My Holiday Beauty Wishlist With Marie Claire

 I'll never forget the day my older cousin introduced me to her stash of fashion magazines. I was 9 years old and we were in her bedroom late at night flipping through a stack of back issues. I sat there for hours, mesmerized by everything from the beautiful clothing right down to the perfume samples embedded in the pages. I can pinpoint that night almost 30 years ago as the exact moment in time that I became interested in beauty and fashion and I've been an avid magazine reader ever since.

 I started reading Marie Claire in the mid 1990's when I was in high school and have never missed an issue! Out of all the magazines I've read, Marie Claire resonates the most with me because they offer a little bit of everything I want to read about. I love drooling over the gorgeous fashion pages...the bags! The shoes! Plus tons and tons of style inspiration. 

The beauty features are my go-to for discovering new brands I hadn't heard of before or getting sneak peeks of makeup that hasn't been released yet. 

The editorial content is always interesting to read because it's never the same old, "how to snag a man" kind of articles. They manage to be interesting, educational, and inspiring all at the same time. I learn a lot from reading Marie Claire, whether it's about world events, interviews with strong women from all over the world, or thought provoking pieces...either way, I'm never bored. 

But being a beauty blogger means that my favorite part of the magazine is the beauty products of course! So I wanted to share some of the things I discovered in the December issue of Marie Claire with you guys...it's my holiday beauty wishlist!

First, I spotted the Fresh Cocoa Body Exfoliant ($45 at Sephora) in the What Erin Loves section of the magazine (Erin is MC's beauty director). My husband gave me a Sephora gift card for my birthday and I've been compiling a list of things I want to buy with it...this is definitely going on that list!

I love finding out about new beauty products before they're released and this blurb about the new Pantene Airspray caught my attention. It offers all the hold of a traditional hairspray without the drying alcohol...brilliant! I can't wait until this comes out in January.

Another great thing about the Marie Claire beauty pages is finding out what the beauty editors are obsessed with, because they've tried everything. So if they like something, it's most likely a winner for me too. I've never heard of the La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 ($15), since it was only available in France up until now, but it sounds amazing for dry winter skin.

I've seen the Christophe Robin line at Sephora but I don't know a lot about it yet. This Antioxidant Cleansing Milk, recommended by the gorgeous Natalia Vodianova in the In Her Own Words section sounds heavenly. This is definitely going on my wishlist!

Finally, I was super excited to read this article about how to boost your hair color without dying it. I've been struggling with hair breakage since I overbleached my hair last year...I'm still growing the damaged sections out and am hesitant to use anything too strong on it in the meantime. This article recommended two different color enhancing products that I'm definitely going to try...the Rita Hazan Ultimate Shine Gloss ($26) which is a color depositing glaze, and the TIGI Fashionista Shampoo ($18) and Conditioner ($19), which boost your color the more you use them.

Overall, I couldn't live without my monthly beauty and fashion fixes from Marie Claire and I always look forward to the next issue showing up in my mailbox. I know we're living in the digital age and many people are reading magazines on tablets now, but for me, there's something comforting and familiar about flipping through the pages...it's my favorite wind-down activity. Plus, I love those perfume samples (don't laugh I've actually discovered some great scents this way!).

To get your own 1 year subscription to Marie Claire for only $10, plus a one-year subscription to gift to a friend for FREE click here. It's so much less than buying it at the newsstand, where it's $3.99 an issue, plus you're getting a second subscription for free!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.