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Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Vol. 3 for Holiday 2017

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Vol. 3 for Holiday 2017
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Vol. 3 for Holiday 2017

The Details

A limited edition Ambient® Lighting Edit featuring three best-selling and three new exclusive powders for a flawlessly lit complexion. This travel friendly palette of lighting essentials takes you from day to night so you can create your perfect light anytime, anywhere. Available in a limited edition rose gold compact this holiday season.

Exclusively at Hourglass now, September 2017 at other retailers

Ambient Lighting Edit Vol. 3, $80.00 (Limited Edition)

Editor’s Note: I know in the past, the value of the Hourglass palettes has been an issue, so I did the math for these – each powder was listed as 0.049 oz. each, which is comparable in size to last year’s palette. The breakdown is: $12.88 worth of Ambient Lighting Powder, $6.28 worth of Ambient Bronzing Powder, $24.83 worth of Ambient Lighting Blush, and $11.64 worth of Ambient Strobe Lighting Powder for a total value of $55.63.

  • Dim Light Neutral peach beige powder
  • Diffused Light Soft, warm, pale yellow powder
  • Luminous Bronze Light Medium tan shade fused with Luminous Light
  • Surreal Halo Deep berry blush fused with Surreal Light
  • Pure Effect Bright petal pink fused with glimmering rose
  • Hypnotic Strobe Light Champagne powder

46 Comments

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Shalonda Avatar

Nice. Easy pass for my chocolate complexion. Christina i was considering the regular Ambient light palette with Dim, Radiant and Incandescent light. Do you think this will work for my neutral-yellow warm chocolate skin tone??

Mariella Avatar

So, they’re doing it yet again – $55 worth of product for the inflated price tag of $80. Even if I loved this stuff, I would pass because I don’t like the blatant highway robbery of it. It’s not like Hourglass’s stuff is cheap to start with so making these “holiday heists” even pricier seems insulting to me and it’s why I’ve sworn off the brand entirely (with one small slip – a Lip Stylo) for the past 3 or 4 years.

kjh Avatar

Here we go again, Hourglass holiday-wise. I am very fortunate that very few HG multiproducts suit me. Got the original…and only Dim was ok, and only in summer. Only the berry appeals, and 1/6 is an easy write off. Wallet sparing is a good thing. Especially with the glut of enticement we can expect. Hey, it’s before LD, and HG has a holiday announcement, not just a tease. Heeeeere they come. Get ready.

Laurie Avatar

Is every skin tone supposed to be able to wear these shades? I’m really interested in buying Hourglass ambient lighting powders, but doing so individually is so daunting … it’s not as though Sephora has great lighting. If I could buy an entire palette and know I could wear most of the shades, though, I would during the VIB sale.

Julia Avatar

I love Hourglass products, but wow. Outrageously overpriced! Sets are *usually* supposed to be a savings… I’ll have to pass on their holiday palette yet again. :/

Mariella Avatar

Julia, with other companies they are a savings/added value at the Holidays. Hourglass is the one that stands out in my memory as pulling this rip off stunt every year with their Holiday release. If Too Faced and so many other companies can give us a bit of extra value, what makes Hourglass too “special” to do the same, I wonder?

lisa Avatar

Even with the VIB sale its still $64, way too much for what it is. I have Dim light, which is perfect and more than enough for me, I have my favorite highlighter, blushes and bronzers and won’t waste money on this thievery . The price is criminal.

Erica Avatar

I skipped on the limited edition blush trio they did and have regretted it since. So when I saw this, I was so excited. Then I saw your cost breakdown. Hard pass now. I cannot believe the value vs what they are charging! Thanks for pointing this out so we can be informed consumers!

Tracey E. Avatar

P.S. Thanks so much for calculating the value for price on this and other products, Christine. It helps to us to be informed, even astute, consumers.

StrawberryRed02 Avatar

I was going to pass (like the past few years), but looking at my Ambient Lightning Palette, I’ve been using that one for over a year on a daily basis and I’m not even close to hitting pan. Each of those is double the amount (ish), so it does make sense for me. That price though… I think I might wait for the November sale.

Helene Avatar

I don’t think most makeup lovers do the math when seeing this in store, and most don’t do it when seeing a beautiful product online either. I would just assume I’d get good value for my money, as with (most?) other holiday palettes and bundles.
I really find it disgusting of a brand to trick their costumers like this. Shame on you HG!
And a big Thank You to Christine for doing the math for us!

Dalia Avatar

I checked the colors as I was curious although is quite expensive, and that for me is a blush palette, in the photo in the pale arm I count 4 powders working as blushes I’m yellow enough that Dim looks like blush ,so there’s the bronzer and the finishing powder, I already have those and I’m not interested in getting blushes, so I’m quite happy I’m not even tempted for this.

TravelingBlush Avatar

As an econ major, you really should stop perpetuating the incorrect meaning of ‘value’, Christine. Looking at the comments, even people now increasingly think price is value, If something is free yet of no value to me, then value is zero. Price is never ‘value’.

Christine Avatar

It’s important to use terminologies, words, and the like that resonate and are understood by one’s audience–and this isn’t an economics blog–it is extremely common practice for brands in beauty specifically to provide the value of a set/palette by providing what the retail value would be if the products were sold separately. (See: Nordstrom, Sephora, and Ulta, and how they list sets — they provide the retail price for the set and then a dollar value for the products included).

Merriam-Webster defines value as “the monetary worth of something: market price” – the value of a set is effectively calculated using the current market prices of the equivalent items for an equivalent quantity. It can otherwise be thought of as the estimated monetary worth if the products were purchased separately. This usage and understanding of value is exceedingly common in things like sets, sales/deals, property value, net worth, estates, and the like.

KK Avatar

Words make sense “in context”. Christine’s use of “Value” is in context to the Beauty industry. A quick reality check – this IS a Beauty Blog.
The term “Value” has been used in the same context as what is used by the Beauty Industry and is understood by the consumers of the Industry. As you would see from the comments – ALL readers are able to comprehend the meaning in exactly the sense it was mentioned.

Tasha Avatar

This was going to be the year to finally buy a Hourglass palette until I saw that price breakdown! I wouldn’t have done the math, thanks for pointing it out. I assume the holiday palettes are a price break. I won’t do that again.

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