Christmas Gift Ideas For Her!

So Christmas is basically 24 more sleeps away which means if you haven't started your Christmas shopping you had better get your skates on.

Buying gifts for other people can be a traumatic experience. We've all been there, running around the shops, looking for the perfect gift only to find the left over dregs of cheap rubbish still sitting on the shelves. You have to stick to a budget but you want to find something that you know the recipient will like and get some enjoyment out of.

Shopping for friends if often the most fun but also often the most difficult. Sometimes you just want to give a token gift to say Merry Christmas, have a good one and other times you want to spend a little more and make the gift a really special one.

Here I have some gifts that cost under $50 that you can give to the girls in your life, your Sister, Bestie or even your Aunt. You could even give them as a stocking stuffer. I hope these ideas give you some gift buying inspiration.

Philosophy Candy Cane Trio $22 from www.sephora.com or www.skinstore.com A great gift that comes in a cute as a button festive gift box. It contains peppermint scented shower gel, body lotion and lipshine.

O.P.I Best Of The Best Collection $44.95 from www.adorebeauty.com.au This gorgeous set of nail polishes includes ten of O.P.I's best selling shades. You could give this to one person or break them up and give to multiple people.

Kikki-K 2012 Mini Diary $24.95 from www.kikki-k.com I always buy a Kikki-K diary every year. I usually get the big one but this year I decided to get the smaller one mainly because it will be easy to keep in my bag. They are the cutest diaries and contain little slots and pockets to store things and also have cute stickers included.

Glitzy Glam Small Terry Makeup Bag ($10) and Key Chain ($10) with Personalised Initial from www.shopglitzyglam.com Glitzy Glam is an online store owned by You Tube Beauty Guru Sisters Elle and Blair Fowler. I love their store and have purchased many items from them over the past couple of years. Items usually only take around 7-10 days to ship to Australia and the turn around time is super fast and there is something in everybody's price range in the store. I purchased these two items for myself and a few friends. They make such adorable gifts and are really great quality.

L'Occitane Mini Hand Creams $9.95 from www.adorebeauty.com.au These make an awesome little stocking stuffer. They would also make a nice gift for the host of a Christmas Party or even your friends Mum.

Benefit Ticket To Glossy Town Lip Gloss Set $49 from www.adorebeauty.com.au I think any beauty loving girl would love to receive this set of lip glosses for Christmas. This set contains 6 mini sized glosses.

Woodwick Bakery Cupcake Candle $35 from www.candelabra.com.au This candle would be perfect for anyone who loves vanilla gourmand scents. Woodwick are beautiful candles and contain a wick which crackles ever so lightly as the candle burns.

Too Faced Glamour To Go Palette $32.95 from www.kitcosmetics.com.au A gorgeous little palette containing everything you need for a complete makeup look. It includes 8 eye shadows, a lipgloss, blush and bronzer. I get these palettes from Too Faced every year. They are fabulous to travel with.

Smashbox Life Is Your Set Holiday Pencil Kit $39.95 from www.kitcosmetics.com.au This set contains 5 Smashbox Eye Liners in shades of Black, Gold, Espresso, Emerald and Sapphire. It would be great for anyone who enjoys experimenting with makeup.

The Body Shop Candied Ginger Mini Gift Cube $24.95 A gorgeous little Candied Ginger gift containing a shower puff, 50ml body butter and a 60ml shower gel.

Kikki-K Sundae Ipad Case $49.95 from www.kikki-k.com.au - This would make a cute gift for anyone with an ipad.

I hope some of these suggestions will give you some ideas for Christmas gifts for your friends and family.


Note: I am not sponsored by any of the brands or companies listed above. All opinions are my own.

Australia's 1st Glossy Box

Today I received the very 1st Glossy Box. I was really excited to receive this one as I have been checking out the British version for a while and let me just say that the British version is awesome.

So here is what arrived on my doorstep today:

The contents of Australia's very 1st Glossy Box Includes:

Jurlique Age-Defying Ultra Firm & Lift Cream - 5ml Sample Tube.

Bio Oil - A full sized 60ml bottle.

Essie Nail Polish Mini - I got Meet Me At Sunset.

Bobbi Brown Cleansing Oil - 15ml Sample Size.

Mirenesse 3D Forever Gloss - Full sized in LA Nude.

A bag of Pink Jellybeans.

So there you have the contents of the very 1st Aussie Glossy Box revealed.

My First impressions of this box are good. I really liked everything in it and was especially happy to get to try the Bobbi Brown cleansing Oil. I really like Bio Oil and the Mirenesse Lip Gloss looks like a gorgeous colour. I will stick with Glossy Box for a few more months to see what else is on offer.

Note: I am not sponsored by Glossy Box, I purchased my own subscription and all opinions are my own.

NPSET Time To Shine Lip Gloss Set!

Wandering through Target the other day I happened upon this cute as a button mini lip gloss trio by Napolean Perdis's NPSET range. The best part of all was the price tag, priced at just $15 I thought this would make a gorgeous Secret Santa gift or stocking stuffer for any pink loving girls. Naturally I had to get myself a set and I also picked up a few sets for some girlfriends.

I would be stoked to receive these for Christmas as I am sure any pink loving girl would be. They are great for people who perhaps don't have the budget to spend on brands such as M.A.C or perhaps have a limit on how much they can spend on things such as Secret Santa. As far as I know this pack is the only pack available. There are no other packs with alternative colours. I wish there had of been, I would have gone off!

The glosses are really pigmented and not at all sticky. I think $15 for a pack of three different shades of glosses is very reasonable.


Note: I am not sponsored by Napolean Perdis or NPSET. All products were purchased by me and all opinions are my own.

M.A.C Dazzlesphere Haul

I have been very well behaved so far this season. I normally sweat on M.A.C's Holiday Collections like an alcoholic waiting for the nearest pub to open in the morning!

In the past five years I have just about purchased every single thing from the M.A.C Holiday collections. Of course I didn't really need any of it but since it was there staring me in the face and I was able to purchase it for less than half the price in America as opposed to here in Australia through Hopshopgo I thought I may as well go ahead and get it.

This year has been different. I have realised that I have so much makeup that I have hardly or never used that I have decided to curb my spending. I am finding it hard to justify spending a huge amount of money on makeup when there are people dying from famine overseas and people living in poverty here in Australia.

So for the M.A.C Holiday 2011 I have purchased two things. One of them is for me and the other is for my giveaway which you all need to enter if you haven't done so.

I really liked the look of the Dazzlesphere Ornaments. Priced at $65 from M.A.C Counters and www.maccosmetics.com.au

Being a pinkaholic of course I had to get myself the Pink Ornament and I thought the safe option was to get the Neutral Dazzlesphere to giveaway to a subscriber.

(Pictured Above Left to right- Dazzleglasses in Rags To Riches and Like Venus and Cremesheen Glasses in Fashion Scoop and Petite Indulgence).

This Pink Dazzlesphere is my dream set of lip glosses. By now you would all know that I am obsessed with pink makeup products but usually when I buy things like glosses in sets there's always one shade that I don't like or wouldn't wear, this is not the case with this set. I love every single colour. I like to get a bit of sparkle on my lips over the festive season and I really enjoy M.A.C Dazzleglasses and I am obsessed with Cremesheen's. I think this would make an awesome gift for someone. It is so pretty and I can tell you with no uncertainty that I will not regret this purchase.

I am not going to undo the Neutral Dazzlesphere because I want it to be lovely and new for the winner of my giveaway. However it includes two Dazzleglasses and two Cremesheen Glasses in Boy Bait, Bare Necessity, Over Indulgence and Get Rich Quick.


Note: I am not sponsored by M.A.C Cosmetics. All products were purchased by me and all opinions are my own.

Christmas Giveaway!

I am really excited to do this giveaway for Christmas. One lucky subscriber will be taking home an Urban Decay Naked Palette, Too Faced Naked Palette and finally a M.A.C Dazzlesphere Neutral Ornament containing 2 M.A.C Dazzleglasses and 2 M.A.C Cremesheen Glasses in various neutral shades.

If these are not your thing, you could always give them away for Christmas or Birthday gifts.

The Rules:

1. The competition is opened from today November 25 2011 until Thursday December 9th 2011 at 5pm Hobart Time.

2. You Must be a subscriber to The Pink Powderpuff.

3. Competition is opened for Australian and International Subscribers.

4. The winner will be selected randomly by www.Randomorg.com

5. The Pink Powderpuff will not enter into any correspondence once the winner is selected. The Pink Powderpuff's decision is final.

6. To win the three items all you have to do is comment below saying why you want to win.

Good Luck!

MeMeMe Cosmetics Haul

Here's a few things I have picked up for myself over the last few weeks. I have been doing quite a lot of shopping recently but because a lot of my purchases are for Christmas gifts I can't post them here.

I hope you enjoy this haul and perhaps get some inspiration for your own Christmas shopping or wishlist.

1. MeMeMe Cosmetics Pink Best Seller Bundle - I hadn't even heard of MeMeMe cosmetics until my friend Glossy (www.beautifullyglossy.blogspot.com) reviewed one of their products on her Blog. I decided I needed to investigate the brand further. Upon browsing their website (www.mememecosmetics.com.au) I couldn't believe how similar their products were to Benefit products but for just a fraction of the price of Benefit. Being a big Benefit fan I was concerned about the quality of MeMeMe products but decided to go ahead and make an order anyway to see for myself.

I decided to purchase the Pink Best Seller Bundle for $39.95 and their Beat The Blues Skin Illuminator in Sunbeam for $13.95.

My order from MeMeMe was dispatched the very next day after I placed it and reached me in just four days. Best of all with all purchases over $40 postage is free.

Now to my thoughts on the actual products. The Pink Best Seller Bundle contained a Light Me Up Lip Gloss in the shade Illuminate, Blush Me Pink Blush and a Nail Polish in shade 78 Ambitious. I also purchased the Skin Illuminator in Beat The Blues Sunbeam.

The Light Me Up Lip Gloss in Illuminate is a beautiful shimmering baby pink shade. It is the perfect dupe for M.A.C's Dazzleglass in Baby Sparks. It has a minty flavour and comes with a handy mirror on the side. When removing the doe foot wand from the gloss two lights come on making the gloss packaging literally light up. I think Modelco may have made gloss with a similar concept in the past. The best thing about the gloss to me is that is is not at all sticky. I think the gloss is gorgeous and I will get a lot of use out of it.

Blush Me Blush in Pink is absolutely gorgeous. It is actually a lot brighter than it appears in the pictures. It reminds me a lot of M.A.C's Pink Swoon. The MeMeMe blush in Pink does have a small amount of shimmer in it. The blush packaging is identical to the packaging of Benefit's Powder Boxes. It even has the same little plastic insert and a very similar brush as the Benefit powders do. One difference with the MeMeMe boxes is that there is a mirror in the lids of the boxes which is a genius idea. The Blush itself is highly pigmented and blends beautifully. I am so impressed with the quality of the product. The Blush Me Blushers come in Bronze, Coral, Pink and Rouge and are a steal at just $21.95 here in Australia as opposed to the Benefit Box Of Powders Priced at $51. Alternatively you can purchase the bundles for $39.95.

The Long Lasting Gloss Nail Polish in Shade 78 Ambitious is a very pale pink. Only one coat of this polish will give you a glossy opaque finish. I have only had it on for 24 hours but so far there is no chipping.

Beat The Blues Skin Illuminator in Sunbeam is a perfect dupe for Benefit's High Beam. It is a beautiful pale pink colour which has a cool silvery tone to it. It is perfect for highlighting or mixing with foundation for a dewy luminous finish. Priced at $13.95 it represents excellent value for money. I absolutely love this product and have decided to order the other cheek and lip tints and the other Skin Illuminator shade available in Moonbeam.

I think the Best Seller Bundles would make a beautiful Christmas or Birthday gift idea for any makeup junkies in your life. They come beautifully packaged in a box and there are four colour variations to choose from. The quality of the products is great and the value for money is excellent. Where else are you going to find 3 great quality makeup products for under $40. Alternatively you can purchase individual products which would also make great gifts. MeMeMe also include a gorgeous little packet of lollies, with their company name on them, tied with a black bow in each order. I would be stoked to find anything from MeMeMe under my tree this Christmas.

Note: I am not sponsored by MeMeMe Cosmetics. All products were purchased by me and all opinions are my own.

Update

Hi Guys,
Firstly I would like to apologise for my absence. The past week has been a little hectic with myself not being well and then having a sick puppy (Molly) to care for. Sometimes life gets in the way!

I haven't done a whole bunch of hauling for myself although I am well into my Christmas Shopping now (Thank God)! I am usually one of those people who is still running on Christmas Eve looking for something for someone. This year I am determined to be organised!

So for those of you who do celebrate Christmas who is organised for Christmas 2011?

Tomorrow I will have a haul for you and there are lot of exciting things coming up here on The Pink Powderpuff so stay tuned!

Mor Hand Cream Winner!

Congratulations to the lovely The Bellelumiere who has won the Mor Hand Cream Giveaway!

A Candied Vanilla Almond Hand Cream is coming your way. Please e-mail your address to banjoandmolly@hotmail.com so I can send it off to you.

When Only A Pink M.A.C Lipstick Will Do!

How many pink M.A.C Lipstick does a girl need? A lot evidently. Don't even get me started on how many pink lipsticks I actually have from different brands. It's quite disgusting actually.

So for your light entertainment here is a picture of my M.A.C Pink Lipstick collection.

Note: I am not sponsored by M.A.C Cosmetics. All products were purchased by me and all opinions are my own.

November Lust Have It Box

Today I FINALLY received my November Lust Have It Box. I know most people received theirs more than a week ago. Most of you have probably seen the contents already but for the benefit of my International Subscribers I will post what was in the box anyway.

The Contents of November Lust Have It box includes:

1. Nude By Nature Lip Liner in Chique - This is a full sized product.

2. 3 x ROC Complete Lift New Technology Daily Moisturiser sample tubes.

3. 2 x Lancome Tresor Midnight Rose perfume sample vials.

4. Hawley International Miracle Shine 2 Step Miracle Nail Shiner.

5. 5 x Kerastase Nectar Thermique Sample Sachets.

I haven't tried any of these products in this box before. I am already in love with the Lancome Tresor Midnight Rose perfume so that is going straight on my wishlist for Christmas. The Nude By Nature Lip Liner is a great shade that I can see myself using a lot. The Nail Shiner is something that never goes astray and is handy to keep in my bag. I am excited to try the ROC moisturiser and Kerastase Nectar Therique.

To subscribe to Lust Have It visit www.lusthaveit.com.au

Note: I am not sponsored by Lust Have It. I purchased my subscription and all opinions are my own>

The 1st I Love This Box

Today I received the very first edition of I Love This Box. Guess What? I actually loved this box! I will definitely be staying subscribed to this one for the time being. As my regular readers will know I am currently subscribed to all 4 monthly sample boxes available in Australia. I must say I am thinking that so far I Love This Box is my favourite sample box that I have received. Perhaps I can do a box off in a couple of months and advise you all which box I think is worth subscribing to (comment below if you would like to see this).

So without further ado here is the unveiling of the very 1st I Love This Box.

The contents of the very first I Love This Box included:

Caudalie Paris - 2 x 3ml and 1 x 2ml Sample Tubes of Moisturiser, Anti-wrinkle Serum and an Anti-Wrinkle Ultra Nourishing Cream.

Certified Organic by Nature, NVEY ECO's Eye Shadow in Taupe - A great neutral brown shade. This is a full sized product valued at $29!

Essie French Affair's Spring 2011 Nail Polish Mini in Topless and Barefoot. The perfect creamy nude colour.

Keratinology By Sunsilk Shampoo and Conditioner. Premium products designed to protect the investment women make in salon treatments such as bleaching, colouring and ironing. These products are valued at $10.99 to $13.99 each and are the full size 200ml products.

POD Liquid Tan Gradual Tanning Face Serum - This is a full sized product valued at $40.

First Impressions - I am extremely impressed with the first addition of I Love This Box. It was certainly worth the $15 investment as I have received at least $100 worth of goods. I am so excited to receive the next December Box. If it's anywhere as good as the first one I will be subscribing for a year!

If there is anything anyone would like a more in depth review of in the November I Love This Box please just leave a message in the comments below.

You can subscribe to I Love This Box at www.ilovethisbox.com.au

Note: I am not sponsored by I Love This Box. I purchased my subscription myself and all opinions are my own.

Urban Decay Naked Palette V's Too Faced Naked Eye Palette

As promised here is the much anticipated review and comparison between the Urban Decay Naked Palette and the Too Faced Naked Eye Palette.

I have had the Urban Decay Naked Palette for some time. I was so keen to get my hands on it because I am such a fan of the neutral colour spectrum. I thought this palette containing twelve shades would be my perfect go to palette for everyday use. I have loved this palette so much that I ordered a second one to have as a backup.

The Urban Decay Naked palette has been enormously successful. It was sold out for months on end at places like Sephora and Ulta in the United States. Finding a Naked palette was as rare as hen's teeth. Thankfully now they are a lot easier to get your hands on.

The first batch of Urban Decay Naked Palettes came with a mini 24/7 eye liner (another cult Urban Decay product) and a tiny sample sized Primer Potion. However there was some kind of difficulty supplying the mini 24/7 liners so these days the Naked Palette comes with a sample sized primer potion and a surprisingly good quality eye shadow brush instead.

One of the best features of the Urban Decay Naked Palette is that it has 12 shades of neutral eye shadows in the one easily transportable palette. There are colours to use on the lid, crease, highlight and also as a liner.

Urban Decay shadows are notoriously beautiful. They blend like a dream and look phenomenal on the lids. However the one fault I have found with the Urban Decay Naked Palette is there can be quite a bit of fallout from the shimmery shadows in particular. This is extremely annoying, messy and time consuming to clean up. I can't do my eye makeup first prior to foundation etc as Makeup Artists such as Napolean Perdis recommend. It just doesn't feel right to me and after having tried it out a few times I ended up with a huge mess anyway.

Since the huge success of Urban Decay's Naked Palette many other companies have followed suit and came out with neutral palettes. I love Too Faced products so naturally decided to try out their Naked Eye Palette to see how it compared to the cult favourite Urban Decay Palette.

The Too Faced Naked Eye Palette contains nine neutral shades. Three shades are much larger than the other six. It comes with a relatively poor quality applicator in a little slide out drawer in the palette. A cool feature of this palette is that it comes with three different instruction cards which teach you which shades to use to achieve particular looks. The quality of the Too Faced Naked Eye Palette eye shadows are incredible. They are the softest textured, most easily blendable shadows I have ever used. They are so easy to apply and there is no fallout whatsoever upon applying them. I could happily use this palette for the rest of my life and nothing else. I am obsessed with it at the moment.

When comparing the Urban Decay Naked Palette to the Too Faced Naked Eye Palette there are some obvious differences. The Urban Decay Naked Palette is priced at around $50 and the Too Faced Naked Eye Palette is priced at around $35. The next difference is that the Urban Decay Naked Palette contains twelve neutral colours and the Too Faced Palette contains nine. Both sets contain colours that can be used on the lid, crease, highlight and as a liner.

If I had the choice of only one Naked Palette I would go for the Too Faced Palette hands down every single time. The reason being that it is less expensive but in my opinion the shadows are much easier to work with. There is no fallout and the Too Faced shadows are easier to apply. This is not to take anything away from the Urban Decay Naked Palette. It is beautiful and obviously has a huge following. The shadows are great quality but there is a bit of fallout from the shimmering colours. I am so blown away from every single shadow in the Too Faced palette. I seriously adore every single one. There are a few in the Urban Decay Palette that I could do without. I think the reason the Urban Decay Palette is so successful is because it has been endlessly promoted and advertised on places such as You Tube. The Too Faced Palette hasn't had as much exposure.

I hope you enjoyed my review on these two amazing eye shadow palettes. If there is anything at all you wish to know more about just pop a comment below.



Note: I am not sponsored by Urban Decay or Too Faced. These products were purchased by me and all opinions are exclusively my own.

Win a Mor Hand Cream

How would you like to win a Mor Emporium Black or White Hand Cream in a scent of your choice?

These hand creams are absolutely gorgeous. They absorb so quickly and leave hands feeling soft and hydrated.

Best of all these hand creams are not tested on animals and are free of parabens, mineral oil and synthetic dyes.

The scents you can choose from include:

Belladonna - White Narcissus, Moroccan Rose, Pink Tulips, Meyer Lemon, French Cassis, Sandalwood and Musk.

Cucumber and Casaba - Fresh Cut Melon, Green Nuances, White Jasmine, Murguet, Rose Petals, Beige Woods and White Musk.

Indian Pomelo -Pink Grapefruit, Red Current, Raspberry, Caramelised Sugar and Vanilla.

Feijoa Lime - Candied Citrus, Pear Blossom, Apple Leaf and Vanilla.

Royal Mulberry - Citrus, Black Current, Peony and Raspberry.

White Hydrangea - Juicy Melon, White Flowers and Musk.

Tonka Bean Musk - Bergamot, Jasmine, Lily Of The Valley, Tonka Bean and Musk.

Candied Vanilla Almond - Candied Almonds, Sugar Blossoms and Vanilla.

Italian Blood Orange - Italian Blood Oranges, Jasmine, Roses and Lily Of The Valley.

Lychee Flower - Lychee Flowers, Ripe Berries, Soft Powdery Florals and Green Forest Woods.

Snow Gardenia - Gardenia, Juniper Berry, Angelica, Ylang Ylang, Vanilla and Sandalwood.

Black Cherry Plum - Cherries, Plum Red Currant, Tangerine Zest and Blonde Woods.

My personal favourite from the range is Candied Vanilla Almond. It is seriously to die for! You can also use these hand creams as body lotions. If hand cream is not your thing you could always give it away to someone for a Christmas or Birthday gift.

Competition Rules:

1. You must be a subscriber to my blog.
2. Leave a comment below saying which hand cream you would like to win.
3. Competition is open from November 10th 2011 until 7pm Hobart Time 18th November 2011.
4. Competition is open to both Australian and International Subscribers.
5. Winner will be chosen by random selection and The Pink Powderpuff's decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into.


Good luck and feel free to spread the word!

Note: I am not sponsored by Mor. Prizes are purchased by me and all opinions are entirely my own.

Dear Santa - Christmas Wishlist!

Dear Santa,
I have been a very good girl this year and because of this I know you will be wanting to stop by my house on Christmas Eve this year. Just in case you are struggling for ideas on what to bring a good girl (aka me) for Christmas here are some ideas.

1. The Body Shop Waterproof Camomile Eye Makeup Remover $16.95

(Image Courtesy of www.thebodyshop.com.au)

2. The Body Shop's Brush On Radiance $38.95

(Image Courtesy of www.thebodyshop.com.au)

3. The Body Shop Earth Lovers Pear & Lemongrass Shower Gel $14.95 - One of my favourite Shower Gels.

(Image Courtesy of www.thebodyshop.com.au)

4. Woodwick Santa's Cookies Scented Candle $34.95

(Image Courtesy of www.candelabra.com.au)

5. Lush Angel's Delight Soap $6.90 per 100g

(Image Courtesy of www.lush.com.au)

6. Jo Malone Rose Water and Vanilla Cologne $230

(Image Courtesy of www.jomalone.com.au)

7. Mor Candied Vanilla Hand Cream $24.95

(Image Courtesy of www.morcosmetics.com)

8. Benefit They're Real Mascara $38

(Image Courtesy of www.adorebeauty.com.au)

9. Tarte The Starlet Limited Edition Makeup Vanity $52

(Image Courtesy of www.Sephora.com)

10. Philosophy Sweet Kisses & Merry Wishes $36

(Image Courtesy of www.sephora.com)

I hope that helps Santa. Remember I have been a very good girl this year! I will leave you out some beer, biscuits and a carrots for the Reindeer's on Christmas Eve

Love

Your Very Good Girl

Kxo