What I Got For Christmas 2015, Makeup

Happy new year! I hope that you all had a great Christmas and had fun welcoming in the new year.
This Christmas I was extremely lucky to find all the makeup I could ever wish for underneath my tree, I was very grateful and overwhelmed when I unwrapped these goodies on Christmas morning!

As many of you already know, I have a passion for makeup and am currently working towards my Level 3 Diploma in Hair & Media Makeup. Having such a big interest in makeup can come with a price tag so I always like to ask my friends and family to buy me makeup to help build up my kit as a special occasion gift. This year I was extremely fortunate to receive lots of nice makeup that will hopefully help me with my future career. I also thought that it would make a great blog post for those of you who love makeup almost as much as me! :D

Zoeva Luxe Complete Makeup Brush Set
I have wanted to try Zoeva makeup brushes ever since I heard that the brand existed and I have been lusting over them ever since. I do already have a ton of makeup brushes however my huge quantity of brushes cost me pennies and are obviously not the highest quality. I have no complaints with cheap makeup brushes and have used them myself for years whilst I was getting into makeup and the industry.However now that I am starting to set up my own freelance business and hope to qualify later this year as a makeup artist, I really wanted to build up my brush collection to a higher quality.
Zoeva brushes aren't cheap but they are one of the more affordable luxury makeup brush brands so I thought that they would be ideal for me.

Miles of MAC Book
After receiving the Pretty Honest beauty book written by Sali Hughes for Christmas last year, I have not stopped reading it over and over for reference and general beauty tips. I love to read beauty blog posts and watch Youtube videos although I think that there is something really special and different about reading something in the palm of your hands.
This year I decided to ask for the Miles of MAC book which is filled page to page with every single MAC Cosmetics promotion photo shoot from the past years. I thought that this would be ideal for me to look into it for inspiration in my own work and I know that it will be a great coffee table book that will last for years.

Face Paint Book by Lisa Eldridge
Another makeup related book that I received this year was Face Paint by Lisa Eldridge.
I have always looked up to and been inspired by Lisa so I cannot wait to read her book which looks like it will be a great read.

Urban Decay Electric Pallet
Being a media makeup student, I am not just interested in your standard neutral makeup and I love to experiment with bright and daring colours. Last year I discovered Urban Decay eye-shadow and I am constantly being blown away with their outstanding quality.
Urban Decay's electric pallet is filled with extremely bright neon shades that have great pigment- I know that I will be able to create some crazy and bold looks with this pallet and I can't wait to start using it.

Clinique Chubby Contour Stick & Illamasqua Cream Pigment, Hollow.

Cream contouring is a great method that I love to use when I want to achieve a natural defined contour. This Clinique cream contour stick will be great to add warmth to the face and I was recommended to try the cream pigment from Illamasqua in the shade Hollow which is the perfect matte contour shade with no muddy or orange tones.

Nars Steven Klein Blush Pallet
I absolutely love my Nars blush in the shade Orgasm and have used it religiously over the past few months so I was extremely happy to find this pallet filled with 4 Nars powder blushes under the tree this Christmas. I love the limited edition Steven Klien packaging and I know that this will be the perfect addition to my kit.

MAC White Face & Body
Being a makeup artist, is is almost impossible to carry every single foundation shade to suit every client so this white foundation will be ideal to use when I need to lighten or adapt any foundation shade. I could also use it to create a natural non shiny highlight by mixing it with the clients matched foundation shade and applied on the tops of cheekbones above of their contours.

NYX Matte Lipstick, Strawberry Daiquiri , NYX Butter Gloss, Peach Cobbler
My cousin Polly kindly gave me these two lip products from NYX which is a brand that I have recently started to use and fallen in love with so I can't wait to try them out.

Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil, Dolche Vita
I have wanted to try the Nars velvet matte lip pencils for ages so I was really happy to find this mini lip pencil in Dolche Vita wrapped up under the tree this year.

Estee Lauder Lipstick, Shameless Violet
I have been saving up my Boots Advantage card points up and I finally collected up enough to treat myself to an Este Lauder lipstick. Last year I was constantly MAC's heroine lipstick which I loved so much that I have almost used the whole tube up.
Estee Lauder Shameless Violet is very similar to MAC's Heroine and since I have almost used up my MAC lipstick I thought that I would try this one which I could buy with my advantage card points.

Zoeva Cocoa Blend Pallet
I have never used any Zoeva makeup although I have heard many great things about their products. The Zoeva Cocoa blend pallet cost me just £15 which I thought was a great price for a full eye-shadow pallet so I could not help but treat myself to it.

I <3 Makeup Salted Caramel Chocolate Pallet
This eye-shadow pallet from I<3 Makeup (Makeup Revolution's sister brand) looks like a great dupe for the Too Faced Chocolate Bar pallet which is almost double the price of this cheaper alternative. I am excited to see how the quality compares and what looks I can create with it.

Large Z Pallet with Makeup Geek Shadows
I was lucky enough to be given money from my family for Christmas this year so I decided to treat myself to a large empty Z pallet along with a few single Makeup Geek eye shadows.
The Z pallets fit most single eye shadows inside so I decided to place all of my MAC eye shadows in along with the 3 shadows that I ordered from Makeup Geek in the shades White Lies, Corrupt and Mermaid.
So far I am extremely impressed with the Makeup Geek eyeshadows and I am already tempted to order a few more shades. Stay tuned for a full review post of these shadows.