Beauty Gifts for Galentine’s Day

Hello BEAUTIES! Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and it’s a wonderful time to pause and celebrate all the loved ones in your life – family, significant others and, of course, your friends. One of the things I am working on this year is to send appreciation to more than just my direct family, but my friends. I have been supported by so many wonderful people in my life – I tear up thinking about all the love I’ve been selflessly given the past few years.

So on that note, today I am partnering with Walmart to bring you some awesome, adorable & affordable beauty gift ideas for all your closest gal pals! I hand picked some of my all time favorites, plus a few new items that I’ve been eyeing in makeup, skincare and haircare. Scroll down to read the full story and hope you enjoy today’s post. HAPPY GALENTINE’S DAY! xo -E

MAKEUP

Starting off with my FAVORITE category – MAKEUP!!!! I am a full-blown drugstore makeup junkie, y’all. Let’s kick things off with some great ideas to help your friends get full blown glam.

I feel like drugstore eyeshadow doesn’t always get the credit it deserves, but today I am excited to share three full sized palettes that are AMAZING (especially for the price!). I used a mix of all three for my eye look today.

For a friend that prefers lighter, natural eye makeup – I love the L’Oreal Paris Paradise Enchanted Scented Eyeshadow Palette [$12]! It smells SO GOOD (like a ripe peach) and the colors lean pinky nude with a mix of shimmer and matte. You can slap the mid tone peach in the crease and dab some shimmer in the tear ducts and inner third of the eye for a quick & easy everyday look.

For the smoky eye enthusiast, I recommend the MILANI Pure Passion Eyeshadow Palette [$14]! The pigment is sooo good and there is a fantastic mix of light to dark shades to create the full contrast of a smokey eye. You also have beautiful berry toned metallics for extra DRAMA! This would be the one I reach for on the daily because I enjoy a full glam beat 24/7.

And For the edgy friend who loves to make a statement, the Maybelline Soda Pop Eyeshadow Palette Makeup in Soda Pop [$10] is a super cool option!! You have neutrals to ground the eye look and then pops of blue, pink and purple to experiment and create your own wild eye look.

I also picked up this adorable Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow in Air to try out! There are 4 different colors, one for each of the elements – Air, Fire, Earth, Water (which I love because of my obsession with Avatar and astrology). It’s a smaller scale “palette” since it’s a fused wheel of six shimmery colors for under $5!! Here are my top picks, plus more options:

Two words: LASH PARADISE. Best mascara. Adorably packaged in baby pink for Valentine’s Day, this mascara will be a for sure hit in your girlfriend’s makeup bag. Prepare her for fluffy, luscious length defying lashes!!!

For face powders, you can’t go wrong with the power trio: Bronzer + Blush + Highlighter. Gift a full combo for a complete look or each one is completely beautiful on it’s own too! I’ve got the super popular, best selling Physicians Formula Murumuru Butter Butter Bronzer [$9] that smells like a tropical vacation and goes on so smooth and well, buttery! Then for a perfect everyday blush color, I love the Milani Powder Blush in Romantic Rose [$7]. It’s a nudey rose color that looks so natural on the skin and stays put all day. The rose imprint is soooo stunning and on theme for Valentine’s Day too! Lastly, I picked up the Maybelline FaceStudio Master Chrome Highlighter [$8] because of all the raving reviews, so I’m excited to get better aquainted with this new baby. I love how each of these face powder compacts have a gorgeous embossing in the pan, making it extra special for gifting! (I also linked the Loreal Paris Paradise Blush because I’m a little obsessed with the tones and scents of that whole line!)

For lipstick gifts, I think there are SO many great options!! This is one category where you will have a bounty of great quality options to sift through. I chose three options to get you started – The Maybelline Color Sensational Made for All Lipstick [$5], Loreal Color Riche Lipstick [$10] or the E.l.f Matte Lip Color [$4]. Both lipsticks have a semi-matte finish with great pigmentation, but the Maybelline Made for All has a wider assortment of pinks, red, browns and neutrals compared to the Loreal Color Riche. The e.l.f. lip colors give a more precise application with the twist up pencil point shape and matte finish. Affordable and iconic for Valentine’s Day, give the gift of the perfect pout!

TOOLS! If your gal pal has her makeup collection covered, then consider gifting makeup tools or storage! It’s a foolproof idea because you don’t have to find out which colors they like or what shade matches their skintone. Personally, I am also obsessed with makeup bags and pouches. I feel like no matter how many I have, I can always use another! I love this SUPER COOL Real Techniques Rebel Edge Brush Set [$20] that is so unique and bursting with personality, and I also have a Primrose Hill makeup Pouch set that contains a large sized floral bag & smaller metallic silver one (all under $10!). You can never go wrong with Real Techniques btw. Superior quality for a fraction of the designer price. They have so many bomb brush sets, makeup sponges and bags! Here are some more ideas for ya to check out:

HAIR

For the hair obsessed friend, I have three gift ideas! For effortless curls, I cannot recommend the Remington Pro 1-1½” Curling Wand with Pearl Ceramic Technology [$19] enough. I’ve literally had this wand for YEARS!! The ceramic is less damaging on the hair and the tapered barrel produces loose, glamorous curls (no sausage rolls!) I think the wand is a wonderful gift on its own, but for some more affordable options I love a cute scrunchie set like the Lokks Blush Mini Scrunchies [$8] or a single use treatment mask like the Love Beauty & Planet Murumuru Butter & Rose Hair Mask 2-pack [$4]. Gift them all separately or add the scrunchies or mask with the wand for a more substantial gift!

SKINCARE

Skincare is becoming more and more important to me and my friends. We’re all approaching 30 and our skin is ever changing. For the girlfriends that prefer pampering their skin vs putting on makeup, consider gifting a skincare or body treatment instead. Some great ideas are face masks, body scrubs, beauty waters, cleansers and exfoliating tools. I picked up a few new goodies like the highly-rated Olay Fresh Reset Pink Mineral Complex Clay Face Mask Stick [$10] (a clay face mask… in a stick?! and it comes in three different types? how cool!) and the Gold Racoony Hydrogel Eye & Spot Patches [$15] that look perfect for under eye hydration after a long day at work. They make a nice idea for a “personal spa day” themed gift.

Items I’ve used personally in the past and recommend are the Leven Rose Organic Rose Water which makes a delicate, luxurious daily toner and the K-beauty favorite May Coop Raw Sauce Moisturizing Essence, a must have essence that balances and hydrates my sensitive, combo skin type. Browse these picks plus more skin and body gift ideas here!

NAILS

For nails, I have been loving the Essie Gel Couture Nail polishes [$11] (wearing the red in these photos)! How cool are the twisted glass bottles!? They look super luxe and make opening super easy. The gel formula lasts really long and it creates a super pigmented 1-coat application, making manicures on-to-go super easy. I also love how fluid and smooth the polish applies – I find that it looks clean and professional even though I’m normally rushing and painting like a madwoman. With other polishes, I normally have to do 2-3 coats for a seamless finish, but no brush strokes here! I recommend a top coat if you enjoy a super high shine. I think a single jar would be a great gift OR gift a 2-pack set of color polish + top coat for the cutest gift duo!

Thank you to Walmart for sponsoring this post and a huge thank you to you guys for spending your time with me and supporting my work. I hope you have a love-filled Valentine’s Day this year. You guys are always my special Valentine. xoxo -Erica