12 Posts Before Christmas: Stocking Stuffer/ Secret Santa ideas- under £15

Hello!

I decided to kick things off with some gift guides sorted by price. I've tried to come up with ideas from the things I already own in order to really suggest something that would be liked by the person you're buying for and who knows, maybe some of this stuff can be put on your wishlist! Personally I would love to have received any of these if I didn't own them already.

Today is going to be presents under £15 and I've split it into two categories - stocking stuffer and secret santa presents.Within that, I have some makeup ideas, skincare/body care ideas, clothing/accessories ideas and a tech idea. Plus, I've tried to link as many things as possible!

Stocking Stuffers:

Makeup:
Topshop Mini Lip Bullet Pyramid- Get Me Bodied - This is a really good size to try out a deep coloured lippy and it's already nicely packaged. There are also other colours on the site if you want a different colour

StarGazer Hair Chalk -Violet - This is a fun way to get some colour in your hair for the holiday season. I've only tried Violet so far, but it actually does show up on my dark hair and was easy enough to use. Perfect for someone who wants to play with coloured hair without the commitment- or the bleach!


skincare/body:
L'occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream- I love this stuff to keep my hands moisturised for the winter. Get the set if you're getting presents for more people and split them up!

clothing:
Next Woodland Animal socks- Socks are such a typical present for guys, but these ones from Next are super cute and at £8 for 4 pairs they make great stocking stuffers. Personally I would split them up though and give a pair to different people as 4 pairs of socks may be a bit too much for some people!

Movie inspired jewellery- I had to include this because I actually received this for Christmas last year, but I can't find an exact link for it. Just search on Amazon and there are a wide range of options from Lord of the Rings to the Vampire Diaries. Personally, it's not very good quality, but it's fine for a stocking stuffer and perfect for a fan of whatever series. I would just like to point out that some of these do ship from China or really far, so if you want to be sure to get it by Christmas, remember to check the delivery estimate before clicking "buy".

tech:
power bank- This is probably the most practical thing in all my gift guides this year because of the digital age and all that. I don't personally own the exact one I've linked, but I got it for my boyfriend and he loves it.

Secret Santa:
Makeup:
Makeup Revolution girls on film- LOVE this palette. I love eyeshadow and I think it's the easiest thing to gift some one as you don't need to know their exact colour match like foundation. This one from Makeup Revolution has a really nice colour selection and it's affordable too! Personally, for Secret Santa, I think I would get a few other bits (maybe from the stocking stuffer guide above) to bulk it up a bit depending on your price range.

skincare/body:
Soap & Glory Gift Set- Soap and Glory do amazing gift sets, so really, any of them would be great presents. In fact, I was hard pressed not to put more Soap and Glory in these gift guides. My pick this year was the Once Upon a Lime set, which has some of the Sugar Crush scented products and a body polisher. Sugar Crush is my favourite set, but if you think it's too sweet, they have a number of other scents.

Clothing:
Scarf- I like scarves for winter because they keep you warm. I don't have a link to my exact one, but I really like the infinity scarf/snood design because you don't need to worry too much about how to style it.

tech:
colour changing mug- Basically, it's a black mug until you pour a hot drink in it and then the design is revealed! I love the idea of this, especially if you and the person you're buying for have an inside joke. I previously got one from moonpigs and there are great personalisation options. Make sure to click to "heat and reveal" for the colour change effect!



So those are my gift ideas! Let me know if you're going to pick up any of these for Christmas presents (or even a present for yourself..)! Also, let me know what you would get for a secret santa present or a stocking stuffer!

Make sure you follow me for the next gift guide and I'm posting every other day until Christmas!

Signing off now,
Dusty Foxes

Makeup Revolution Mega haul and mini reviews

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my Make Up Revolution mega haul a (large) number of weeks ago (back in October or November 2014) I've never tried anything from Make Up Revolution before so I went a little bit crazy and picked up a lot of stuff. So I wanted to try things out properly before giving my opinions.

L-R: Illuminate, Cappuccino, Promised Land, Mountains of Gold, So Good To Me,Just Me.

 First thing I got was the Promised Land Collection. These are shimmer single eyeshadows and I thought it would be a good trial for the singles.

I thought these were good eyeshadows, they are pigmented and there was no fall out (or very little). Illuminate is a good inner corner highlight; Cappuccino, Promised Land and So Good to Me I use as all over lid colours; Just Me is nice for adding definition and Mountains of Gold is a warm gold glitter that I think will look nice for parties. The problem with these are that they are singles so I tend to forget about them. I prefer using a palette most days, so my singles tend to be forgotten.

Next up is the Iconic 3 palette. I got this to see if the Naked 3 was worth the splurge as I wasn't sure if pink tones suited me and I was quite impressed with the quality of this palette. I added the split pictures so you can see the colours a little better. 

The quality of these are nice but I found they could be a little sheer and there were a few colours that were harder to build up. My favourite colour is the first one as a browbone highlight and it helps blend shadows beautifully. I would advise tapping your brush before applying to the eyes to minimise fallout.

Next is the Girls on Film Salvation Palette. For some reason I forgot to swatch this but all the colours are pretty. The rectangular ones are shimmer and the round ones are matte. That's 18 shades for £6. I like the colours, they blend well and look pretty, and it comes with a huge mirror making it travel friendly. I think this palette can do some really gorgeous looks from day to night.

But I don't use this palette as much as I would because the fact that the lightest matte shade is next to the darkest. Normally I don't mind the order of shades, but the fact that the other shades are kind of arranged lightest to darkest just makes that one shade stand out more, but overall a solid palette. Some of the matte shades are a bit chalky and the some shimmer shades aren't as pigmented, but still a pretty good for the price.  

I tend to use this palette when I want a larger selection of colours within the pinky-purpley range of colours.

I also got the blush palette in Sugar and Spice. Again, nice big mirror and 8 pretty pink blushers. Well, I would say the 1st and 2nd are more bronzer shades and the 4th is a higlighter, but still a nice palette. The shades are all very pigmented so I use it with a very light hand. I wish I got the Hot Spice palette instead as orangey peachy shades suit my skin better than pink. But I make these work.

While I was browsing, I decided to grab the Ultra Cover and Concealer Palette in Light-Medium. The shades aren't bad, but the darker shades are a bit orangey but I can mix them so it's ok. The consistency is very smooth, oily almost and I'm not really a fan of this. The shade range is alright, considering it is a palette and has to cater to a wide range of people, I am just not a fan of the consistency. If you can see from the pictures, it seems to really highlight all of the flaws in the skin texture. I am not a fan of this, but if you get on well with it, let me know how you make it work!

I'd also like to quickly mention that the darker shades are very orangey and if I am more tanned they still look a bit weird on me as I tan naturally brown, not orange.

Last but not least, the one that spurred the whole haul, the One blush stick in Matte Malibu. I thought this looked like a dupe for the Nars Matte Multiples so decided to try Matte Malibu as it looked like the colour I was most likely to use. I like it for bronzing up my skin as it is a tad too orangey for contour in my opinion (though I have made it work). The problem with this is that the stick is quite large so it's easy to go overboard. I apply this by using a small brush, gently picking up some product, taking some off on the back of my hand before blending it onto my face. A bit troublesome for something that looks like a swipe and go product.

Overall, I would say the Makeup Revolution line are a bit hit and miss. These are just my personal opinions so I would say that it's up to you to see what you like. As with everything, makeup is personal and what I like may not be what you like. I do think this brand is one to watch though as they have some really nice products. I personally am very happy with all my choices except for the concealer palette and am excited to try more from this brand as it doesn't really strain my bank account as some other brands do.

What have you tried from Makeup Revolution? What do I NEED to pick up? Let me know your opinions in the comment section below!

Signing off now 

Dusty Foxes