I love presents!

Lots of people look forward to Christmas for presents! But I don't usually expect anything too 'big' (my family is bigger on the food prep than the gift-giving. So we don't get presents, we get fat! Hahaha!) That's why I love it when a friend gifts me with something that I can use for my makeup clients.

Everyone knows makeup don't come cheap. At least not the good kind haha. So for this year, my happiness level got amped up, first by my good model/photographer friend Nina Villanueva, who gave me a cute little black and pink eyeshadow palette from Forever 21. It contains 7 shimmery shades and one black matte (she knew that I'd been looking for a really dark matte black! How thoughtful, hahaha!). It is really compact and slips into my purse easily, which is why I have taken to bringing it with me wherever I go (just in case :P)

(Forever 21)

And that wasn't all! :)

My older sister gave me a little plastic purple case to put my small makeup trinkets in (like eyeshadow pots and my different sized makeup brushes, especially the tiny eyeliner ones that I always lose!). Then my OTHER older sister gave me two retractable dome face brushes, which are not as firm as my old baby kabuki (which tends to cake regular powders because it's really meant for buffing mineral makeup) and just PERFECT for applying loose powder, and EXACTLY what I need for patting on my Make Up For Ever HD Finishing Powder, which needs the lightest touch possible. I don't want my clients getting the "just had some cocaine" look, like these poor celebs! Apart from that, my older brother (I LOVE MY SIBLINGS) got me a hair brush kit that I can use when styling my clients. My aunt *technically* gave me a Maybelline Cat Eyes Mascara, which I absolutely love now haha.

And just today, I got another big present from Ate Mitch, who is based in Singapore and is one of my makeup clients :) She had my sister bring my present over, which was a lovely red makeup box. And when I opened it, VOILA! It was from SK-II, a skin care brand that I absolutely adore but can't really splurge on hahaha! :)

The inside of the bag has compartments for brushes and whatnot, which I really ned for on-the-go makeup gigs. I already have a bigger cosmetic case (also from SK-II and also previous presents), but I have yet to have the latches secured at a local sewing shop so the case won't suddenly open up while I'm carrying it around.

 

The kit contains a Lip Repair, Repair Serum and Blush Compact, all of which have the same ingredients found in the SK-II Treatment Essence (my HG skincare treatment!). I couldn't help it, so here is a rushed photo of me with mascara, the blush and the lip balm on haha. Pardon the under eye circles, but I've been staying up all night this week :)

 It's such a beautiful kit! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday as well. Cheers, and ta-ta for now!