Holiday Beauty Sets at Sephora – My Picks!

Hello!

Holiday season is the best time to go shopping. Beauty brands roll out all sorts of products – new, reformulated, re-sized, repackaged and sometimes if you’re lucky, even re-priced! Here is a look at some of the Holiday sets that I picked up at Sephora recently.

Fresh Sugar Legends ($82)

This set contains 7 deluxe-sized Sugar Lip Treatment balms by Fresh. The lovely thing about this set is that Fresh put together lovely, bright, vibrant shades in this set. Shades on the extreme of the color spectrum like the clear or very deep vampy shades (like Cherry which is super deep purple) are not in this set which works out well for me. The deluxe-sized balms are about 1/3 the size of the full-sized ones.

What I like about this set is that it gives me the opportunity to try a good number of shades from the Fresh range. Their high pigmentation also make good options for someone like me who enjoys wearing matte lip shades in bold colours – the balm keeps my lips hydrated without taking away from the true pop of color from my lipstick. The Fresh Sugar Legends Set makes a great gift for a lip balm or lip color junkie. It also can be split up and gifted as stocking stuffers!

Fresh Sugar Wishes (S$42)

I received this set from Fresh when I attended one of their workshops recently and I was utterly delighted to receive this – this was actually what set me buying the other sets from Fresh. This set contains a full-sized original Sugar Lip Treatment and a deluxe-sized Sugar Lip Polish. It’s a good set because it allows you to try the Sugar Lip Scrub without committing to the full size. Admittedly, the lip scrub is also something I won’t be using SO often so this works out well for the less-than-diligent lip scrubbers like me :) The thing I also adore about this set is the packaging – the fact that you can hang it like an ornament is a great idea.

Peter Thomas Roth Skinstant Mask Magic (S$83)

This set contains 3 of Peter Thomas Roth’s popular products for a complete skincare ritual – detox, repair and polish. It includes one of their newer ranges, Rose Stem Cell. Initially, I couldn’t decide if I wanted this set or not despite really wanting to try the Rose Stem Cell mask. What sold me was the fact that these can be used not only as rinse-off masks but leave-on sleeping masks too (the instructions indicate to use a thinner layer).

Again, this set is an excellent way to sample the PTR mask range without committing to full sized ones. I paticularly like that the quantity included in this set is not puny – each mask included is 50ml which allows you a good number of uses so you can really decide if you like the product enough before buying full sizes. With this set, you can even split it with your mom or girlfriend depending on your skin concern.

Smashbox On The Rocks Primer Duo (S$69)

This set has to be one of my favourites – it retails at $69 but with an actual retail value of $114! If you’re someone who uses oil-free silicone type primers then you should definitely check this out. It contains a full-sized tube of the original oil-free primer ($65) and a full-sized tube of the Hydrating Under Eye Primer ($49). I’m au fait with Smashbox primers having used and loved the Hydrating primer for ages and this clear original version is no less. The undereye primer is new to me and so far from  roadtesting it, i find that it helps a little with making the lines on the under eye area look better – less crumpled looking. This set is a great buy – a tried and tested great product that helps keep  makeup in place at a fantastic price

Butter London Steam Punk Ball Collection – The Art of Alchemy (S$68)

This Butter London set – ok admittedly I don’t need it at all (my polish drawers are overflowing .. still). That said, i went ahead and picked it up given the nice combination of shades – Pillar Box Red is a shade ive been wanting for a long time. The other shades are equally nice and reviews point out that cotton buds (the white lacquer) has an excellent formula. Goss (the metallic blush lacquer) is another shade i’d been eyeing (in the same color family as Chanel Rose Moiré and Marc Jacobs Gatsby which are 2 polishes I’ve been very tempted to buy).

This set also comes with a striping brush and a dotting tool. This set makes a good gift for a polish loving girl or for someone keen on DIY nail art. Again, you  could also split up the set for stocking stuffers and share the polish love!

Too Faced Melted Kisses (S$39)

This ultra cute cute set is irresistible – 4 best-selling shades of Too Faced Melted lip colours in mini versions! These are high-gloss lip products that are intensely pigmented and long-wearing. I’d been waiting for our local Sephoras to bring these in and at first sight, I picked up the full size in Fuchsia a while ago.

Melted Peony is a light neutral pink, Melted Nude is a browned nude, Melted Fuchsia is .. well fuchsia and Melted Berry is a medium wine shade. While swatching these, I blended Berry and Peony together and got a beautiful warm pink shade – another plus with a set like this, where you can custom blend shades since they are all of the same texture. I only wish they included Melted Candy in this set instead of Fuchsia (for selfish reasons actually – Melted Candy is a newer shade in Singapore and I already have Melted Fuchsia!)

There you have it, my picks of the lovely Holiday sets from Sephora – there are a few more I’m eyeing like the Nails Inc Winter Wonderland set and the Fresh Black Tea Age Delay Set but I’ve maxed out my Holiday budget (even with the Sephora 10% Black Card discounts I’ve accumulated!) so I shall just enjoy these pretties instead .. for now..

If you’re looking for gifts for yourself or for loved ones or want to try certain brands, I hope this post might have come in handy. Take care and enjoy the weekend!