Holiday Gift Guide: Best of Makeup Palettes

Looking for the perfect gift? Take a peek at Beauty in New York City's 2015 Holiday Gift Guides.

Like any beauty lover, I'm a huge fan of palettes. They're compact, offer a variety of options, and are generally more affordable than purchasing individual products. Here are my top 11 picks this holiday season.

1.  Zoeva En Taupe Palette (seen above), $28

Taupe is the new black.

2. Anastasia Beverly Hills Self Made Palette, $35

What I love about this palette is the wide variety of shades. You can still create a simple natural eye, but you can also add a pop of color if desired.

3. Urban Decay Vice 4 Palette, $60

Go bold or go home, according to Urban Decay's new Vice 4 palette.

4. Jane Iredale 'In The Blink Of A Smokey Eye' Kit, $50

A great gift for smokey eye beginners - it even contains a five step-by-step booklet to help create your desired eye look.

5. Dior Couture Creations Palette - Face, Eyes & Lips, $89

Luxurious Dior is sure to impress.

6. Kat Von D Mi Vida Loca Remix Eyeshadow Palette, $59

This beauty sold out extremely fast, but you can still find a few floating around eBay and Amazon. The color payoff on these shadows are some of the best I've ever seen. Kat Von D definitely knows color and this palette is the proof! 

7. Tarte Greatest Glitz Collector's Set & Portable Palettes, $49

Three removable eye and cheek palettes are just any beauty girl wants during the holiday season. Palettes in neutral, rose gold and smokey help create any look. Set also contains Tarte's best-selling mascara and silky LipSurgence Lip Crème.

8. Tyra Smoky Smize Palette, $39

Tyra Banks' new makeup collection is actually quite good! I first tried the setting spray and knew I need to try more. The Smize Palette for holiday season has is just what you need for classic smokey eyes. My favorite part? The See Your Smize Brush ​it comes with has a unique angled design.

9. Tory Burch Marrakech Eye Shadow Palette, $65

A Tory Burch Palette with shades of soft metallics in earthy taupe, gold and silver mix with smoky blue. 

10. Honest Beauty Everything Makeup Palette, $35

All you need to show your true colors.

11. Smashbox ART. LOVE. COLOR. Master Class, $65

A set of 40 Smashbox must-haves for cheeks and eyes in packaging inspired by groundbreaking artist Yago Hortal. 

Any of these palettes on your holiday wishlists? 

Case of the Mondays - 6 Products To Cure Those End of Weekend Blues

Is it really the first Monday of October already? I'm shocked at how quickly 2015 has flown by. I just finished decorating the apartment for Halloween and before you know it, the Holidays are here! In other news, you may notice things look a little different around here. My website just got a much needed revamp! When I first launched Beauty in New York City back in 2011, I didn't imagine how many people would actually read it. It was initially created as a blog for my friends and family to visit when they needed advice on beauty. Now thousands of you visit daily to stay in the loop! I listened to your feedback about what you wanted to see and here it is. I hope you enjoy the refresh! You can easily search categories at the top of the page and shop my favorite products. Not a bad start to this Monday! Here are 6 beauty products to help cure those end of weekend blues:

H&M Beauty, All under $25

H&M just launched something very exciting - a beauty department! You can now shop over 700 beauty products at an H&M near you. Products are available in over 91 stores in the U.S., 900 stores worldwide, and online at hm.com. From an extensive color collection to nail colors, a body range, and hair products, this collection certainly isn't lacking. I see a lipstick with my name on it!

Charlotte Tilbury Mini Miracle Eye Wand, $45

Everyone knows Mondays are tough. My eyes usually need a little extra love and Charlotte Tilbury's new Mini Miracle Eye Wand does just the trick. This double ended wand is a perfect 5-in-1 product to help banish dark circles, eliminate fine lines, brighten eye contours, smooth away crow's feet and tighten under-eye bags. This powerful product took 5 years in the making and now we can fake 8 hours of blissful beauty sleep in just two clicks. I'll take a few back-ups, please!

LORAC Cosmetics Mega Pro Palette 2,$59

The highly anticipated sequel to LORAC's first Mega PRO palette is finally here! Last year, it sold out in only one day, so get yours while supplies last! This palette is loaded with 16 shimmer and 16 matter eye shadows. The shadows are velvety-smooth and can be used wet or dry so you can shade, shadow, line and define your eyes, just like a PRO.

Wella EIMI Sugar Lift Spray, $18.99

Turn your hair's volume up with Wella EIMI Sugar Lift Spray. Simply spray and scrunch hair - locks will instantly have more shine, texture and body! All hair needs on a Monday morning. Available at beautybrands.com.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips Review & Swatches

Lately, I've been kind of obsessed  with nail art. I don't really know why especially since I'm AWFUL at painting my own nails. Honestly, I usually get them done professionally. I saw a friend with these Sally Hansen salon effects nail polish strips and I thought I had to try them. They sell them mostly at pharmacies, but around here, they're always sold out. I finally got the kitty, kitty ones, but I love them so much, I didn't want to use those on the first try in-case I messed up. I ended up purchasing two more: Laced Up & Misbehaved. Duane Reade had this awesome sale for buy one, get one half off. Woo hoo. I opted to try Misbehaved first.

Each box comes with 16 nails strips, a mini nail file and a cuticle stick. It also came with specific instructions. It was actually pretty simple to use (even for the non-nail savy). You are instructed to file your nails to the shape you want, push back your cuticles and then finally remove any excess dirt or nail polish with remover. One all that's complete, you find the strips that match up to your nail then file off the access. That's it!

It doesn't say to use a nail polish top coat, but I did anyway just to lock the strip into place. I've had them on about a week and they're a little chipped, but nothing too noticeable.

Laced Up

 Kitty, Kitty

Misbehaved

This is what comes inside:

Final look:

Retail: $9.99 at Ulta

I've also seen them in CVS, Duane Reade, Walgreens for the same price.

I can't wait to try the others!!

Have you tried these Sally Hansen Salon Effects yet?