What I Got for Christmas 2019 + Cyber Week Deals

Thankfully Santa my friends and family gifted me some amazing fashion, beauty, and blogging items this year. Additionally, I grabbed items for myself during a couple of the amazing Black Friday sales this past year. Please keep reading if you are interested to see what I got for Christmas 2019.

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What I Got For Christmas 2019

I will not be differentiating what was gifted versus what was purchased. As such, I will list the prices for all products. Also, I will not be including money or gift cards on this list. Although I feel comfortable sharing my purchases, I do not feel comfortable sharing what my loved ones spend on me. The above being said, I share whether the featured beauty brands ran sales or not.

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links (*). If you purchase by clicking on my links, I may be compensated at no additional cost to you.

Beauty

Ami Hearts Beauty | Indie, Cruelty-Free & Vegan

Ami Hearts Beauty is a popular indie makeup brand within the small beauty YouTuber community. Although I purchased from a ton of amazing indie brands in 2019, I never tried anything from Ami Hearts Beauty.

However, I stopped in my tracks when I saw Amy Loves Beauty‘s collaboration palette with Ami Hearts Beauty. As a purple eyeshadow lover, the Alma palette was dreamy, pastel, purple perfection. Thankfully my sister purchased this palette for me on the night this magical makeup item released.

*Photo not included because my palette came in with shattered shades. I contacted the brand after Christmas. Eventually, I received replacement shades. Read this post on how to repress shattered eyeshadow.

Huda Beauty | Influencer, Indie & Cruelty-Free

Is anyone surprised that Huda would make it into my Christmas Beauty Haul? Huda Beauty is one of my favorite beauty brands. Not only does Huda make one of my favorite eyeshadow formulas, but the brand’s releases are always well thought out and on-trend. For example, Huda’s mini obsessions palettes set off the micro palette and monochromatic palette trends that took 2018 and 2019 by storm.

Fans of Huda Beauty know that her products are expensive and rarely go on sale, so her Black Friday sales are always one of the most anticipated sales of the season. This year she did not disappoint fans. Nearly all products on her site were 40-60% Off!

• Gemstone Obsessions – Ruby*
• Gemstone Obsessions – Topaz*
• Power Bullet Lipstick – Ladies Night*
• Powder Bullet Lipstick – Third Date*
• Rose Gold Palette Remastered*

Wondering about the Huda Beauty Obsessions formula? Check out my review of the Huda Beauty Smokey Obsessions Palette here or read my Huda Beauty Palette ranking.

NOTE: Huda Beauty is Cruelty-Free. The brand is not 100% Vegan given that some products contain Carmine, Beeswax, and other animal derivatives.

Juvia’s Place | Indie, Vegan** & Cruelty-Free

Juvia’s Place offers one of the most compelling sales every holiday season. This year, products were up to 60% Off. Also, the brand beefed up their shipping capabilities this year and was shipping out packages much shipper than in years past. Plus, Juvia’s Place is one of the few brands that allow you to stack influencer codes on top of sale prices.

• Nefertiti Nubian Highlighter*
• The Mini Masquerade Palette*
• The Saharan II Palette*
• The Tribe Palette*
• The Warrior II Palette*

During sale periods, Juvia’s Place is even more affordable than brands such as ColourPop! Check out my reviews of the Nubian Palette or the Warrior Palette.

**NOTE: Most of Juvia’s Place’s products are Vegan. The only product that is not 100% Vegan is the Warrior Eyeshadow Palette.

Lime Crime | Indie, Cruelty-Free & Vegan

After finally decluttering my beloved Modern Renaissance Palette, I felt like there was a berry-toned gap in my collection. However, I chose not to rebuy the Modern Renaissance. Instead, I wanted to try a new formula. The Venus XL Palette* was heavily discounted during Lime Crime‘s Black Friday promotions.

NABLA | Indie & Cruelty-Free

As an Italian American, I always feel a sense of pride when Italian brands are globally recognized. Often times, I feel like Italy is looked down upon by non-Italians. Although I’ve been lusting after NABLA‘s products for some time, the brand has limited retail distribution in the States and is expensive.

Originally, I did not know if the brand planned any Black Friday promotions or if NABLA planned to restock the Skin Glazing highlighters. Thankfully, NABLA did both.

• Coral Cutie Palette*
• Dreamy 2 Palette*
• Skin Glazing Highlighter*

Read my in-depth review on the NABLA Dreamy 2 Palette or the Skin Glazing Highlighters. Also, check out some other dope European indie brands.

NOTE: NABLA uses beeswax in some of their cosmetics products. All of the products I picked up are Vegan.

Natasha Denona | Luxury, Indie & Cruelty-Free

I’ll be the first to admit that I was surprised by my newfound love for Natasha Denona. After a bad experience with the Mini Lila palette, I had almost written off the luxury brand. However, when the Sunrise palette released earlier in 2019 I gave Natasha Denona one more chance to impress me. Clearly, I was not disappointed.

Like Huda Beauty, Natasha Denona’s Black Friday Sale was astounding. Select products on her website and at her flagship store in NYC sold for up to 50% Off! In fact, her highly prized Gold Palette* was 30% Off while the Tan Bloom & Glow Palette* was 40% Off.

Curious about the Natasha Denona formula? Read my review of the Sunrise Palette or check out my review on the Camel Palette. See where my the Tan palette lands in my face palette ranking.

NOTE: Natasha Denona is not 100% Vegan. Neither of the products mentioned above is Vegan.

Pat McGrath Labs | Luxury, Indie & Cruelty-Free*

The luxury beauty brand, Pat McGrath Labs has one of the most loyal followings. The extravagant brand rarely ever goes on sale, so fans lost their minds when Pat McGrath launched the 25-30% Off Sale.

The sale caused such a frenzy that palettes quickly went out of stock within 3-4 days of the sale going live. In fact, Pat McGrath OVERSOLD certain palettes. Customers were receiving notice that portions of their orders were suddenly canceled.

• Blitz Astral Quad – Nocturnal Nirvana
• Blitz Astral Quad – Ritualistic Rose
• Mothership I: Sublime Palette*

Despite placing an order on the launch day, the Nocturnal Nirvana Quad was removed from my order. To say I was angry would be an understatement. However, I was even angrier when I realized that resellers bulk purchased some of the brand’s most popular releases for the sole purpose of jacking up the price 3-4X higher than the original retail price.

Pat McGrath Labs offered a 20% Off Coupon for a future purchase AND offered to uphold the holiday discount if they decide to bring back the Nocturnal Nirvana Quad. This makegood left me less bitter, but future buyers should be warned.

Concerned that I’d lose out on the chance to own the Nocturnal Nirvana Quad forever, I found the quad on Selfridges. Note to my fellow US consumers, Selfridges is essentially the U.K. version of Nordstrom.

Note: Both Nocturnal Nirvana & Ritualistic Rose are sold out, so they have not been linked. Also, some bloggers dispute Pat McGrath’s Cruelty-Free status.

Persona Cosmetics | Influencer, Indie & Cruelty-Free

Would this really be my Christmas Beauty Haul if I didn’t have at least one goodie from Persona? This holiday season Sona extended the Persona Cosmetics S1 Lip Glosses with two new shades, Hibiscus (Cherry Gloss with neutral undertone) and Shortcake (Mauve with pink nude undertone).

• Season One Lip Gloss – Hibiscus
• Season One Lip Gloss – Shortcake

Curious about Persona Cosmetics? Check out my in-depth review of the Identity Eyeshadow Palette or my bite-sized review of the brand’s five original Season One Glosses and Season One Matte Liquid Lipsticks. See how my Persona lippies landed in my lip gloss ranking and liquid lipstick ranking.

Note: The Persona Cosmetics Season One Lip Glosses, Season One Liquid Lipsticks, and Cali Glow highlighters are Vegan. The brand’s eyeshadows and liners are not 100% Vegan.

Rephr | Indie

Despite wearing makeup for over 15 years, I never tried any natural hair brushes. However, since following more YouTubers in the luxury-sphere of YouTube, I decided that it was time to give natural hair brushes a try. In fact, it was Mel Thompson’s video on how to blend Pat McGrath Labs’ shadows that pushed me over the edge to try prestige brushes.

Rephr is a new, luxury brush brand that creates handcrafted pro brushes from Japan. During the Black Friday weekend they promoted an incredible buy one, get one deal. Therefore, I purchased three brushes and received three free brushes.

• #01 Multi-Purpose Shadow Brush
• #02 Firm Shader Brush
• #03 Fine Point Pencil Brush
• #12 Brush, #15 Brush, and #16 Brush (all free)

If I like these brushes, I expect that I’ll buy more brushes. The prices are in-line with MAC Cosmetics and other similar brush makers. As of this post, I have not yet received my brushes as there was a 10-week order time with this particular buy one, get one promotion.

NOTE: Brush #12, #15, and #16 are not yet available for individual purchase. These have yet to arrive.

For more reviews on beauty tools – check out my review on the Tati Beauty Blendiful or the ColourPop The Full Beat Blending Sponge Kit.

Shared Planet | Indie, Cruelty-Free & Vegan

Shared Planet is the only indie brand that I discovered through traditional digital advertising methods. More specifically, the brand caught my attention with their advertisements featuring Christen Dominique and Nicole Guerrero. Shared Planet currently sells two collections, both of which are inspired by two endangered species, Tigers and Polar Bears.

Founded by 17-year-old Aashna Sharma, Shared Planet donates 10% off all sales to Panthera and Polar Bears International. During the holiday season, the brand launched an incredible 40% Off + 20% Donation promotion. I snagged one product from the Polar Bear Collection and one product from the Tiger Collection.

• Polar Bear Lip Gloss – Hudson Bay
• Polar Bear Lip Gloss – Wintry
• Tiger Palette

Sigma Beauty | Indie & Cruelty-Free

Like so many of the brands included in my ‘what I got for Christmas in 2019’ roundup, Sigma Beauty offered 30-40% off sales throughout the holiday season. I was sad to miss the Enchanted Palette when it first launched. This sale provided an opportunity to try something new at a steep discount. Additionally, many YouTubers rave about the Sigma Eye Base!

Fashion & Accessories

Similar to all the beauty buys, these fashion items were purchased at a discount. As you can tell from this post, I love finding deals for myself and for my family and friends when they are gift-giving. Also, can you tell that I love boots?

Living in New England, Winter Gear is essential. Hopefully, I’ll get to use this gear to do something fun such as tubing or skiing.

Clearly, my family went a lil’ crazy with socks this year for Christmas. Also, I’m so stoked for the snowman blanket which will live in my car during the cold winter months.

Blogging, Books & Miscellaneous 

I received quite a few books for Christmas. For example, I received special edition versions of the Lord of the Rings books. Also, some of these miscellaneous trinkets may work themselves into future blog posts!

Final Thoughts on What I Got for Christmas 2019

I realized that to most readers this haul looks excessive. In fact, I almost hesitated to share a post recapping what I got for Christmas 2019. However, I am grateful to receive such thoughtful gifts or to purchase some items at steep discounts. Beauty and beauty blogging is my hobby. Therefore, I shouldn’t feel ashamed that this is how I spend my money or that this is what I ask to receive as gifts.

Given the sheer number of sales that ran this season, my own self-restraint surprised me. In fact, my spending could have easily been way worse. Alternatively, my gifts from family could have ended up being entirely beauty-related (since they offered to buy many of the items for me).

Nevertheless, it is important to stay calm during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday madness. Countless brands offer wonderful sales during the Christmas season. However, a sale shouldn’t justify insane amounts of overspending. To avoid overspending, make a list of the items or brands you’d like to purchase from if they were to offer a sale. If an item or brand wasn’t on your list, don’t purchase from them.

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Did you enjoy reading about what I got for Christmas 2019? I encourage you to read my last massive luxury beauty haul.

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What did you think about what I got for Christmas 2019? Are there any items in my Christmas Beauty Haul on your wish list? Do you own any of these products? Please let me know in the comments below.