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The holiday season/winter is when some of the best sets are released. I looked around to get you information on some of the best beauty kits that have been curated this year.
Real Techniques has a variety of brush sets out this season that can cater to every need you would have brush-wise. If you are looking to overhaul your brush collection and want to start anew, check out Real Techniques’ Limited Edition Shine of The Times Brush + Cleanse Set. It contains 10 brushes, a cosmetic bag, a silicone pad, and a cleansing balm. The brushes are as follows with their brush number: 401 sculpting brush, 334 winged liner, 103 facial brush, 104 lip exfoliating brush, 220 light layers complexion brush, 326 flat liner brush, 444 filtered cheek brush, and 332 smudge brush. Their Mini Holidaze Brush + Sponge Set is great for people who do their makeup on the go. It is entirely made up of mini brushes and a full-size miracle complexion sponge. The brushes are as followed with their numbers: 307 shading brush which has a short dense bristles for building cream and powder, 407 multitasking brush to apply, and the 402 blend powders a setting brush that has small tapered bristles so you can be precise while using highlighting and setting powder. Lastly, they include a full-size miracle complexion sponge. The flat size helps you apply the product. The round side blends and blurs while the precise tip helps Conceal and Perfect the look.
Grande Cosmetics’ Lash & Brow Fantasy. This trio contains a full-size GrandeLASH-MD, a full-size GrandeMASCARA, and a travel-sized GrandeBROW. GrandeLASH-MD is a lash-enhancing serum. The full size is a three-month supply and, according to the brand, improves the length and thickness of your lashes within four to six weeks. Plus, it has been dazzling on the case. GrandeMASCARA contains ingredients like panthenols, peptides, and natural waxes. That is, they are supposed to promote healthier-looking lashes on top of being a black volumizing mascara. Lastly, they have a travel size GrandeBROW. The travel-size brow-enhancing serum is an eight-week supply. However, the brand says that your brows’ appearance should get fuller and bolder in six to eight weeks.
Bobby Brown City Stroll Mini Long-Wear Long-Wear Cream Shadow Stick Set. This set contains two mini Long-Wear Cream Shadow Stick minis and a mini Smokey Eye Mascara in black-all just over 3 inches. The Shadow Stick shades are Golden Pink and Dusty Mauve. The shades are both shimmer, go on smoothly, and very pigmented. The Golden Pink is a shade that can be worn as a highlighter for the inner corner of your eye or as the shadow itself. The dusty Mauve is described as a shimmering lavender, but it does have a bronzer tone to it. The small size makes it easy to put in your pocket or bag so you can transform it into a night look. For a day look, you can use the Golden Pink on your lid and inner corners and use the Dusty Mauve in the crease. You can transform it into a night look by putting Dusty Mauve all over your eyelid while putting Golden Pink on your brow bone for a little pop. The Smoky Eye Mascara shade is black. In addition to its volumizing properties, I found and did a great job at separating and defying lashes and lasting all day without smudging or running.
Face Haus Best Seller Bundle. This bundle comes with The People’s Wash which is a cleansing oil, The Radical Reformer is a 10% AHA + BHA exfoliating pads, the Bright Talent a multi mega C serum and The Schmoozer which is a hydrating lip care. This bundle was curated in honor of their 10th anniversary and is available until The New Year. The People’s Wash is an oil cleanser that contains Omega three, vitamins as well as oils, including avocado, jojoba, grapeseed, and lavender. It also contains an ingredient called ole I see acid that helps your skin restore its moisture levels and retain it. The Radical Reformer is exfoliating pads that are a great dupe for Dr. Dennis Gross. These exfoliating pads are 10% AHA plus BHA exfoliating pads are great for taking off dead skin. For brighter skin, I use this product not just on my face but also on my hands and elbows. I tried other experiences on my elbows and my hands, but these were the only ones that did the job. The Bright Talent isn’t just any vitamin C serum. What makes this serum stand out is that it has 2 different types of vitamin C as well as containing a clinical level of oil-soluble Vitamin C. So what exactly does that mean? Well, according to their website, it means “That (it) diffuses into skin helping to improve uneven dull and UV damaged skin.” It didn’t irritate my sensitive skin. They recommend putting it on in the morning to help with free radicals throughout the day. The Schmoozer is by far and large my favorite item in this bundle. It does an amazing job of hydrating my lips. This gel-balm texture uses Bisabolol to keep lips hydrated and nourished. It is smooth and not sticky. I also love to put it over my lip products.
Pili Ani Skin Care Starter Set. This set contains three steps and four items. The items include a Gentle Facial Cleanser, A Purifying Toner, Ageless Concentrate, and Self Care Night Recovery Oil. What makes this brand stand out is that it has Elemi Essential Oil. The two face oils are the Self Care Night Recovery oil and the Ageless Concentrate. The former is a 30-day supply. It is an oil that I find personally to be very soothing, especially at night because it has lavender and jasmine oil. These items are very small, so it is easy to take with you when you travel or to keep right next to your bed. If you put it in your bag, it’s virtually weightless.
CND’s Holiday Nail collection is entitled Magical Botany. Many of the shades remind me of colors from deep in the forest with beautiful shimmer undertones. They are beautiful, deep jeweled tones with shimmer and chrome. The shades are: Scarlet Letter (a creamy red) Poison Plum (A deep almost black with glitter) Forevergreen (a very, very deep dark green with undertones of deep red) Frostbite (taupe chrome with very slight inclusions of pink and teal undertone) and my two favorite shades from this collection: It’s getting Golder (a beautiful gold) and Midnight Flight (a midnight blue)
Essie Holiday Nails
Essie has more than one limited edition holiday set. The 4-piece limited edition gift set contains the shades No Place Like Chrome (Chrome/silver) Blanc (White) Off Tropic (emerald green), and from their Luxeeffect line Summit of Style (gold glitter nail polish) I love how perfect this shade is for highlighting designs or doing a gold ombre design with other shades. The 6-piece limited edition gift set is similar to the 4-piece gift set but, there are differences. It has Penny Talk (copper shade) Wicked (a dark red) and a clear gel top coat in addition to these shades from the 4-piece set: Blanc (White) Off Tropic (emerald green), and from their Luxeeffect line Summit of Style (gold glitter nail polish).
If you’re into haircare you’ve no doubt heard about Slip, they have products such as scrunchies, pillowcases, and eye masks. If you’ve ever wanted to try Slip hair products they have the perfect gift sets. Slip says that within four nights sleep creases, sleep lines, and sleep wrinkles were fewer and less noticeable. I also noticed the difference in my hair when I used silk hair ties vs elastic. They have the Chelsea Holiday Ornament set. It had four skinny scrunchies. One is white, a rose pink, a blush, and a pattern named Chelsea. The pattern has a mix of various shades with some pink blue and white. They also have the Holiday Edition Gift Set in Chelsea. That is a rose pink pillowcase that is pure silk, a large slip silk scrunchie in Chelsea and one rose slip silk skinny scrunchi.
Tula Eye Balm Extravaganza. This kit contains two of Tula’s Glow and Get It as well as a 24-7 eye balm. This set contains the original Glow & Get It, which is a cooling and brightening balm, that is supposed to help eyes feel more awake and revived. The Rose Glow and Get It is also meant to be cooling and brightening like the original but leaving a dewy rose glow instead. The 24-7 Power Swipe is a hydrating day and night treatment eye balm that is slightly different. It helps the look of puffiness, fine lines, and hydrates but it is designed to help protect your skin from blue light which can be damaging. All three can be worn under makeup or over makeup.
Kylie Cosmetics has a variety of kits available these are two standouts for me: Kylie Cosmetics also has a Precision Pout Lip Liner Set. It contains 3 shades. The shades are Comes Naturally, A Soft Mauve, Cinnamon, a warm brown, and Coco which is a deep brown. These were formulated to have a seamless tug-free application by using a waxy texture and long-lasting formula. They recently released the full line of Precision Pout Lip Liners. Kylie’s 4 Piece Makeup Set has a blush in Crush, a light coral, Matte Liquid Lipstick in Candy K, a warm pink nude, high gloss in the shade Lost Angel, a sheer pink with gold shimmer, and Kyliner eyeliner in black. The two stand-out items for me in this is the High Gloss in Lost Angel as it looks like it has elements of gold AND Silver shimmer. It shines beautifully in the light. The other item that stands out for me in this line is the Kyliner eyeliner because the eyeliner is very precise and allows you to have a very thin liner if you wish.
The seasons’ shadows are on the whole very much reminiscent of 2000′ Y2K with bright metallic shimmers. KVD’s palette Surreal Bloom Metallic Vegan Eshadow Palette has 6 shades which are more opaque than sheer but still buildable. The shades are a mix of pearl bronze and copper along with a teal, a brick rose metallic, and an iridescent lavender. These are more metallic than shimmer and easily blendable but still contain the glow that is often associated with these shadows. If you love lip products you have to take a look at the Strange Garden Everlasting Hyperlight Liquid Lipstick Vault. It contains 16 shades. While I haven’t tried every shade the ones I have are extremely long-lasting- I was able to eat and drink from a glass without any lipstick coming off. The shades include a variety of reds and roses as well as fun colors such as bright orange, blue, green, and black.
Charlotte’s Tilbury’s Beautyverse palette has 9 shades, with 4 being matte and 5 containing metallic shimmer. This palette also channels Y2K vibes but it has natural matte shades as well. The metallic shimmer shades vary from extremely sheer to almost opaque and some are best used as toppers. These are buildable, but I found Cyber Silver to have the best color payoff for an opaque metallic look while others such as Beautyverse I found were best used as a topper. The mattes made a great base to use the toppers on as well as an everyday look. If you’re looking for something a little more neutral, check out their Pillow Talk Beautifying Lip & Cheek Secrets Set. Pillow Talk is one of Tilbury’s most famous shades as it is heralded as a universally flattering nude pink. This set contains three minis and one full-size Pillow Talk Matte Revolution Lipstick. The minis are: Cheat Lip Liner, Collagen Lip Bath Gloss, and Beauty Highlighter Wand. While the first three are nude pink, the wand is soft rose gold. What made me choose this set is the fact you get lip products as well as a Highlighter Wand as the wands are very popular. If you want to try a little bit of everything Charlotte’s Magic Trio of Trinkets is a set of 3 minis, mini Matte Revolution lipstick in Pillow Talk, Pillow Talk Push up Lashes! Mascara, in black, and Travel-Sized Charlotte’s Magic Cream. The Magic Cream is fragrance-free and a rich cream but lightweight. As someone who suffers from dry skin. I can say this product worked well and didn’t cause any breakouts, unlike other more expensive brands. It also comes by itself in travel size
Happy Shopping!