For me, personally, it’s just an onslaught of palettes and kits to review, and it gets overwhelming. I really enjoy most of the work during the holiday season but can get a little stressed from time to time 🙂
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I hate the fact that almost everything is limited edition and it comes out wayyyy too early.
This. Totally.
The quality not being the same when it’s a kit/palette, or when it’s a collection of LE products. It makes me wonder who exactly allowed this to pass through quality check. It’s really disappointing when a permanent product that is very good is put into a kit and that one isn’t.
Christine I just figured you unlocked the secret of functioning on absolutely no sleep – I don’t know how you do it, but you have a worldwide audience of very appreciative people. This is pretty much my first, best and most trusted stop for all things makeup review related.
Thanks for alllllllllllll the hard work and effort, much appreciated.
I guess what I look forward to least is how incredibly broke I am going to be lol. Seriously, this time of year is brutal on the wallet.
Gimmicky sets or palettes, or when a brand pushes out a lot of products at once. I prefer a curated collection (with enough stock!)
Otherwise I tend to find the humongous lip setd ridiculous. No one need the whole range of a lip formula because not all colors flatter every skintone. If you have friends to split it up that is another story of course.
The overwhelming number of look-alike products and realizing all over again that so many of them are cheaply made and of poor quality.
The thing that bothers me the most is that the companies are releasing them too early. I’m not ready to think about the holidays! I think they should wait until November to release sets.
The extreme hype gets a bit exhausting. I feel like it has been a bit better this year, but last year I felt like they were selling holiday stuff in August! That much hype for so long has me dizzy!
Fomo – while I love the holiday roll out in general, the fact that it is limited edition always causes a little anxiety for me because I feel like I need to pounce immediately or it will be sold out.
The hype. I do not miss the holiday hype in the US & avoid going to the US for at least 2 months before or after Xmas.
The up and down quality – you have to buy it to try it (or read great beauty blogger reviews like Temptalia!) and there’s not much consistency – so you get super excited then super disappointed!
Also this year everything’s launching so early, it takes the excitement out of the actual holidays – unless there’s a bunch of “Spring” launches that drop in November…which will probably be the case
That drives me nuts! Spring launches feel more like winter to me because that’s when I end up wearing them. ><
I dislike the never-ending ‘onslaught’ (perfect description, Christine) of holiday products, palettes and sets that are released earlier and earlier under the guise of the holidays. This year, it has already started and we’re barely into September and fall collections.
The parade of subpar eyeshadow palettes from (mostly) Tarte and Too Faced. Although, MAC’s holiday palettes are also pretty awful, too. As for Tarte and TF, I just do not understand why they do an Ulta exclusive, a Sephora exclusive, plus usually something you can only purchase from their actual site, as opposed to just doing ONE palette, and doing it RIGHT. As for MAC, us regular buyers know that they can do so much better, which makes theirs feel like a raw slap in the face.
I hate the hype. For the most part, holiday collections are repetitive, packaging is bulky, and the quality isn’t There. For people like me, with large collections, holiday kits are a waste of money. They hog precious storage, are boring and aren’t as good as the permanent stuff. I almost always pass. The hype makes people feel like they need them but really it’s blatant consumerism and excess.
They’re always a bit overpriced, too early, with predictable colors: shimmery red, gold, silver. But I love those colors, so…
What I don’t look forward to is a bunch of recycled colours just re-named so we think they’re new and stuff of poor quality packaged in large, cumbersome, garish packaging. And if it’s all together – the recycled, the crappy and the bad packaging – well, that really saddens me. And I have to mention also that I really don’t look forward to Hourglass’s annual Christmas rip-off.
Well said, Mariella.
Tbh, I start to develop makeup/beauty fatigue due to all these early holiday releases. I become less and less attracted to the entire holiday hype in the beauty industry. Summer launches that are released in… February. Holiday/winter collections that are released in the middle of the summer. This constant seasonal overlap, hype and rush for the next launch feels almost like we are being trapped in a hamster wheel.
I hate the inconsistent quality, and not knowing if something is worth buying even if a company has a reputation for good products. I feel like there are only a couple brands – Bite and KVD come to mind – that I feel safe purchasing holiday offerings from without seeing a review first. And even then, I wait for Christine’s reviews because you never know which beauty reviewers have been paid off!
I also hate how uninspired so many of the collections are. Most of the previews have been neutrals, neutrals, and more neutrals. It’s the holidays and all this stuff is limited run anyway, so give me glitter and unusual color combinations.
That they often seem to pack in a lot of bad stuff and charge a lot for it. Or the products are subpar in general.
Horrible quality and uninspiring palettes. I think companies put out this fantastic packaging that is limited knowing it will attract people for these factors. However, they put less of an effort into the actual quality of the makeup because its limited, and people will be likely to splurge for the holiday season and the idea they can’t get their hands on it otherwise.
Also, I’m tired of warm tones. Can we please stop with the onslaught of warm toned everything? Give me a fierce cold tone blue, silver, black palette for the winter.
Hear, hear. I can’t see myself purchasing anything unless Christine raves about it!
More so in the past 2-3 years I’ve noticed that “holiday sets” vary in quality. And, are usually sub par from what I’m used to the brand(s) putting out. It used to be pretty much just the holiday stuff but with alot of brands today it seems that the quality control has gone out the window. For example ABH Subculture Palette or the EL Victoria Beckham eyeshadows (the dark navy in particular). Nowadays I wait until I can read trusted reviews/opinions or get to a store to swatch stuff in the flesh. And I agree with the comments on holiday sets being released way too early. We didn’t even get into Halloween yet. What happened to fall? I’m not liking this straight from summer into the holidays business at all. Slow. It. Down! Another dislike is how a holiday/LE item gets released and sells out within minutes. Make more stock damnit! Some of us are too busy in our days to take time out to snatch something up online. Consider us too please. Also, I really get annoyed when companies keep on putting the same exact items in “holiday sets” year after year. Stop it! And maybe this is off subject but here goes anyway…this is not just a holiday issue I have. I’ve noticed so many companies that release “try me sets” with only light concealer/foundation items. Sephora actually just released one for $75 I believe and alot of the items will only work if you’re a fair to medium complexion. I just find that so unfair and feel like companies are excluding so many potential customers. Dunno why more companies don’t take that into consideration and give options for different skin tones. It’s not rocket science, lol, it can be done! Who wants to spend their money on some kind of try me kit when you can’t make use of half of the items? So stupid! Lol okay I think i’m done:-)
I agree with a lot of you – too much hype and too early in the calendar year . When it’s September and I’m already tired of looking at “Holiday” Palettes then I’ve got an issue . Maybe it’s just me but everything looks the
same, especially the eye palettes . I’m waiting on a silver/gray/purple/blue palette to come out that reviews well …..
The onslaught of holiday releases that seem to come earlier and earlier. It’s only the third week of September and a lot of holiday products have already been released. Isn’t Black Friday supposed to be the official launch of the holiday shopping season?
I also don’t like that the holiday sets are almost always lower in quality and higher in price than regular launches. I also hate how brands will throw regular everyday items into a box, slap tacky packaging on it, and call it a holiday set. How hard is it to come up with new products or shades?
It really confirms the fact that companies know that they can throw out anything and despite the mediocrity, consumers will buy it. They’re playing us for suckers.
I’d imagine it would be quite stressful for you Christine, deciding what to review first and finding the time to fit in all those eye palettes and their many shades.
The aspect of the holiday collections that dismay me the most is when the eye shadow palettes are of poor quality.
Secondly, the collections are released far too early for them to be considered ‘holiday’ and often only selected stores sell particular items.
The often sub-par quality as compared to regular collections. Also, the repetition. Most brands put out such similar color themes, both to each other, and to their own past holiday collections. It gets so boring.
The overwhelming hype. All these companies throwing out there so much stuff and not exactly improving quality or making one unique. They sound like a riffle throwing darts at you. Lol! There’s great makeup always throughout the year. I don’t mind looking at them love them all but not buying any unless is something I really need.
I am overwhelmed with the desire (the NEED) to get all the beautiful palettes for myself…then I feel greedy and then guilty. I’ve been known to purchase 3 wonderful palettes for my girls, and keep them. I wish there more offerings during the year, and less ‘limited edition-holiday issue’ palettes. My biggest weakness are the huge eye kits–aren’t they just amazing?? Sounds like first world problems, tho. ;0)
-Bulky packaging
-Subpar/inconsistgent quality
-FOMO
September Sephora kit palooza.
Ok, I’m aging myself here, but there used to be a time when you could get SINGLE eye shadows. I don’t need or want to be paying for 25 or 60 eye shadows in another palette with 3/4 of them colors I don’t ever use. I also remember a time when Thanksgiving was the holiday after Halloween, and Christmas (“holiday”) stuff came out after Thanksgiving. I’m not feeling it for Christmas in September when it’s still 85 degrees outside.
And, yeah, I agree, these all come out as LEs so if it’s something I might be interested in it’s generally sold out online within 14 seconds of it being available. I guess some people just wait for it to be released and then buy as many as possible to resell them on eBay for 10 times the retail price. Happy Holidays!
I totally agree with you about the single shadows! I wish more brands still did that instead of putting out palettes with recycled colors, the same darn cream/white and black shadows, and MAYBE one unique shade that might not even perform well. Please, give me more single shadows. That’s why I wish Makeup Geek would put out more collections.