Valentine's Day Gift Guide: Part 2

​The previous blog post and gift guide was all about what would be good gifts, in my opinion, to give to others. This one is going to be the "Treat Yourself" guide, and I'm doing it on Valentine's Day weekend since there are usually sales, you might just get gift cards or cash for a gift, you might get to pick out your gift, so I'm here to help.

The previous one would work as a "Treat Yourself" guide as well but this one is specifically dedicated to skincare, makeup, and body care. It's quite long because there are so many products. Therefore, I'm not going to delve too deep into each product on why it's so wonderful. It's going to be a full-blown list.

Starting with Skincare cause it has the most products.

• Tatcha The Dewy Serum: This is new. I've been using it for about 3 weeks. It's described as a "resurfacing and plumping treatment". It's "a 3-in one serum that smooths the lines of lines and texture with Lactic Acid (from Hadasei-3), visibly plumps with hyaluronic acid, and locks in moisture with Squalane". I will say that I do notice the help with moisture and fine lines. I don't feel the "acid" so I think it would be a nice addition for those who struggle with finding an "acid exfoliation" that isn't too strong for the skin. I also tend to use stronger acids so it might just be that I'm used to it but it's nowhere near as strong as Sunday Riley's "Good Genes" which is a Lactic Acid treatment.
• Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm: Since this is a Valentine's Day post I'm going to show the rose one since it's beautiful and pink and uses the soothing "English Rose Oleo Extract". However, I'm a long-time fan of the original but now they have created a "fragrance-free" one for those who don't enjoy or can't use scented products. I didn't realize it but they have another scent in Neroli. I don't have that one. There are many different sizes I love that and some might think that it's just far too much money for a "cleansing balm" but this beauty can be left on the skin for several minutes and it helps moisturize the skin. I like doing that in the mornings because it's a great "morning cleanser". I just checked and they are doing 20% off sitewide right now (using code "SITEWIDE"). 
• Amanda Lacey Balm: I was sent this. It's absolutely amazing. The packaging feels like glass, it's nice and heavy, and while it's very simple, it's also very effective. 
• Tatcha Violet-C Radiance Mask: I have had this for quite a while. It's the most stunning shade of purple (or violet I guess due to the name) and it's a good shot of Vitamin C for the face. You know how I love my antioxidants. A travel size of this is in a value set of Tatcha with 5 other products on the Sephora site. 
• Maya Chia "The Super Couple" ultra-luxe facial oil. This was sent to me last week. I've been a big fan of them for so long, and the first facial oil I ever tried was their "Straight A" oil which is a very gentle retinol in an oil. Apart from that, I'd mainly just tried their other products like their pressed serum that I love, along with their cleanser. This is so fitting since it's Valentine's Day and the name being "Super Couple", but it's actually their best seller and I can see why. It's amazing. I've used it a lot with the Tatcha Dewy Serum and my skin feels so soft and plump. They're doing free shipping on orders over $75.
• Glow Recipe Papaya Sorbet Smoothing Enzyme Cleansing Balm & Makeup Remover. What a long name for a product. Firstly, I would never use this as just a "makeup remover", save that for less expensive cleansing balms/oils. It resurfaces skin with the papaya enzymes and I've had many resurfacing products that featured "papaya enzymes" and they're very effective. It's not gritty, it's smooth and creamy. It also houses antioxidant-rich blueberry, apricot kernel oil, and camellia seed oil which as you know if in my top favorite ingredients. So it's far more than just a "cleansing balm". 
• Bliss anything pretty much. I have loved getting to try the Bliss products of every range they have. Their treatments are potent, don't let the bright colors fool you. The bright pink treatment serum is Hyaluronic Acid + Niacinamide, the royal blue is Glycolic Acid + Polyhydroxy acid, and the bright orange is Vitamin C + Tri-peptide Collagen. I'm obsessed with the Incredi-peel Glycolic Acid Pads, that come in little pouches. I'm also extremely obsessed with the "Rose Gold Rescue" range that was designed for sensitive skin. In particular the "Soothing Toner Mist". They just released the new "gentle" resurfacing pads for sensitive skin. I could go on and on. I'm trying to be quick though. I've not tried anything I don't like from them. Right now, you can buy 2 and get 1 free on their site with the code "MORE2LUV" as well as free shipping over $40. They're available at ULTA as well, if that is more convenient for you. 
• Kate Somerville: Again, pretty much anything. Especially the new DeliKate line which was developed for sensitive skin. This weekend you get a free full-size DeliKate Cleanser with any $80 purchase with the code "LOVEDELIKATE". I will say apart from this line, I do love the Goat Milk cleanser and moisturizing cream, as well as the Age Arrest products, Wrinkle Warrior products, K8 peptide cream, "KX Active Concentrates "treatments which are what they use in their spa. I love everything I've used so far. These are also sold at Sephora and ULTA. The age arrest is on sale right now at Sephora for $47.50 and it's normally $95!
• Sunday Riley. As always, they have amazing products. Lately, I've been using "Tidal" water cream the most but I'm a die-hard fan of their facial oils.
• Dr. Dennis Gross. Again so many good products. If you like a stronger acid like me they do wonderful "Daily Peels". I'm also loving their "Hyaluronic Marine" products especially the meltaway cleanser, and I've loved their C+ Collagen cream for years, and they recently released the Stress Relief range right when face masks became such a problem for the skin. ​

Moving on to makeup

• Pat Mcgrath "Rose Decadence" palette. Still, on sale on Sephora for about $33 I think. I've used it many a time. If you like subtle pinks, rose gold shimmers, berry tones, then don't skip this. 
• Natasha Denona TrioChrome Palette. This was sent to me by Beautylish. Thank you so much. This is just a different vibe of a palette. There are so many options of what "look" you can do, all the way from super subtle to bright and dramatic. The three trichromes in the palette are legit 3 different shades. It's one of my favorite palettes she's done. 
• NARS blush in Claudette. This is new. I picked it up over a month ago. It's two different shades. A beautiful pink to warm up the cheeks and make them look healthy and then a very nice cooler toned and deeper blush to help contour and carve out those cheekbones. The pan is huge.
• Yensa 8 Lip Oil. Don't let the name fool you it's not a thin oil that going to run all over the place. It's a nice thicker gloss almost that is full coverage except for a couple that are clear or sheer but tinted. I wear these all the time. These were sent to me by YENSA months ago and I love them very much. They also have amazing skincare, especially the CBD facial oil and oil cleanser. 
• Elf Concealers. I happen to like both the camo concealer and the hydrating concealer. I lean more toward the hydrating concealer though. These are really good not to mention very affordable. I got mine at ULTA.
• Rare Beauty. I notice that I use their liquid liner over others and it doesn't smudge or anything through the day. I've talked about it a lot though so you already know this.
• Hourglass is in the sale section at Sephora. Meaning the Ambient Lighting Face Palette which is a 6 pan of blush, bronzer, and finishing powders. It's $56 when it was previously $80. The Mini Ambient Lighting Edit-Sculpture Unlocked palette is on sale as well. It's a 4 pan of blush, bronzer, finishing powder, and a strobe powder. It's $40.50 when previously it was $58. Also in the sale section is the Benefit cheek palettes, both the 3 pan and the 5 pan "Cheeks Stars Reunion Tour". The trio being $18 when it was previously $30, and the regular palette being $36 when it was $60. There's plenty more but I'm trying not to keep you here all day. ​

​Bath and Body

• LUSH. They have released so many new bubble bars. That I've placed two orders. It's part of their Harajuku release. Last year it was bath bombs, this year it's bubble bars. They also have their limited edition Valentine's Day collection as well. I also got the Conga shower jelly. I wish I'd gotten the larger size because it smells amazing.
• Country Market Crafts. They're my go-to brand for bath products. At a reasonable price and an excellent turn around time for shipping. They have a Valentine's Day collection up. I recommend the Strawberry 'Nilla bubble bars (or anything in that scent). My all-time favorite scent is the Rainbow Berry Crunch. They've not put the bubble bars out just yet but they do have the bath bombs as well as a body lotion in it that I'm totally going to get. They do bath sprinkles too which I love to put in my "bath cocktails". I currently have the Rainbow Berry Crunch wax melt going in my wax warmer right now so the whole room smells like it. I need to pick up some wax melts in Strawberry 'Nilla if they have any and I'm definitely going to get some in Blueberry 'Nilla if they do any. They're an indie brand on Etsy. I've talked about them a million times though. Definitely check them out though. 
• L'Occitane has amazing body products that can be quite pricey but they smell and feel wonderful. I love their shower gel, their creams, the body oil that smells exactly like the shower gel, they do a good job. I stick to the Almond scented products but they have others in the hand creams, foot creams, etc. They have a set right now on Sephora for the almond products which is their staples I would say. It's $50 and you get an 8 oz shower gel, and a 3 oz milk concentrate cream, and then you get both in the travel size version as well. It's a good set if you're just wanting to try them out. 

There you have it guys. I hope that if you made it this far, then you enjoyed it or found something you like. I hope you have a good Valentine's Day. I love you (and God loves you). Also, some of these products were sent to me at some point in time, some of them I bought, some of them I've used for years. However, none of the codes in here benefit me, none of the links are affiliate links, the codes will not get me any commission. So no worries there.