Recent Drugstore Acquisitions + Urban Decay Swap!

     I'll start with the swap, then I'll go on to the rest of my purchases. With my friend, a couple weeks ago I swapped out my Urban Decay Vice 2 palette that I had never used, for the gorgeous Urban Decay Full Spectrum Palette. I needed some bright hues in my life, and thought this would fit the bill. I had wanted to purchase the Electric Palette for such a long time, that I just felt like trying the first Urban Decay selection of rainbow hues that my eyes passed over, because well, they can do no wrong, right? Well, I still can't say how sure I feel about the Full Spectrum just yet, as I've only used about a third of the shades in the palette on my eyes thus far. I was, upon first impression, a bit disappointed with the performance of some colors moreso than others. It's still on Sephora's site on sale for $35, if you want to check it out.

Now, getting more experimentation with e.l.f. products. I had really wanted to try their Illuminating Palette after seeing how the formula blended into the skin, not to mention my enthusiasm after seeing the complete absence of glitter or sparkle particles in any of the powders! I had also heard great things about a couple of their newly launched lip products, and decided to try out their Poreless Face Primer as well! I have more from other brands as well! Just take a look at these beauties!

Comprehensive Gift-Giving Guide: Premium Skincare Gift Sets with the Best Values!

Hello! As Christmas is less than a day away, are you still putting it all in at the very last possible moment as far as holiday shopping?  Premium-brand skincare is quite an investment to make for anyone, and this comprehensive guide is for all the skincare savants in your friends and family you still haven't crossed off that list yet. If this person you're buying for is all about luxury skincare, this post will only showcase mid-tier brands, not luxury brands, per se. So if that is the case, you'd be better off looking elsewhere!

But if you're here for a value resource, no frets, I have you covered! All skincare sets I found are under $75, and I also took product size portions in each set as a factor, the ounces in the travel sizes compared to the full sizes, the variety of functionality of the products included, etc. Skincare is something that's inevitably used up fairly quickly, and let's be real, someone doesn't really know if they like a product or if it works for them in the long term if there's only enough in a mini travel size worth only about five uses, which equals about a week or two of use, right? I took that into account when doing my scouring through websites. By the way, this is not a sponsored post.

If you are wondering what to get, and what the best value skincare gift sets are from the top premium brands this holiday, stay tuned!