Mary Kay has launched some pretty great new items in their winter collection. Liquid Eyeliner that has some serious precision to it, gorgeous eyeshadow that suite almost everyone and a lip duo that can help save your lips from the dry winter weather.

For the Man in Your Life

Proraso Beard Care:
Does you man have facial hair? Well mine has a beard. He often complains that is dry and doesn't feel to nice. I have been wanting to get him a little something in the facial hair care department but didn't know where to start. I was incredibly happy to learn about Proraso and their line of beard care products. Not only to they make a beard oil, a moustache wax but they also make a beard wash, something I would have never thought of. I am so excited to give him these product for Christmas that I can't contain myself (honestly), I am also really excited to see how soft his beard can be with some proper products. You can buy all their bead care separately, or you can get a tin set that has the wash, wax and oil, plus a comb, moustache comb and a beard brush for $39,99.

NIVEA Men Winter Collection:
What man doesn't need basic toiletries during the holidays? It's like socks or undies, men need them and this time of year a great time to get set for them. NIVEA has a great men's set that hast their Men Creme, Sensitive Skin Shaving Gel, Cool Kicks Shower Gel, Sensitive Skin After Shave Balm and Sensitive Skin Face Wash all in a nice toiletry bag for $14.99. I think this is a great set, when the hubby used to shave, the NIVEA Men Sensitive skin Shaving Gel and After Shave Balm were the only products he could use, they are great for sensitive guys skin.

Stocking Stuffers / Break Apart Gifts

I love stocking! I also love creating stockings for others. One of my favourite things to do it buy a few sets and break them apart so people get more of a mix in their stockings.

Burt's Bees Beeswax Bounty Set Assorted:
This set comes in both a mix (mango, pomegranate, vanilla bean and classic beeswax) as well as just a 4 pack of just the classic beeswax. I personally love Burt's Bees lip balms and cannot live without them, so giving them as a gift is always a good idea. At $13.99 ( I got mine at Longo's for $10.99) these babies make a great stocking stuffer or break apart gift that wont break the bank.

Quo Luxury Lipstick Wardrobe:
With four moisturizing matte shades of lipstick in a classy gold tube these are a great lipstick that I have fallen head over heals in love with. The range of shades in this set make it a great gift for one person, but can also easily be broken into 4 gifts. At $30 it also is cheaper then buying 4 lipsticks in less classy tubes at the drug store.

ELF Mad For Matte Lip Colour Set:
Superstore, Walmart and Rexall all have started to stock ELF in the last few months and with it are some great holiday sets. I picked up the Matte Lip Pencil Set which has 4 of their matte lip pencils.
The shades in the set are Dash of Pink, Berry Sorbet, Cranberry and Rich Red. I personally have 4 of these already and love them, so to give them seems natural for me. I got mine for $11.00 at my Superstore.

The Body Shop Body Butters:
The Body Shop always has great sets and deals during the holiday season. This one features 5 50 ml body butters in a great package (Coconut, Shea, Fuji Green Tea, British Rose and Strawberry). I plan on breaking it apart and keeping one for myself this holiday season. I was lucky to grab this $20 set for $10 during a 50% off sale.

Marvis 7 Days of Flavour Gift Set:
Marvis is the it brand for high end toothpaste. This set features 7 flavours of their iconic toothpaste to give. For $35 you get 7 small tubes that cost $7 regularly making a great value and a great way to let someone (or someones) try a bunch of flavours without being stuck with a big tube of just one flavour.
The set contains Aquatic Mint, Cinnamon Mint, Classic Mint, Ginger Mint, Jasmine Mint, Amarelli Licorice and Whitening Mint toothpastes.  All of which sound great. I am going to break this one up and keep 4 of them (Ginger Mint, Jasmine Mint, Cinnamon Mint and Amarelli Licorice).

Mary Kay Satin Lips White Tea and Citrus:
This isn't a break apart set, but a super fantastic idea for the colder months. It is a lip scrub and balm set in the fantastic White Tea and Citrus flavour from Mary Kay. I am a huge fan of the Satin Hands, so Satin Lips is just as fantastic. And who doesn't want softer lips for under the mistletoe toe?

Gift Sets

Gift sets are always a great thing, you get more value for your money and people get a sampling of a bunch of neat stuff.

Mary Kay White Tea and Citrus Satin Hands:
I know for a fact I am not the only one who's hands get destroyed in the winter time. Mine may be worse then yours though. This set is the best thing to happen to winter hands that I have ever discovered! So that is why I think it makes a great gift for any hard working folk on your list.
You get a cute little gift bag, a hand softener, Shea hand scrub and Shea hand lotion. The new formal makes the products work even better and this new scent is fantastic as well (although you can always get it in fragrance free).

Burt's Bees Mani Pedi Set:
I may have dry hands and feet, but I know others do too, which is why this is such a great set. You get Burt's Ultimate Care Hand Cream, which is thick and wonderful, their Lemon Bitter Cuticle Cream and their Peppermint Foot Lotion which is great too. You also get an Eco Tools foot tool with a brush and a pumice stone on it.
 I may have been reprimanded by the hubby this year about how dry and flaky my feet have been already, so year this is a very good winter gift for just $20.

Fresh Oval Zodiac Soap:
I love this soap! It is a fantastic heavy triple milled soap that lasts a long time, wrapped in fancy paper and decorated for all the different zodiac signs in 4 great scents. I can't say enough good things about this soap (just go check out my review above) so I think it makes a great gift at $18.

Fresh Rose Skincare Ritual Daily Essentials:
This is a set that I think is just a fantastic gift. Fresh is a brand I have fallen in love with and think their Rose line is perfect for just about everyone out there. It has their Soy Face Cleanser, Rose Hydrating Eye Gel Cream, Rose Face Mask ad Rose Floral Toner.
 I have been in love with Fresh's Rose mask for about a year and a half now. Its formula is fantastic for dry skin and can be used everyday if wanted. I also have been using the Rose Toner for the last 4 months and love how my skin has been feeling the whole time. This set is great for dry skin, sensitive skin, oily skin, dull skin, pretty much all skin types. At $78 it is a steal since it has a $106 value to it.

Fresh's Oval Soaps have been pretty famous since they first launched in 1993. Wrapped in artisan paper and wire with a little gem stone, they are luxurious and feel quite decadent to just even hold. Well this year Fresh has launched a Limited Edition Zodiac Oval Soap Collection just in time for the holidays.
Just like Fresh's other Oval Soaps, these are wrapped in artisan paper and wire for a very high end look. The big difference is each sign gets its own decorative paper, has a drawing of the sign and a element related stone. Making it a really glamorous and large bar of soap. At 8.8 oz or 250 g it is absolutely huge compared to other bars that are out there. They are triple milled so they last a long time and are nice an heavy too. They are made without parabens, sulfates and phthalates.
The signs are divided into four scents based on their elements and each get their own colour scheme and little stone to represent them.
Air Signs: Gemini, Libra and Aquarius get Verbena as their scent. Bright and fresh with green citrus as its scent, while the soaps packaging is blue and grey with an aventurine stone.

Earth Signs: Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn get Sugar scented soap. Blended with sweet caramel and citrus it smells fantastic. Wrapped in olive and brown packaging with a quartz stone.
Water Signs: Cancer, Pisces, and Scorpio get Waterlily. With a sheer aquatic and floral blend it smells incredibly clean. All wrapped up in Turquoise and aqua packaging with a fluorite stone.

Fire Signs: Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius soap have Mangosteen. With Mangosteen and Nectarines it smells fruity and light. This soap comes wrapped in orange and red with a Tiger's Eye stone.
I happen to be a Virgo, so that means my soap is Sugar. I love the wrapping, it is so pretty and just feels decadent. Once I finally opened it (I really didn't want to, I wanted to keep it there forever) I could just smell how great it was and marvelled in its size. This is quite the soap and it will make a great gift for anyone. The back side (like all their oval soaps) says the name of its' scent, in this case Sugar.
I think these make such a great gift, I already ordered two for friends up coming holiday gifts. Not only is it a very pretty and luxurious bar of soap that I think makes a great gift, it is personalized just for that person. They know you really thought about buying it just for them. They also make for great stocking stuffer type gifts, making each person feel nice and special.
You can pick up Fresh's Zodiac Oval Soap Collection at Sephora.ca for a limited time only for $18.00 Cad.

*Product was sent for review, all opinions are my own. And yes, I did go buy two for gifts for my friends who love astrology with my own money.

We all have favourite movies, even more during the holiday season. My seasonal favourites are a bit unorthodox, but still they are my families tradition. Today I am going to share with you my childhood, adult and all time must watch movies. Hope you like them.

Childhood Favourites:

Watching these movies as a child somehow became a tradition that I looked forward to every year and now that I am an adult I feel the season just isn't complete without them

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966):
Maybe its the Boris Karloff, maybe its the Chuck Jones animation, or just the Grinch's heart growing 3 sizes that day, but darn it I love this movie. It is also a quick watch at about 25 minutes in length you can easily watch it without getting too board.

Now many people are going to ask me how I like the Ron Howard version, I don't, it just doesn't compare to the classic in my eyes.

Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983):
One fond childhood memory of mine was watching the Wonderful World Of Disney every Sunday night. This of course meant the annual holiday special featuring Mickey's Christmas Carol, Goofy Teaching you how to ski and Chip and Dale's tree being cut down to be Plutos' Christmas Tree.  Sadly only Mickey's Christmas Carol still airs on every year (it has aired every year since 1985 on CBC).  I happen to have two Disney Holiday DVDs as well as the complete Donald and Goofy collections, so I can easily watch whenever I want, but usually just Christmas Carol.

This is a cute re-imagining of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, but with Mickey, Goofy, Donald and of course Scrooge McDuck. It's cute and lighthearted and only lasts about 26 minutes.

Honorable Mentions: Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer, Frosty The Snowman and A Christmas Story

Adult Favorites:

These are the films I didn't fall in love with as a child, but rather as an adult. Some weren't around when I was a kid, others were and I just kind of missed out.. They all are good family ones, some with some adult humor in them too.

ELF (2003):
Since ELF only came out when I was already 23, it isn't a childhood favourite of mine, but it is still a favourite none the less.

The adorable story of a human child raised in the north pole who truly believes he is an elf, despite his size and lack of elf talents. When buddy learns in his 30's that he is in fact a human, he does in search of his father in New York City. Of course the cutler shock of the real world mixed with his innocence as well as his dad who is on the naughty list equals laughs all around.

Jon Favreau directs this one and Will Ferrell and James Caan star.
It's a Muppet's Very Merry Christmas  Movie (2002):
This is once again a kids movie that came out when I was adult. I love the Muppet's, a childhood favourite. While I loved a tv special that aired for many years in the 80's and 90's it no longer play, so this is as close as I can get to it.

It is once again Dickens' Christmas Carol, this time with Kermit and the gang. It also has a pile of early 2000s pop culture references that are both really dated and hilarious in retrospect.  An example is their Christmas production at the theatre is Moulin Rouge themed and there's a lot of talk about malls being popular. Still I love it. 

Scrooged (1988)
I never seemed to have really watched this one as a child, but it turns out it is a favourite of my husband. We watch it every year now and I must say that darn that Bill Murray is a funny guy,

Basically it a comedy with a bit of slapstick retelling modern version Dickens' Christmas Carol.

Honorable mentions: Christmas Vacation and The Santa Clause

Unorthodox Traditions:
The title here should say it all, when people hear these titles they don't think of Christmas, but we here do. These aren't for kids either.

Bad Santa (2003)
It is hard to believe that this came out at the same time as ELF. The hubby and a bunch of other relatives find this film to be crazy funny. I will say while I only thought it was OK at first, it really has grown on me over the years.

Generally the hubby will turn this on at some point Christmas evening once were all full of turkey and maybe a little tipsy.

If you like your humor crude you're probably going to like this one.

Die Hard (1988):
I can't believe I went so long without ever watching this, I think I was 29 before I ever saw it. The hubby was up late watching it on tv and I asked why was it on at Christmas. I quickly learned it takes place on Christmas Eve. I was sold. Ever since then we watch it on Christmas Eve. I also yell when I see it on TV during the rest of the year, "IT NOT CHRISTMAS YET".

This is the first of 5 movies in the franchise, it features a John, a NYC cop visiting his estranged wife in LA on Christmas Eve. Of course there happens to be a crazy amount of bonds in a safe and a bunch of criminals take over the building. John of course has to save the day.
It features Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman as the mains in it.

Super fun bonus time, I found an authorized colouring book for the movie, me and Melissa from Melissa's Musings are going have a fun night of colouring and watching this movie.

Trading Places (1983):
This one takes place between Christmas and New Years, so we tend to watch it on Christmas Day or New Years Eve, but we always watch it.

This one is a great '80's comedy about a Louie, a commodities trader and Billy Ray, a con man have their fortunes switched when Louie's bosses make a bet about what would happen if the one was destitute an the other wealthy. Nothing really goes as planed and a lot of comedy occurs.

Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy star in this film.

Honorable mentions: Gremlins, Die Hard 2 and Lethal Weapon

That is enough bad movie summaries from me, I hope you liked it. The key thing here is these are my and my family's traditions when it comes to Holiday Films.

It comes with Melted Liquid Long Wear Lipsticks in their best selling shades Chihuahua and Fig. It also has a Melted Chocolate shade in Honey and a Melted Matte in Lady Balls (a fantastic red for the holidays).
BECCA Glow on The Go Shimmering Skin Perfector Moonstone Set ($24)
I also redeemed 100 points for a deluxe Too Faced Melted Matte in Sell Out.