I love Hourglass finishing powders. I have several of the full-size individual compacts as well as the trios. So I haven’t been stingy when it comes to dropping serious coin on this brand. However I’ve always passed on their holiday palettes. Every year, they come out with one and I always felt they were small and overpriced. All of the powders were similar to what I already had in my stash.
Rip-Off or No?
I’ve seen the posts about how this palette is a rip-off. Most makeup products are overpriced in general. And Hourglass doesn’t shy away from being as a known luxury brand. They price their products in that upper bracket. So you know they won’t be discounting this stuff anytime soon. Have they ever gone on sale? Do they do deep discounts like Urban Decay? I don’t know.
Last year’s palettes were gone even before the actual holidays arrived. I managed to get the highlighter trio which I was impressed with. Most of what I have has lasted a good long time. The only powder that I’ve hit pan on is my fave: Diffused Light (soft, warm pale yellow powder) which works so well for me.
The palette is $80. It costs a fortune but the single mini’s are $22/1.4g. You get 1.13g of product in this palette, so it’s slightly less than the mini. If I bought just the single minis, it would be $132. My calculations might be different from other blogger’s calculations. 😀
While I do think it’s overpriced, I’m justifying my reasons for purchasing:
I don’t have the previous holiday palettes.
I will use all of the colors and they all work on me.
It is travel-friendly.
I don’t want to buy them individually which will cost more.
They are all new colors I don’t have.
Hourglass is 100% vegan and I can tell there is a difference in quality and application.
Note: Ambient Lighting Edit Volume 4
Hourglass did come out with another holiday palette in addition to this (packaging has pink metallic). That one has their best-selling shades: [Dim Light (neutral peach beige), Diffused Light (soft pale yellow), Euphoric Strobe Light (pearlescent beige), Filtered Bronze Light (subtle warm bronze), Luminous Glow (bright coral), Euphoric Fusion (soft lilac)]. When I was deciding on which to get, I opted for the other one, since I have most of these shades.
Back to the Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked!
While you do get new shades, the pattern is similar: you get 2 finishing powders, a bronzer, 2 blushes (usually a peach and plum) and a highlighter.
Soft Light and Filtered Light (light and medium finishing powders)
Golden Bronze Light (bronzer)
Nude Glow (peach blush a la Nars)
Mood Flush (plum blush)
Champagne Strobe (highlighter).
Final Thoughts
I tried the palette today. I used all of them for my finished beat face and they all perform very well. No regrets! Think this works for a once in a year treat. My excuse is my list above and Influenster offered 8% cash back at Sephora last week. So I took advantage of that (even tho there were tech glitches).
If you’re on the fence with it, just think if this is something that you would really use. It is travel friendly. If you tend to use Hourglass a lot, then it’s a good multitasking product to add to your makeup arsenal. I had no problems with using my brushes either as I didn’t use anything larger than the pan itself. Hourglass does make a double-ended brush that is meant to be used with this palette too.
A win!
~Duchess
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit – Unlocked I love Hourglass finishing powders. I have several of the full-size individual compacts as well as the trios.
