November 5, 2010

Yay or Nay: Ulta Holiday Palettes for Holiday 2010

I’m not particularly keen on mass produced palettes from companies such as the Color Workshop, I’m sure you know the ones I mean. That’s why I’m kinda not on board with many of Ulta’s Holiday Palette offerings but I still love looking through the selection from time to time while I’m left to wish and hope that the quality is actually fantastic on a huge palette that contains everything under the moon in terms of makeup and only costs $19.99. It gives me such a warm, fuzzy feeling inside as I day dream.

But fact is I love makeup that much is true so I like looking through both the pretty and the gritty.

Here’s a selection of Ulta’s Holiday Collection 2010. Whether it’s fabulous or just day dreamed to be as such is entirely up to you but at the very least we can enjoy images of makeup right?

Are you an Ulta Holiday Palette fan? Feel free to share it loud and proud.

Jump!

Ulta Professional 6 Piece Holiday Brush Set $24

Ulta Pretty & Polished 74 Piece Collection $24.99
Includes:
Collection includes:

  • 48 Eye Shadows
  • 12 Lip Colors
  • 4 Cheek Colors
  • 2 Full-Size Lipsticks
  • 2 Mini Glosses
  • 2 Dual-Ended Eyeliners
  • Eyeshadow Quad
  • Bronzer
  • Powder
  • Train Case with Mirror and Applicators

Ulta Click on Gloss $9.99

Ulta 4 Pack Ornaments $9.99

Ulta Gift of Color Mini Blockbuster $14.99
Includes:

  • 9 eye shadows
  • 9 lip colors
  • 4 cheek colors
  • 2 eye liners
  • Applicators
  • Mirror and brushes.

Ulta Large Brush Set $14.99

Ulta Best of Ulta Palette $12.99
Includes:

  • 12 lip colors
  • 12 eye shadow shades
  • Mirror, applicator and dual ended eye liner

Ulta Mini Lipstick Kit $12.99
Includes:

  • 6 Mini Lipsticks
  • 2 Super Shiny Lip Glosses

Ulta 5 Piece Mini Eyeliner Set $9.99

Ulta Girls Night Out Set $14.99



Ulta Glitterati Palette
$12.99

Ulta Molten Metallics Minerals

So whatcha think?

Personally these make the Sephora Palettes look like Chanel…! Ha! But I admit I love the ornament tags, those are cute to add to a gift aren’t they? Plus the damask print is gorg!

They’d make some very nice, inexpensive gifts for teens but not sure I’d indulge for myself or others.

What’s your take?

Yay?

Nay?

Share it!

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • paige

    My sister always gives me the big blockbusters. They are pretty good, a lot of fun to play with, and you can pick up a few colors you may like to have for a few uses, but wouldn’t necessarily buy….BUT…they are always made so that you can’t pull out the components to bring with you for touchups…that is the part I hate about sets like these. For the price though, they are a decent purchase. Keep up the good work. Luv ur blog.

    • the Muse

      aw thanks paige so glad you enjoy Musings. I think they make kinda neat gifts but def sucks you can’t remove it 😛 makes for bulky application I’m sure!

  • Maddy

    NO NO NO! Ornaments are adorable, but honestly, in Ulta brand makeup, the quality just isn’t there… Give me Urban Decay any day <3 I may only be 15, but Ulta makeup… eeesh! -quiver- Muse, these deluxe palettes scare me! I got something sort of like this when I started playing w/ makeup last year. "Sephora Ultimate Makeup Palette"… not very quality, sadly. Fun for play, though, I'll admit. Though these sort of shadows sort of smell odd, to me, I don't know why!

    • the Muse

      mmm maddy I agree. I’ve always been of the mentality these aren’t the best palettes 😉 yes, most have a weird chemical smell 🙁

    • Jenna LaFoy

      I’ve found that many of the Ulta eyeshadows are very good quality. I don’t use primer because I think it is silly to cake your face with 100 beauty products as a routine. However, I’ve been impressed with the way Ulta eyeshadow’s go on smoothly and last all day. But of course, if you’ve been spoiled by high-end eyeshadows then you couldn’t appreciate the quality of the cheap stuff.

  • Yuki

    My friend gave me an ULTA gift set (eyeshadows, lipglosses, and blushes) last Christmas, and it’s really good quality. The eyeshadows last long over a primer, the blushes are buttery smooth, and the lipglosses don’t dry out my lips (I have very dry lips). There are better products available on the market, but these sets are great for someone who’s just starting out and wants a lot of makeup to play around with, without paying an arm and leg for it.

    • the Muse

      hi yuki! thanks for sharing hun ;-D nice to know you’ve had a great experience with ’em!

  • Coral

    When I first got into makeup I loved these palettes. But as I expanded more they weren’t exactly as fabulous as they used to be. Some of the smaller ones look nice, but I think I’ll keep my eyes out for something better.

    • the Muse

      hi coral I know what you mean considering I used to be very into the color workshop as a teen ;-D haha! but my tastes have evolved ;D

  • Ashe

    I’m not a huge fan of big collections where you can’t reuse the container- for example, I doubt you could pull all those eyeshadows and things out of the Pretty and Polished collection- to me, it’s not versatile, and I end up not using the blushes, all the lipsticks (I like reds but not nudes, etc), eyeliner, etc. So nothing on this list really excites me, except the ornaments and the palettes that are just palettes, like the Glitterati. The Gift of Color isn’t too bad, either, but mostly for me it’s a nay. :/

    • the Muse

      ashe reusing them would be nice as some of the boxes/palettes/cases they came in are very nice!

  • Lyza

    I think I’m going to see if I can play with one in-store.
    If I can and it’s halfway decent, I’d jump all over it.
    Like, if 4 shadows, 1 brush, and two lip products were GOOD, it would be worth it to me.

    • the Muse

      Lyza I think the smaller palettes MIGHT actually be ok! 🙂 but playing/swatching would def be the deal breaker if it is or isn’t worth the go!

  • beautyjunkie520

    I kinda like some of these holiday palettes Ulta has to offer…Yes, they’re inexpensive but that doesn’t have to mean poor-quality makeup. I especially like the 74-piece collection and ‘Best of Ulta Palette’ they just released. I like the lip colors and eyeshadows in both of them. I may just give them a try! That 6-piece brush set looks pretty nice too…

    • the Muse

      hi beautyjunkie

      they might be fab ;-D you could be right. I haven’t personally tried them out yet.

  • Brandi

    I’m never a fan of the big huge palettes or gift sets. They just seem like one big waste to me. I cringed when I got one for my birthday. The color pay off is never good and the lip colors are awful!

  • Brianna

    I’ve always wanted to get one of those huge travel cases but I don’t know how good the quality of the products are…

  • Justine

    I feel that the fewer that comes with the palette the better it is. So for instance, the mini eyeliner set and the glitteratti palette look the best out of all of them as far as having a promising outcome. The eyeshadow colors in the Ulta Best of Ulta Palette are really pretty. The 74 piece palette and the lip palletes I’m not to keen on.

    • the Muse

      Justine VERY valid point. Less is better! I think you have a better chance of getting something really nice that has say a selection of several shadows rather than something that contains 574 other products 😛

  • BeautyMaven

    Hrm… you know, I hate to say this.. but nothing Ulta brand has really impressed me. Except the nail polish, which is kind of hard to mess up, lol.
    I looked at the $25 train case when I was in store the other day, and you know what the turn-off was for me? All that dang lip stuff! I don’t mind having the shadows and blushes in this big palette, but it seems like the lip stuff in packages/train cases like this just SUCK! And the eyeliners.. they’re so little I don’t want to use them for fear of them being used up in 3 turns. For some reason this format of packaging just screams CHEAP.
    So after noticing the bottom palette of lip stuff, I let my lust die.

    However– the new e.l.f. shadow palettes? Y-E-S!! Major lust. =)

    • the Muse

      ha beauty maven brands have been known to mess up even on np hehe! I agree about all the lip stuff. In general I think these palettes reek cheap 😛 although they are really FUN to look at ;-D!

  • Ruthless

    Nay. I always feel that the large mass produced palettes are inferior quality to regular products. I’ve been burned before (here’s looking at YOU , Elizabeth Arden)

  • Annabella Freeman

    The big foldout one reminds me of those palettes you get when you are a teenager. You are so excited about getting makeup and you don’t have a clue about quality you just want to wear 10 eyeshadows all at once! lol

  • Leah

    Hey Muse!
    I got the Ulta Pretty & Polished set for $13 (yes, $13) on Black Friday. It was 1 of 3 sets they had, and I got this one since it was the more neutral palette out of the 3.
    I LOVE it. I seriously wasn’t expecting much since it does remind me of the kind of makeup kit you get as a kid.
    BUT, the pigmentation is very good for the most part. The eyshadows are AMAZING, and so are the lip colors. Luckily the powder they provided is for light/medium skin tones, which is perfect for me, but it isn’t versatile enough for darker skin tones. I think it would be better if they made a translucent powder instead.

    Overall, its worth it. The thing I HATE about it is the packaging. The lid won’t stay up! And its difficult to slide the pallet around. It was extremely annoying. Its also super hard to take the plastic covering off of everything. The only reason I left it on is so I can see the color names and for the sake of traveling with it.

    The whole lid problem only occurs with the Pretty & Polished set, the others are okay when it comes to the lid staying in place. Also, the bronzer is WAAAAY too shimmery and sheer. I use it as an eyeshadow, but its not going anywhere else but there.

    Still, pigmentation > packaging. 🙂

    Hope it helps!

    P.S.
    What’s your HG concealer? I read your review on Bobbi Brown’s corrector concealer, but I wondered if you found something else? I have DARK circles from college and lack of sleep (doesn’t help that my skin is yellowish-pale, so it accentuates my circles even more). Sooo any reccomendations? I’m willing to splurge on a concealer if its truly worth it, but can you name some drugstore and high end concealers too please?

    Thank You!

  • Leah

    oh and also,

    THE eyeliner it comes with is great! Smooth application and very pigmented. This set really surprised me. I love the plum/navy eyeliner duo.

  • girbeautytips

    just saw this i wish they do something like it this year love ulta products for real