Holiday | Beauty and Fashion Tech

Dec 10, 2012

Fun Holiday Gift Guide

December 10, 2012 By Carleenp Leave a Comment

Looking for something fun and easy for gift giving this holiday? I’m in the Chicago area and came up with these ideas for fun holiday gifts that I can find in my area. These are all pretty easy to obtain as well, so there is no need to go searching all over for the perfect present for someone special in your life. Instead, just try one or more of the below options!

Illinois Lottery Holiday Instant Tickets

Scratch off lottery tickets make great gifts, and the Illinois Lottery offers a number of fun cards with holiday themes. Check out the Merry Millionaire, Season’s Winnings, Jingle Bell Doubler, Holiday Cash, and Candy Cane Crossword tickets for easy stocking stuffer gifts. Or, give a bunch of them as a super fun bigger present. Adding a card to the top of a gift wrapped present is a fun touch to any gift as well. My favorite is the Candy Cane Crossword, because it is extra fun to play. You can see all of the Illinois Lottery instant tickets here. They are easy to find a most convenience and grocery stores.

Holiday Nail Polish Sets

Stores are full of holiday nail polish sets right now. These limited edition sets are perfect for any nail polish lover. With multiple colors in hot holiday shades, there are perfect colors for anyone in the set. If you know a lacquer lover, you can trust that she will love any holiday edition nail polish set! Look for them at department stores, specialty makeup stores and big box retailers.

Custom Charm Bracelet

Custom charm bracelets are very popular and a lot of fun. You can have fun putting together a custom bracelet for a friend, family member, or loved one, or take her to the store and let her make her own. This is a great gift since if can be so personalized and involves that special touch of customization. Look for these opportunities at jewelry stores and larger department stores.

Spa Day Packages

Spa packages are excellent gifts and just about any day spa will happily help you set up a package with however many services you wish to give. For those on budget, a simple gift card for a manicure or pedicure is perfect. In the mid-range, massages or facials are perfect. Finally, for big spenders, treat your loved one to a full spa day with multiple services. Send a friend along with her too in order to keep her company! Spa packages are not just for women either. Men love massages too. For extra fun toss a few of those lottery tickets in with the card for the spa!

Brand Statement:

Instant Gifts from the Illinois Lottery are a great way to spread cheer and celebrate the season. Share them all with your friends and family and bring a little Anything's Possible™ to your holiday festivities.

Founded in 1974, the Illinois Lottery has contributed more than $17.5 billion to the state Common School Fund to assist K-12 public schools, as well as the Capital Projects Fund. Play responsibly. Players must be at least 18 years old.

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Illinois Lottery via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Illinois Lottery.

Disclosures: Beauty and Fashion Tech at times reviews products provided by a representative of the company. When we do so, we specifically state so. We also use affiliate links. For more, please see the disclosure page

Filed Under: Holiday Gifts, Holiday Items Tagged With: Holiday

Dec 4, 2012

Great Beauty Stocking Stuffer Ideas

December 4, 2012 By Carleenp 3 Comments

As the holidays approach, many people have begun making their Christmas shopping lists. Aside from the primary gifts that will be wrapped and placed under the tree are the smaller gifts to fill up stockings. If you have girls or women on your list this year, you may want to consider great stocking stuffer ideas with beauty and primping themes.

Makeup

Makeup is usually small and a great choice for sticking in a stocking. Since some makeup has to be chosen by the person themselves, like concealer, opt for the types of makeup that look great on everybody:

• Nail polish in red or a neutral color
• Black mascara
• Eyeshadow in a medium shade of brown
• Bronzer in a subtle shade
• Lipstick in a light coral

Another great option is to get a makeup set. You can find a compact with several different shades of eyeshadow or lip gloss. Get her a collection of eye pencils. If she loves to give herself funky makeup makeovers, colorful mascaras are a great gift idea. Think about her style and choose makeup accordingly.

Bath Items

For the woman who loves lounge in a hot bubble bath to unwind after a long day, there are plenty of spa items to stick in her stocking:

• Bath salts
• Miniature tubes of scented bubble bath
• Candles to put around the bathtub
• Bath fizz bars in cute shapes
• Scented soap

Travel Items

Every girl likes to stock her pocket book with must-have items for when she’s on-the-go. Make her life a little bit easier with these beauty supplies in travel sizes:

• Bobby pins
• Brush with an attached mirror
• Box of Q-tips
• Sample-sized perfume bottles
• Body lotion with SPF
• Toothbrush and toothpaste

Hair Care

What girl doesn’t love to spend time making her hair look perfectly coiffed? Stuff her stocking with these haircare essentials:

• Teasing comb
• Battery-operated, travel-sized hair straightener or curler
• Refreshing dry shampoo spray
• High-quality shine serum
• Expensive shampoo or conditioner

More Ideas

Beauty stocking stuffer ideas don’t stop there. Consider these great, pint-sized beauty gifts to surprise her with on Christmas morning:

• Body glitter
• Eau du parfume towels
• Eyelash curler with extra pads
• Fake eyelashes
• Lip balm in her favorite candy flavors
• Lip scrub
• Makeup bag
• Makeup brushes of different sizes
• Mirror
• Nail designs you can stick on
• Rosewater spray
• Salt scrub for the body
• Scented hand cream
• Tweezers

If there’s a specific brand that she likes, why not fill up her stocking with a selection of products? For example, if your daughter loves Bumble and Bumble haircare products, get her several trial-sized bottles of shampoo, conditioner, leave-in conditioner and other products. If she loves MAC makeup, fill up her stocking with the latest MAC items.

Want to shop online? Try:

Filed Under: Holiday Gifts, Holiday Items, Makeup, Shopping lists Tagged With: Gift, Holiday, Makeup

Dec 3, 2012

M.A.C. Fabulousness Neutral Eye Palette Review

December 3, 2012 By Carleenp 2 Comments

The following is a guest review of the MAC Fabulousness Neutral Eye Palette from the MAC Holiday 2012 Collection.

The first thing that catches the eye about this great collection of neutral shades is the unique mini-handbag appearance of the attractive case that contains the eye shadow. The look is black patent leather coupled with a cool, mint green, cushion-top with four tiny upholstered buttons. There is a fixed bow over the closure of the case, giving it an overall look that would make a great gift, either to a friend or as a treat to oneself.

The special collection of 5 neutral shades of bliss inside can be mixed, matched and layered to create any number of eye shadow fashion looks. This collection of colors is a bit understated, but has jus the right amount of sparkle and pizazz to get someone's attention. The is definitely the collection for the “less is more” crowd.

The Blonde Mink shade is a frosty white flash that adds more light than color. It is the perfect highlight to add on the inside corner of the eye and high underneath the eyebrow. This shade is also great to use as a muting tone to go over darker colors that need to be calmed down a bit.

Magical Mist is alive with flecks of copper dazzle suspended in a medium dark brown shade of eyeshadow. Of the five colors, this is one of the strongest and is the key element to creating the ever-famous smoky eye look. The color is warm, earthy and sensuous.

The darkest shade in the collection is Brun. Not quite black, this ultra-dark brown shade has a matte finish that is a nice contrast to the sparkly qualities of the other colors. This color lends itself to blending and looks great when the colors are softened with a touch of the aforementioned Magical Mist. Brun is a dramatic look that can be dressed up or down, depending on the surrounding color choices.

Eviable is another earthy tone, but in green, that is quite understated and smoky. Eviable looks great with any of the previously mentioned colors and highlights, or can be worn beautifully by itself. Coupled with smaller quantities of Smut, the reddish, medium dark brown shade, it can be part of a dynamic and dramatic look. Smut is recommended more for highlighting than worn alone.

At just under $40, this is a fantastic collection of shades and finishes that can give a versatile selection of looks for either day or evening.

Buy The MAC Fabulousness Neutral Eyes Palette