NYX Beyond Basics Holiday Kit 17

Confession: I was trolling for a new palette at Ulta recently during the 5X point multiplier (I have something in mind for my 20% off coupon and I want to combine with as many points as possible to lower the price.). I was literally frustrated, and this attacked me in the leg.

So, I brought it home.

Say hello to the NYX Beyond Basic Holiday Kit- Version 17 ($20, in-store only at Ulta but online here at NYX Cosmetics). According to the brand's website, there are two versions of this kit.

For your $20, you receive three items- a six pan eyeshadow palette (same size as the Lingerie palette if you're curious), a black Matte liquid liner, and a Matte Liquid Lipstick in Nude Rose.

I'll be honest, I haven't had much time to play and test this because I got it 48 hours before the allergic reaction on my eye. So this is more of a swatch overview in case you'd like to pick this up as a last-minute gift.

For me, the six-pan shadow palette is the star. There are five mattes and a lone shimmer.

The six 0.04 pans are only numbered. It's worth noting that the brilliant magenta is marked as a pressed pigment that's not eye safe.  This usually means that there's a non-FDA approved dye involved. It's also worth noting that there's an explicit waterline warning because this contains carmine. So, don't use this on the waterline.

These shades just look like this time of year, don't they? Here's how they look swatched:

That creme is almost the same as my NW15 skin, that's why you can't see it. I'll get a lot of use out of this and will be sure to report back once I've thoroughly tested it.

To pair with the palette, you receive a Matte Liquid Liner. This looks to be close to full size, if not equal.

It's got a brush tip, and will be pulling this into my rotation in 2018.

Lastly, there's a Matte Liquid Lipstick in Nude Rose in the kit. I've not seen this formula on their site, or in a NYX store before. It's close to a full size though.

Admittedly, I didn't let this dry down before taking the photo, but it's representative to the color. With my furnace now running all the time, I have to be careful with drying items on my hands. Nude rose is a nice warm nude that I'll be happy to try once it gets a little warmer and my lips a little less chapped.

This is a fun little stocking stuffer- I know we're up on it in terms of holiday shopping, but there were plenty of years where I worked until the 21st, shopped for 14 hours on the 22nd, drove home to my parents' home on the 23rd, and wrapped the 24th. So I know there are still people shopping. These kits appear to be in-store at Ulta but online from NYX. I think it's a nice little value for sure.

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.

It Cosmetics It Girl Palette for Holiday 2017

This is probably the palette that grew on me the most this year. I was first entranced by the sparkling packaging, but when I saw the neutral insides I decisively dismissed it.

Yet I couldn't get it out of my head.

Say hello to the It Cosmetics It Girl Palette for Holiday 2017, retailing for $48 at an Ulta near you.

The holo-reflective box and crystal-studded top of the palette would seem naturally to pair with bold, vibrant shades inside, right? At the very least, glitter, right?

Sigh.

Yes, it's anti-climatic, but I've come to love this palette and think it's going to be an at-home workhorse for me.

One quick piece of advice- keep your box to protect that palette top! Those crystals are glued on.

Oh yeah, the glue. This palette reeks when you take it out of the box at first. It's the glue that bonds the crystals to the palette. I highly recommend taking it out of the box for three-to-five days and airing it out before using it. I've left mine out of the box for about three weeks at the time of writing this (six days before it publishes), and the stink is now gone.

Back to the palette- I wouldn't travel with this, but I'm going to store it in the box in my Alex 9 drawers in order to protect the crystals for as long as possible.

Putting aside the inevitable disappointment of this being a neutral palette, let's dissect. It's actually incredible for the everyday makeup user- and for someone who can't wear bold colors to the office. I find myself reaching for this day after day for office-friendly makeup. In that way, it really does have, as it claims, "it's your IT Girl essentials, all in one!". I'm not nearly as perky but I think it's a solid palette that would make a fantastic last-minute gift. Or would be a great Boxing Day usage of Ulta gift cards.

There are two Superhero eye foundations (aka bases)- the two large matte shades above the quads. YES to making these lovely matte shades twice the size of the others. They weigh in at 0.07oz each. I think they're superb.

There are two quads- one more brown neutrals and one rosy neutrals. Each has two shimmer and two matte shades, each weighing in at 0.03oz.

In the middle, you have a gradient blush that I have to be very careful with not to grab too much pigment. Yes, she's pigmented.

Let's look at this. First up, the left (brown) quint.

I'm going to call it right now, I'm likely to pan Beautiful and Lovely. I've worn this quint to work four different times, and they lasted all day. I didn't photograph at that point, and I'm writing this the day after having the allergic reaction so I can't put anything on my eye to recreate it. These are good.

Now, the rosy quint:

These are all really nice and I've tested them once. I found that they performed the same as the other quint- but I'm not into rosy hues this time of year. I'll dip in probably in February if I'm being honest.

Here's what the blush looks like, all mixed up:

It's a beautiful, cool-toned pink.

This isn't the most exciting palette, but I think it's fantastic. I had no idea that It Cosmetics eyeshadows were this silky, lovely, and pigmented. It makes me want to pick up another palette- darn it. I hadn't tried anything from the brand before this year and I've been really pleased with everything in my collection at this point. I'm glad I couldn't get this out of my head- if not for the fragile crystal top, I could totally travel with this and do my entire face. It really works for me as a fair-complected individual.

I'm so glad I gave this a shot after laughing at first. It Cosmetics, I've got my eye on you!

Essence Metal Eyeshadows

Tonight I'm going to share a quick peek at what was an impulse purchase one evening at Ulta. I spotted the Essence display with the Metals eyeshadows.

These baked shadows weigh in at 4g/ 0.14oz each and retail for $3.99. There were six shades at my Ulta, but there are nine shades listed on the brand's website. I purchased two of them to test the formula- and for one specific reason which I'll get into.


First up, Ballerina.

This is a lovely champagne shimmer. Ballerina Glam looks like it would be fantastic as either a subtle, glam lid shade or as a highlighter.

I wasn't sold on the baked formula. but was willing to give it a chance.

This is the swatch:

It's gorgeous and has better pigmentation than a lot of the other baked highlighters in my stash.

The other shade I picked up was Deep Sea.

I'm not sure why this called to me, but it did. It's a deep blue.

This is totally not my type of color, but the formula's very smooth.

This is pretty and smoky- now, I just need a reason to wear this at night!

I think these are fantastic for the price and highly recommend them.Ballerina Glam is my choice of the two (obviously). I'll be delving further into Essence in 2018, so stay tuned!

Morphe 39A Dare to Create Palette for Holiday 2017

Say hello to the star of Morphe's holiday collection. I'm well aware that this is a contraversial brand, but I'll note that I've had seamless experiences with them the three times I've ordered direct (one for brushes, one for the Jaclyn Hill palette, and this order).

The Morphe 39A Dare to Create palette ($32) contains 2.67oz/75.7g  of product in total, spread between 39 shades.

One of the things I really liked about this layout is that the top two rows are warm, the bottom two are cool, and there are larger-pan transition shades in the middle. I'll give full credit to Jaclyn Hill in this video for appropriately ID'ing that the transition shades are the same size as the Make Up For Ever singles.

This is an aside, but I love the black and gold theme, and the affirmation in the lid, which reads "Be Your Own Muse. We Dare You."

This palette called to me, especially Snatched (bright red shimmer), Dare Me (Cobalt shimmer), Fickle (olive matte), Inspire (green shimmer), Pine (deep olive matte), Colour (deep teal shimmer). Yes, I'm still in my cool moment.

I've tested this off and on for several weeks. I didn't think to photograph my looks, but I've really liked how these perform. It's all been on par with the Jaclyn Hill palette in terms of performance.

I do have swatches per row for you:

Row 1:

Row 2:

Row 3:

Row 4:

Row 5:

One note on Muse- it is buildable but swatches miserably.

This is a lovely and well-balanced palette. I'm mad that there's not a matte cream (hello, us fair people can't live without it!) which means it couldn't be the only palette I travel with. That's the only thing I'm missing though.

This is apparently actually limited edition. I'm not sure of their shipping deadlines, but this would make a nice present for the younger makeup lover in your life. You do get the shade names in an overlay (annoying since they did print on the palette for the 9A at Ulta). This is standard Morphe cardboard packaging, but it does feel sleek.

I'm very happy to have this, and have enjoyed the looks that I've made with it. I'm still waiting for them to make a greens palette. And then try and stop me from buying it.