Coco and Chino's
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Beauty

Christmas Holidays Gift Guide – December 2023

WELCOME; to my annual Coco and Chino’s Christmas Holiday Gift Guide 2023! Here I will be going through in guide-form, my top holiday gift ideas for this holiday season. This years’ picks are from Too Faced, Benefit Cosmetics, DW Home Candles, Bath & Body Works and Laneige, covering a variety of beauty & home lifestyle categories. To take a look at what my selections are this year, just look below..

Products, Textures & Formula’s
– Limited Edition Too Faced Poptarts Brown Sugar Cinnamon Eye Shadow Palette 5.76g; with eight warm toned shades in a mixture of mattes, metallics, shimmers & satin finishes. The powders are all scented just like brown sugar cinnamon Poptarts! Housed in a bite-sized, sturdy thick cardboard palette with built-in mirror, it is perfect to take on-the-go with you on trips. The formula is a creamy buttery texture and the powders are extremely easy to blend out, especially the mattes, they’re like a one-swipe payoff. My own fave shade is the ‘Brown Sugar Cinnamon’ one, a beautiful gold shiny shimmer! Take a closer look below..

– Benefit Cosmetics Limited Edition Twinkle N’ Jingle Cheek & Highlighter Palette 18g; the three large full-sized pan palette features the highlighter powder in ‘Dandelion Twinkle’, which is a soft nude-pink tone that can be easily swept across the cheekbones and any other high points of the face. The shade ‘HoneyB Twinkle’ is a golden honey tone that can also be swept easily across the cheekbones and other high points of the face, and the beautiful popular blush shade in ‘Dandelion’, which is a baby pink brightening tone, can be swirled across the cheekbones and built up as desired. Take a closer look at it below..

– Bath & Body Works Peppermint Hot Chocolate Scented Triple Wick Candle 411g; this has to be one of the most delicious smelling candles! It is a triple-wick candle with the most delicious notes of sweet peppermint, silky milk chocolate, vanilla, sweet cream and a subtle hint of marshmallow. Infused with essential oils, with three lead-free wicks, and a stunning snowflake embossed decorative lid, the outer layer label features a textured mint green pattern of frosted snow on pine trees. It comes housed in a quality glass jar with 411 grams of wax, so it will last for the whole duration of your holiday season and then some.

– Laneige Limited Edition Lip Glowy Balm in Peppermint’ 10g; formulated with murumuru and shea butters to hydrate, soften and smooth the lips. It’s a glossy balm with a sheer tint, perfect for wearing alone to treat the lips or to prep them for lipstick application. The balm applies lovely on the lips and it doesn’t feel sticky at all. The formula really hydrates the lips and I find the hydration and smoothness lasts so long, longer than any other lip balm I’ve used. Take a closer look at it here..

– DW Home Candy Cane Lane Peppermint Mocha Candle 264g; scented just like a Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino, this gorgeous smelling festive candle has notes of a delicious blend of black coffee beans, steeped in peppermint syrup & brewed into a decadent java. Housed in a candy cane designed glass cylinder jar and holding a net weight of 264 grams of wax product, the burn time is approximately 56hrs and has a single quality wick. It feels the room with the most delicious aroma and is perfect for the holiday season. If you enjoy a Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino, then you will absolutely LOVE this one. Take a closer look below at all the details..

– Bath & Body Works Crushed Candy Cane Candle 198g; scented just like candy canes! Scented with notes of a blend of crunchy peppermint, white sugar crystals and frosted mint leaf. It features a twist lid with a twisted red and white peppermint decorative spiral on the top, and is infused with essential oils and a quality lead-free single wick. It comes housed in a quality glass jar and is filled with 198 gram of pink wax inside. It has Bath & Body Works own proprietary fragrance wax blend and would make the most perfect gift for the Christmas season. Take a look at it below..

Worldwide Prices & Availability
– LE Too Faced Poptarts Brown Sugar Cinnamon Eye Shadow Palette 5.76g;
Australia: $32.85 AUD
Available: online at eBay Australia.

USA: $27 USD
Available: in-store at Target and Ulta.

UK: £24.39 GBP
Available: online at eBay UK.

– LE Benefit Cosmetics Twinkle N’ Jingle Cheek & Highlighter Palette 18g;
Australia: $58.10 AUD (on sale) – $93 (at ASOS)
Available: online at Selfridges or at ASOS.

USA: $44 USD
Available: in-store at Benefit Cosmetics, Kohls, Feel Unique and Ulta.

UK: £44.50 GBP
Available: online at Cult Beauty, Look Fantastic and John Lewis.

– Bath & Body Works Peppermint Hot Chocolate Candle 411g;
Australia: $21.98 AUD
Available: in-store at Bath & Body Works Australia.

USA: $12.95 USD
Available: in-store at Bath & Body Works.

UK: £29.50 GBP
Available: online at eBay UK.

– Laneige Limited Edition Lip Glowy Balm in ‘Peppermint’ 10g;
Australia: $25 AUD
Available: in-store at Sephora Australia.

USA: $18 USD
Available: in-store at Sephora USA.

UK: £16 GBP
Available: online at Sephora UK.

– DW Home Candy Cane Lane Peppermint Mocha Candle 264g;
Australia: $12.99 – $26.69 AUD
Available: in-store at TK Maxx Australia or online at DW Home.

USA: $18 USD
Available: online at DW Home or in-store at TJ Maxx.

UK: £14.23 GBP
Available: online at DW Home or in-store at TJ Maxx UK.

– Bath & Body Works Crushed Candy Cane Candle 198g;
Australia: $36.95 AUD
Available: in-store at Bath & Body Works Australia.

USA: $5.95 – $19.50 USD
Available: online & in-store at Bath & Body Works USA.

UK: £22 – £32 GBP
Available: online at eBay UK.

Final Thoughts & Tips
– Limited Edition Too Faced Poptarts Brown Sugar Cinnamon Eye Shadow Palette 5.76g; I was instantly drawn to this eye palette due to the gorgeous warm neutral shades. Not only are the shades in Too Faced’s mini bite sized palettes in the Christmas releases really creamy and pigmented, but they smell delicious & it makes it fun applying them. They’re great to take away with you on trips or even in your purse for quick touch ups (if you have a small brush). It fits in well within the festive theme, too. See below photos for swatches of the entire eight palettes shades.

– Limited Edition Benefit Cosmetics Twinkle N’ Jingle Cheek & Highlighter Palette 18g; a trio of full pan sized highlighter and blush, all in a set that’s at a reduced cost. These pans last forever so the recipient will be set for quite the while, in terms of face palette application. It’s also the perfect gift for the makeup lover in your life as it features one of Benefit’s cult fave blushes, in ‘Dandelion’. I mean, it has its own Christmas theme, so it’s really meant to be!

– Limited Edition Laneige Lip Glowy Balm in ‘Peppermint’ 10g; if you love peppermint scent, you’ll love this! It is so refreshing and treats the lips with murumuru & shea butters for hydration, making the lips very smooth and softened. It would be another perfect gift idea for the beauty or skincare lover in your life, or even as a sneaky little gift for yourself. The price range on this is very reasonable and 10g of product can be a long way as you only need a small pea size drop of it and it will spread across both upper and bottom lip generously. It’s perfect for those gift ideas on a budget and for the hard-to-buy-for person that you may not be very familiar with what they like, etc.

– Bath & Body Works Peppermint Hot Chocolate Candle 411g; if you know somebody who loves hot chocolate or peppermint mocha’s, this is the candle for them! It smells like a delicious hot cup of cocoa chocolate and will bring in the beautiful Christmas vibes to any room. It has three quality wicks that are lead-free and lasts for so many hours in burn time. It will fill any room in the house with the gorgeous aroma. Definitely check this one out for the home decor lover in your life, or friend that just enjoys burning beautiful candles.

– DW Home Candy Cane Lane Peppermint Mocha 264g; if you your gift receiver enjoys Starbucks, but particularly the peppermint mocha frappuccino’s from there, they will LOVE this candle! It smells exactly like the creamy peppermint syrup that is in the Starbucks drink. It smells just like them and I crave a peppermint mocha frappuccino every time I smell it. I love that it fits right within the Christmas theme and it smells so delicious, it’s hard to resist burning it for hours at a time. It would suit the home decor lover in your life or the candle person that just loves delicious smelling scents. It is also decently priced so it fits within those on a budget doing their Christmas holiday shopping.

– Bath & Body Works Crushed Candy Cane Candle 198g; if your gift recipient loves candy canes, Christmas, candles or Bath & Body Works at all, they’re likely to really love this one. It smells exactly like candy canes crushed up with a creamy vanilla base, it is so delicious smelling. If you want to find a gift on a budget or don’t plan on spending an exuberant amount on a gift, this is the perfect one for you to choose. Especially for the home decor lover in your life, or the candle person, this one fits within the festive season and brings all the lovely sweet Christmas vibes, quite literally. It is a single wick candle and is infused with essential oils, per Bath & Body Works proprietary scented formulas. You can’t go wrong with this one, it’s destined to be a winner.

Disclaimer; all of the above featured products have been purchased with my own money and gathered for the purpose of this gift guide. All thoughts & opinions published here are my own.

Beauty

Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G Matte Revolution Lipstick 3.5g – November 2022

Introducing the new Matte Revolution formulated lipstick from the ever so popular, Charlotte Tilbury. This gem marks the second lipstick from CT, that I own. It is also the second matte lipstick I now have in my collection from the range and I can see myself getting more in the future, after I’ve used up the two I have. This particular one I am focusing on today is the shade ‘Wedding Belles‘, a deep muted mauve-pink. The first ever shade I purchased, was of course, the ‘Pillowtalk’ matte one. Let’s take a much closer look at this new long-lasting formula from Charlotte Tilbury.

Product, Packaging & Texture
– Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G Matte Revolution Long-Lasting Lipstick in ‘Wedding Belles’ 3.5g; now I have always been a fan of a hydrating matte lipstick, when I think of them, I always think of those that I’ve discovered already like Bobbi Brown Cosmetics luxe defining lipsticks and lip tints. Now I have discovered yet another fave, the newly formulated matte revolution formula from Charlotte Tilbury! This is the shade Wedding Belles and it comes in a net weight size of 3.5 grams, a perfect amount that will last a while. Described as a hydrating, 3D high pigmented lipstick, with a lasting longevity of 10hrs. It infuses safflower seed oil, papaya extract for a smooth glide-on application, that keeps the lips hydrated while wearing. It also comes in refillable bullet tubing, so you can grab a replacement and just slide it into the case. The lipsticks from CT also have a squared tip mimicking a lip brush, for perfecting precise application on the edges and contours of the lip. Wedding Belles is a warm-toned muted deep mauve-pink with a satin matte finish. It comes in a gorgeous rose-gold bullet lipstick design casing with sparkly diamond-like detailing embedded into the lid and body of the packaging. Take a closer detailed look below.

Worldwide Prices & Availability
– Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G Matte Revolution Long-Lasting Lipstick in ‘Wedding Belles’ 3.5g;
Australia: $55 (Mecca) – $57 (CT) AUD
Available: online and in-store at Mecca and Charlotte Tilbury.

USA: $37 USD
Available: online at Charlotte Tilbury and at Beautylish And online & in-store at Sephora.

UK: £29 GBP
Available: online and in-store at Charlotte Tilbury, Cult Beauty, Feel Unique and ASOS.

New Zealand: $59 NZD
Available: online & in-store at Mecca NZ, Cosmetics Now and Pharmacy Direct.

Canada: $43 CAD
Available: online & in-store at Charlotte Tilbury, Net-a-Porter and Sephora Canada.

My Thoughts & Impressions
– Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G Matte Revolution Long-Lasting Lipstick in ‘Wedding Belles’ 3.5g; I love how creamy and satin-y the formula of this matte lipstick is, not to mention the gorgeous opaque pigmentation from the colour. It really has that one-swipe, glide on application and the squared tip helps to do the edges. I have enjoyed how it wears on the lips and how long it lasts too, I wore it for 5hrs total without any touch-ups, I haven’t yet tried it whilst eating but that will be my next test. I really like the natural deep muted pink tone this lipstick has, its perfect for any occasion but especially a nice dinner date/outing. I can already see myself picking up further shades from the same range after I use up this one and I would likely get a back up of this shade too. So that begs the question, would I repurchase? the answer is, yes. I would repurchase and re-stock this shade, the formula is creamy smooth and it wears pretty well on the lips.

Disclaimer: the products in this post were all purchased by myself. This post is not ad. As always, all thoughts and opinions are honest and are my own. All of the photos featured in this post are my own and require permission from myself for any reuse or republishing.

Beauty

Bobbi Brown Crushed Oil-Infused Gloss – April 2020

Bobbi Brown Crushed Oil-Infused Gloss – April 2020

Introducing the coveted new Crushed Oil-Infused Gloss high-shine colours from Bobbi Brown Australia! Now available in 12 shades, the formula is a plumping, hydrating, non-sticky gloss that ranges in tones from nudes to warm bolds. With an ingredients inclusion of avocado oil, jojoba seed oil, arabica coffee seed oil and hyaluronic acid, these are super smooth and ultra hydrating! I’ve been lucky enough to try out a range of the colours and I wanted to share my thorough review and thoughts about the new release.

Swatches & Formula
In the collection, there is a total of 12 high-shine glosses; including the limited edition shades created in collaboration with Yara Shahidi. With a super smooth formula that is hydrating, plumping & non-sticky, this range of glosses can be worn alone or over the top of a lipstick. The shades in my collection are: ‘Hot Streak’ – a bright vibrant red/pink, ‘In The Flow’ – a deep red/burgundy, ‘Slow Jam’ – a deep mauve pink, ‘Spring Bliss’ – mauve medium pink and ‘Forever Chill’ – a mid brown beige. Below, you can see the swatches from each shade in my collection…

This range of high-shine glosses can take you from nudes to bolds with a colour to suit all skin tones. The ingredients is packed with enriched hydrating oils, including jojoba seed oil, arabica coffee seed oil, avocado seed oil and sodium hyaluronate. They’re all free from parabens, sulphites, phthalates, gluten and animal derived ingredients. I love wearing them on their own and also over the top of my crushed lip colour lipsticks.

Prices & Availability
The high-shine Crushed Oil-Infused Glosses are available for $40 AUD each at the following stores & online; Bobbi Brown Australia, David Jones, Adore Beauty, Myer and Mecca Maxima.

Final Thoughts & Review
I love the hydrating, smooth formula and the long length of wear, they last quite a while upon wear. I also love that they’re non-sticky because that can be hard sometimes to find glosses that aren’t and these are definitely not sticky, such a plus! I enjoy the range of colours there is in the collection as well! Would I repurchase? Definitely! I love how the high-shine glosses can be worn both either on top of another lip colour or by themselves as an overall cover. Because they’re slightly translucent, you can build up multiple layers to get a more fuller coverage.

Disclaimer
The products above were kindly sent in to me for consideration of creating content with and writing a review. This does not alter my honest thoughts and opinions in any way.

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