Long time readers know that for me, the holidays are the best time to pick up value sets. After 20 months of working from home, like most, wearing makeup hasn’t been a priority which is why it seems the holiday set selections this year appear to be to be fewer and underwhelming compared to previous years. Still, a few that caught my eyes and I grabbed the Sephora Favorites Holiday Makeup Must Haves Set ($71, sephora.ca) with the 20% coupon code I had which makes it a slightly less expensive purchase.
The Sephora Favorites Holiday Makeup Must Haves Set comes with 9 products, including three full-sized items. In prior years, we’ve got the various Superstar sets, typically costing $90 and usually the “biggest” holiday set the brand releases annually. This set appears to be the equivalent of prior years’ Superstar sets so I got my hands on one before it sold out.
Like many, my makeup spending this past few years have been non-existent – I’ve mostly been using up my existing collection which is why my wallet is super grateful about it. I couldn’t resist picking up this set so I could also grab my Sephora birthday gift.
Included in the set are the following items:
- 1 x .15 oz/ 4.6 mL Kosas Wet Lip Oil Gloss
- 1 x beautyblender original beautyblender makeup sponge (full size)
- 1 x .11 oz/ 3.5 mL Benefit Cosmetics 24-Hour Brow Setter
- 1 x Natasha Denona Biba 3-Pan Palette
- 1 x .004 oz/ .13 mL Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer
- 3 x Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Alpha Beta® Extra Strength Daily Peel pads
- 1 x .42 oz/ 12.5 mL FENTY BEAUTY by Rihanna Full Frontal Mascara
- 1 x 1 oz/ 30 mL MAC Prep + Prime Fix+ Primer and Setting Spray
- 1 x OUAI Leave In Detangling and Frizz Fighting Leave in Conditioner
This set of must-haves includes full-size products from FENTY BEAUTY by Rihanna, beautyblender, and Kosas. I’m most excited about the beautyblender (Can never have too many backups!) and the Fix+ as it’s something I use up on a regular basis. I grabbed this set mostly because most of the brands here are new to me – I’ve heard of them but being out of the beauty world for some time meant I’ve not been as close to following releases or new brands (and there are SO MANY of them with celebs always launching their own beauty brands).
Unlike the previous year’s holiday sets, I think you can safely skip this year’s if nothing catches your eyes. Although supposedly this set is valued at $200, the selection/inclusion of brands/products are less exciting to the previous years (which included YSL, Urban Decay, MUFE, and NARS among other brands). Although the critique I had for previous years’ sets are usually the repeated products (looking at you, NARS Orgasm/Laguna duo!) they at least added up to be worth (easily!) the $90 the sets costed.
If nothing catches your eyes from this year’s holiday sets, you’re not the only one. But hey, here’s to keeping your wallet save this holiday season, am I right!?
What do you think of this year’s holiday set selection?
