HOURGLASS Ambient Lighting Edit Review

Swatches & Palette Review

Each year, luxury brand Hourglass Cosmetics bring us a beautiful holiday palette
And this year, she's a Stunner!
First the Ambient Lighting Powder trio as a permanent item in 2013,
then the Ambient Lighting Blush trio last year as a limited edition palette, 
that I'm sure a lot of us are still kicking ourselves for not picking up (I know I am!)
And this year the Ambient Lighting Edit, a limited edition complete face palette 
with finishing & highlighting powders, blushes & a bronzer in one!
But with all the rumours & reviews so far about the price & size, we're left asking
Is it really worth it???

♥
Price $80 USD for 0.29oz
Available at Sephora, Hourglass website, Nordstrom & other retailers

www.sephora.com/hourglass

We all know Hourglass Cosmetics is a luxurious high-end brand acclaimed for 
their soft-focus, complexion perfecting formulas that create radiant, glowing skin!
Often the Ambient face powders are mistaken for highlighting or strobing powders 
when in fact they are used for setting the face makeup & giving that "perfect lighting" effect 
like you're ready for selfies all day!
Don't get me wrong, build up the product, such as Iridescent Light or Diffused Light, 
on the highest parts of your face - cheekbones, brow bone, you will achieve a beautiful, natural looking highlight. These are not meant to be highly pigmented powders & are designed to give the most natural, flawless-looking finish, but you can use them wet to intensify the highlight effect!

♥

This palette includes three Ambient Lighting Powders, including one new shade 

Iridescent Strobe Light, two Ambient Lighting Blushes & one Ambient Lighting Bronzer in 

a golden plastic palette with a large mirror inside. The standard Sleek Hourglass packaging

Dim Light - A neutral peach beige that blurs imperfections & highlights the complexion

Iridescent Light - A rose pearl that gives the complexion a refined glow

Diffused Light - A soft pale yellow that conceals redness & gives the skin clarity

Mood Exposure - A soft plum blush fused with Mood Light to brighten the complexion

Luminous Flush - A champagne rose blush fused with Luminous Light for a candlelit glimmer

Luminous Bronze Light - A medium tan shade fused with Luminous Light for a softer candlelit warmth

Now lets talk about the value of this thing! 

Price - $80 USD (approx $120 NZD)

The size is 0.29oz/8.3g which is 0.049oz/1.4g in each pan

At first that sounded insane to me, that's a tiny amount of product!

"How could they possibly make this palette $80?!"

I convinced myself it was because of it's luxurious design & quality,

Hourglass is an expensive brand & this is a Limited Edition, High-end Holiday palette

In my mind, $80 is not that bad for 6 different products in one travel friendly palette

I'd be happy to pay $13-14 separately for this size pan of Hourglass powder,

& 6 in 1 is the perfect way to try the different shades & lighting effects.

Also, considering how long it takes to make a dent in these powders,

this palette should last a long time!

There is a travel size Ambient Lighting powder available in Dim Light

but it's $22 for 0.049oz of powder

If you already have the Ambient Lighting Palette & Ambient Blush Palette,

you really don't need to get this

I love mine & don't regret the purchase, I use it most days & don't find it

difficult to use with my brushes. I use an angled blush brush or tapered face

brush & get a good application. Obviously you're not gonna shove your

bronzer/powder brushes in there! The other shades may transfer & you'll

have the bronzer where you wanted the lighting powder!

LucyLoves! xx

Too Faced Le Grand Chateau Gift Set

Review & Swatches!

Le Grand Chateau is another Too Faced Gift set from their Christmas in Paris collection
This set includes another Limited Edition Dollhouse box that opens up to 
3 individual makeup palettes, all perfect for travel!
18 Eyeshadows, 2 Blushes, a Bronzer & Deluxe sample of Better Than Sex Mascara
Available at Sephora, Ulta & the Too Faced website for $49 USD ($215 value!)

♥
Swatches & more pics below!

www.toofaced.com

Being the total sucker for packaging that I am, How could I pass up this set ?

That gorgeous French Chateau design, the little doors that open up revealing the products,

the three palettes dressed like ribboned presents, each with "To/From" gift labels 

on the back making them perfect stocking stuffers!

Once you take out the palettes, there's a cute background drawing of a Victorian 

styled sofa & Paris view with little bags full of Too Faced products, 

once again..Too Faced nails the attention to detail

♥

Out of the 18 Shadows there are 6 Mattes (similar to the Le Grand Palais Set)

 Each individual Palette includes 6 eyeshadow shades & a large Cheek colour

Blue Palette - Paris au Naturale Wearable Day/Night Neutral shades

Pink Palette - Paris in Love Shimmery & Romantic Bronze shades

Black Palette - Paris After Dark Purple Smoky Night time shades

♥PARIS AU NATURALE - BLUE PALETTE♥

Pot Du Creme - Matte Cream White

Fifi- Matte Light/Med Brown 

La Femme - Matte Dark Cool Brown

Bonjour - Shimmer Bronze Gold

Merci - Shimmer Deep Tarnished Bronze

Oui - Black with Gold Sparkle 

Mademoiselle - Matte Neutral Peach Blush

♥PARIS IN LOVE - PINK PALETTE♥

Amour - Matte Off White

Fleur - Duochrome Peach Pink with Golden Shimmer

Je t'aime - Shimmer Cool toned Pink

Moi - Shimmer Taupe

Cherie - Shimmer Silver Grey

Tout Suite - Shimmer Bronze Brown

Jolie - Warm Shimmer Bronzer 

♥PARIS AFTER DARK - BLACK PALETTE♥

Le Marais - Duochrome Pearl/Pink Gold & Green Shimmer

Rendezvous - Matte Light Taupe Brown

Province - Medium Purple with Blue Shimmer

Parfait - Shimmer Champagne Pink

Tres Chic - Black with Purple Sparkle 

Noir - Matte Black

Tres Fab - Matte Neutral Pink Blush

Paris au Naturale is the perfect everyday, neutral palette with 3 Mattes & 3 Shimmers

to create multiple looks with & versatile enough so you can change your simple daytime

look to a beautiful evening look by adding a pop of shimmer! 

Also "Mademoiselle" is a nice matte blush, a wearable neutral peach

Paris in Love is a very romantic palette with soft shimmers & only 1 Matte shade! ("Amour")

Not so great as a stand alone palette, even the bronzer is shimmery..might be nice for a glowy 

beach-day look, but the colour "Fleur" is such a stunning duochrome shade with a peachy pink shimmer base & an intense gold reflect, it makes the palette worth keeping!

Paris After Dark is a great palette for a cool toned smoky look, with 2 Mattes & 4 shimmers you could play around & create a deep black smoky eye, or something purple & sultry for a sexy night out!

"Le Marais" is unlike any shadow I have seen before, it looks like a simple shimmery white highlight, but it has an insane duochrome effect of pinks, pearls, greens & golds making it super reflective! "Tres Fab" Blush is a cooler pink that goes perfectly in this palette.

♥

The eyeshadows in this set are what you'd expect from Too Faced - Buttery, smooth & pigmented

If you have read my previous blog on the Le Grand Palais set, you will know how 

disappointed I was with that palette & the shadows..even the Blushes were pretty bad!

To compare: Le Grand Palais Review

Le Grand Chateau - $49 for 18 eyeshadows, 2 Blushes, 1 Bronzer & Mascara Sample

Perfect quality, versatile, cute packaging..

or 

Le Grand Palais - $58 for 18 eyeshadows, 2 Blushes, 1 Highlight, 1 Bronzer (Half the size)

Mini Mascara, Melted Lipstick & Shadow Insurance

Great colours but terrible textures, gorgeous packaging & extra samples

I totally recommend this set from Too Faced though!

The palettes are great gift ideas for a friend who loves her neutrals, one who 

goes for a simple glowy look & another who loves a smoky eye or pop of purple

And you can keep the Dollhouse box on your vanity for your self..or just keep the whole set! ;)

Reviews on the other 2015 Holiday sets from Too Faced:

Le Grand Palais - Click here

Melted Kisses & Sweet Cheeks - Click here

LucyLoves! xx

Too Faced Le Grand Palais Set

Review & Swatches!

The Holiday Beauty Sets are already coming out, all in time for Christmas!
I love how Too Faced do Holiday collections, it's always a stunning, sparkly presentation
It's Christmas in Paris this year for the 2015 collection
Le Grand Palais is a Sephora Exclusive, a Dollhouse designed box with
 a large palette & three deluxe samples!
18 Eyeshadows, 2 Blushes, a Highligher & a Bronzer
Sample size Melted Peony, Better Than Sex Mascara & Eyeshadow Primer
This Palette retails for $58 USD ($378 value!)

♥
Swatches & more pics below!

www.sephora.com/toofaced

 I'm not gonna lie, it's the packaging & presentation that sold me on this set

The Dollhouse box has one side that flips down & the palette pops out easily,

plus the box looks awesome on your vanity to display jewellery, perfume etc

Cute details in the background, a little staircase holding the mini samples, a cardboard 

Mannequin & Sephora bag full of Too Faced products, it's all too adorable!

But..I feel that the packaging was the main focus in the creative process of this set 

& the palette was more of an after-thought...

♥

The Palette includes 18 eyeshadows, with only 5 Matte shades

All the shadows have cute names printed underneath.

There is a lot of shimmer & glitter going on in this palette, if that's not your thing, 

this is not the collection for you!

The pigmentation varies with the shadows, the glittery shades are too flaky & chunky that there

is no real colour to the base of them, blow the glitter away & there's nothing there.

The shimmers are beautiful & buttery & have perfect colour pay-off,

especially "Wish List", "Arc de Triomphe" & surprisingly "Party Dress"

But the mattes are inconsistent with a couple that are dry & patchy..

such as "Cobblestone" & "Belle Femme"

The larger highlighting shades are all beautiful, I'll probably use these everyday.

And the Face products are nicely pigmented, the Highlight & Bronzer are buttery

but the blushes are more dry & powdery

♥ EYESHADOWS♥

White Christmas - Matte White

Satin Sheets - Shimmer Pink Champagne

Vintage Lace - Matte Pale Yellow White

Delightful - Shimmer Icy Pink

Moon on Their Wings - Glitter Rose Gold

Cobblestone - Matte Cool Taupe Brown

City Lights - Caramel Brown with Gold Shimmer

Dreamlight - Shimmery Purple Brown

String of Lights - Glittery Ice Blue

Yule Log - Black with Pink & Gold Shimmer

Wish List - Shimmer True Gold

Arc de Triomphe - Shimmer Grey Mauve

Belle Femme - Matte Dark Cool Brown

Stiletto - Matte Black

Eiffle - Glitter Dark Teal Green

Midnight in Paris - Glitter Deep Blue

Champs Elysees - Glitter Purple

Party Dress - Shimmer Hot Pink

♥FACE PRODUCTS♥

Stardust - Matte Coral/Peach Pink Blush

Skyline - Matte Cool toned Pink Blush

Flush - Golden Champagne Highlight

Sun Bunny - Shimmery Warm Tan Bronzer

♥SAMPLES♥

Melted Peony Lipstick is a Creamy Dusty Pink, on the cooler side.. 

in my opinion, it's quite a hard shade to pull off on most skin tones & unfortunately 

it's one that gets repeated in a lot of their collections as a deluxe sample, 

I wish it was something more universal like "Melted Nude" or "Melted Ruby" Red

Better Than Sex Mascara though it is a great mascara to have, it's also an over kill 

in their Gift sets, I have about 4-5 of these kicking around now

Eyeshadow Insurance is a handy mini to have, it has a decent amount of product (0.17oz) & should last you a long time 

Is this Gift set worth purchasing?

Honestly, I don't think so unless you want to pay $58usd for amazing packaging but poor product. 

I would rate this 5/10 for quality, I love a few of the shadows & the Highlight & Bronzer are both nice, but I was disappointed with the rest..

And 10/10 for the packaging obviously because it's stunning but also the slim palette pops out making it very travel friendly 

Reviews on the other 2015 Holidays sets from Too Faced: 
Le Grand Chateau - Click Here
Melted Kisses & Sweet Cheeks - Click Here

LucyLoves! xx

SMASHBOX Masterclass 3 Colour & Contour

Review & Swatches!

Finally! I got my hands on the Smashbox Master Class 3 Palette - Colour & Contour
This has been on my Sephora Wishlist since it was released in the 2014 Holidays 
I purchased Master Class 2 earlier that year & fell in love with the quality & colours!
But the packaging was a real downfall for me..
 To see they made serious improvements for the Master Class 3, I had to have it!
With Eyeshadows, Blushes & Contour powders, this is the most amazing palette for travel!

♥
This Palette retails for $65 USD ($300 value!)
32 Eyeshadows (12 Mattes 20 Shimmers)
3 Blushes & Contour, Bronzer & Highlight shades
This is an outstanding value for the price!
Swatches below!

www.sephora.com/smashbox

What makes this Master Class packaging so much better??
This one is like industrial strength & super sturdy compared to the Master Class 2, 
which came in a cheaper quality, silver cardboard packaging..
It looks sleek & is much slimmer, but received a lot of complaints about it arriving broken.
Unfortunately this happened to mine..

The new & improved packaging of the Master Class 3 is much bulkier, but provides so much 

more protection for the products inside & guaranteed to prevent smashing or breaking.

♥

Thick Black plastic, opens like a book & closes together with an elastic strap
Two sides to this palette - Stunning Neutrals + Contour powders & Creative Colours + Blushes.
Both palettes are removable & easily click back in to either side of the case for preference.
Covered by a solid clear flap, once again, more protection for your shadows, where the previous Master Class palettes had a flimsy plastic film which also had the names printed on,
this palette has them listed above each shade!

BONUS - when you open this book-like palette, there are "Get The Look" guide inserts, 

also at the back is a practice pad with 4 blank Face Charts. What a great idea! Get Creative!

♥

Neutral Shadows:

Naked - Matte Flesh Tone Pink

Nectar - Matte Pale Peach

Flirt - Shimmer Pearly Champagne

Vanilla - Matte Cream White

Drizzle - Matte Med Mauve Brown

Ambient - Metallic Bronze Gold

Pebble - Matte Cool Taupe Brown

Golden Orchid - Duochrome Golden Pink

Topaz - Shimmery Cool Taupe

Sienna - Shimmer Deep Gold Brown

Cinder - Shimmer Mauve Taupe

Nude - Matte Warm Caramel Brown

Royal - Matte Deep Purple 

Blackout - Matte Black

Smoke - Matte Dark Neutral Grey

Sumatra - Matte Dark Warm Brown

Colour Shadows:

Oyster - Pale Pearl w/ Green Shimmer

Sky - Satin Pale Baby Blue

Lavender - Shimmery Light Purple

Snow - Matte Off-White

Zoom - Apple Green w/ Gold Shimmer

Steel - Shimmer Med Silver Blue

Lilac - Shimmer Med Blue Purple

Rose Petal - Satin Cool toned Pink

Ivy - Satin Bright Green

Cerulean- Metallic Med/Deep Blue

Violet - Matte Dark Blue Purple

Papaya - Satin Peachy Pink

Serpent - Shimmery Blackened Green

Nocturnal - Satin Dark Blue

Blacktop - Black w/ Silver Shimmer

Peony - Satin Cool toned Hot Pink

Contour & Blush Shades:

Contour - Matte Neutral Brown                                        Carnation - Shimmery Golden Pink

Bronzer - Satin Warm Brown                                            Flush - Matte Warm Neutral Peach

Highlight - Satin Pale Yellow                                            Rosy - Satin Dark Berry 

The texture & pigmentation is amazing & so consistent throughout the entire palette!
Every shade is buttery & has high colour pay-off.
But one problem is the fall out with these because they are so buttery & soft, 
your brush tends to pick up a lot of product so use a light hand and/or shadow shields when applying!
The Face products are just as good!
Highly pigmented, soft & blends like a dream. But once again, use a light hand!

♥
Now in comparison to the Master Class 2 palette, there are a few repeated shades

Shadows - Nectar, Vanilla, Golden Orchid, Ambient, Serpent
And all three of the Blushes are also in the MC2 palette
The pigmentation has been improved & the texture is smoother
Shades like "Serpent" has better pimentation & "Golden Orchid" has a more intense 
Duochrome effect this time round.



I have fallen in Love with this amazing palette & have eyeshadows to last me years!
I need to mention, Smashbox came out with a contour palette earlier this year 
Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit
It has the exact three contour shades included in this palette, but for $45 USD
So this is a fantastic deal!

Limited Edition still available from Sephora.com



LucyLoves! xx