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Holiday Advent Adventure

Courtney Salinger

NYX “Box of Goodies”

‘Tis the season for hot chocolate, candy canes, holiday music, and advent calendars! Count down to the holidays with a beauty advent calendar. NYX’s “Box of Goodies” advent calendar, to be exact.

I first saw the NYX “Box of Goodies” advent calendar in ULTA’s weekly catalogue. The Black Friday edition catalogue. Right when I saw it, I knew I had to have it!

It was the day after Black Friday. I drove right up to my nearest ULTA and picked up the “Box of Goodies.” ULTA had quite a few left at the time. It retailed for $50, but was on sale for $25.

As I entered ULTA, I saw the calendars on display in one of the shelves right between the skincare and fragrance products. I went back to my house and pulled my advent calendar out of my bright plastic orange ULTA shopping bag. Here’s what I had experienced…

First, I acknowledged the boxing of the calendar and made some distinctions… The advent calendar is folded into a box. The detail of the box is very pretty and sultry. When you open the box, you can see that it lays vertically. The inside of the calendar has a light pink shade of black lace with flowers and leaves swirled around the area. Each side of the calendar has 12 pockets. The outside of the box is black and has pink lace wrapped around it. The front of the box explains what is in the advent calendar. The back of the box shows the exact colors and names of each item you find within the calendar.

Content in Advent Calendar

Then, I investigated the products that the calendar entails… The calendar contains 12 limited edition eyeshadows and 12 Lip Lingerie lipsticks. As I opened each cut-out by numerical order, starting with number 23, I realized that the eyeshadows and lipsticks coordinate with each other. When I opened number 23, I found an eyeshadow in the shade “Honeymoon.” Next, I opened number 22 and found a lipstick named “Honeymoon.” Is it more than a coincidence that the shades of the lipstick and eyeshadow have the same name? I think not. So, then I opened number 21, which was an eyeshadow named “Teddy.” Next, was a lipstick in number 20, named “Teddy.” The shades of the lipsticks and eyeshadows of the same name match each other. “Ruffle Trim” eyeshadow has a very similar color to the lipstick in “Ruffle Trim.” Next, I noticed that every other box has a lipstick. For example, I started off with number 23, which had an eyeshadow in it. Then, number 22 had a lipstick in it. Next, number 21 had an eyeshadow in it and number 20 had a lipstick in it, and so on.

After trying out the colors and checking out the packaging, I have to say I think NYX’s “Box of Goodies’ advent calendar is the cutest! The joy and excitement of carefully opening each “day” in the advent calendar makes for a fun little surprise. If it’s still on sale, I would suggest purchasing it. A normal sized NYX ‘Lip Lingerie” liquid lipstick runs for $7. This box gives you a smaller version of every color available in the “Lip Lingerie” collection, plus 12 limited edition matching eyeshadows. It’s truly a treat!

See Swatches Here:

Camo Cameo

Courtney Salinger
Camo

Camo Bra Top

You’re flipping through magazines and social media websites. You begin to wonder what that mix of greens with occasional brown and black pattern is that’s hitting up fashion’s newest trends. It’s camouflage and the pattern is used on multiple clothing pieces such as, dresses, pants, shirts, bra tops, jackets, shoes and even snapbacks. Camouflage print is all the craze right now. The dark mix of colors makes the body look slimmer, hence “camouflage.” Wherever the camouflage print is featured, whether it be a bra top or jacket, it’s most likely going to be the main piece that you want to make stand out. You don’t want to have too much going on, therefore just keep it simple. The key is to only apply neutrals with camouflage print. Here are a few ways that camouflage can be worn.

Try pairing a camouflage bra top with some sweat pants, jeans, leggings, or pants. When you pair a bra top with pants, the outfit shows off just enough skin without over doing it. The camouflage bra top gives off a strong feel and makes the outfit look sporty.

Keepin’ it Neutral

When the camouflage print is on pants, you want to keep everything else neutral. Say you wanted to emphasize the green in the pants, try wearing a black or white top, black shoes, and a black purse. When mixing black or white pieces with camouflage, the mix of greens and browns really standout due to neutral colors. 

Camouflage jackets can be worn with some jeans or leggings, crop top or tank top, and some boots. If you decide to wear jean shorts with a camouflage jacket, try pairing them with neutral colored over-the-knee boots. The boots will make the outfit look strong and fierce, they will have you slaying in no time.  

If basic neutrals aren’t doing the job for you and you want something that’s a little flirtier, try pairing camouflage with some lace. Say, a white lace crop top with some jeans and a camouflage jacket will do. The balance between flirty and sporty chic comes when lace and camouflage collaborate together.

Camouflage print can be seen as fun, flirty, fierce, sporty, it just depends on how you wear it. The print is universal, it can be worn in many different ways with different style perspectives.