Friday, December 18, 2015

My Black Friday Haul and some random little gift-y kinck-knacks :-)

I have a very fun blogpost today! I did a lot of shopping during Black Friday, Cyber Monday and few other sales around that time. I am totally addicted to value sets and this time of the year is particularly exciting. :-) :-) There are adorable and beautifully packaged gift sets everywhere! I had to blog about the ones that I picked up! I know for sure that these are going to be perfect stocking stuffers or awesome little gifts!

All of these cost me equal or less than 25$, individually. As of now, a few of these are going to cost you more as the sales are over. I am also aware that few of them are not available anymore but I still hope this post will be helpful. Also please keep in mind that the availability of these products are as of 12.18 only. So, here we go!


Makeup Sets
I have to start with some makeup products :-) I am including these three only but I got a few other ones that cost me more than $25. By the way, these first two sets I bought in full price way around August-September and I have been using them a lot. Obviously, I highly recommend them.
Bite Beauty Best Bite Rewind (Detailed review here): It comes with 4 deluxe size matte crème lip crayons in a charming red tin boxI have been constantly wearing these since I got them :-) Absolutely love the versatile color range; it suits a wide array of skin tones. And when it comes to formula and performance, Bite Beauty has never disappointed me. If you know of a certain lipstick lover in your life, this is the perfect little gift! 

Price Availability: 25$, available on Canada Sephora, might be available in a few stores (the ones near me still have them)

Too Faced Most Loved Set (Detail review here): I have been really enjoying this set. It comes with deluxe sizes of Hangover Replenishing Face Primer, Shadow Insurance Eye Shadow PrimerChocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer, Melted Long Wear Lipstick in Melted Fig and Better than Sex Mascara. This is a affordable set that has comprehensive products all in universal shade that everyone can use in some way. The lipstick is a very favorite of mine and I have using the bronzer a lot.

Price Availability: 25$, available on Sephora. 
SEPHORA COLLECTION Wishes Come True Eye and Face Makeup Palette: This is a very adorable little palette. I am saving this for one of my cousins as an introductory palette to practice, when go home for vacation next. I have not tried it myself but I swatched it at the store and it felt awesome. The colors in this look very promising.
Price Availability: $15 (I got it at $12). Available on Sephora and check similar palette here.


Hand Cream Set

I love them. I think they are some necessary luxury. And as a gift, you cannot go wrong with hand creams. It is quite hassle-free one-fits-all type of product.  Male, Female, Young or Aged everyone can use hand creams. There are a quite a few holiday value sets this year. You can separate them and build your own gift set by combining them with something else Or just use them as stocking stuffer. Here are the few that I found. To be quite honest, I am yet to try them myself. But I know they will be really good. :-)

Ahava Precious Mineral Crystals Hand & Body Ornament: Currently showing a price of $8.40 but I bought it at $12. Still available on Ulta.

OPI Planet Smooth Mini Avojuice Hand & Body Lotion: I bought because it was so adorable and the sizes are perfect to keep in my handbag! I bought it in Ulta but it is not available anymore, but I found it in amazon. Price: 9.95 $.

Tocca Crema Veloce Collection: My sister had tried these before and she loves it. I am excited to try this out. This particular set is currently out of stock in Sephora but they have a bigger set here. Also, check similar set here and here. Price 16$.


Skincare Sets
Skincare can get tricky! It is more personal thing, so I only prefer to get them as gifts only when I know the recipient’s skin situation. But these brands are very familiar to me and I know that they will have fun trying these.
Origins Task Masters: I love Origins. Everything that I have tried has impressed me. I use the charcoal mask at least once a week. This set is definitely a great way to introduce someone to the wonderful world of Origins Masks.  I bought it for myself for when I am travelling.
Origins Superstar Minis: Yes, I love Origins. And I have used all of these products before so it only makes sense if I have a travel size of each. I would highly suggest to suggest to keep this for yourself, for all all your travelling needs :-)
Price Availability: $35 (I got it at 25$ during Black Friday), available on Macy’s.
Jack Black Comfort & Joy Duo: This is for all the men in your life. I have given value sets from this brand to my father, my friends and my cousins. They have a plenty of different set and all are excellent.
Price Availability: $10, not available anymore but check out similar set on Sephora and Ulta.


Bath & Body Gift Sets
For gifting purpose, personally I favor these sets over skincare products. I have a lot of friends who are not beauty savvy and they would not really venture into exploring different bath products. But, I strongly believe that in today’s stress ridden life, simple pleasures like a long- pampering bath session once in a while is very important. It is, for me at least! So, whenever I get a chance I tend to try these sets myself and if I like the products I get similar sets for later to use as gifts!
L'Occitane Shea Butter Festive Ornament: It comes with Ultra Rich Lotion, Shower Cream, Extra Gentle Soap and their Dry Skin Hand Cream, all in tiny adorable sizes wrapped in a gorgeous golden packing sheet. I have been using this hand cream for a while and I love it. I am really excited to try the other products here. It will be a tiny gift, but it is very delightful and very beautifully packaged.
Price Availability: $14. Not available in Sephora, but available on Loccitane website.
Ahava Starter Kit: I bought it at 14$ during Black Friday but it is now priced at $20. It includes Mineral Botanic Cream Wash, Mineral Hand Cream, Essential Day Moisturizer and Purifying Mud Mask. I have given similar sets to my friends and they tend to like them, but I will surely report back when I try them. 
Price Availability: $20, available in Ulta
Philosophy Online Only Amazing Grace Set: It comes with shower gel, whipped body crème and a rollerball; all in Amazing Grace fragrance and all are quite hefty size. It cost me just $22 bucks during one of Ulta’s pre Black Friday sale. I bought 3 sets, 1 for me and rest for two of my girlfriends. This definitely makes a very good gift. 
Price Availability: Not known for this size. Check similar but bigger set here.
Bliss Lemony Trinkets: This comes in a cute little festive package with a shower gel and body butter. I got 2 of this and they are going to be mix-and-match gift. I have had great luck with Bliss products that I have tried till date. :-)
Price Availability$10, check similar set on Bliss.


Deluxe Perfume Sets
Without any doubt, these are my favorite type of holiday set. Look, how adorable these are! And I love anything miniature size! They are nice substantial gift for when you are looking for a simple gift or if you are on a pinch but still want to gift something luxurious. I personally will always want quality over quantity, so this will be perfect to gift me :-)! Unfortunately, a lot of these are not currently available. But you can definitely get similar set in a lot of stores!
Macy’s 6-Piece Perfume Sampler: I think this was the best beauty deal I got during these sales. This as a set is definitely wonderful as one gift or you can break them up and put it into different friend’s gifts. These are very niche brnads for perfumes plus these bottles are so pretty/adorable.
Price Availability: $50 (I got it at $15), available in Macy’s.
TokyoMilk Dark Femme Fatale Duo, CLEAN Rollerball Layering Trio and Tocca Beauty Piccolo Tresoro Giulietta-- all these sets were $10 Black Friday deals on Sephora. They are not available anymore, but Sephora has some really cute mini set for luxury perfume brands (check here), I gave the Tory Burch min duo set (which is also sold out now) to one of my friends and she loves it.
Bvlgari Eau Parfumée White Tea Gift Set: This is a tiny little delightful set. The items are not big in size, but it is packaged very beautifully. I usually prefer to bundle up 2-3 small gifts like this; instead of a large gift because I think this way the recipient has a better chance of liking something :-)
Price Availability: $20 (I got it at $10), Not available anymore.
PHILOSOPHY Amazing Grace Spray Fragrance Mini: Mini bottles, rollerball or travel sizes of perfumes make excellent gift. I happen to have this one only to photograph. :-)
Price Availability: $18, Available on Ulta, Sephora.


Random Gift-y Knick-Knacks
Before I started blogging about beauty products, my go-to gift item was jwellery. Every girl loves them; the trick is to figure out if the she likes statement pieces or dainty ones. The ones, shown here are bought from Baublebar.com. All of these were $15 or less, individually.
Also, candles make wonderful gifts. They look so pretty and sophisticated. The Volupsa ones I got from Nordstrom a few months back. They are not the best-performing candles but they are so luxe!
One new thing that has been so interesting to me are the tiny little accessory tray or jwellery holders. I would love to get these gifts :-) The flower tray is from Umbra.com and the box is from Target. 


Hope, everyone had wonderful time shopping for the holidays and I sincerely hope this was of some use to you! Let me know what you picked up :-) :-)
Love,

~Arrru

No comments: