Do you ask for and/or give
beauty products for holidays and birthdays?
Did you give / receive any this holiday season?
Giving
I don't really give too many beauty products for holidays and birthdays, mostly because I'm the only one I know with an Extreme Addiction. I have been known to buy a replacement perfume for someone from time to time, but I would never be so bold as to pick a new scent for someone! If I find one I think someone would like, I'd get a sample first. I do like the idea of Sephora's fragrance samplers (you buy a set of sample sizes "for her" or "for him" and after the recipient picks a favorite, he or she can take the included fragrance voucher to Sephora and trade it in for a full-sized version!
I always have spill-over products from the blog and I dole those out to people over the year, but I wouldn't usually buy someone a blush. Actually, scratch that! I did buy my best friend a bunch of cosmetics one Christmas. How rude! lol
Getting
I sure as heck ask for beauty products for Christmas and my birthday. You betcha! I am really picky about clothes, and unless there's a particular item I can point my mom to, I tend to stay away for asking for wardrobe items. Ditto, shoes and music.
While I'm definitely persnickety about what makeup I use (I'm an admitted brand snob), I think it's easier to give to people on a list than clothes. In fact, my family and best friend use the blog as an ongoing shopping list for me, I think. ;)
It's (usually*) easy for people to pick up beauty items if you hand them the name of the product and describe which counter sells it, or point them to a website. I honestly prefer getting gift cards for MAC, Saks, Nordstrom, Macy's or Sephora, to be quite frank, but a fistful of gift cards is deemed un-fun by some people (with good reason, I suppose, but it is what I want!).
*see below
Holiday '09
I asked for quite a few things this year (nail polishes ranking pretty high on the list!), and also begged for a gift certificate to get a pedicure! YES! My dear daughters (via my hubby) fulfilled that last request and my hurtin' toes are thankful!
As for the rest of my requests, it was a comedy of errors! My mom tried to order me some nail polishes but got blown off by the vendor. Then, MAC Pro hassled her (SHAME ON THEM!) and she thought BPAL swallowed her order an spit it out, but the oils did show up. Funnily, my husband ordered the same 2 scents for me, so YAY: auto-back-ups of Spooky and Hod! The rest remains to be seen... I'm celebrating another Christmas on Tuesday.