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The Best Holiday Palettes for Holiday 2013

Too Faced Be Merry, Be Bright Kat Von D Spellbinding theBalm Balm Voyage Urban Decay Vice 2 Eyeshadow Palette Sugarpill Cold Chemistry LORAC Pro Palette Too Faced Pretty Rebel Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Sleek MakeUP Vintage Romance

As promised, here are my top picks for palettes to snag during the holidays! 🙂  Also… as I review other palettes from the holidays (I don’t think I have too many more!) and find other great choices, I’ll be sure to add them here.

  1. Too Faced Be Merry, Be Bright Set ($45.00 for 1.28 oz.) consists of two “books” of makeup–each has six eyeshadows and two blush/cheek colors. The quality was good across the board, and there was a nice variety of colors and textures. You can read part one and part two of my reviews on it.
  2. Kat Von D Spellbinding Eyeshadow Palette ($55.00 for 1.20 oz.) contains twenty-four (24!!!) eyeshadows, and they’re even designed to be layered and used together, so you can have an endless amount of combinations and textures! You can read part one and part two.
  3. theBalm Balm Voyage ($42.50 for 1.21 oz.) has sixteen eyeshadows and three lip/cheek colors, but the eyeshadows are the stars. This is a great choice for someone who prefers more matte/satin finishes. Check out part one and part two for reviews on this palette.
  4. Urban Decay Vice 2 ($59.00 for 0.60 oz.) has twenty eyeshadows to choose from with a variety in texture and color to choose from. If you love pigmented, buttery, soft eyeshadows–this one’s for you. You can read part one and part two of my reviews.
  5. Sugarpill Cold Chemistry ($34.00 for 0.48 oz.) is a wintry mix of cool-toned gray, white, purple, and teal for someone who loves bold, rich colors and a lot of them. Not limited edition but a perfectly-timed release for the holiday season. Read my review here.
  6. LORAC Pro Palette ($42.00 for 0.55 oz.) is a cult-favorite palette for a reason–it combines mattes with high frosts. There are eight matte shades and then eight more frosted shades, and you can mix and match them for satin and pearl finishes, too! Permanent and available year-round, there’s no hurry to snag one, but with holiday deals and sales, now’s a great time to try it. Read my review here.
  7. Too Faced Pretty Rebel ($46.00 for 0.50 oz.) contains ten eyeshadows, which might not be as sexy as a mega palette, but these are ten fantastic eyeshadows. If you love jewel-tones, bold and bright shades, and your frost finishes, this is a palette worth considering. Read my review here.
  8. Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette ($58.00 for 0.35 oz.) is for those who love a beautiful, glowing complexion and flawless canvas. Ambient Lighting Powders are amazing on their own but getting three for a little more than the price of one? Great opportunity to try more shades or add them to your routine. Read my review here.
  9. Sleek MakeUP Vintage Romance Eyeshadow Palette ($9.99 for 0.36 oz.) is my more budget-friendly pick for a fall/winter palette with great quality–nicely pigmented shades in hues of gold, berry, and purple. Read my review here.

What palettes would you recommend to others for the holidays?

56 Comments

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Carla Avatar

Hmm. I’m not quite sure what to say, because I’m just not a palette woman.
However, the Hourglass Ambient Lighting one looks kind of tempting, since I’d been wanting to try those powders anyhow.
I wonder how they’d work on very oily skin, though.

kelly Avatar

Christine, do you have any suggestions for holiday palettes that aren’t made in China (other than Vice 2, which I am getting this week)? I keep looking at things in the store and I keep running into made in China palettes, be it Tarte’s Ulta set or the Too Faced palette listed here. I don’t mind brushes made in China, and I’m not saying anything is wrong per se with makeup made there, but I prefer to be extra cautious and not get makeup made there due to skin sensitivities. Thank you ahead of time for the help!

Emi Avatar

Thank you Christine, those are great suggestions! I would be really curious though to get you opinion on the Laura Mercier Artist’s Palette for Eyes 2013. 🙂

Jenny Avatar

The Lorac Rockin’ Red Hot PRO Set, which includes the PRO palette, one Front of the Line PRO Liquid Eyeliner, and one mini Behind the Scenes Eye Primer, is $39 at ulta and ulta.com. Such a steal!!!

Sara Avatar

I bought this set using a 20% off coupon that Ulta sent me for any purchase. Such a great palette and the set was perfectly timed! I was about to buy the palette alone anyway, so the bonus primer and liner was awesome! So far, I’m totally smitten with the Garnet eyeshadow shade.

Ludmila Assumpção Avatar

I got Vice 2 Palette and I’m só in love. Too Faced “A few of my favorite things palette” is so cute, that I’m tempted to give myself another gift. 🙂 I’m from Brazil, and none of those gorgeous palettes came to Sephora in here yet. It’s só annoying! I have to buy in websites that delivers worldwilde. The customs here are so crazy and expensive. One Naked Pallete from Urban Decay that cost U$ 50, here costs the equivalent of U$ 125, on Sephora Brazil. 🙁
Sorry for the terrible english, I’m still learning. Love your space. You deserve all the sucess. 😉

smfrances Avatar

I generally like LORAC because she does not use acne causing ingredients in her makeup – she is an acne sufferer. However, the Pro Palette just doesn’t do it for me because there is so much fallout from the darker shadows, even when I use them with a damp brush. There are plenty of other dark shadows without the fallout. Just sayin’

Denise S. Avatar

Nice picks! I own the Lorac Pro palette and the Hourglass Ambient Lighting palette, both are great . I had’t noticed the Two faced Pretty Rebel palette before, will check it out during my next Sephora trip.

Mariela Avatar

Christine, not sure if it has been mentioned already but a good number of the Sleek palettes are now fulfilled by Amazon. So they qualify for prime and ship from the US. I got mine in 2 days!

fancie Avatar

I love the Lorac pro palette! I’m considering hauling Vice 2 since I missed out on the first one. Maybe the Hourglass Ambient Lighting palette too. It just seems like it would be great for my kit. Great list!

Holly Avatar

I wish you’d make the links click through to your reviews, not ecommerce sites. For those of us outside the US, the shopping links are useless anyway. I know the affiliate thing makes you money, but it’d be more useful to us to see a more in-depth look at the palette than to go straight through to BUY BUY BUY.

Christine Avatar

Hey Holly!

Almost all the reviews for these are split into two parts, and they’re linked right with these, actually! For example, the first palette has this, “You can read part one and part two of my reviews on it.” Because of the two-part nature of a lot of palette reviews, I wanted it very clear that there were multiple parts and have them clearly linked. All of them follow this format 🙂 Thanks for your feedback!

Rachel P. Avatar

Ooooohh, I am tempted by many of these! I just ordered the Too Faced Boudoir Eyes for myself (not a holiday palette, but I kind of desperately wanted it, lol). I think I need to invest in Lorac PRO- I’ve heard like a million good things about it, and tbh, I really don’t have one solid, basic, no-nonsense nudes palette. Not even a budget one. Isn’t that crazy? I have lots of nude shades mixed into random palettes, sure, but I don’t actually have anything like UD Naked or Lorac PRO. Boudoir Eyes has some nice nudes, but it’s not quite the same deal. I’m not sure what’s taken me so long, lol!

Gita Avatar

Recently picked up the Hourglass Ambient Light palette and it is absolutely gorgeous. I would almost say I’m afraid to take it anywhere for fear of scratching/dropping/hurting it! And the product is lovely. I’ve got the Lorac Unzipped and I think their eyeshadow formula is one of the best out there. Can’t wait to pick up the PRO Palette soon (just got the Naked 3, so I’ll probably wait a bit, but I can’t wait!)

Carrie Avatar

Hi Christine! Stumbled onto this list when reading your Too Faced Pretty Rebel review. My dream palette would be bright jewel tones all with glittery and pearl finishes; which palettes would you recommend?

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