Holiday Hunting: Drugstore Holiday sets
So this is something I'm going to maybe start doing a little bit here and sort of give a first impression based on displays and swatches of things for the holidays. I walked into Harmon and I noticed they have a TON of holiday stuff out already, and some of the stuff was displayed so that you could swatch it and that is always exciting. I wanted to start at the drugstore just because of the swatch-able palette that I may get and do a review on... eventually.
L'oreal
I'm going to start with L'oreal. They had some really adorable holiday sets. Last year Maybelline had The Nudes Palette in a cardboard box to make it look a little more fancy and gift-able. This year they have the L'oreal La Palette's in fancy packaging. As far as I know it was just the regular La Palette's inside they just had a really nice packaging. I have these and I like them... they don't have a great wear time on my eyes, but they're still pretty good and my friend LOVES them. I think the packaging looks really cute and it would be a nice gift for someone thats into makeup or drugstore makeup.
There was also a set with a Mascara, an eyeliner and a lipstick I think and that was nicely packaged as well. I think that would be a great gift because you really can't go wrong with that. Those are things people still like to wear on No Makeup Days... so thats good. I forget what the mascara was I think it was The Butterfly Mascara, which is great. I've heard great things about L'oreal mascaras in general, and I think they're pretty good. I've heard good things about their liners... I'm not much of a liner girl, but their Silkissime liners are pretty good. And their lipsticks have a weird smell I've heard... so I've never tried them, other than the Le Mattes and La Laques. So... maybe beware of that... didn't catch the price of this, L'oreal can sometimes be pricey... Harmon is usually a little cheaper than other drugstores and of corse you can always use Bed Bath and Beyond Coupons, Harmon coupons or Buy Buy Baby coupons... and maybe Christmas Tree Shoppe coupons? I've never seen coupons for them, but I know they're affiliated. So those looked pretty good.
Maybelline
Maybelline had some new things out. They have a lipgloss palette, which EmilyNoel83 just did a review on and didn't really like it. I'm not really a lip palette person, I know I wouldn't get much use out of it just because its kind of a pain to get a brush and use a gloss instead of just using an applicator... but I guess you could mix and match them. She mentioned they really aren't pigmented though, so it just seems like a hassle that wouldn't be worth it. I wouldn't give it to anyone as a gift.
They also have some cute sets that are kind of all in one palettes. They have a blush, Highlighter, some eyeshadows a liner and a gloss. Emily also reviewed them and wasn't in love with them. They had a Smokey Eye kit and a Nude eye kit and I actually thought the Smokey eye looked really pretty and would probably make a good kit. That being said, thats a lot of packaging for 4 eyeshadows... and yeah it comes with other stuff... but I don't know that you can create that many great looks with just 4 shadows and I didn't get a good look at the packaging to see if it was bulky or not... but for four shadows it was a lot more than just a quad or something you know? If you were traveling I feel like it would take up the same amount of space if you just packed a quad, a blush, a gloss, a liner and a highlighter. I think these look good enough to be a good gift, and the products inside seemed to be mostly good... I know Emily said they weren't the best... but I think it would make a good gift if you wanted to gift it. Btw I think they're called the Gilded Gold Set for the gold one... Idk what the silver one is called actually... I will link Emily's review somewhere in this blog because I find her reviews really helpful and she was looking at it more in the way of "this would or wouldn't make a good gift" as opposed to whether it worked for her or not. And that's an important thing to think about.
NYX
There were also some things from Nyx. They have a few new Butt Naked palettes, which come with shadows, blushes and highlights so those are all in one things. This looks like it has a bigger bulkier package than the Maybelline has... but again, look at Emily's review and swatches on this palette because it looks absolutely stunning. The one she had was the Underneath it all set I believe and that had a lot of fun colors that you could create a ton of looks with and I at least don't have much of in my collection. It wasn't just a naked palette I don't think... you could do so much with it that it looks stunning. I could even see traveling with it. I think this would make a great gift because Nyx is a good quality line, this is a good all in one palette and its something that a lot of people probably don't have anything like. I also think this would be great to get a teenager just because its called Butt Naked and I find that hilarious. I think the name makes it even more gift-able because its just funny, I think people would get a kick out of that at least.
There was also another Nyx Kit that had a little of everything in it, which I think would be great. I don't know the name of it... this is another one Emily mentioned that comes with a lot of useful things. It mostly has complexion products that are usually pretty pricey for a full size from Nyx... so getting a bunch in this little package thing is great for that. It looks cute and I think it would be good if you know someone that is going away soon and wants things to travel with. I could see giving this to someone and maybe hiding plane tickets in there as a way to surprise them that you're going on a trip or something. That would be a really fun and thoughtful and possibly romantic idea. I don't know what the kit is called. I think that both of these kits are 24.99 at Ulta, so they might be a little less at Harmon... or a little more lol. Could go either way.
ELF
I saw Elf's holiday kits. I think they usually have good holiday kits that are usually cute and colorful. I didn't get a good look at them as I didn't know I'd be doing this post. If they have ones with like eyeshadows that are like circular but they have 2 colors in one and they come with like 4 in a kit... don't get those. I got them last year when they were on sale and I didn't like any of the shadows. They do also have big kits, these would probably be good for halloween makeup. These don't have the cutest packaging, they just show their palette on the front... but they still are nice. These usually go on sale for really good prices as it gets closer to Christmas... I would wait until black friday, cyber monday or around or after christmas to get these. I think I got a brush kit and the kit with the eyeshadows for $2 or under and I think it was right after Christmas. Maybe right before... but probably after... so keep that in mind.
Naked Palette Lookalikes!
And last but not least I saw palettes that were identical to the Urban Decay Naked Palettes. I think sometimes Harmon does actually carry these palettes, my friend said they did and I think I even saw they did on Nouveau Cheap... but honestly these palettes are designed exactly the same, I could see getting the two confused. The colors weren't exactly the same. The first palette on display did look like the Naked palette, the second one looked sort of like the Naked 3 but it was different enough and the third one was very colorful and looked a lot different. These were 12.99 each... I wanted to get one but I couldn't decide which one... and I'm a little overwhelmed with eyeshadows right now... so I decided not to. These swatched nice and pigmented... but they felt a little powdery. They weren't super dry, but I think there would be a lot of fall out with these and it wouldn't necessarily be easy to use if you like quick make up looks. Its nice because the shadows have names, so I think if you're just getting into blogging or doing youtube videos and don't want to buy a naked palette, this would be easy to use... but at the same time, they aren't comparable in quality to Urban Decay, and you can get more comparable shadows that are a lot cheaper than these ones. I would highly recommend Makeup Revolution from Ulta. I think the shades are very comparable and they are just $7. The packaging isn't anything special for Makeup Revolution... but the packaging of the Naked Palette's isn't great anyway lol. And the Makeup Revolution ones separate the mattes from the shimmers which I always like. The name of these palettes were Iconic I believe... I didn't see the brand but I think the packaging said Iconic.
Idk if these would make a great gift or not. They were very pigmented and certainly different enough to create looks with. The swatches showed up, but I had glitter leftover on my hand after using hand sanitizer and the texture didn't feel amazing. Plus people might get too excited thinking they're getting a naked palette... so it might make you look kind of bad. Lol. I think it'd be good to give teenagers or to buy for yourself, or if you wanted to write a blog or do a video, this would be great... but Makeup Revolution seemed better to me.
I hope this was sort of helpful! I wasn't planning on blogging about any of these unless I actually bought one... but I don't want to buy all of these things and I think its helpful to know about some more affordable gift options. If I do buy any of these... I will surely mention them and review them as I do with most things. I think I'll also do this for Sephora and Ulta and other places that sell makeup and have holiday sets and I'll let you know what I think. I already did a holiday palette roundup, but that was before most things had even been released, and I didn't even get to swatch any of the things and say what was great and what was not so great. So... there's that.
If you want to take it from someone that did try and review a lot of these sets, check out Emily's video right here. I obviously found that pretty helpful as I mentioned with a lot of the swatches and stuff you can see. She's also testing out other holiday kits and has a lot on her channel, so if you want more than just swatches, she has them!
Physician's Formula
I don't think this is necessarily holiday stuff... it isn't limited edition, but Physician's formula has new line of their shimmer strips which are Extreme Shimmer Shimmer Strips. They have a new mascara and tinted moisturizer that have like an active looking packaging and it looks like its supposed to be long wearing and like you can go to the gym with them on. I'm super curious about that... so I kind of want to do a first impressions on them in the near future... but yeah. I think those would be good gifts too. The Shimmer strips looked like a good gift for someone that likes colorful things!
Byeee! Let me know if you've tried or seen any of these things and what you think!
-Shannon
L'oreal
I'm going to start with L'oreal. They had some really adorable holiday sets. Last year Maybelline had The Nudes Palette in a cardboard box to make it look a little more fancy and gift-able. This year they have the L'oreal La Palette's in fancy packaging. As far as I know it was just the regular La Palette's inside they just had a really nice packaging. I have these and I like them... they don't have a great wear time on my eyes, but they're still pretty good and my friend LOVES them. I think the packaging looks really cute and it would be a nice gift for someone thats into makeup or drugstore makeup.
There was also a set with a Mascara, an eyeliner and a lipstick I think and that was nicely packaged as well. I think that would be a great gift because you really can't go wrong with that. Those are things people still like to wear on No Makeup Days... so thats good. I forget what the mascara was I think it was The Butterfly Mascara, which is great. I've heard great things about L'oreal mascaras in general, and I think they're pretty good. I've heard good things about their liners... I'm not much of a liner girl, but their Silkissime liners are pretty good. And their lipsticks have a weird smell I've heard... so I've never tried them, other than the Le Mattes and La Laques. So... maybe beware of that... didn't catch the price of this, L'oreal can sometimes be pricey... Harmon is usually a little cheaper than other drugstores and of corse you can always use Bed Bath and Beyond Coupons, Harmon coupons or Buy Buy Baby coupons... and maybe Christmas Tree Shoppe coupons? I've never seen coupons for them, but I know they're affiliated. So those looked pretty good.
Maybelline
Maybelline had some new things out. They have a lipgloss palette, which EmilyNoel83 just did a review on and didn't really like it. I'm not really a lip palette person, I know I wouldn't get much use out of it just because its kind of a pain to get a brush and use a gloss instead of just using an applicator... but I guess you could mix and match them. She mentioned they really aren't pigmented though, so it just seems like a hassle that wouldn't be worth it. I wouldn't give it to anyone as a gift.
They also have some cute sets that are kind of all in one palettes. They have a blush, Highlighter, some eyeshadows a liner and a gloss. Emily also reviewed them and wasn't in love with them. They had a Smokey Eye kit and a Nude eye kit and I actually thought the Smokey eye looked really pretty and would probably make a good kit. That being said, thats a lot of packaging for 4 eyeshadows... and yeah it comes with other stuff... but I don't know that you can create that many great looks with just 4 shadows and I didn't get a good look at the packaging to see if it was bulky or not... but for four shadows it was a lot more than just a quad or something you know? If you were traveling I feel like it would take up the same amount of space if you just packed a quad, a blush, a gloss, a liner and a highlighter. I think these look good enough to be a good gift, and the products inside seemed to be mostly good... I know Emily said they weren't the best... but I think it would make a good gift if you wanted to gift it. Btw I think they're called the Gilded Gold Set for the gold one... Idk what the silver one is called actually... I will link Emily's review somewhere in this blog because I find her reviews really helpful and she was looking at it more in the way of "this would or wouldn't make a good gift" as opposed to whether it worked for her or not. And that's an important thing to think about.
NYX
There were also some things from Nyx. They have a few new Butt Naked palettes, which come with shadows, blushes and highlights so those are all in one things. This looks like it has a bigger bulkier package than the Maybelline has... but again, look at Emily's review and swatches on this palette because it looks absolutely stunning. The one she had was the Underneath it all set I believe and that had a lot of fun colors that you could create a ton of looks with and I at least don't have much of in my collection. It wasn't just a naked palette I don't think... you could do so much with it that it looks stunning. I could even see traveling with it. I think this would make a great gift because Nyx is a good quality line, this is a good all in one palette and its something that a lot of people probably don't have anything like. I also think this would be great to get a teenager just because its called Butt Naked and I find that hilarious. I think the name makes it even more gift-able because its just funny, I think people would get a kick out of that at least.
There was also another Nyx Kit that had a little of everything in it, which I think would be great. I don't know the name of it... this is another one Emily mentioned that comes with a lot of useful things. It mostly has complexion products that are usually pretty pricey for a full size from Nyx... so getting a bunch in this little package thing is great for that. It looks cute and I think it would be good if you know someone that is going away soon and wants things to travel with. I could see giving this to someone and maybe hiding plane tickets in there as a way to surprise them that you're going on a trip or something. That would be a really fun and thoughtful and possibly romantic idea. I don't know what the kit is called. I think that both of these kits are 24.99 at Ulta, so they might be a little less at Harmon... or a little more lol. Could go either way.
ELF
I saw Elf's holiday kits. I think they usually have good holiday kits that are usually cute and colorful. I didn't get a good look at them as I didn't know I'd be doing this post. If they have ones with like eyeshadows that are like circular but they have 2 colors in one and they come with like 4 in a kit... don't get those. I got them last year when they were on sale and I didn't like any of the shadows. They do also have big kits, these would probably be good for halloween makeup. These don't have the cutest packaging, they just show their palette on the front... but they still are nice. These usually go on sale for really good prices as it gets closer to Christmas... I would wait until black friday, cyber monday or around or after christmas to get these. I think I got a brush kit and the kit with the eyeshadows for $2 or under and I think it was right after Christmas. Maybe right before... but probably after... so keep that in mind.
Naked Palette Lookalikes!
And last but not least I saw palettes that were identical to the Urban Decay Naked Palettes. I think sometimes Harmon does actually carry these palettes, my friend said they did and I think I even saw they did on Nouveau Cheap... but honestly these palettes are designed exactly the same, I could see getting the two confused. The colors weren't exactly the same. The first palette on display did look like the Naked palette, the second one looked sort of like the Naked 3 but it was different enough and the third one was very colorful and looked a lot different. These were 12.99 each... I wanted to get one but I couldn't decide which one... and I'm a little overwhelmed with eyeshadows right now... so I decided not to. These swatched nice and pigmented... but they felt a little powdery. They weren't super dry, but I think there would be a lot of fall out with these and it wouldn't necessarily be easy to use if you like quick make up looks. Its nice because the shadows have names, so I think if you're just getting into blogging or doing youtube videos and don't want to buy a naked palette, this would be easy to use... but at the same time, they aren't comparable in quality to Urban Decay, and you can get more comparable shadows that are a lot cheaper than these ones. I would highly recommend Makeup Revolution from Ulta. I think the shades are very comparable and they are just $7. The packaging isn't anything special for Makeup Revolution... but the packaging of the Naked Palette's isn't great anyway lol. And the Makeup Revolution ones separate the mattes from the shimmers which I always like. The name of these palettes were Iconic I believe... I didn't see the brand but I think the packaging said Iconic.
Idk if these would make a great gift or not. They were very pigmented and certainly different enough to create looks with. The swatches showed up, but I had glitter leftover on my hand after using hand sanitizer and the texture didn't feel amazing. Plus people might get too excited thinking they're getting a naked palette... so it might make you look kind of bad. Lol. I think it'd be good to give teenagers or to buy for yourself, or if you wanted to write a blog or do a video, this would be great... but Makeup Revolution seemed better to me.
I hope this was sort of helpful! I wasn't planning on blogging about any of these unless I actually bought one... but I don't want to buy all of these things and I think its helpful to know about some more affordable gift options. If I do buy any of these... I will surely mention them and review them as I do with most things. I think I'll also do this for Sephora and Ulta and other places that sell makeup and have holiday sets and I'll let you know what I think. I already did a holiday palette roundup, but that was before most things had even been released, and I didn't even get to swatch any of the things and say what was great and what was not so great. So... there's that.
If you want to take it from someone that did try and review a lot of these sets, check out Emily's video right here. I obviously found that pretty helpful as I mentioned with a lot of the swatches and stuff you can see. She's also testing out other holiday kits and has a lot on her channel, so if you want more than just swatches, she has them!
Physician's Formula
I don't think this is necessarily holiday stuff... it isn't limited edition, but Physician's formula has new line of their shimmer strips which are Extreme Shimmer Shimmer Strips. They have a new mascara and tinted moisturizer that have like an active looking packaging and it looks like its supposed to be long wearing and like you can go to the gym with them on. I'm super curious about that... so I kind of want to do a first impressions on them in the near future... but yeah. I think those would be good gifts too. The Shimmer strips looked like a good gift for someone that likes colorful things!
Byeee! Let me know if you've tried or seen any of these things and what you think!
-Shannon
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