Tag Archives: Holiday

Beautycounter Makes Palettes Now (& I’m Giving One Away)

beautycounter holiday

How are you?

After a week where my emotions ranged from full of hope and pride to rage and sadness fueled by uncertainty and fear, I’m tired. There’s a lot to feelings to unpack in all of that and I know this is a shared state by so so many. Whether we’re ready or not, there’s a future unfolding. It’s been near impossible to shift my attention from the world to my own world, I admit.  Next week, I’ll be eating Thanksgiving dinner with people I love. Next week!  I need to be in my world for a bit in order to make sense of anything. Everything. When I was walking Betty yesterday, I also noticed that my neighbor already had a Christmas tree up. Sometimes you’ve also got to accelerate the magic of the holidays. Whatever you need in your world, you do you.

beautycounter lip gloss

The holidays are definitely on my mind. Not in the ‘put up the tree’ way just yet, but in an ‘oogle all the new beauty’ way. It’s what I do. I’m excited today to share something pretty awesome with you — especially with one of you. I’m giving away one of Beautycounter’s holiday face palettes!  I got a peek at all of the beautiful holiday beauty gifts launching from the #betterbeauty brand of the moment and zeroed right in on their palettes. It’s a first for Beautycounter and they’re pretty much all I’ve been using lately.

beautycounter winter warmth palette

beautycounter winter dream palette

There are two: Winter Dream and Winter Warmth. While Winter Dream pulls slightly more cool with icy lavender and navy shadows and Winter Warmth leans more bronze, both appeal to my neutral-loving, owner of every Urban Decay Naked palette, side.

beautycounter holiday palettes

beautycounter holiday 2016 look

Both have six eyeshadows and three cheek colors. The colors are sheer so you can build up but impossible to overdo it with a swipe. The first three shadows in Winter Warmth  – Bronze, Malt and Goldleaf – are the ones I’ve been using most. I combine Bronze and Goldleaf on the lid and crease and smudge Malt on my lower lashline and layer on liquid or cream black liner on the upper lash line.

beautycounter holiday giveaway

beautycounter eyeshadow holiday

beautycounter holiday face palettes

There is also a taupe shade, called Dove, in the Winter Dream palette that is precisely the eyeshadow I’ve been searching for forever. It’s the hero of the palette and the one color that goes with every single shadow. I almost see this as five eyeshadow duos because Dove looks different with every pairing. Taupe is a chameleon that way. I couldn’t pick a favorite but Dove is reason enough to pick up the Winter Dream. (giveway details at the end of the post, p.s.)

beautycounter love and luster lip gloss

beautycounter lip gloss holiday

One of my favorite ways to shop for beauty gifts for my friends and family is to pick up sets and break them apart. Sometimes I keep one shade for myself…maybe… I see the four glosses in the Love & Luster set as four really amazing gifts. Especially since the colors are so different, too, it’s easy to match them up with the people you know who would really rock them.

Now, for the giveaway. I’m REALLY excited to give away one of these gorgeous palettes – I’ll let the winner choose if they want Dream or Warmth. U.S. only winners – hoping that doesn’t exclude too many of you!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here’s to keeping on and leaning on those in your world to help you navigate the world.

For this week, also, I have a shopping page on Beautycounter. Which just means if you buy something through me, I get a hostess reward. It’s like the e-version of the Beautycounter party. No obligation to buy anything at all – I’m just leaving the link here for you to browse.  My friend Ryan was sweet enough to offer up the giveaway palette and I’m grateful to her generosity. Thanks, Ryan! 

Brushing Up On Holiday Gifting

EcoTools Beautiful Complexion Holiday

Favorite things are in full effect and I couldn’t continue this holiday theme without talking about EcoTools. I use these brushes every time I put makeup on and continue to be so impressed by the quality, aesthetic (they’re cute as heck!), price and variety. I like to gift beauty treats to friends and if I’m giving any type of makeup, I love adding in the perfect tool to accompany. It’s like giving someone a jersey and also a ticket to the game.

It’s going to be a very EcoTools holiday this season. The Beautiful Complexion Kit even wraps itself.  You can fold the box up and loop the silver ribbon through the openings to tie it all together. Instant presentation! I use these four brushes the most – the Mattifying Finish Brush is awesome to apply all types of powder and the Skin Perfecting Brush is a dream to blend in tinted moisturizers and cream blush. The set is a steal at under $20 for all four brushes and EcoTools also has a $3 off coupon at WALMART that you can snag here. Even better!

EcoTools Mini Holiday

I grew up more excited by my stocking on Christmas morning than any gift under the tree and it’s a tradition my mom has carried into adulthood for me (and me for her). Sometimes the tiniest presents are the most thrilling. EcoTools Mini Essentials Holiday Set is stocking material to a T. And unlike other mini brushes, these are the same high quality as the full size just with mini handles. I use these minis to apply this BECCA highlighter trio (which sold out instantly…kicking myself for not grabbing another as a gift for a special BECCA-obsessed friend).

EcoTools Festive Face Set

The wintry pattern on the Festive and Flawless Face Set is adorable. These brushes are somewhere in between minis and full-sized and they come housed in their own booklet with some tips on how to use. There’s an awesome holiday tutorial from Teni using this set that I watched for some inspiration. She always has some new ways of using these brushes that I never think of.

Happy cyber Monday, guys. If my inbox is any indication, today’s deals are better than Black Friday!

This post was sponsored by EcoTools. All opinions and tips are 100% my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support 312 Beauty.

Holiday, Celebrate! 2015 Favorite Things

Stowaway Cosmetics

I approach every holiday as my own personal Oprah’s favorite things. You get a lip balm, you get a blanket, and YOU ALL GET A HAND CREAM. Essentially. Nothing makes me happier than giving a gift that is loved. Last year, I gave everyone on my teams at work Michelle Starbuck jewelry. I carefully selected each piece for the person and feel so happy when I see it being worn and loved.

The 312 Beauty guide to holiday gifting is kicking off today and continuing for the next several weeks with snippets of all of my favorite things. I’m going full on O, it’s going to be a blast! Winter showed up this past weekend and the snow really accelerated my holiday spirit. I put my Christmas tree up on Saturday because I wanted it to be up and waiting for me after Thanksgiving. Cozying up in my living room with only the light of the tree is bliss and I’m perfectly content with it up this early.

Stowaway Cosmetics Lip Creme

In the spirit of Thanksgiving and travel, my very first gift pick is from Stowaway Cosmetics. Have you heard of these guys? Stowaway is confronting a huge beauty dilemma. The reality is that we all have a ton of half used expired makeup that we can’t (and shouldn’t at that point) finish. When is the last time you finished an entire tube of lipstick? Stowaway’s right-sized essentials are more than minis but not so oversized that you can’t finish or weigh your makeup down trying.

Stowaway Cosmetics Holiday

They make a compelling case for minimalism. Stowaway’s Cheek & Lip Rouge is one-third the size of an average blush. Their Effortless Eyeliner? Size of a q-tip. The Crème Lipstick: smaller than your pinky finger! And the Creaseless Concealer may look like a sample but it is crazy concentrated so a little bit goes a long way. Stowaway absolutely mastered pint-sized pretty and put a bow on it (literally) with their right-sized winter gift sets.

It’s entirely acceptable if you have the urge to gift this to yourself.