Today I’ve got the first inspiration for you for gifts of $25 and under. Marc Jacobs Beauty makes some good mini gift sets, usually featuring their best-sellers.

I got the Cream And Sugar Nude Lip Trio and The Undersmoke Kit. Both come in a fancy little box with a little door in the front that you can open to see the products like they’re in a window display.

The Cream and Sugar Nude Lip Trio set contains:

• 0.01 oz/ 0.3 g Petite (P)outliner Longwear Lip Pencil in Cream and Sugar;
• 0.05 oz/ 1.7 g Petite Le Marc Lip Crème in Cream and Sugar;
• 0.05 oz/ 1.7 mL Petite Enamored Hi-Shine Gloss Lip Lacquer in Cream and Sugar.

Turned out my set didn’t contain the Lip Lacquer in Cream and Sugar (very random, but since someone brought it for me from the USA, I wasn’t able to go back to the store) sooo in this picture you see the Petite Enamored Hi-Shine Gloss Lip Lacquer in Sugar Sugar. Looking at the swatches, Cream and Sugar is the same(ish) shade but then with glitters and the gloss itself is more sheer.

The Undersmoke Kit contains:

• 0.0014 oz/ 0.04 g Fineliner Ultra-Skinny Gel Eye Crayon in Blacquer;
• 0.01 oz/ 0.34 g Highliner Matte Gel Eye Crayon in (Earth)quake;
• 0.21 oz/ 6 g Velvet Noir Major Volume Mascara in Noir.

I already know I adore the Velvet Noir Mascara so I can’t wait to try out the other products.

After the first swatches I can already tell that the lipliner and eyeliners are incredibly creamy. That’s very important to me so you don’t have to tug you lips or eyes while applying the product, because it slides on very smoothly.

In this look I am wearing the Marc Jacobs Eye-Conic Multi-Finish Eyeshadow Palette in Scandalust, the Highliner Matte Gel Eye Crayon in (Earth)quake, the Velvet Noir msacara, Glossier Cloud Paint in Haze and all three of the products from the Cream and Sugar set.

In the left picture I am only wearing the lip liner and lipstick, in the right picture I also layered the lip gloss on top.

The eyeliners are very easy to use because they are so creamy. Same applies for the lip liner. It creamy but not ‘slippery’, so it’s still possible to apply it precisely. The Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir Mascara is still one of my favorites because of how long it makes my lashes and how it doesn’t clump. I love the lipstick color and formula: it’s creamy, comfortable on the lips, it has a slight shine on the lips, making them look very healthy. It’s the perfect everyday light nude for me!

Both sets are still available at Sephora, both retail for $25 with a value of $40 (The Undersmoke Kit) and $35 (Cream and Sugar Nude Lip Trio).