*All That Glitters*: mini

Ok, somewhere on my makeup grapevine, I found about these little treasures. Yes, every Christmas hols, as many of you may know, MAC release special limited edition kits over the holiday season.

I've just found out about this year's kits and they're so adorable! They'll be offering lip kits, eye palettes, face kits and a bronzing face kit, all packaged in beautiful metal cases with colourful spheres corresponding to the shades of blush, eyeshadows, etc. that they house!!

Here's a hand-picked selection from all of the kits on offer this winter, bearing in mind that in total there will be 8 kits on offer! These are the ones that I'm keen to try out most:

'Devil May Dare' Warm Eyeshadow Palette
'Dare Ya!' - light frosty peachy pink
'Devilishly Dark' - rich brown with gold pearl
'Oh My Darling' - pale frosty cream
'Prankster' - mid-tone frosted olive
'Sorcery' - blackened burgundy
'Gold Tease' - frosty mid-tone gold

'Mystic' Cool Eyeshadow Palette
'Cool Incantation' - opalescent white gold
'Shhh, Don’t Tell' - pale neutral pink
'Blue Enchantment' - dark frosted turquoise
'Rose Potion' - mid-tone frosted rose
'Deep Secret' - deep frosted indigo
'Violet Vow' - deep cool brown

'Hocus Focus Colourful' Face Kit
'Pretty Baby' Beauty Powder - soft baby pink
'Peachykeen' Powder Blush - mid-tone peach with pearl
'Sunsparked' Pearl Beauty Powder - frost warm beige with pearl

UK prices and more pics will be on their way when I know more - *watch this space!*

Right now I'm loving all of the mini makeup kits that are coming out! They're perfect for that weekend away where you don't want to haul your entire makeup collection along, or you want to take something along as a safety measure for a night on the tiles, but only have a little clutch bag with you.

These are some of the mini makeup wonders I really love (and want)...

Benefit's Justine Case

This cleverly named box has all you need to refresh yourself when out and about, on a date or just because! It contains mini versions of some of Benefit's best-selling products:

'Some Kinda Gorgeous' - what Benefit call a 'foundation faker', this a pressed sheer cream-to-powder that apparently blends in to most skin tones - I'm curious about this one as it sounds quite intriguing!

'Benetint' lips & cheeks tint - yes I know it comes in what looks like a nail varnish bottle, complete with a nail varnish brush, but it's not. It's a very rouge liquid tint - in some ways it intimidates me because it is so red, but I'm still keen to try!

'California Kissin'' - lip gloss with a difference. This gloss has a slightly blue hue to it to make teeth appear whiter. It's also minty to freshen your breath!

'Eyecon' is Benefit's eye cream that provides additional 'fading action'. You can use it any time of day or night and it's supposed to soften fine lines and lighten those pesky undereye shadows.

Benefit's Smokin' Eyes

This is an all-in-one kit that has everything you need to create smoky eyes and perfectly groomed brows. It comes with 3 shadows (pink highlight shadow, pewter base

and deep charcoal), a black 'Smokin'' eyeliner, 'Eye Bright' brightener, mini fluffy shadow brush and mini hard angled brush, Brow Zings wax, mini tweezers and a little leaflet with a 'How to' lesson.

TheBalm's Shady Lady Palette

I only heard about TheBalm fairly recently but this palette's been out since last year and is a limited edition exclusive to U.S. department store Sephora. They're a U.S. brand not yet selling over here *sigh* but that still doesn't deter me, there must be some left in the world somewhere! : ) Their cute branding and packaging is very similar to that of Benefit's in fact. TheBalm's Shady Lady Eyeshadow Palette contains 9 'long-lasting' eyeshadows that can be used wet or dry.

The variety of shades on offer make this small palette really flexible, so if you're at work and end up going out for some spontaneous partying at the last minute, fear not - this little gem will help you smoke up your look from daytime to nighttime in no time! The shades on offer are:

Caught in the Act Courtney (rich brown with gold sparkle)

Shameless Shana (tahitian bronze)

Luscious Lani (icy pink champagne)

Jealous Jordana (rich shimmering green)

Risque Renee (dark navy blue sheen)

Curvy Cami (plum shimmer with gold flecks)

Jet-Setting Jennifer (pale gold shimmer)

All About Alex (olive shimmer)

Easy Wheezie (gunmetal gray shimmer)