I know this is primarily a lipstick blog, but guys – the new Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked palettes for holiday 2023 are out, and they are looking as gorgeous as ever! And I’ve ordered one!
I’m SO excited because I’ve been wanting to try Hourglass products for years, and I still have yet to do so. If I remember correctly, way back when I was first getting into beauty, Hourglass was fairly new on the scene, but their powders and blushes were very well-loved by the beauty community. Of course, at that time, I didn’t have the disposable income to justify such purchases (or even if I did, it just felt a little… frivolous for the type of makeup I was doing then).
So I’ve been patiently biding my time. The 2022 holiday palettes were incredibly tempting, but I decided to pass. Instead, I made a game of it by telling myself: the next holiday palette they launch that includes their blush in Mood Exposure, I will purchase.
Why Mood Exposure? I’ve been looking to add some carefully selected new blushes to my relatively small collection to add variety and replace my embarrassingly old powder blushes which are all slightly different shades of dusty rose. Mood Exposure is described as a “soft plum blush fused with Mood Light (a sheer lavender pink finishing powder) to brighten the complexion,” and is apparently well-loved in the fair olive skin-toned beauty community (as is Clinique’s Pansy Pop, but I digress).
Not even a year later, it was game over: Out popped the 2023 holiday collection in Color Palette 2 (the Leopard palette as it’s most commonly referred to). Done! I had decided to order directly through their website, and since I was doing that anyway, I just had to take advantage of their customization option and opted for the lovely barn owl case – the aesthetic just fits right into my makeup collection. I loved all of the artwork, though!
So I’m really excited to finally have a neat little introduction to Hourglass wrapped up in a lovely palette, and it certainly feels great to have made a small contribution to the Nonhuman Rights Project to boot.
But wait – I have a confession… I also grabbed a lipstick.
(I hadn’t fooled anyone, had I!?)
I have this thing I do where if I have a sort of momentous makeup moment, I commemorate it with a related lipstick. It’s just another way that I like to engage with my makeup collection and really love and appreciate it. That lipstick feels extra special whenever I pull it out since it is tied to that special occasion. A special makeup occasion, that is; ironically, I’ve never made a lipstick purchase for a specific event. Not even for my wedding – that was a custom shade mixed by my makeup artist!
In keeping with the theme Unlocked for the Nonhuman Rights Project, I had to pick up one of their Unlocked Satin Creme Lipsticks. I decided to go with the shade 302 Tide. Described as a “rosy beige”, I feel like this will be a really lovely “any day, any time” type of lipstick.
I have a lot of mattes, and while not always as drying as you’d think, they would not classify as “hydrating”. So I’m looking forward to adding a more hydrating, satin-finish nude to my collection.
Do you have a momentous makeup moment to share? Any launches you’re excited about? I’d love to hear about it!
Update: She’s Here! Read on for my initial impression after a couple weeks of wear!
Featured image by Bob Brewer on Unsplash
