I know I'm beyond late with this New Years sales post!
But I'm going to be totally honest here and explain how I just wasn't feeling my pre-Christmas gift guides so I decided to switch it up a bit.
You see back in December I enjoyed writing my book gift guide as it was more likely you'd find recommendations for yourself if you love to read and possibly a few gift ideas. But when it came to writing my huge beauty gift guide I realised it was pretty unlikely for people to have a ton of family and friends that were into beauty in the same way as them.
So I decided to skip my last Christmas beauty gift guide and instead now share a few products I've been personally loving in this kind of sales guide in which you can snap up a few bargains if you wish or possibly use any gift cards you may have from Christmas! This just makes much more sense to me and hopefully to you too! If you would like to see detailed reviews of any products featured here just let me know.
The Ultimate Palettes
Urban Decay Ultimate Basics Palette
£34.65 Feel Unique HERE
Now this may very well be the neutral palette of both 2016 and 2017! If you're a matte neutral eyeshadow lover then you may want to snap this up while it's discounted. This amazing palette contains 12 very wearable eyeshadows in Urban Decay's standard ultra smooth formula. I personally cannot fault this palette and will sure to write a stand alone blog post with swatches very soon as it's been my go-to palette for over a month now. Favourite shades have to be 'Extra Bitter' (2nd row, 2nd from left) as it's such a warm toned orange brown shade, and 'Commando' (1st row, 4th from left) as it's just the ideal all over lid colour for anyone with a pale complexion. I've own nearly all of the Naked palettes from Urban Decay now but this really is the winner of them all!
Urban Decay Blackmail Vice Lipstick Palette
£28.35 House of Fraser HERE
Onto another Urban Decay palette I delved straight into once taking the above photos. This is another stunning palette that UD have really upped their game on, from the thought out aesthetically pleasing packaging to the impressive shade range. The lipstick palette contains two options in 'Blackmail' and 'Junkie', I have 'Blackmail' which I'd definitely say is the more wearable of the two palettes containing many more nude shades. However if you are looking for a unique palette with some lilac and green lipstick shades then 'Junkie' is for you! In the few weeks I've been using this palette I've found not only is this basically 12 UD lipsticks for under £30, but it really allows you to be braver in your colour choices and even mix shades together on the back of your hand before applying. My favourites have to be all the nude shades, but I also love how EZ and Big Bang look together. Another palette I really need to review in much more depth as it's just perfection.
Fragrance
Escentric Molecules Molecule 01 Travel Size 30ml
£27.00 Cult Beauty HERE
If you are into fragrance then you will most likely know about Molecule 01, which without a doubt is the most confusing scent out there! Trying to explain this fragrance without adding to the confusion is tricky, so lets just say this is the colour adapting lipstick of the fragrance world! Unique on every wearer and an enhancer of all your existing scents this is a fragrance staple is you are into your scents. I personally find it quite a masculine scent on myself but so far I've had quite a few compliments and now I'm realising how I smell the scent isn't how others do. However I do really love it as a base fragrance to all the other perfumes in my collection. Although this isn't discounted I wanted to feature it as the refill travel size bottle which doesn't contain a top (no biggie) is considerably cheaper than the other products in the Molecule 01 range making it ideal to try if a scent like this intrigues you!
Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely Gift Set 100ml
£21.95 Fragrance Direct HERE
SJP's Lovely has been a staple scent of mine for 10 years now and I make sure I'm never without a bottle. It's soft, fresh and importantly wearable any time of year, but especially so in Spring I always feel. As you can see this is a gorgeous looking set that is unbelievable priced at £21.95 right now! You receive not only the 100ml EDP Lovely fragrance but a 10ml roller ball ideal for travel or your handbag, a gold compact mirror, plus a lovely compact clutch bag. The 100ml fragrance alone retails for £20.00 so this is such a good deal.
Elie Saab La Perfum EDP Intense 30ml
£35.70 Fabled HERE
Plus 15% off with 1st order - code VOU386623174
When looking for a new fragrance to treat myself to at Christmas I went with one from Elie Saab after remembering I'd tried a tester many moons ago and instantly loved it. With the stunning packaging and advertising I'd presumed Elie Saab's fragrance range was high end and out of my price range, so I was surprised to see that this 30ml eau de parfum intense bottle was pretty affordable, and even more so if you are a new customer to the Fabled website! The scent is fresh and clean but also smells sparkly if that can be a thing, which makes it sophisticated to wear during the day but also works well as an evening scent. The scent without a doubt has that high end aroma to it and I just can't get enough of it! As a fragrance fanatic I will now to seeking out samples of all the other Elie Saab scents to try out.
Nails
SensatioNail Ultimate Gel Start Kit
£40.00 Boots HERE
Now you may want to ignore the above image as I'm talking about a set that combines pretty much the contents of the Gel Starter Kit and the Polish to Gel Kit (above) in one which is actually on offer right now! Basically if you are thinking of creating your own gel manicure at home then this is totally the set to pick up as it contains the lamps, all the essentials you require, plus two SensatioNail gel polishes! I own both kits and although I love my gel nails only one kit is needed which I recommend being this starter kit as it's the lowest priced kit and it contains the most! Plus it includes the all important nail shields which really do prevent damage to the nail beds - they really do make a difference! You can find my full review of the Polish to Gel Transformer Kit plus swatches to see the finish of at-home gel nails here.
Nails inc Mini Gift Sets
Peace. Love. Kale Set £12.00 HERE
After Christmas Nails Inc gift sets always go on sale! So if you love the brand it's worth looking at all the main retailers for a heavily discounted set. Although the Nail Candy set (seen above) is now sold out I personally love the Peace. Love. Kale set which contains the cutest slogan makeup pouch and three Nails Inc minis, one of which is a nail car product, all for only £12. I'm very tempted!
Hair
Nicky Clarke Supershine Salon Dryer
£47.49 Tesco HERE
I've often found a new year to be a good time to replace old beauty electricals; from the electric toothbrush that has seen better days or the hairdryer that constantly overheats and just doesn't perform how it use to. My newest upgrade is this impressive Supershine hair dryer by Nicky Clarke which not only leaves hair as it describes; super shiny, with also fairly straight without even using any blow drying techniques or brushes. This really is a powerful hair dryer that lives up to it's salon professional claims and does the job well. Ideal for anyone with long hair. Side note - The rose gold details are a plus!
Lee Stafford Chopstick Styler
£15.99 Lee Stafford HERE
Just how affordable is this hair styler?! Okay, this may not be for some but this is beyond amazing for crazy curly hair, whether your hair is naturally curly and could do with more definition or if you want to go from straight hair to crazy curls that will literally transform how you look. I'm personally not sure I can rock a full head of curls however I've been loving creating a high up ponytail and then curling it quickly. I've already tried this on lots of other people as the results look different on everyone and it's so fun to use. A really fun styling tool!
Off to shop the last of the sales a bit more now!
Hope you all had a very lovely relaxed Christmas & New Year,
Fee xo.
