Hi! I’m back to post another Release Ranking. I follow a lot of makeup news accounts in Instagram and have been seeing tons of fall and winter releases. Some are more exciting to me than others, so I wanted to break down what I’ve been eyeing. Is it just me or have there been way more palettes released than usual? I feel like they weren’t coming out as frequently for a few seasons, but now there are so many coming out! I could be wrong though. Maybe these new ones are just catching my eye more?
ABH Sultry Palette / I have mixed feelings about this one. My FIRST reaction when I saw the colors was that it looks just like Soft Glam & Norvina, but with a different pop of color. ABH and many other companies add those pops of color in that make you think you’re getting a unique palette when the majority of the shades are the same shimmers over and over again. My second thought was that this palette is stunning- it’s everything I wanted from the Kylie x Kris palette. That collection had awful reviews though, so I never went for it. I love smokey cool toned colors- think Audrina from The Hills smokey eyes. Norvina talked about her inspiration for this palette on Twitter. She said that it stemmed from her admiration of the makeup looks that Mac artists would do. Learning her inspiration made me want this more, because I can totally relate to loving the dark smokey looks that I would see employees at the Mac counter have.
I’m thinking I need to swatch this before I buy, but I can definitely see myself getting it. There was a tweet I saw today that was super mesmerizing to me and made me think twice about buying it:
Negatives:
The sparkle packaging looks like a Paris Hilton trucker hat from 2002, and not in a good way
The coral Bloom color doesn’t go with the rest of the shades
Sometimes ABH shimmers have an odd oiliness to them that makes me not reach for them. The Modern Renaissance & Mario palette shades are a great formula, but the Prism ones are goopy.
Positives:
Greys, taupes, shimmery neutrals, black.
Easy to imagine looks with this, I like the arrangement
The variety of wearable shimmers
Desi x Katy Round 2 Collection / I don’t follow Desi and Katy as much as I did a few years ago. They stopped being relatable and the amount of snapchats were overkill imo. I like Katy’s personality, and I love both of their makeup. The first collection they came out with was extremely well curated and was very wearable. I didn’t pick anything up because I felt like I had dupes for the things that I liked. This second round of products looks like it also is well done with wearable products for creating glam looks- right up my alley. I immediately wanted the new Friendcation palette. I like that it has basic matte blending shades, pretty shimmers, and some color. The more I think about it though, the only color that I really don’t already have is the pink shimmer. Buying a palette just for one unique shade is a waste of $55, so I’m trying to keep that in mind. Also, the packaging of this and the first round is SO gross feeling- like cardboard with sparkly fabric on top. Something about it just gives me the heebie jeebies when I held the quad palette from last season that my friend owns. Because of these things, this palette is sadly a no go for me. I’ll be on the hunt for a single shadow to dupe that one pink. They also released lip colors and a new highlight shade. I’ll be skipping the highlights because I have enough golds. The velvets are a new product for Dose of Colors I believe, so those that don’t like a drying matte finish will like these. Personally I love a super matte lipstick so I’m not interested. I love the color “A Mauve Story”. I don’t need another nude bullet lipstick, so I’ll be skipping on these as well.
Jordyn x Kylie / Oh how I wish I could swatch Kylie products! Thank goodness they’re coming to Ulta stores. Hopefully that will be in person as well as online in the store near me. Where I sit at my desk at work is actually in view of an Ulta store, but that one doesn’t have all the product lines that other stores seem to. First off, I love the packaging of these products. The warm brown, rose gold, and sketch art is so beautiful. I follow Jordyn on Instagram and admire the recent health and weight loss journey she has gone through. Kylie and Jordyn’s friendship is admirable and I love that Kylie collabs with friends and family so often. I was disappointed in the palette though. The colors are so inspiring to me though. I tried to view the shades in quad form, which sometimes makes palettes more digestible. Still not into it though. The lipstick in Woods is the most enticing thing in this collection. I’ve been curious to try her lipstick formula. I have quite a few shades that look like they’d dupe it though- Mac Whirl or Del Rio possibly, Gerard Cosmetics 1993, and a few liquid lipsticks. I honestly don’t reach for my brown toned lipsticks as much as I’d like to think I should. I need to be like six shades of self tan darker than I am on regular basis to feel like they’re wearable.
Too Faced Gingerbread palette / I don’t own a single Too Faced palette. I decluttered my Peanut Butter & Jelly palette forever ago, and everything they come out with looks like kid makeup to me. Something about the theme of this palette got me though. I love the Gingerbread idea- the scent, the warm browns, the shimmery pinks, the holiday cheer. This is another one that I want to swatch before taking the plunge. I’m interested in the matte liquid lipsticks from this collection as well. The pinks in the palette are the main draw for me.
Natasha Denona / The new Safari Palette release is SO beautiful. For me though, I can’t justify it because I have the Viseart Dark Mattes. They’re also doing a new gold holiday palette as well that I really like, but definitely is already dupeable in my current collection. The price point makes it very easy to talk myself away from Natasha Denona shadows. I absolutely LOVE my little 5 pan #9 palette from them and get quite a bit of use out of it on the regular.
Melt Gemini Palette / I posted on my Insta story that I regret not buying this limited edition palette. Melt actually reposted my photo and said it’s coming back! I messaged them asking when and they said, “Soon ;)” I’m doing a whole separate post about this palette next so I won’t talk much more here about it. Obsessed with the color story in this though.
Morphe 35M / Lately Morphe has come out with quite a few new palettes- the Jaclyn Hill Vault, the 35M, and the 35V. The vault was a quick no from me with the weird release issues. I liked that it wasn’t their typical massive 35 shade palette though. The 35M & the 35V have a GORGEOUS color selection and I kind of want them both. A few years back I decluttered my 35O, 35W, 35K and I instantly depotted the Jaclyn Hill palette. Something about those huge shadow books just bothers me and I never reached for them. Because of this I don’t repurchase them.
KKW Classic Blossom / This collection is a lot of pink. When I first saw it I thought that it looked extremely similar to her classic palette, but it’s definitely different with a lot more burgundy. The lipsticks are too pink for me, and the palette is something I’m passing on. It reminds me a lot of the new Naked Cherry palette that is coming out. There is a lot of pink coming out, which I love!
I didn’t intend on this being just palette releases, but that’s what it turned into. Hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on the nonstop makeup industry releases. I would love to hear your thoughts on new product releases that have caught your eye.
-Kim