Lifestyles

The holiday season is all about decorating -- twinkling lights on windows, shimmering tinsel on trees, mischievously placed mistletoe in doorways.

In the midst of all of the festivity, beautifully packaged makeup gift sets let faces get in on the fun, too. Gift sets bursting with shiny berry stains for lips, creamy rose blush for cheekbones, metallic glimmers for eyelids and dusty gold bronzer for complexions are available all year, but during the holidays, the packaging takes on a more glamorous edge. Makeup companies make sure there are sets that appeal to teen and 20-something glamour girls as well as sophisticated and polished sets for women in their 30s and beyond.

Indulge in a sampling of what's on offer this season:

Benefit

"There's too much seriousness all year; the holidays are a great time to let the girliness come out and really glam it up," says Arianne Damboise, the national makeup artist for Benefit Cosmetics.

Benefit's holiday gift sets combine favorites with a sparkle of brand-new limited-edition shades.

No woman dusted in makeup from Benefit's Dallas Palette ($28) could be content to ride off into the sunset. The glitzy gathering of beauty products revolve around Benefit's radiant Dallas Powder, a rosy combination of blush and bronzer. Eye shadows in Charge It and Million $ Mocha plus lip creams in Daddy's Girl and Rich 'N Famous are sure to make any woman feel like a million bucks.

The six colors in Benefit's V.I.P. Glosses collection ($26) shine through winter weather, no paparazzi flashbulbs required.

"Every shade is wearable, and they're our most popular colors," says Damboise of the set's cherry popsicle, bubblegum pink, clear fuchsia, mother of pearl, peaches and cream and dusty rose.

Sephora

Sephora is packing the color and frivolity of the big top into its products, giving its holiday promotion the theme of "Cirque de Beaute."

"The big thing here is color -- a lot of bold color, a lot of variety," says Sephora's Ross Park Mall color specialist, Melissa Shapiro.

The My Disco Chiiic Palette ($25) by Sephora Piiink is a cannonball of color for face, eyes, cheeks and lips. The set includes powder and cream eye shadows, including champagne sheen, deep plum shimmer, lilac and charcoal; blushes in rose and pink; a highlighting shimmer powder; bronzer; five lip glosses; lipsticks in russet sore and rose; black mascara, and a double lip/eye brush.

The trip to the circus continues at Sephora with the Carnival Concession Stand Obsession gift set ($20) of three Sephora Indulgences Whipped Body Delights to soothe and hydrate skin with an aroma of Cotton Candy, Cherry Snow Cone and Candy Apple.

Bare Escentuals

While Sephora tends to design specific gift sets geared either toward teen trend-setters or mature makeup mavens, Bare Escentuals' collections are for the beauty fiend in every woman.

"Our palettes are very universal; we don't tend to make kits that are just for the teens, or just for women in their 40s," says Staci Wilson, Bare Escentuals' senior vice president of brand development and brand awareness.

Step-by-step instructions and how-to videos included with every product teach women of all ages how to blend the creamy-powdered Bare Escentuals makeup for a sheer subtlety or a pigmented prowess.

Inside the peacock feather-emblazoned box of the Bare Escentuals Natural Exotic Collection ($58) are products that help any woman strut her stuff. The color kaleidoscope includes bareMinerals Bali Glimmer and Peacock Glimpse eye shadows, Big Tease mascara, Bambi Buxom Lips gloss, Pure Radiance All-Over face color, and three applicator brushes. The colors of Mineral Nail Infusion ($25) polishes are as diverse as the Bare Escentuals fans who wear them. The names Tighty Whitey, Sunny & Share, Give Peach a Chance and It's Not Red were submitted by Bare Escentuals fans, and the company's chief executive officer chose only those that made her laugh.

"It's our way of adding a little bit more flair down to our fingertips," Wilson says. "We're just trying to bring out the spunk in people."

Bare Escentuals' Fired Up Foiling Glimmers ($38) bring out the shine around the eyes. The collection offers two glimmers and one liner shadow in translucent shades that are "basically metal for your eyes," Wilson says. Using the product dry emits a "twilight of sheen" that's good for daytime looks, and adding a little water to the application process gives eyelids the "high, reflective shine of aluminum foil."

Urban Decay

Tucked inside a shiny lavender-foil case with thorned roses and gold stars embroidered against a black background sits the ultimate weapon of mass seduction -- everything a woman needs for her entire face in one makeup kit designed by Urban Decay. The Urban Arsenal ($42) packs four dusty-bronze eye colors, mascara in the blackest black, Big Fatty Lip Plumper, Naked XXX Shine Gloss, Eye shadow Primer Potion, and Afterglow Blush in Score.

While the Urban Arsenal is multipurpose, Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Ammo ($34) ups the ante on eye color by featuring 10 shades in celebration of the company's 10th anniversary, including metallic green Mildew, shimmery white Polyester Bride and glistening deep-red violet Last Call. Founding partner and creative director Wende Zomnir partnered her favorite complementary "punk rock meets 'Wuthering Heights'" shades to please Urban Decay junkies and newbies alike.

The shadow box is decorated in matte black paper embossed with violet velvet flocking and metallic foil designs of skulls, hearts, pistols and butterflies that mirror the T-shirt designs that are "of supreme importance" in Los Angeles fashion. "They're going to like the palette and how it looks, and then they're going to use the palette, and a whole new world of makeup is going to be opened up for them," Zomnir says. "Kits are a great gift option; you can't miss. There might be something in there that they might not have chosen themselves," Zomnir says. "I would always tell everyone to just try what's in there. You'll be surprised."

Winter makeup tips

No matter how drab the weather, the warm and toasty shimmers and rich highlights filling makeup palettes this season are sure to shine on any scene -- from a day at the office, a weekend at the ski lodge or an evening of holiday festivities.

The sun's absence is no excuse for a washed-out face. Independent Los Angeles-based celebrity makeup artist Leslie Lopez swears by Jergens Natural Glow FACE Daily Moisturizer as a base for any winter look, and uses the medium-tan shade of the self-tanner lotion on actresses Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson.

The holidays often mean running to cocktail parties after a day at the office. Makeup kits contain goodies that liven up daytime looks with a sweep of glitter or a splash of color.

"All the sudden, you've gone from totally neutral and office-appropriate to sizzling," says Wende Zomnir, founding partner and creative director of Urban Decay.

Snowy nights

Sparkly eyes add festivity suitable for the merriment of a holiday party. Putting a gold or silver shimmer on the center of the eyelid over top of your regular eye shadow livens up any look. Stick to silver shimmer over a cool shadow, or go for gold on top of warmer tones.

"Use cream blush with a little rose for a flushed look on the apples of your cheeks. Then put a translucent shimmer onto the cheekbone and temple and blend it in to enhance your skin's color," Lopez says. A few individual faux eyelashes applied at the corners of the eyes topped with several coats of mascara finish the fabulousness. Dramatic eyes like these should be paired with simply glossed lips to balance the look.

Flawless fun

"It's all about the clean look again; when the winter chill comes out, you start wearing the wool clothes and the jewel-toned colors. It makes me want to sit down and put real foundation on again!" says Arianne Damboise, national makeup artist for Benefit Cosmetics.

Some Kind-a Gorgeous ($26) is a cream-to-powder formula that glides on to give silky skin without a heavy makeup feel. The best part -- it comes in a record-player shaped compact.

Benefit's Non-fiction liquid foundation ($30) comes in 10 shades, to match any woman's story. Picking a foundation to match a complexion should be based on the colors in the center of the face and around the cheeks, not the jawbone. "You want (foundation) to look like water on your skin. Brush it over the cheek, and if it looks like it's blending into your skin. you've got the right color. If it completely changes color, you've got the wrong tone," Damboise says.

Moist measures

Frosty weather and dry heat strip the body of its moisture. Moisturizing from head to toe gives you the upper hand on Jack Frost. Philosophy's Hope in a Jar ($35-$105) is one of Sephora's best-selling moisturizers; switching to the sensitive-skin formula in the winter can imbibe the skin with even more hydration, says Sephora's Ross Park Mall color specialist, Melissa Shapiro. Facial moisturizers always should have SPF in the mix.

"Even if you're not sitting in the sun, you still want to protect your skin," Shapiro says. Chapped lips are no match for Tarte's FRXtion ($11), a stick that contains a brown sugar scrub on one side and a vitamin E balm on the other.

When it comes to winter-wrecked hair, "there's going to be a lot of static and frizz," Shapiro says. Phytodefrisant Botanical Hair Relaxing Balm ($24-$32) is a heat-activated balm that helps tame and control frizz.

Cool color

A splash of color perks up a face like a string of lights brightens a tree. Clowns aren't the only professionals who can wear color to work. Covering the eyelid and lower lash line with a shimmering beige like Urban Decay's Midnight Cowboy give a neutral base to work with, says Wende Zomnir, the company's founding partner and creative director. Dab a brighter color such as blue-sheened lavender Asphyxia at the inner and outer corners of eyes, then blend inward.

"No one is afraid of (the color) and I get lots of compliments," Zomnir says. Taking this look to another level of pigmentation adds punch for after-work parties. A line of Heavy Metal Glitter Liner ($17) along the lashes adds glamour, but it takes commitment to make blue eye shadow or smoky eyes work. "It's about really letting that dark shadow do what it's meant to do," Zomnir says.

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