Sparkled Beauty

I found these The Color Institute holiday makeup gift sets at my beloved Shoppers for 75% off. The brand is distributed by Markwins International who also owns Wet n Wild, so I have hopes for similar quality. One set in particular might be of your interest, stay tuned to see why.

First is the Ultimate Color Portfolio - a 150-shade compact, reg. $14.99.

This is how it looks on the shelf, with the black paper sleeve in the middle which covers some glosses underneath. The lid is clear, so you get a glance of the products and the finishes but keep in mind that there are more under the sleeve :)

The palette is about the size of an A4 paper but is not deep, not hard to carry around if you need to.

There are 80 eyeshadows (1.98oz/ 56g) in the 4 corners, and 70 lip glosses (0.49oz/ 14g).

In the middle are 2 tiny lip brushes and 2 dual-ended sponge tip applicators. I just leave them there, for emergencies when I don't have brushes with me.

I got this set as a filler, as I was one cent short to earn my bonus points. I don't care much for glosses in a palette cause I have to use a brush with them. The eyeshadows look promising, most are shimmery though, if not all.

This second set was an absolute delight to see on the shelf. Take a look at the pic and tell me you know why. This is the Get Baked! set, reg. $24.99.

First off, anything baked (makeup, not food, lol) will catch my attention naturally. I can't seem to have enough. Second, the 4 palettes in the set look incredibly familiar. I took a closer look and the set landed in my cart, also naturally.

What's inside:
- 24 baked eyeshadows (0.25oz/ 7.2g), 6 shades in each palette, with clear plastic lids
- 4 (mini) cream eyeshadows (0.28oz/ 8g)
- 2 bronzer sticks and 2 shimmer sticks (0.94oz/ 26.4g)
- 4 liquid eyeliners (0.41oz/ 12ml)
- 4 eyebrow pencils (0.20oz/ 5.6g)
- Eyeshadow base (0.38oz/ 11.2ml)
- Mascara (0.30oz/ 9ml)
- Sharpener, a tiny brush and sponge-tip applicators.

I have already removed the products from the case and store them separately. I am excited about quite a few products in this set. Will post about the 4 palettes soon.

The last set is Just In Case, a double-sided "case" - the name fits, doesn't it? I expect the products in this set is of better quality, to justify the the regular price of $39.99.

This is side 1:
- 18 eyeshadows (0.38oz/ 10.8g)
- 3 (glittery) Eye highlights (0.03oz/ 0.9g)
- 2 blushes (0.42oz/ 12g)
- 2 eye pencils (0.08oz/ 2.2g).

The blushes are in compacts and (shimmery) eyeshadows come in a palette with a lid, so I can totally take them out of the case and use them individually, and use the case for storage.

Side 2:
- 4 lip glosses (0.04oz/ 1.2g)
- Lip pencil (0.04oz/ 1.1g)
- 5 lipsticks (0.62oz/ 17.5g)
- 4 nail polish (1.08oz/ 32ml)
- A small mirror compact, toe separators, a small brush and 3 sponge-tip applicators.

I'm excited for the bright lipsticks, hoping they are as great as the new bright Wet n Wild lipsticks coming out this Spring.

The pink nail polish on the right looks holo in the bottle, another promising item in the set.

If these sets are still available in your store, check them out. There are certainly some gems in there, I'll keep you posted.