It’s the Holiday Season! Build a Capsule Makeup Collection with Me!

Makeup Essentials as we get ready for 2025

Happy holidays! December has flown by! We traveled for Thanksgiving and visited my husband’s family in the Boston area and then did a long weekend trip to NYC. Nothing gets me more in the Christmas Spirit than New York at Christmas time. Not only was the tree and the window decor amazing, the shopping was also fantastic. Have you ever been to an NYC Sephora? I was overwhelmed. I probably could have spent all day in there if my husband wasn’t waiting outsider (LOL!).

It’s been a busy December! I did my first paid modeling gig at the beginning of the month! It was so much fun. I want to share more about that experience next week. It was an unexpected gig but I definitely want to do some more modeling work on the side in the future!

I know I missed the mark on some Black Friday/Cyber Monday picks (I have been slacking blogging on here but promise to do better in 2025), but I wanted to still list off some of my holiday beauty essentials. One thing I have been seeing on social media right now that I love are people’s picks for a capsule makeup/fashion/skincare collection. Since my expertise is more makeup I wanted to share my essentials and top picks with you. Hopefully you can add some of these to your Christmas list!

This was the Sephora in Midtown & I was obsessed.

What is a Capsule Collection?

A capsule collection should be the essential items you need for your makeup looks – whether it be everyday or special occasions. They are the items that everyone should own (keeping their skin tone and makeup wearing habits in mind). If you’re like me and wear makeup a lot, these are things that everyone needs to have in their beauty collection! I linked everything below:

Makeup Base

Okay, so you don’t need a makeup primer (I always just use a nice moisturizer), but everyone could use a nice illuminator that can work as a base instead of foundation or a layer under foundation. I also suggest a light skin tint and a normal foundation.

My picks:

• Illuminator: Saie Glowy Super Gel Lightweight Dewy Multipurpose Illuminator – They have multiple shades of this illuminator and it looks great on its own or under foundation. The mini also lasts a sneaky long time if you don’t want to buy a full bottle.
• Skin tint: Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter – In my opinion, the holy grail of skin tints. You can also wear it over foundation as a highlighter. I love how light this is and the subtle glow quality it gives.
• Foundation: Make up Forever HD Skin Hydra Glow Hydrating Foundation with Hyaluronic Acid – I have tried a lot of foundations and this one is by far my fav. It’s super light (I am not a fan of heavy foundations) and gives minimal creasing and cakey-ness. I like that it has hyaluronic acid in it as well to help hydrate.

Concealer

You only need one concealer. If you are a makeup junkie like me it’s kind of nice to have two: one that is more multi-purpose and one that is a true concealer. I am giving my two favs below!

• Natasha Denoa Hy-Glam Brightening & Hydrating Medium to Full Coverage Crease Proof Serum Concealer – This is a medium coverage concealer that really covers and depuffs the under eyes. I don’t find this one to crease that much either. I also have their color corrector that also can work great as a concealer!
• Merit The Minimalist Perfecting Complexion Foundation and Concealer Stick – I like having a cream based concealer and I also like that this one can work great as a skin tint/foundation. It doesn’t crease and it blends into the skin beautifully.

Setting Powder

You definitely need a loose powder and a setting powder. For glam nights out I usually double up and wear both. For everyday I just use a pressed powder.

• Loose Powder: Anastasia Beverly Hills Translucent Loose Setting Powder – This powder is great for baking, giving a matte finish, and minimizing shine.
• Pressed Powder: Kosas Cloud Set Baked Setting & Smoothing Talc-Free Vegan Powder – There are a lot of great pressed powders out there but Kosas is my current favorite. They released new shades this year that are specifically targeted to brighten the under eyes. It’s sheer and still allows your skin to have a little glow!

Blush

Everyone needs a cream (or liquid) and a powder blush! There are so many blush colors now (if you’re like me you might have a billion different colors), but for an essential collection it’s best to get a color that’s close to your natural lip color. Listing a couple of my favs below:

• Patrick Ta Major Headlines Double-Take Crème & Powder Blush Duo – I’m obsessed with this blush duo. This is the perfect product if you only want one blush because it has both cream and powder. You can wear each individually or layer for extra radiance. Putting the powder over the cream will help to “bake” the blush in.
• Rhode Pocket Blush – If you have been following my blog you know I love Rhode blushes. It would be almost impossible to pick a favorite cream blush between this and blush stick from Haus Labs. Rhode has more neutral options if you are trying to stick with one color!
• Haus Labs Color Fuse Talc-Free Blush Powder With Fermented Arnica (Powder) and their Color Fuse Longwear Hydrating Glassy Lip + Cheek Blush Balm Stick – Listing both Haus Labs powder and cream blush options. Both are super pigmented and great options for a makeup collection.

One of my blush loves: Patrick Ta Major Headlines Double-Take Creme & Powder Blush Duo

Bronzer & Contour

I think it’s good to have a one contour product and at least one bronzer product. Here are my favs of each:

• Contour: Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour and Highlight Stick – I really like this contour stick. It glides on easily and blends really nice with my skin. For casual days I use this without a bronzer but for going out I usually do both. This product sculpts and snatches beautifully!
• Bronzer: Saie Dew Bronze Soft-Focus Sculpting Liquid Bronzer – I generally prefer liquid products to powder ones. I really love this liquid bronzer. It sculpts all areas of the face and blends great with other makeup.

Brow

I am a brow pomade girl through and through. I know not everyone loves it but I think pomade blends way better than a pencil. That being said, for brows you need either a brow pencil or pomade, and a clear brow gel.

• Pomade: Anastasia Beverly Hills DIPBROW Waterproof, Smudge Proof Brow Pomade – My holy grail eyebrow product. I use this with an eye brow brush and it blends beautifully. I have pretty defined brows so a pomade is great for me to blend in where I need a little extra volume.
• Brow Gel: Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel Flexible Medium-Hold Eyebrow Setter – I set my brows with this clear brow gel. There are some other great brow gels out there but this one is my go to. It doesn’t make my brows look hard or crusty which some gels tend to do.
• Brow Pencil: Benefit Cosmetics Precisely, My Brow Pencil Waterproof Eyebrow Definer – When I do go the pencil route I like this pencil. I’ll admit, I don’t use pencils too often anymore so there might be some other great options out there. Benefit always makes solid brow products.

Eyes

Lots of eye essentials! Ultimately you need a neutral eye palette, a gel liner, a liquid liner and mascara. I am going to list my favs of each!

• Eye shadow palette: Urban Decay Naked3 Mini Soft Pink Eyeshadow Palette – Any Urban Decay Naked palette is a great neutral option. I like the Naked3 because I gravitate towards the rosier tones. The mini palettes provide enough color options but the big palettes are great too.
• Gel eye liner: Hourglass Voyeur Waterproof Gel Eyeliner – I generally use a brown gel liner and a black liquid liner. I like Hourglass for gel liner but MAC Cosmetics also makes a nice gel liner.
• Liquid eye liner: Stila Stay All Day® Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner – I have tried a lot of different liquid liners and this one is still my favorite. I find it to be the most precise and it glides on smoothly.
• Mascara: bareMinerals MAXIMIST Phyto-Fiber Volumizing Mascara – I feel like I am constantly trying new mascaras and usually rotate three at the same time. If you want two, it’s nice to have a black and a brown one. If you only have one, go with black. I recently tried this mascara from bareMinerals and I was really impressed. It definitely makes my lashes longer and fuller. I have noticed more length even after I take the mascara off for the day!

Lips

Everyone needs a neutral lip liner and lipstick, a bold liner and lipstick, a lip gloss, and a hydrating lip balm or oil. If bold lips aren’t for you I think it’s still nice to have a color that “pops” for you in some capacity, whether it is a soft pink, a coral or a brown. I am a red lipstick girl so I’m going to list my favorite red!

• Neutral lip liner: Rare Beauty Kind Words Lip Liner – Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty line offers a variety of lip liner shades and a lot of them are neutral depending on what your natural lip color is. I love how smooth this liner glides on and it helps your lipstick last all night.
• Bold lip liner: MAC Cosmetics Lip Pencil – For red lips, the shade Ruby Woo is an essential lip liner. It helps red lips last all night. MAC has a variety of shades that match great with other bold lip colors depending on what your vibe is.
• Neutral lipstick: Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Hydrating Lipstick – I specifically love the “Pillow Talk” shades. There are both fair and medium shades which provide a really nice neutral lip color. I like that they have a little pink in them too!
• Bold lipstick: Lancôme L’Absolu Rouge Drama Matte Lipstick – I love this lipstick! There are a lot of “bold” shades but I specifically love the shade “Rouge Pigalle” for a statement red.
• Lip gloss: Tower 28 Beauty Clean ShineOn Jelly Lip Gloss – There are so many awesome lip glosses out there but I would say if you only buy one buy this one. There are a variety of shades depending on what colors you usually wear and how glossy you want to go. I find this product to be super long lasting and hydrating.
• Lip balm/oil: Laneige Lip Glowy Lightweight Hydration Balm with Shea Butter – This is my favorite hydrating lip product. There are different flavors too. Especially for these winter months when lips get dry so easily, this is the perfect hydrating balm. I also love that it provides some shine!

My favorite lipstick from Lancôme.

Highlighter

You can use either a liquid, cream or powder highlighter. Liquid is my fav. You also don’t need a highlighter in your makeup collection but I think they’re important to have. I love the glow a highlighter gives.

• Rare Beauty Positive Light Liquid Luminizer Highlight – This is my favorite highlighter. It is so pretty on everyone and there are so many different shades. I personally love the rose gold shade but depending on skin tone and what blush you are using there are plenty of great options!

Extras

If you want to add some bonus items to your makeup capsule there are three things you could add. Again, these are my the essentials. If I were doing a part two add on I would suggest some bolder eye shadow and lip colors for fun, but they are by no means necessary. For me, I think everyone needs a setting spray, a face palette, and a color corrector. Here are my favorites of each!

• Setting spray: MAC Cosmetics Fix+ Stay Over Alcohol-Free 24HR Setting Spray – There are a lot of great setting sprays out there. This is my favorite as of late. I feel like it doesn’t over soak my skin and make my mascara runny immediately after spraying. It also lasts all night.
• Face palette: Make Up Forever HD Skin Face Essentials – Longwear Full Face Cream Palette – This palette has everything. It is perfect for traveling, touch-ups, or every day use. I love it because it can be used for full foundation, concealer, contouring, blush and highlight. You could easily have this and not need anything else for your face. It’s pricey but WORTH it.
• Color corrector: Natasha Denoa Hy-Glam Brightening & Hydrating Medium to Full Coverage Crease Proof Serum Color Corrector – I mentioned this product when I talked about her concealer. As I’ve gotten older, I have found a color corrector really comes in handy for correcting under eyes, dark spots and other blemishes. This one is great and provides full coverage.

I hope these suggestions are helpful! January is a perfect time to create a capsule for the new year! I have seen other great suggestions and ideas online. It’s fun to make a capsule collection that’s tailored to you and your style.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and new year! Enjoy a festive drink, spend time with loved ones and enjoy some fun Christmas movies! I am a huge holiday movie addict so I have had all my favorites on rotation. What holiday activities and traditions are a must-do for you? One of mine is seeing “It’s a Wonderful Life” at the Music Box Theater in Chicago. It’s my all-time favorite movie.