Top 12 of 2012

I'm excited to share with you all my top 12 beauty products of 2012. I debated about doing a longer post breaking maybe more of my favorites into categories. If you would like a lengthier post with more favorites please let me know and I can certainly do that. But for now these are the top 12 things that I loved this past year. Most of these products I use on a daily basis so that's how I know that something is truly a favorite. Most of these products can be found either at your local drugstore, Ulta, or Sephora.

Top 12 of 2012

December Empties

My empties for the month of December are a lot less than I usually have and probably will be moving forward since I have been focusing more on finishing up full sized products since I don't have as many samples to go through. I will highlight for you in the post the products that I would repurchase.Since I didn't have a ton of empties this month I did not break it into categories. I hope everyone is having a great start to 2013!

December Empties

January Giveaway: Limited Edition MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Stereo Rose

January 2013 Giveaway

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Stereo Rose

Sorry for being MIA during the holiday season but I'm excited to share some fun new things with you for the month of January. For the month of January I have picked up a limited edition item which is already sold out on the MAC website. I am giving away the limited edition MAC mineralize skinfinish in Stereo Rose. This is a cult favorite from MAC and a color that I think would work well on a lot of skintones. The value is $29 and you get 10 grams of product. 


PRIZE
I am giving away 1 MAC mineralize skinfinish in Stereo Rose which is a $29 value.  This is what MAC has to say about the skinfinish, "A luxurious velvet-soft powder with high-frost metallic finish. Smoothes on: adds buffed-up highlights to cheeks, or an overall ultra-deluxe polish to the face." This is a beautiful color that I think everyone can really enjoy. 

Enter the January Giveaway here. 

Urban Decay Naked Basics Eyeshadow Palette Review, Photos, Swatches

The Urban Decay Naked Basics Eyeshadow palette was released very recently and has been advertised as an all matte palette. The palette is $27 and you get six full sized eyeshadows. This doesn't come with any primers or brushes like the other Naked palettes. I don't mind this though because it helps make the palette cost less money. Some of the colors are exclusive to this palette and some you can find elsewhere. For the month of December, I currently running a giveway of this palette. 

Naked Basics Palette

Top 5 Holiday Red Nail Polishes

Being that is is the holiday season I wanted to share with you some of my favorite red nail polishes to wear during this time of year. I picked my to 5 that I currently own. I'm excited to wear this especially during Christmas. I promise to do nail of the day posts as soon as I wear all of these colors. 

Favorite Holiday Red Nail Polishes

New Items Added to Blog Sale

I just wanted to let everyone know that I added a lot of great stuff to my blog sale today. Some of the brands include T3, Julep, Revlon, Tarte, Chanel, Nars, Burberry, Michael Kors perfume, Z palette, Uni palette and so much more. I have some great stuff so feel free to check out my sale items here.

I hope that everyone is having a nice weekend and getting ready for the holidays. Also if you have not yet entered my December giveaway there is still time to enter. I am giving away the new Urban Decay Naked Basics palette. 

xx
Meredith

What's in My December Birchbox

December's Birchbox theme obviously revolves around the holidays. They changed the typical brown box and it made it very festive for the holidays which I thought was a nice touch. The product in this box are supposed to help us look and feel our best. They also let us know that they have online videos on gift wrapping and ways to upcycle old Birchboxes. So here is what I got in my December box. 

December Birchbox

November Favorites

I want to apologize to you all for taking the past week off from blogging and also for putting up my November favorites so late. I do have some great favorites from November though so I still think that they are worth sharing. Also I purchased a lightbox and was playing around it with it but I don't think I'll be keeping it since I didn't think that the came out that amazing. I cannot wait for when I get more daylight to take outdoor pictures.

November Favorites

Deborah Lippmann Brick House Nail Lacquer Review, Photos, Swatches

Deborah Lippmann Brick House is a rust color with an almost metallic finish. Brick is the perfect way to describe this color as it has red and orange undertones to it. The color is beautiful on the nails and is what I wore on Thanksgiving. The color is very unique to my collection and don't have any dupes for it. I also think that this could work well on a lot of skin tones.

November Empties

For my November empties it seems like I went through a ton of candles and also a lot of makeup which is extremely exciting to me because we all know how hard it is to get through makeup. I think a lot of times we finish a products at the same time for some reason. I don't know if any of you notice that happens to you too. I haven't been using as many samples so I will probably have less empties each month but I still finished quite a bit.

December Giveaway: Newly Released Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

December 2012 Giveaway

Image courtesy of urbandecay.com

I have a great giveaway for December. Urban Decay recently came out with a new palette called the Naked Basics palette. It literally just came out today November 29th and I ordered one for you all to have a chance and win. Of course I picked one up for myself too. This is the palette of the moment and one that everyone is talking about. The value is $27 and I believe it is only available right now at urbandecay.com. 

Favorite YouTubers of November

nikkirothbeauty
Nikki works at Sephora so she really knows her makeup. She does amazing tutorials and is comes across super down to earth in her videos. I love watching all of the knew things that she finds and she finds great stuff since Sephora is always getting in new goodies. Her hauls are really amazing and I'm always wishing I worked at Sephora too. Here is her most recent video:

Cyber Monday Deals, Coupons, and Sales

3floz.com: 25% off entire purchase with code CYBER12, 11/26 only

Aesop: Free ground shipping on orders of $60 or more through 12/16

Bath & Body Works: 25% off entire site with code CYBER2012, 11/26 only

Beautybar.com: $20 off $100 or $40 off $200 +free shipping with code BBCYBERMONDAY, 11/26 only

Body Shop: 50% off entire store + free shipping at $30, 11/26 only

Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare: 25% off entire purchase with code CYBERMONDAY. Spend $50 ore more an receive a free Active Vitamin D Serum Oil. 11/26 only

EcoTools: 50% off sitewide +free shipping

Giorgio Armani: 20% off + free shipping on order of $75 or more, 20% off + free shipping + choice of 6 samples on orders of $125 or more, 11/26-11/30 with code CYBER12A

Folica:  $25 off orders over $75 + free shipping wituh code TURKEYDEAL, 11/26 only

L'Occitane: $10 gift card with any $50 or more purchase with code GIFT10, 11/26 only

Lancome: 20% off with code HEARTS, 11/26-11/30

Laura Gellar: 20% off everything plus free standard shipping, 11/26 only

MAC Cosmetics: Free Overnight Shipping, 11/26 only

MOR: 40% off with code CYBRMND, 11/26-11/27

Nars: 20% off with code NARSFF2012, 11/26-11/27

Murad: $25 off $100 purchase with code CYBERMONDAY, 11/26 only

Sephora: Free mystery sample bag with $25 or more purchase with code UNDERWRAPS, 11/26 only

Tarte: 25% off + free shipping on order of $40 and up with code CYBER, 11/26 only
Urban Decay: 50% off select eyeshadow palettes +free shipping over $50, 11/26 only

YSL: 20% off with code CYBER12, 11/26-11/30

This is all of the information I have about the sales. If you know about any others or find any information to not be correct please let me know. If I find out about others I will add to this list.

xx

Meredith 

Nail of the Day: Revlon Copper Penny

Today's NOTD is from Revlon and is called Copper Penny. This is a great shade to wear around Thanksgiving time and in the Fall. I really think that Revlon makes great polishes and this is no exception. The color is a copper metallic shade with no glitter. These are priced very well for drugstore polishes and I don't have any dupes for this color in my collection.

Nars Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer SPF 30/PA+++ Review & Photos

After falling in love with the Nars Sheer Glow I knew that I wanted to try out the Nars Tinted Moisturizer as soon as it came out. I've owned this for quite a while now so I should be able to give you a pretty good review of the product. I tend to like to wear tinted moisturizer on the weekend and foundation for work during the week. Nars Pure Radiant retails for $42 for 1.9 oz. 

Nars Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer SPF 30/PA+++ 

Inglot Cosmetics Giving Thanks This Thanksgiving

I recently came across on Instagram someone posting about this Inglot sale. I will try and post sale information as I get them. This is all that I have heard about the Inglot sale so far. Starting at 3 a.m. EST on November 22nd they are offering 20% off your total purchase at www.inglotusa.com. The sale ends 3 a.m. EST on November 27th. That's all I know so far on this sale. If anyone has any additional information or knows of any other good deals please feel free to share them. 

xx

Meredith 

New Urban Decay 30-Shade Eyeshadow Vault

I was recently searching the Sephora website and came across this new palette from Urban Decay. It is called the 30-Shade Eyeshadow Vault. It retails for $270 but you get 30 eyeshadows. If you are an Urban Decay junkie this is an amazing deal but if you already have a lot of their palettes you may want to pass on this one. It's not for everyone because it is pricey but its something worth looking more into. This is available I believe only at Sephora.com. 

 

What's in My November Birchbox

Since Thanksgiving is coming up, Birchbox focused their November box on giving thanks, giving back, and giving treats. They included in this month's box a reusable gift envelope that can be filled with a treat to give to someone special. I really like that they added this. In addition they are supporting this month, The Art of Elysium which is a non-profit that encourages actors, artists, designers, and musicians to dedicate their time to kids who are struggling with various medical conditions. I really like that Birchbox works with charities. So here is what I got in my November box.

TAG: Four or More

I've seen some YouTuber's recently doing a tag called four or more which is where I show you all of the beauty items that I have four or more of. The tag was started by itskeerstin. Check out her YouTube channel here.  I think that this will help you get a better idea of some of the products that I really enjoy. The only rule that I know of for this tag is that you cannot include things that came in sets. Some of the stuff I just went crazy buying and was obsessed with at the time. I am only showing you four of each but for many I have more than four.

I love the NYX lipglosses. They are a great price and I find the formula not sticky but lasts a good time on the lips. Some people don't like the smell but I don't mind it. I would purchase more of these in the future.

Under-Eye Concealing Combination

I got the idea to do this post from Sandra. .Her blog is 15 steps, then a beauty blog. I'm sure that most of you already subscribe to her blog but if you don't I highly suggest you check her out. Most people probably use one concealer, I use three. I use a corrector, concealer, and brightener. I don't have dark circles but these three steps I just think make my under-eyes look the best. If I am in a hurry I might just do concealer but on a daily basis I do these three steps.