Holiday Must Haves

Christmas is coming in 19 days, but there’s so much going on in my life right now that I have been a complete Grinch this year and have not been in a festive mood at all. In the last week or so, I’ve been putting in a lot of effort to get myself in the Christmas spirit – we found the time to put up the tree, I started listening  Christmas music this weekend as I got ready to go out…it’s still not working! As another way to make me get in the Christmas mood, I thought I would share my favourites that usually get me through the holiday season, as well as some new purchases I know I’ll be using a lot this Christmas.

Nails:

Photo from http://www.nailpolishcanada.com/products/a-list-by-essie.html

 

Essie Nail Polish in A-List – This is a classic red. I usually don’t go for classic red polishes in a crème formula as it looks a little too intense for me (if that makes any sense??), but I find I always gravitate towards this colour during Christmas

Photo from http://www.butterlondon.ca

 

Butter London Nail Polish in West End Wonderland – I love me some sparkle during the holidays, and I think this is the pure perfect gold sparkle nail polish for the most wonderful time of the year. I’ve worn it both on its own as a layered polish, and I prefer to layer it.

Face:

 

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette: This is a new addition to my makeup collection. I bought it during the Sephora VIB sale, and I know it’s definitely going to be a party of my getting-ready routine for Christmas parties. I’ve always liked an over-the-top shimmer to my cheekbones, so I couldn’t believe how much I loved the subtle glow this gives to my skin. Out of the three, Incandescent Light (in the middle) is my favourite.

Lips:

 

NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella – Many people who have access to Sephora received this as half of their birthday gift the company this year. This is a matte scarlet red, which I can see working beautifully with both fair and darker skin tones. When I wear reds, I usually go for something with a more satin finish, as it doesn’t seem quite as in-your-face, but this matte shade makes me feel like one sophisticated lady! I’ve only worn this shade once out in public, and that was for my Little Red Riding Hood Halloween costume, but I think this colour will be on my lips for all of the Christmas parties this year.

Eyes:

Too Faced A Few of My Favourite Things Palette (L-R): Moon on Their Wings, Snowflake, Soiree, Evergreen, Tinsel

 

I always have a lot of fun playing with eye shadow during the holidays. I find myself gravitating towards shimmery shades even more than usual. One of my favourites is the shade Tinsel from the Too Faced A Few of My Favourite Things palette that was released during Holiday 2013. Tinsel is a very pigmented dirty metallic gold that reminds me of…tinsel. From the same palette, I also love the shades Snowflake (a shimmery metallic white) and Moon on their Wings (a sparkly champagne with gold microglitter). If I feel more adventurous, I’ll try to incorporate Christmas colours like Soiree (a matte burgundy with glitter that usually doesn’t translate onto the lids), or Evergreen (forest green).

Urban Decay Vice Palette (L-R): Blitz, Junkie, Freebird 

Here are another few shades I love using during Christmas – these can be found in the Urban Decay original Vice Palette from Holiday 2012 (yes, I’m old school like that). We have Blitz (a crazy metallic yellow gold), Junkie (dark green with silver microglitter – looks more green than in the photo), and Freebird (champagne pink with silver microglitter)

Body:

 

Cake Decadent Body Lotion in Sugar Cookie – Cake is a Canadian brand that focuses on using natural ingredients, and as the name of the company indicates, its products have mostly confectionery scents. I try to stay away from sugary scents of all types and have therefore tried very little from Cake, but this one is SO Christmassy that I just can’t resist. “Decadent” is right – it smells exactly like a sugar cookie and brings me back to my childhood Christmases. I actually don’t like how thin the formula is as it doesn’t do anything for my dry winter skin, so I layer it over unscented lotion (usually Aveeno).

These are some of my favourites for the Christmas season – what are your favourites to get you through the holidays?