What I got for Christmas… And first impressions

Hey beauties!

I know it’s the middle of January, but I still felt like sharing the beauty stuff that I got for Christmas with you. Better late than never, right? So last year I was so lucky as to get the following three makeup items for Christmas:

To the right is the Mistic Smokeys 5 Couleurs Eyeshadow Palette from Dior. To the right is the Illusion D'Ombre Eyeshadow from Chanel, in the shade Illusoire (a purple cream eyeshadow). And at the bottom is a MAC Brow Set in the colour Show-Off. Here are some close-ups of the products:

I haven't tried the Dior palette yet, but is contains a lovely purple colour, as well as a white, a pink, a brown with somewhat dark green undertones and a vivid silver colour. I love these palettes because they are so versatile. You can either use them alone, or as duos (using two shades that are next to each other, for example, like the white and the brown), as trios (using the colours on one of the two diagonals, like the pink, brown and purple), or as a quad. You can also use all five at once, of course, if you want to fit them all into your look :)

I've tried the Chanel cream eyeshadow twice since I got it. And let me say this: On the one hand I'm very happy with it. The colour is lovely and it's really easy to work with. I find that the trouble with some cream eyeshadows is that they are very difficult to blend. But that is not a problem with these shadows. You can literally blend these into nothingness, they're that easy to work with. And what's even better is that they're so buildable. So you can apply just a thin layer and blend it out for a soft wash of colour, of build it up for a really dramatic look. But.. The only thing I don't like is that this shadow is so glittery. I mean, I don't mind a little glitter, but by itself I just think that it's a bit too much. I would therefore recommend using it with another eyeshadow, preferably one that has a matte or satin finish, if you're not comfortable with amount of glitter. But I still want to stress the fact that the glitter is very finely milled, so I wasn't bothered by any fallout or huge chunks of glitter, or anything like that. 

As for the MAC Brow Set in Show-Off, I have used this product a little more than a week now. And I do like this product. It is highly pigmented and it is certainly a handy product for doing your brows on the go, or if you have little time. I will say this, though: You have to be very light-handed. Because this product is so pigmented that you might end up with really thick brows if you apply too much. If that might be a problem for you, I'd recommend getting a slightly lighter shade than you would normally consider. I actually think I'll have to do so myself, because I find it difficult to be light-handed early in the morning :) 

So.. That's it for my Christmas haul and my first impressions! If you want me to review some of these product in more detail, then just leave a comment below :)