It’s the holiday season and that can only mean one thing: shopping! There are a lot of great deals as we get closer to the end of the year. Beauty products, the latest fashion pieces, furniture, and even gadgets and electronics are available for up to 80% off. It is a great time to do some shopping.

One of the things I will be doing this holiday season is upgrading some of my camera gear. As a beauty blogger, producing great photos and videos is just as important as writing great articles. If you want to up your beauty blogging game too, here are some of the recommended gear that I will be picking up this holiday season.

I’ve been wanting to upgrade my camera for a while now and the Sony A6500 is the one I  might be getting. It is incredibly capable, despite being a year old. The Sony A6500 has a 24-megapixel sensor and all the bells and whistles every beauty blogger would need.

For starters, the images from this camera are superb. Images are crisp and vibrant. The Sony image processing is so good that you don’t have to worry about issues such as high noise and bad dynamic range at all, even when taking pictures in challenging conditions.

The Sony A6500 is also a fantastic video camera. It shoots 4K onto an SD Card and it is capable of producing clear videos in most cases. It even has a microphone input jack, so you can pair the camera with a Rode Video Micro or another external microphone to get clearer sound for your beauty tutorials.

The A6500 is a great camera, but you still need a good lens to produce great images. If you’re getting the A6500, then you want an E-mount lens to pair with the camera body. The guys at Sigma Rumors recommended the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens and it is easy to see why.

The lens is truly remarkable. It is one of the sharpest – if not THE sharpest – lenses available for the Sony APS-C system. It is also relatively compact and light. On top of that, the 30mm focal length is perfect for beauty stuff; the lens will not distort your face at all.

Good lighting is another crucial part of producing great beauty contents, which is why I will also be getting the Yongnuo YN-308C Ring Light this year. A ring light is perfect for beauty shots thanks to its smooth and even lighting characteristics.

The Yongnuo is a great light to pick up for two reasons. First, it is very affordable at just under $100; with the holiday discounts, this light should be even more affordable. The light is also very capable. It produces enough output without creating that harsh look.

Combined, these three purchases – investments – will take your beauty content, both photo, and video, to the next level. You can produce professional-grade photos and videos with the combination of camera, lens, and lighting we discussed in this article. These will definitely be my best purchases this year.