Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links; I received samples. The opinions shared here are 100% mine.

Mrs. Claus was a hottie back in her day, I’m sure of it. When Santa gets home from his biggest work day of the year, I’m sure she dolls up a bit for him. If we were to take a peek at her wish list, we’d probably see some awesome makeup products. Since she doesn’t get to shop very often, she probably subscribes to quite a few beauty boxes, don’t you think? I recently got to try some new makeup products and would love to commiserate with Mrs. Claus about her thoughts on these items.

My favorite new cosmetic company is IT Cosmetics.  I saw the brand for the first time on QVC when my husband was channel surfing.  Intrigued by the before-and-after pictures shown on the screen, I was really excited when IT Cosmetics sent me the Vitality Lip Flush Butter Gloss in several shades.   I loved the fact that these products are cruelty-free.  When I tried the lip gloss, I had to immediately wipe each one off and try the next shade.  This might be the ONLY brand EVER in which I liked every single shade.  That’s right — not even one shade was just “eh” to me.  This is one beauty product I’ll make sure to always have in my purse, beauty bag, and even in my desk at work.  The consistency of this lip gloss is perfect.  It’s not sticky yet still thick enough to feel substantial on my lips.  The shine is just right, too.  It doesn’t look like a 15-year-old’s lip gloss.  I was curious about the limited edition LAB sample which is supposed to make one’s teeth appear whiter.  Did it work?  Perhaps it’s mind over matter, but I do think it helped to make my teeth look whiter and even shinier.  Score!!   I’ve visited the IT Cosmetics website time and again since trying this lip gloss and have found many more items I’d love to try.  I’m thrilled that IT Cosmetics is now sold at ULTA stores since I shop there pretty often.  

If Mrs. Claus needs a serious anti-perspirant (they’ve gotta turn up the heat at the North Pole!) she would be glad if she subscribed to Beauty Box 5. This month’s box contained a full-size Secret Clinical and coupons for future purchases! There were a few other goodies in there, too, but that was the hit of the box for me. I’ve wondered about using the clinical version and was excited to try it as part of a subscription box. Need a holiday gift? Try a Beauty Box 5 subscription! Gift the box!

If you like the idea of a subscription box but want something a little higher on the totem pole, consider the Wantable box.  You actually have to complete a little survey to find out which products are perfect for you.  After milling around the site for a while, I finally settled on the limited edition holiday box.  I had a bit of difficulty getting the box ordered because it wasn’t actually available yet.  Customer service was top-notch and pushed the order right through for me.  I love when a company has good customer service, don’t you?  When the box arrived, it looked exactly like the one pictured on the Wantable site.  That’s always a nice surprise.  Mrs. Claus would be so happy with the pretty little makeup bag.  The eyeshadows have the roller-ball thing on top which I’ve never tried before in an eyeshadow.  It was actually quite cool since I could sweep it over my lids then use my finger to adjust the shadow.  I really loved the pretty, sheer shades of the eyeshadows.  The two things I didn’t really use from the box were the eye mask and fingernail polish.  They were very pretty, just not something that I really needed at the moment.   I’m sure Mrs. Claus will be using her eye mask to get some shut-eye after a long Christmas season.  What I liked best about the Wantable box was that these are all full-size items.  Considering the price point, it seemed like a much better value since I received four shadows, nail polish, lip gloss, satin eye mask, earrings, and a pretty bag to hold it all.

Do you like to change your makeup look for the holidays?  Do you prefer to go for different shades or completely new products?  

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.