posted a picture of this palette on Instagram, and whilst we were chatting ( and drooling) she let me know about Tarazz, an online site that purchases and ships Tarte (and many other brands), to Australia on your behalf from Sephora. 

And so my journey began...

This is my first experience with Tarte products, after hearing so much about them on You Tube and reading many blogs. It was always one of those unattainable brands, being very difficult to source in Australia. Such difficulties typically result in one wanting something even more!! Am I right?

The CC Matte 'be MATTEnificent' palette from Tarte is also my first all matte eyeshadow palette.

Yes...she is lovely.

I am by no means an eyeshadow officianado, however I have some photos, swatches and thoughts to share with you, and also a little bit about my shopping experience with Tarazz.

An extensive and detailed review of this palette can be found on Temptalia's website, which you can find here

Oh My....stunning packaging

In collaboration with Hollyannaeree, there are two "look" ideas included to follow.
A double ended brush comes with the palette. The shorter flatter shader brush packs colour on nicely, while the small precise blending end is quite stiff, and picks up the perfect amount of colour to slowly build up and blend the crease and defining shades.

Swatched in natural light no primer.

Far Left  'elevated'  blush
Top Row L-R 'sand out from the crow'  'peach for the stars'  'two plums up'
Bottom Row L-R  'pink outside the box'  'rose to the occasion'  'view from the taupe'

Left - 'dream in chocolate' 

Right - 'don't stand black' 

I have been using 'dream in chocolate'  as my go to liner...it is stunning. I push it into my upper lash line with a small, stiff angled brush. It beautifully lines your lashes for more subtle definition. I have put away my liquid liner. Both these shades are soft and creamy, and very nicely pigmented.

The Beauty Vine's Ramble

I can safely say that I have used this palette every day since she arrived. Now this may be partially due to the fact that it is my first all matte palette, and that it is new. Having said that, I find it perfect for an every day natural eye look, which is primarily what I do on the daily.

Packaging

The packaging, apart from being sooooo pretty, is strong, sturdy and luxurious.
 It has a lovely full size mirror, and a nice quality double ended brush included which I have used and enjoy.


Texture

All of the eyeshadows are definitely matte, however in my humble opinion I believe when you apply the blush to the cheeks a tiny little sheen appears.

All shades are beautifully soft, and feel like silk to touch. If you are heavy handed with your brush you will kick up a lot of product. I just gently press my brush into the pan.

With the exception of the two liner shades and 'view from the taupe', they are quite powdery, however the pigment glides over the skin so beautifully. Definitely not one to fluff your brush about in like you're mixing up a batch of pikelets. Just be gentle.


On The Lids

I have tested the shadows both with and without a primer.

Without Primer : I found the colour payoff to be very good on my light/medium skin tone and the shadows lasted about 8 hours without fading or creasing on my oily eyelids.

With Primer :  I am currently using Bare Minerals Prime Time eyeshadow primer, and put these shadows to the test for a ten hour night shift delivering babies. And the end of my shift, close to 12 hours after application I had a tiny bit of creasing in the inner half of my lid...otherwise it still looked beautiful. The addition of primer improved the depth and colour payoff considerably, and would likely be a necessary step for you if you have a deeper skin tone.

I have only used the blush in elevated a couple of times. Tarte blushes have such a lot of hype around them, I was just so excited about owning one! Elevated is a new shade in the range of amazonian clay blushes.
In the swatch above I really had to work to build up the colour. It is a beautiful universal shade, though I was a little over excited building up the colour one day, and found it to look a little muddy on my cheeks. Now this is likely to be user error, but I need to do a little more playing with this one. If you have a medium to deeper skin tone I am not confident that it would be enough for you?


My Current Fav Combo

'sand out from the crowd'  all over the lid up to the brow bone
'rose to the ocassion'  in the crease and blend just above the crease
'dream in chocolate' to line the upper lash line
'pink outside the box' inner corner and brow highlight


Shopping with Tarazz

My shopping experience with Tarazz was very positive. I have nothing negative to say.

Have a browse here

Tarazz markets itself as an online shopping mall, and that is a great way of describing it.

You can shop for women and mens apparel, homewares, luggage, children's toys and of course beauty.
You are purchasing from the actual stores, with Tarazz as your middle man.


From pressing the 'confirm payment' button ( *heart rate rises*) to the palette arriving on my doorstep from the US was 9 days in total. Nice.

I received three emails during that time informing me of each stage of my order. I knew where my order was, and its next destination.

It was well wrapped in bubble wrap and packaged securely, and arrived in perfect condition.

I paid $48.13 AU for the palette, and $15.00 for shipping.
$63.13 in total, which I believe is great value for 8 good sized eyeshadows, and a great sized blush, all wrapped up in a beautiful palette.

This is Limited Edition!!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please feel free to leave a question below in the comments section, or just tell me all of your favourite Tarte products!

Blessings,

Lou xo

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