Desirable December Hauls 2022

[SportyGirly125]

Time to finish up the holiday shopping and maybe help others with ideas on what to get their friends and family members.

Sephora is having their last sale this month on Friday December 2 to Sunday December 11, 2022.  You can save 20% your purchase with the code GETGIFTING and 30% off Sephora Collection.  It is a one time use code at Sephora. Sephora Kohl's has their own unique code which you can find in your Kohl's wallet in your account or in your Sephora email.

I cannot wait to see what you hauled this month.

[itsfi]

Ooooh, a Wayne Goss holiday brush would be fabulous @danielledanielle! ♥️

[CookieGirl1]

Wow, @itsfi, so luxe!  That's the kind of haul that's fun to use AND a joy to look at.

[itsfi]

@CookieGirl1, thank you! Love that these look great and perform well! ♥️ 

[Vonneh]

@itsfi All i can say is WOW! the brushes, Westman Atelier, Byredo---a dream haul LOL! Enjoy these beautiful items!!!

[itsfi]

@Vonneh, thank you! 😃 I’ve learned over the last couple of years that the releases and sales in the last quarter of the year have a lot of things I tend to gravitate towards so I try to hold off as best I can for this time of the year. The key word there is “try” as I don’t always hold off on picking up all the things! 😂 

[CynthieLu]

Your photos are sooo stunning 😍 as always @itsfi you make these look even more beautiful! Enjoy your haul, it's fabulous!

[itsfi]

Thank you @CynthieLu; the beauties here really do all the work. 😍 The design and presentation of the packaging on these items is exquisite. I just have to place them on the table, make sure some of them don't roll away, and click, click, click. 📸

[blackkitty2014]

Okie missy @itsfi . I need to come over and test out all these goodies 😂🤣 

[itsfi]

lol! You're welcome here anytime @blackkitty2014. I'll prep some nibbles for us to have while playing with these goodies.😆 These have been fun to unbox and put to use. 

[Sunnysmom]

Lovely pics @itsfi , isn’t the WA set the best?! Love it. Byredo looks yummy too and ooh those brushes! 

[itsfi]

Thank you @Sunnysmom! I was drawn to the petal set right away when I heard about the holiday set. I'm surprised I was able to hold off as long as I did but it worked out. I had the petal cheek blush already and like it. I figured I'd be all on board with the lippie and I am! Would love to see this as part of her permanent range. I was most unsure about the highlight but it's beautiful - takes a little more to build up the color in it but that's fine; the color and finish are lovely.

[WinglessOne]

@itsfi  What do you think of the 3 Chikuhodo pine squirrel brushes in the Chocolat set? I know the cheek brush is mixed with horse hair (pine squirrel's not often used for bristles that length), so I'm curious about its softness. Not that I've debated picking up this set myself, nooooo, not me. 😄 The synthetic Frambois set would actually be a nice gift for someone; I already have some of Chikuhodo's synthetic brushes, so I know what to expect there. I don't have much pine squirrel though... I think I only have one brush, and it's an old eye shader. 

Enjoy your goodies! Based on Byredo's fragrance notes, I can almost smell Eyes Closed through my laptop screen. 

[itsfi]

@WinglessOne, the pine squirrel brushes were one of the factors that tipped the scale to "buy the set" for me. Well, I'm sure you know it didn't take too much for me to have the scale tipped in that direction. 😂  Here are my initial thoughts - the cheek brush feels nice against the skin - it's soft but not the softest brush I own and not one that I would characterize as a soft and fluffy brush. It's not scratchy by any means but there's a slight firmness to the bristles - I think the denseness in the brush will work nicely with some of my blushes. 

The bristles on the two eye shadow brushes just as you mentioned are 100% pine squirrel. I wondered how they would feel on my eyelids. Like the cheek brush, neither feels scratchy but they are more dense and firm than many of my eyeshadow brushes. I like how the candle shaped brush applied color - the firmness of the pine squirrel on this shape is helpful to me with my eye shape and depositing color to the outer V. I wasn't as fond of the pine squirrel on the round flat eyeshadow brush. That surprised me. I prefer a little more softness, at least with my pressed eyeshadows. I wonder though if I would find this particular brush better if I used it with a loose powder like the GXVE pigments.  Or maybe with the shimmery shadows in my Natasha Denona Biba palette now that those particular finishes seem to be softer and more crumbly. Hmmm... 🤔 Okay, adding a "to do" or two to my list for these brushes. 

Ohhhh, Byredo Closed Eyes gives me fall/winter holiday feels, winglessone!! 😍 To me, it's cinnamon, spice and everything nice! Warm and cozy at the same time, a little boozy. The top notes are what I pick up immediately and those scents actually stay with me for most of the time, which is why I think I like this scent a much a I do. My nose doesn't call out the specific middle notes but I'm not that surprised as I'm not very familiar with a couple of the notes listed. I pick up more of a general earthy, spice scent with a slight hint of a what I think is a powdery floral - the closest thing that comes to mind is violet or iris - maybe it's the orris? I've learned over the years that my nose is really finnicky about patchouli scents - some I love and others are definitely not loves. I like the patchouli here, it's not too earthy or musky here.

[WinglessOne]

@itsfi  Thanks for the feedback! The cheek brush would be a good choice for something like NARS Rising Star Cheek Palette, which needs a densely packed brush to pick up all the gel-to-powders. The shader sounds like it might be problematic for my pressure-sensitive eyes. Not sure that'll stop me from ordering the set, but it does give me pause (which my wallet appreciates). Hopefully it'll perform better for you with loose pigments. 👍 

Yep, the powdery floral you smell in Eyes Closed is probably orris. That's one of the very few powdery notes I can handle. (I'm not a fan of baby powder scents or powdery sweet vanilla.) I need to grab a sample of this fragrance soon. 

[itsfi]

Yeah @WinglessOne, the shader is definitely the more challenging brush for me in the chocolat set - I know my lids prefer to have something softer. If it's still too much with loose pigments, it'll work for concealer around my nose and possibly for the under eye area but I'm thinking the former will be the safer bet. 

Ahhh, thank you. I don't recall every having smelled orris specifically so that's very good to know. My nose is really particular to powdery scents and powdery florals especially. The powder notes here were on the softer side and that worked out well for me. Getting your hands on a sample is the way to go though because I've heard that the powderiness is more pronounced for some folks.  

[minathayes]

@itsfi 

Oooh la la! Chikuhodo. 😍 Beautiful.

[itsfi]

@minathayes, thank you! 😀 Chikuhodo makes some lovely brushes and the handles on these sets are gorgeous.💖

[SportyGirly125]

@itsfi @Wow. Amazing hauls and pictures. 😍

[itsfi]

@SportyGirly125, thank you. I enjoyed making and photographing these hauls. 🛍 📷

[cianni]

@itsfi those brushes look amazing!

[itsfi]

Thank you @cianni! Chikuhodo always does an incredible job with its brushes. ❤️ I should be set with these two - that never seems to stop me from picking up more of their brushes though. 😂