Every year, as the last Halloween pumpkin sits on the stairs among a litter of costume remnants and candy wrappers, I sit back and breathe deeply.
It's my favorite holiday. Fun for kids. Fun for grown-ups. And other than the scramble to get the right costume and stock the bowl with the good stuff (read: not raisins or generic bubblegum), it's low-stress.
It's also the beginning of the holiday season, isn't it? At least for me, a busy mom on a budget, it is! Ya gotta stretch those paychecks to magically include holiday menu items and decorations, gifts and stocking stuffers, and ya gotta start soon!
Holiday makeup kits and palettes are a great way to give someone a lot of fun for a comparatively reasonable price. If you can swing it, it's also a good way to flesh out your own stash, if you want to.
The other day I showed you the holiday offerings from LORAC. Here's a closer look at the Sephora-exclusive "traincase". Really, even though it's shaped like a traincase, I consider it a ginormous palette since it's all set in the case and you can't take anything out or put anything else in. Misnomer aside, it's a fun kit with a lot of neutral, warm, and cool options in varying intensities.
It's going to make holiday shopping and traveling a lot easier, and I'll take all of the help I can get!
Perfect for traveling, it's got eye shadows for soft looks, playful ones, and even a bit of smoke. Three blushes also give a few choices, and your lips are covered, too. The case is silver and faux croc (burgundy), with black satin trim inside. A healthy-sized mirror fills the inside of the top.
The makeup is in three layers, all of which swing out from the center to reveal the layer underneath. The top layer is all shadows, mostly warm-toned. The next layer is more of the same but with cooler tones. The final level is where the cheek and lip colors are hiding.
Never 100% happy, I have a few holiday wishes. One, I wish the satin trim were something else. It holds the shadow fall-out. Two, a little drawer in which to stash eye and lip pencils and a brush or two would have been helpful and made this case nearly perfect. Otherwise, I love it.
The lid wants to close, but it's not as bad as the LORAC: Private Affair Palette palette. There's a strap that keeps the whole thing together (well) with a magnetic snap. The levels swing easily, though not so freely as to make me concerned that they'll rip off at some point.
And I love that the "portion sizes" are all generous. No wimpy stuff here!
Ya wanna see some swatches?