Holiday 2014 Sephora Favorite "Makeup Must-Haves Beauty Essentials" Kit: Quick Review and swatches!!!

Holidays are here, finally! :-) Given that I came back from vacationing in India not that long ago, I don't feel like "Holiday"; yet! But I am going for a short trip soon, so I am slowly getting into the holiday groove. This is the time of the year when beauty-market is filled with holiday edition products from all the different cosmetics brands. I am usually good at holding back temptations but at imes a good deal is just too hard to pass on!

Makeup Must-Haves Beauty Essentials Sephora Favorite kit exclusive to Sephora inside JC Penny was such a deal for me :-) These "Sephora Favorite" kits are made of their best-selling products. I have successfully tried a few kits. Sometimes all the products in the kit may not suit you or may not be 100% useful or even worth the money; but they give you a GREAT chance to test out different products at a much better price and size.

Among all the irresistible kits that were displayed at the store,  this one stood out the most because 4 out of 6 products are Full-Size at a total price of $39. All the items are interesting and luckily are not presently in my collection. The total value of this is $122. The geeky, nerdy girl in me was very excited to do the calculation and break it down for you.

Product	Full-Size Amount	Full-Size Price	Amount in Kit	Value
Bite Beauty Lipstick	0.15 oz.	$24	2g/0.07 oz.	$11.2
They are real Mascara	0.3 oz.	$23	1.42 g/0.05 oz.	$3.83
Smashbox BB Cream	1 oz.	$39	1 oz. (Full-Size)	$39
Urban Decay Eyeshadow	0.05 oz.	$18	1.5g/0.05 oz. (Full-Size)	$18
NARS Blush	0.15 oz.	$30	4.8 g/0.05 oz. (Full-Size)	$30
Stilla Eyeliner	0.016 oz.	$20	0.5 ml/0.016 oz. (Full-Size)	$20

Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick (in "Palomino"): It is one of my favorite brands, so I am going to start with it. Their rouge lipsticks are very moisturizing, extremely pigmented and have super impressive staying power. The color range they have is also very wide. I loved "Palomino" - it's a bright bold deep-pink color. I did have this shade in another Mini Double Ended Lipstick but I know I am going get use out of this. The packaging is pretty and sturdy! And how cute and adorable is this tiny bullet anyway :-)

Benefit Cosmetics "They Are Real Mascara": This is such a popular product. It performed just "ok" for me though. The bristles are of stiff plastic which is not really my cup of tea. Staying power was good! The consistency is also ok! But I am NOT really "wow"ed by it. It did not give me the "They are real" effect that I was hoping for!

Smashbox BB Cream (in "Light"): I have heard good things about this and I liked using it. The consistency was good and easy to apply with my beauty blender type makeup sponge. It lasted the entire time without any oxidization! However, the shade is a little light for me so I need to mix  it with my other darker bases. But other than that it was a good first experience.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow (in "Sin"): Other than the Naked Palettes, UD products in general was never exciting-enough for me. But after I received a few free samples like their lipsticks, setting spray, I have started to view the brand in a whole new light! "Sin" is a very popular shade in Urban Decay's arsenal. An absolutely gorgoreous color! It is a shimmery champaigne color with a light pink undertone. Swipe accross and there you have stunning shining lid; appropriate for work or for daytime. It can also be used as a inner corner and cheek highlighter too. I used it with UD Primer Potion and it lasted 7-8 hrs before fading! Not a bad performance for the first use!

NARS Blush (in "Orgasm"): Whoo!! Controversial name but the whole beauty world is filled with stellar reviews for this product in this particular shade. I never understood the hype and love for this product, especially after I swatched it in the store (on my hand though!). It always appeared to have so much glitter in it; I was scared to even imagine how it will look on the cheeks. But after I gave it a try today, I have changed my opinion. I am really liking the glowing effect it has been giving me. "Orgasm" is a beautiful peach color with an orange undertone and whole lot of micro glitter. Holidays demand glitters, right!!?

Stilla Stay All Day Waterproof Eyeliner (in "Black"): I have been wanting to try this product for forever and now that I have tried I think it is worth the hype. And when they say waterproof they mean "WATERPROOF"! It's kind of a permanent marker for your eyes until you apply a waterproof makeup remover. I tried using water to remove the hand-swatch after 4-5 hrs of use and it did not budge. It is a pen-type liquid eyeliner with a decent length tip (just like my beloved Lakme Eyeliner). The finish is semi-glossy! Overall, first impression has been great! I love when this type of poplar product performs exactly the way I expect it to.

Oh, I forgot to talk about the make up bag. I love collecting these. They are especially handy for gifting purpose when I go home (to India) for vacation. This is a decent size bag in a bautiful matallic bronze color. If you dont carry a pile of makeup with you while travelling, this would be prefect; it is also nice to put into in your handbag for daily use. 

As you can already tell, I have been pretty happy to realize that I made a good investment in this kit. I also love that all the products make this a very comprehensive kit. Apart from the lower lashline and the bronzer, everything I used in this look is from this kit. You really can achieve an elegant look just by using this set. My nearest Sephora inside JC penny still have a plenty of this left. I really think it will be a very useful gift for someone who is just starting with makeup :-)

Happy holidays, folks!

Love,

~Arrru