Best Beauty crackers 2017

Beauty Advent Calendars are huge this year, my post has over 70 listed in it (here) and if you can't decide which one is best for you there are a few alternative options which are just exciting - Beauty Crackers.  Beauty Crackers is one of my most requested posts in the last few weeks and it has taken some doing getting bits of information from people but here are the ones that I feel fit within the 'Best Beauty Cracker' category.

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Marc Jacobs is offering up two Beauty Crackers for 2017. The first one is called 'The Sex Kitten' Cracker Makeup Gift Set - This Cracker contains two travel-size products which are Le Marc Lip Crème, Mini and Velvet Noir Major Volume Mascara, Mini. Retails for just £13 here. The second cracker is called The Night Owl and features a three piece eye collection made up of Velvet Noir Major Volume Mascara, Petite Highliner Gel Eye Crayon and the Petite Magic Marc'er Precision Pen Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner and it retails for £24,

Lime Crime Diamond Crushers Cracker Box (£21 here) features three of Lime Crime’s mini Diamond Crushers encased in a beautiful bright red cracker. Uniting three mini editions in each, there are three cracker colour options to choose from: ‘Golds’ unites rose golden champagne shades ‘Lit’, ‘Cleopatra’ and ‘Dope’; ‘Glinda’ features sparkling pinks ‘Choke’, ‘Acid Fairy’ and ‘Pink Pearl’; ‘Unicorn’ contains ethereal, vibrant shades ‘Unicorn’, ‘Black Unicorn’ and ‘Unicorn Queen’.

Gatineau - The Gatineau Christmas Cracker Set combines a miniature duo of best-selling products for targeted care. Housed in limited edition packaging, the luxurious gift set is the perfect stocking filler or tree decoration, helping to keep your complexion looking youthful and fresh. The Set Contains: DefiLift 3D Revolumising Lip Care (10ml) and Collagen Expert Wrinkle Corrector (10ml) £32.

Jo Malone - Now Christmas isn't Christmas without an amazing array of gifts from Jo Malone and having been the lucky recipient of many a Jo Malone cracker, this is one that I love the look of.  Inside you will find three Jo Malone Minis by way of Blackberry & Bay cologne, a body wash in the fresh Basil & Neroli scent and a English Pear & Freesia body cream. Priced at £34 it will soon be available.

Sarah Chapman - This Skincare cracker from Sarah Chapman is another one which has caught my eye. Inside there are two products - a 5ml Overnight facial and a 5ml morning facial product, both of which I've read rave reviews of and neither have yet crossed my path. priced at £29.

Omorovicza - I have said this a few times now, but Omorovicza is an incredible brand and this cracker made me whoop with glee. Inside you will find the purifying Moor Cream Cleanser and the Refining Facial Polisher which are both 30ml. A great introduction to the brand if you have never come across and tried anything before and at just £25.

The White Company - Seychelles Christmas cracker gift set from The White Company contains three products which includes the Seychelles Hand & Body Crème (50ml), Seychelles Mini Shower Gel (50ml) and Lip Balm (10ml) and all for just £25.

Eve Lom - If a beautiful Cracker is what you want, then Eve Lom has a wow factor with their Kiss Mix one.  Priced at £25 inside you will find Kiss Mix Original which is an incredible lip treatment and Kiss Mix Colour - Demure which is described as being an ultra-hydrating formula that can be applied under lipstick, over lip colour, or worn alone for a soft, pearlised sheen.

Yardley - Featuring a 50ml tube of their English Rose hand cream, at £4, this is an absolute bargain and it looks just so pretty.

Elemis - This is one cracker that I can imagine being really popular. The Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm Cracker contains a cleansing cloth, a 20g Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm and the offer of a FREE 15 minute Pro-Collagen Treatment and all for just £19.

La Roche-Posay - An increible skincare brand with a cracker to boot. The La Roche-Posay's Cicaplast Cracker is described as being a perfect stocking filler or Christmas gift and contains a replenishing lip balm and a nourishing hand balm that work in tandem to protect and hydrate. Priced at just £12.

L'Oreal - This year L'Oreal are offering up three different Beauty Crackers with Read my Lips Nude, Pink and Red and inside each one of these crackers you will find a Colour Riche Lipstick and Lipliner in matching shades and they cost just £7.99 each.

Philip Kingsley - The Polished Perfection Gift Set contains the well-loved and cult beauty product which is the Elasticizer and a PK Prep Polishing Balm.  Wrapped inside this festive-looking cracker you can grab this one for just £10.

Sanctuary Pamper Cracker - This cracker aims to have you pampered from top to toe with seven little treats. Including a Hand Cream 30ml, a Thermal Detox Sachet 15g, 75ml Luxury Bath Float and more, you can grab it for just £12.50.

This Works - The Big Bang from This Works is really lovely in that it contains a Deep Sleep™ Pillow Spray, which if you have not tried you should as it is amazing and a luxurious eye mask housed in cracker-shaped packaging. Priced at £12.

Invisibobble - I adore these little hair bands and have totally switched from using any other type of hair band in my hair.  For Christmas, if you are as big a fan as me, this cracker contains a trip pack of bobbles, or 9 of them in total for just £12.

Molton Brown - Again for 2017, Molton Brown have two offerings to tempt you with.  The first is The Pink Pepperpod Cracker which contains three products from the Pink Pepperpod range all generously sized is priced at £20.  The second option is the Distinguished Treats Cracker and this one contains four 50ml products including the Bushukan Body Wash which smells just incredible and again it costs just £20.

Nuxe - The Nuxe Holiday Skincare Cracker is an absolute beauty and a must for Nuxe fans. Inside you will find three of Nuxe most well known and loved products which includes the incredible Huile Prodigieuse Gold and all for just £10.

label.m - This Diamond Dust Body Lotion is housed in a limited-edition sparkling cracker gift box and looks very snazzy. Priced at £14.95.

Timebomb - Bright green and super cute, it contains two mini versions of the Time Bomb Hand-to-Hand Combat Hand Cream (30ml) and costs just £10 from QVC.

Caudalie - Again this year there are two offerings of Beauty Cracker from Caudalie.  Starting with Hydration Essentials which has three must have products inside which includes Micellar Cleansing Water, Vinosource Moisturizing Sorbet and Vinosource SOS Thirst Quenching Serum for just £10.  The second option called Body Essentials contains Thé Des Vignes Fragrance, Thé Des Vignes Shower Gel and Thé Des Vignes Body Lotion and again it costs just £10.

Decléor - Inside this cracker from Decléor is a 50ml Intense Nutrition Hand Cream which is described as being a light hand cream with delicate floral notes is ideal for use throughout the day to leave skin beautifully scented and provide essential care for hands and nails. Priced at £12.

Cowshed - This year there are three offerings and there is a choice of Bullocks which contains a Body Wash and Soothing Moisturiser or the Hand and lip Cracker within which you will find a Lip Balm and Hand Cream. Alternatively and quite cleverly, if you are a fan of Cowshed or have been waiting for a reason to try some of their products there is this trio of crackers which can be used as gifts or kept for yourself and it is priced at £30and is an absolute bargain.

There will as we get closer to Christmas be a lot more crackers being announced and as with my Advent Calendar post, this one will too be updated and I have some further crackers to share.

Are you a Beauty Cracker fan?

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page here

The Pixi Glow Tonic Challenge

Pixi by Petra is without a doubt a brand that I am a huge fan of.  Their cult beauty product Glow Tonic is one that I use regularly and one that I recommend to so many people who complain about their skin.  To that end, this little box of treats arrived through my door a few days ago with the question - Do You Want Brighter Skin?  Well yes, don't we all is my answer.  So, Pixi have set a challenge using the hashtag #GlowTonicChallenge to help you get the Pixi Glow and you can win a years supply of Glow Tonic and this is how.

Pixi Glow Tonic is a best selling cult favourite, I am sure everyone who reads my blog will have heard of it and the majority of you tried it.  The toner accelerates cell renewal to reveal radiant, healthier looking skin.  It is alcohol-free and contains a few key ingredients such as Glycolic Acid, Ginseng, Aloe Vera and both Fructose and Sucrose and in turn, they exfoliate, improve circulation, soothe, hydrate and brighten the skin.

To take part in the #GlowTonicChallenge there are three steps:

• Step 1 - Saturate a cotton wool pad with Glow Tonic or use the pre-saturated pads and sweep across the face and neck.
• Step 2 - Once complete, take a look at the makeup, dirt, grime, dead skin cells and other detritus on that pad - this is what causes skin dullness - rank!
• Step 3 - Post a selfie of you taking the challenge using the hashtag #GlowTonicChallenge and by tagging @pixibeauty on Instagram.  One winner will be picked each week.

That is all there is to it.  You can read more about the competition on the Pixi website and good luck to everyone who enters!

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page here

Primark PS CustomEyes - Build Your Own Palette

Building my own eyeshadow palette is something I find a lot of fun to do and I have done it on many occasions using different brands.  A quick trip into Primark a few weeks ago, I saw that they now had, in their ever-expanding line of cosmetics, an option to build your own eyeshadow palette and well you know what happened next.

The palettes I had to choose from had either 4 or 9 slots in them and are priced at £2 and £3 respectively.  I opted for a 4 slot version, which fits nicely into the palm of my hand and slides into my makeup bag really easily.  Then choosing the eyeshadow singles to go into this palette was much harder than I had expected.  Whether you like brights, mattes, shimmers or even glitters then there is something for you right there and that isn't all.  The range of colours is quite incredible and whether it is blue, purple, green, nude, white, yellow and even red again you will find it and best of all they are just 60p each! 

So as ever, I managed to choose more shades than I had slots, but given there was so much to choose from, I could have easily filled more than one palette, but I wanted to know whether or not it was worth spending, even more, money and instead limited myself.  

The shades I chose are:

So yes naturally I have chosen neutral shades because you never can have enough and they were the ones which stood out to me.

• Espresso - This is an incredible deep brown shade which is more pigmented than I had expected and with very little fall out.
• Stone - A really light gold shade, nothing that amazing to write home about, but it does make a great base shade.
• Earth - A nondescript muted earthy brown shade and it has a matte finish.
• Ice - A white shimmer, not quite a glitter or a foil but there is a hint of sparkle. Definitely the weakest shade and not one to be worn alone, but okay for adding some sparkle.
• Hot Coco - I love this shade. It is a mixture of being brown but with a copper tone to it. It shimmers in the light and isn't too dramatic with the sparkle
• Stripped - I had high hopes for Stripped with all of it pinky peach loveliness and whilst it is quite muted, it is one which stands out.

For me these shades are great value for money at 60p, they obviously are never going to rival the high-end shades that everyone loves, but they are good value for money.  I have worn these shades for the past week and I use an eyeshadow primer from Urban Decay and the lastability once applied is as expected a good 4-5 hours wear time.

I thought it would be a good idea to show the swatches in both natural daylight (top swatch) and then as the sun came out (bottom swatch).  I haven't edited either swatch or added any filters as I wanted to show them as they are.  I have used my index finger to swipe onto my wrist and from bottom to top you can see Stone, Stripped, Hot Coco, Earth, Espresso and then Ice at the top.

So there you have an eyeshadow palette that cost just over £5 and a far as I am concerned was great value for money and I will definitely be looking at other the other available shades.



*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page here

Burt's Bees Limited Edition Peppermint Lip Balm

I do love my Burt's Bees lip balms and they have featured on this blog many times (here, here and here) and this Winter Burt's Bees have released a Limited Edition festive Peppermint Lip Balm.

I use a lot of lip balm, I always have one or two in my handbag, one on my bedside table, on my desk and in my drawer at work and I use them constantly.  What I love about Burt's Bees Lip Balms is how incredible they feel on the lips.

This Limited Edition Lip Balm is infused with peppermint oil and beeswax which not only moisturises and softens the lips but also nourishes and leaves your lips feeling incredibly hydrated.  There is also the inclusion of Coconut Oil, Vitamin E and Community Sourced Beeswax which you can read more about here.

Packaged inside some red festive packaging which is adorned with candy canes, it retails for £3.99 and you can find it right here.

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page here