LORAC Mod Goddess Lip Gloss Set III

Ugh, we've finally made it to the end with these LORAC Mod Goddess lip kits. I don't know what I was thinking, buying and reviewing all six. That's 33 new lip products (31 if you count the doubles). No wonder these posts have been something admittedly I haven't looked forward to. It's not the products, it's the amount of time and effort to test.

Although I don't have a lot of notes, believe me that I've tried every product before featuring it here.

Set III has a nice variety, and let's just jump on in.

Socialite is the first and lightest shade in this set. The brand calls it "nude." Thanks for that description.

This is a shade that I either sheer out on my lips for a no makeup look or lightly accent my lips with due to pigmentation.

It Girl is next up. It's described as "coral pink" by the brand. This is the type of warm pink that I used to grab for on a daily basis. There's no discernible shimmer.

This is a fresh shade that works well with my pigmented lips without assistance.

Damsel is described as "dark mauve." It's got a lovely tone to it that plays nicely alone with my lips.

The cool-toned base of this shade really works well for me. It's one I've been reaching for frequently.

Entrepreneur is up next- we covered this earlier today. It's a nude rose shade that is also featured in Kit II.

Just as a reminder, this is what the shade looks like:

It's a pretty brown-toned shade.

Aphrodite is up next- a "deep rose brown" according to the brand.

It's a great fall shade.

Selene is the final shade in this kit- a " rose red."

I have found myself reaching for this warm shade time after time.

Lip Gloss Set III is a bit darker than Set II that we also covered today. I do recommend all of these either as gifts or as a way to supplement your collection (you get six for less than the cost of two shades).

I don't think I'll be buying and reviewing any more sets like this for quite awhile, to be honest.

LORAC Mod Goddess Lip Gloss Set II

Today I'll be wrapping up my overviews of all of the six LORAC Mod Goddess lip sets offered for Holiday 2017. We've already talked about all of the lipsticks, but I've got twelve new lip glosses (ok, ten because there's a double and I already owned one of them and am passing it along for Christmas) to talk about.

This is really pale, nude set overall.

Let's dive in.

First up, Sex Symbol.

According to the brand, this is "pink nude."

It's a pinky nude, but most of these don't make a big difference on my lips to be honest.


Second, Trophy Wife.

This is described by the brand as "flamingo."

Naturally, it's a light pink that's divine when mixed and matched, or as a subtle accent on its own.

Third is Granny.

Like the lipstick, the brand calls it "dusty peach."

I personally think it's more of a spicy shade myself and really enjoy it.

Fourth is Barista.

This is the only shade in all of the sets that I owned before- it was originally released this Spring with the Beauties that Brunch collection.

It's a very light nude that I have to be really careful with on my lips.

Fifth is the shade Mademoiselle.

According to the brand, this is "peachy nude."

Finally, let's talk about Entrepreneur.

This is the only repeat shade among any of the kits. I gifted my double of this and of Barista for Christmas. Entrepreneur is "rose brown."

It's a really neutral gloss that goes well on a daily basis.

As I mentioned, this is a really light, nude set.

Here's the set, swatched.

This is the most neutral set of the bunch and a great addition to my collection.

Smashbox Shadow & Highlight Palette Set

I'll readily admit that Smashbox isn't a brand that I typically get excited about. I bought last holiday's blush palette and have barely touched it. But I guess having most of the items that interest me combined with spotting a great value led me to be interested in this particular kit ($39, Ulta/Sephora, claims a $77 value).

Smashbox's Shadow & Highlight Palette kit has three small palettes in limited edition packaging:

Hiding in that packaging are two permanent releases and one palette I hadn't seen before: Cover Shot palettes in Ablaze and Sultry, and Spotlight Palette in Pearl. I'd been considering trying the Spotlight palette before (these were created with YouTuber Casey Holmes) and picking up a Cover Shot palette ($29 each), so why not try the trio I thought.

I'm going to spoil my review, but I'm really shocked and impressed. I may have nabbed two additional Cover Shot palettes when I spotted them at a discount because of my experience with this set.

Confession: I'm finishing posts that I've photographed weeks ago, and if I find a deficiency I can't always go back and correct it due to the eye reaction I'm currently experiencing. So there's only one eye look in this review, whereas I'd like to show at least one per palette. Sorry about that, but this is my window of opportunity to get posts completed.

Let's start with the palette that intrigued me the most- Cover Shot Sultry.

As far as I can tell, this is a new release for the holiday bundle. And since I've been craving cool tones recently it's perfect.

Sultry is decidedly cool-toned (yay) and features taupes and some purples.

There's a nice mix of mattes, satins, and metallics in this palette. As I played with it, I noticed some fallout, and I find this formula quite soft in the pan so it's prone to chunking.

Here's one of the eye looks I created with this palette:

Of course I went for the purples.

Here's the swatches, all labeled and everything:

I love this little palette. It's prefect for my NW15 skintone, and I've been reaching for it a lot. It's what made me want to try more of the range.

Next up is what I believe to be the most recent release from the line- the Ablaze palette.

Don't ask me why they put Ablaze in blue artwork. I find these tough to keep apart, although I think the artwork is cute.

I know I'm a little blurry.

I'm just going to guess that you're probably more familiar with Ablaze- the very warm-toned Cover Shot palette.

Again, a good mix of formulas represented here. I did find them soft and prone to fallout, but just do your eyes first and you're good to go.

And Ablaze, swatched:

I'll be honest, I'm so tired of warm palettes that there's no way I would've purchased this on my own. However, I'm glad to have it and can see myself reaching for it. These are decidely travel-friendly, and I've liked the two looks from the palette that I've done to date.

Now, we move to the cheek palette.

If I was going to pick up one of these, it would've been the Pearl palette. I'm glad I got it in a kit.

I'm slowly coming to realize that I'm over the BAM highlighter trend and have been craving a more natural look. If that's you, this palette is completely wrong for you.

The three highlighters in this palette are beautiful and suited for me (mostly), but on the skin they're very noticable. For most people, that's a good thing. But I don't find those formulas to be as flattering on me as more subtle highlighters.

They're quite pretty, but I did see a lot of texture that I didn't even know that I had with them. Just a fair warning. Out of the three, this is my least favorite palette.


Bottom Line: This is an incredible gift for someone- from the teen on your shopping list to the professional looking for office-friendly looks. I'm surprised how often I reach for the eye palettes, and I'm slightly disappointed that I'm so far behind on this particular release. These are pigmented and beautiful palettes worth your beauty dollars.