I ordered two of the holiday sets from By Terry from Space NK to take advantage of the current Explore Promotion going on. The promo runs through 10/30 where you can save $25 off orders $125 or more with code EXPLORE30 at checkout online at Space NK (US site only). There are quite a few holiday items to choose from and given the fact that there are lots of other tempting sets and holiday launches this year, I decided to narrow down my picks to two sets:
- Impearlious Baume de Rose Gift Collection ($65) for 1 mini-sized Baume de Rose and 4 mini Pearlescent Baume de Rose colors, colors are available only in the mini size
- Impearlious Ombre Blackstar Gift Collection ($155) for 5 full-sized Ombre Blackstar cream shadow sticks in existing shades
As a long-time By Terry fan I have mixed feelings about these two. I think almost everyone has bought items they like but don’t necessarily love. I had high hopes for this year’s Impearlious Baume de Rose Gift Collection as I really loved last year’s version and I love the Baume de Rose formula. There would have been nothing to stop me from ordering this year’s version as it contains four shimmery versions which you can’t find in the full-size, at least not right now. There’s also a single Impearlious Baume de Rose Tree Decoration version but I could not tell if it’s the same color as the pink one in the set. Some sites list it as “Fresco Rose” which is what is in the set, others list it as “Crystalline Rose” so I decided to pass. If you have bought the ornament – let me know where and what yours says on the bottom label.
The Holiday 2016 Impearlious Baume de Rose Gift Collection contains four shimmers and one signature clear Baume de Rose. What prevents me from giving this a 100% rave review is that the colors are just so incredibly sheer. I do know that balms in general are supposed to be sheer, but since I have pigmented lips these pretty much all look the same on me. If one is going just for the skincare hydration element, I think you can skip and find something that works just as well for a fraction of the price. Right now I’m completely obsessed with Lanolips which I just discovered. Net-A-Porter has an exclusive Peach and Strawberry duo which is amazing (review soon). It offers better hydration for my lips although the concept and formulas are completely different so I don’t know that I can really compare the two.
Onto the set. The Impearlious set contains 100 Frozen Queen which is a shimmering silvery pearl, 200 Fresco Rose a sheer pink with silver sparkle, 400 Freezy Berry which is a sheer lilac shimmer, 300 Frost Fire which is a coppery peach shimmer (my favorite). There’s also the regular Baume de Rose which is clear on the lips. The shimmer is noticeable on the lips but texture is smooth without any chunky feel like you might expect from the sparkle particles.
Swatched on bare lips, they pretty much look the same, or at least very similar:
The Impearlious Ombre Blackstar Gift Collection is priced at a value price compared to buying each one individually. Separately, the Ombre Blackstars are $44 each. The set give you 5 for $155 making them $31 each. If you don’t own any I highly recommend you get the set because the formula is really good. They are on the sparkly side but still very wearable. Even though I already own 3 of the 5 colors the set was worth it to me as I need to replace them anyways. The only thing I was a bit disappointed about was that the stock images online show these to be cased in a silver packaging but they come in the regular gold. It’s not a deal breaker but in this day and age I think there should be some level of accuracy in online stock images.
The colors you get in the set are Black Pearl which is a shimmering gunmetal, Blonde Opal which is a shimmering soft gold, Bronze Moon (one of my favorites) a bronze taupe, Frozen Quarts a gorgeous shimmering soft pink, Ombre Mercure a sparkling antique silver with a greenish tinge.
What I like about these is they are super creamy, apply smoothly, are easy to blend and layer. Lasting power is pretty good on my lids and you can wear a single shade as a wash or layer them together or with powders for an easy effortless kind of look. To me they have the prettiest shimmer finishes I’ve seen in any cream shadow. A tube also lasts forever and unlike other cream shadow sticks they won’t dry out even if you have them for over a year. I know many believe you should throw out cosmetics after a certain period of time for sanitary purposes or because items have a certain shelf life. I have thrown out quite a few items before they’re 100% used up like mascara, foundations or lipsticks – especially if the scent turns or products separate. I’ve had some of my Ombre Blackstars for over 2 years and the formula has stayed in perfect condition.
Swatches of the two more Ombre Blackstars I own for reference:
One last look:
Overall beautiful sets and nice to own, but spendy and I can’t call them must-haves. I do think the Space NK promotion savings helped on savings for the sets. I love the Ombre Blackstar formula and it’s time I replace the ones I have so the set was worth the splurge. Had I been able to see and swatch everything in person first I would have passed on the Baume de Rose set. I’m all about natural lip products but for me these are too natural for me to love them and at $65 I would have rather bought a single item I really loved from any line, a skincare set (there are so many good ones out this year!) or stocked up on Oribe items from Space NK. Given the fact that I’ve had so many hits from ordering things sight unseen it’s bound to happen every now and then to have misses. I want to reiterate that I find the quality of both sets to be really good, and I know some will really love the lip balm set, there’s nothing wrong with sheer, for me it’s just too sheer.
You can find the By Terry Holiday 2016 collection now at Net-A-Porter, Barneys New York, Beautylish and Space NK. There are still a couple days left of the Space NK Explore Promotion. If you’re ordering anything online they have Kevyn Aucoin, By Terry, Oribe, Diptyque and much more. Save $25 off orders $125 or more with code EXPLORE30 at checkout online at Space NK through 10/30 (US site only).
Have you checked out the By Terry Holiday collection yet? What did you think?