I have been intrigued by Suva Beauty's UV Hydra Fix liners for a couple of years now and I picked one up during the Black Friday sales. These seemed so cool and I wanted to see if they would work. Stupidly though, I didn't think I'd need to get a UVA light to see if they're UV so I have no idea how well it works. Anyway here is what I found.

I enjoy the formula, its very easy to get a vibrant colour payoff. It was very easy to use, I ran my eyeliner brush under the tap for a second and then dipped into the eyeliner. This formula reminds me a lot of how watercolour looks like and it dried pretty quickly on the skin. It was very easy to tidy up with just a q-tip and some makeup remover. However that also means that it didn't really last on me, I had a little bit of transfer on my eyelid after about an hour of wear (keep in mind I have quite oily eyelids) but in general it held up alright.

I was hoping this shade, Grape Soda, would lean more red as I have been wanting to be able to do a burgundy eyeliner look but instead this leaned far more cool toned and more pink than anything as you can see in this photo. I am still on the quest to find a burgundy eyeliner!

As most fo you are probably aware, Black Friday is next week. In an effort to try and remain focused and not buy a bunch of stuff because it's on offer I have decided to create a sort of wish list compiling all the things I would consider buying. I don't think I'll be picking up any big ticket items, I'm paranoid about buying something someone has already got me as a gift! Anyway, here is a selection of products I would consider stocking up on during the Black Friday sales.

Skin care:

So one thing I know I'll order is the Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream. I have loved this product for around 5 years now and it's just my one stop shop for if my skin is dry, chapped or flaky. It's one of the few lip balms I fully trust on my sensitive lips and it has never let me down. The tube I currently have is the fragrance free version and I think I'll pick up another of them as I actually prefer the scent of the fragrance free version. That may sound strange but it's a light pleasant scent on the skin. If you haven't tried it before, pick one up in the sale! I absolutely adore this product.

Other skin care items I might pick up are my basic cleanser and moisturiser, both are from CeraVe. I had some issues this spring with my skin being super sensitive and these didn't cause any irritation so now they're my go-to's. Not very exciting but they get the job done!

I'll also most likely be picking up some of the The Ordinary Niacinamide serum and possibly more of their Buffet serum. I tend to mix these two as I can never decide whether or not I want some general hydration or help my oily skin.

One product I haven't tried before that I am considering buying is the Hydrating Accelerator by Josh Rosebrook. This product was in Caroline Hiron's Winter Skin Kit, which I would have loved to pick up but it was way out of my price range. I think this product would go great before my hyaluronic acid serum so I can get the most hydrated skin possible!

Makeup:

I have been eyeing the Hourglass mini blushes for a while as I want a small blush thats very neutral to travel with. I would love to bring my Nars blush palette with me everywhere but it would be great if I could pack more lightly. I have my eyes on Mood Exposure, so I'm hoping this shade will be on sale!

So I may have made a very exciting purchase a couple of weeks ago (I'll be posting about it soon!) and I'm in need of a small, sturdy magnetic palette. I was leaning towards a small magnetic Tarte palette or the Travel Vault by MakeupGeek but I can't get hold of the MakeupGeek one at all and the Tarte palettes are not really my style. Right now I think I'll go for the NABLA Liberty Six Customizable Palette, the size seems about right and it's not that expensive. We'll see what happens.

I noticed the SKINNYDIP Holographic Dazzle Washbag on BeautyBay the other day and I won't lie I was drawn to it. I don't need this, but if it's on sale then...

Another thing I don't need is things from Colourpop. I have never tried anything from them before, purely because of the shipping fees and potential customs charge. I would want to order things but I feel like there needs to be enough things in order for me to reach the free shipping cap but I also don't want to have to pay a lot for the customs. If an amazing deal is on I'll consider it, but for now I'm happy to wait until there's a good deal.

Hair:

I don't remember how I found out about the Briogeo Blossom & Bloom Volume Root Powder but for a while now I've been curious about it. I think it'd be something I'd enjoy as I sometimes wish I had a tad more volume in my hair but I don't want to use all of my dry shampoo. If there's a good offer on I might pick it up.

Now I know before you think anything, this is so, soooo extra and unnecessary. But this Slip Large Scrunchies look really nice. Do I need scrunchies made out silk? Absolutely not. Would I use them everyday? Most likely. Will I buy them if they're on offer? Depends on how good it is.

Thanks for reading today's post! I hope this inspires you to make a list of things you'd be interested in before you go shopping and remember that just because it's a good deal, you don't have to buy it!

Pretty much every year since I became obsessed with being up to date with makeup releases, I have loved the holiday season for that reason. Now is the time that brands release whole collections, value packs/sets and generally try to get us to spend as much as possible on things we don't need but that we just have to have. I have to say though, this year, I'm pretty disappointed. Nothing has really caught my eye this year. That being said, I'm sure brands will release things after I've posted this and I may go back on that but it's pretty much mid-November now so I doubt anything amazing will be released.

Hourglass released a palette (like they do every year) of their best selling powders and it looks ok but the packaging is so underwhelming, I can't imagine spending so much money on a luxury item that looks like cheap plastic. I really want to try their formulas but I won't be buying this palette thats for sure. I do like the idea of their scattered light eyeshadow trio as I want to try them as I've heard great things but I won't be picking it up because it's just too expensive for me to be able to justify it.

Anastasia Beverly Hills is just releasing too much and I can't keep up so I'll keep it brief. Last thing I was interested in was the Jackie Aina palette. Everything else after just stressed me out. I don't mind the look of their brow sets but I've struggled finding my shade in their brow products so I won't be picking anything up from ABH.

MAC 's holiday collection this year is just a bit underwhelming. Usually there's at least one product that I like the look of but this year it's just meh.

Urban Decay chose to centre almost everything around their Naked Honey release from earlier this year. I'm just not really that into it, it's not an inspiring colour scheme to me. Their Party Favors palette seems alright but I wouldn't spend my money on it. I will probably pick up the setting spray duo though, it's a great deal!

Stila have released some more glitter and glow sets, but I feel like I own more than enough of them so I'll just skip it. Everything else they have released just hasn't piqued my interest.

Benefit always releases sets of their products which is a nice way to be introduced to the brand so I won't bash them for that. I really like their brow products so I would pick up a set fro them, however, they never have sets in my shade (I'm a shade 2.5).

Too Faced goes all in every year when it comes to holiday releases, however I have heard from many people that their quality isn't the same as in their standard products so I don't really want to risk it. Their packaging is always very cute and well thought out though I will give them that. I have to say though I am confused why they would release a palette so similar to last years Gingerbread palette.

Melt cosmetics released their Amor Eterno collection and it made my heart skip a beat. It's so beautiful! While I won't be picking it up as I wouldn't use most of the shades and I'm concerned about their eyeshadow mould issues (this is no shade to the Melt, if you haven't heard anything about it google it! Melt dealt with it really well). I love the inspiration of Dia de Los Muertos and the packaging of the two eyeshadow palettes in particular. All round a cohesive and stunning collection.

Fenty has gone with a much smaller holiday release this year which I think is smart seeing as the last two years they've struggled to sell everything. The thing most people are interested in is the lip gloss set, which contains 5 mini lipglosses of which there is only one shade thats available in a full size. I'm sure we'll see the other shades become full sizes next year but it's a smart way to test out the waters to see which shades people like the most. I won't be picking it up though as I don't think I'd wear some of the shades.

NARS sets and palettes are always gorgeous and usually good quality too. I like the look of their blush trios and the mini blush and lip balm sets, but I'm very content with the blush palette I picked up from them earlier this year so I know I don't need any more blush.

Smashbox released some amazing looking primer waters that are based the four elements. The scents described really intrigued me but it doesn't look like they're coming to the UK or anywhere else in Europe. I guess this means I'll be saving money then.

Sigma usually release some brush sets every year and they're good quality and vegan so I am tempted to pick one up because they're good deals and I really love their quality.

Those were some of my thoughts on this years holiday releases! It's a hectic time in the beauty community but this is one of the first years in a while I haven't been tempted by 15 things at once. So if you feel overwhelmed by the amount of things, don't feel bad. Thanks for reading and happy holiday shopping!