Highlighters

Hourglass dropped three limited-edition palettes and I literally cannot believe it’s already that time of year. There are three palette combinations in the Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked Palette for this year ($90 each). This year they finally launched palettes with mostly new shades and I could not be more thrilled. You can find them now online at Hourglass Cosmetics for the early access. They will be launching globally at other retailers from 9/20.

The three palette options this year include:

Dragon Palette (lightest)
Evil Eye Palette (medium tone)
Lotus Flower Palette (deeper tones)

You can order a customized palette online at Hourglass, but I ordered these as the pre-made options. For skintone reference I am wearing the Armani Luminous Silk Foundation in 6.5. I wear the Hourglass Veil Skin Tint in Shade 9 (reviewed here).

Dragon Palette

The Dragon Palette has the lightest tones and variations but I think it’s a versatile one and can be worn on light/fair to tan skin tones. I love this one – it really surprised me because it looks very ordinary in the pan but the shimmers and diffused quality of the powders are really flattering. It’s warmer than last year’s Jellyfish palette.

• Dream Light Ambient Lighting Finishing Powder – a soft light pearl with a soft opal sheen
• Peach Fusion Ambient Lighting Blush – soft shimmery peach
• Divine Light Ambient Lighting Finishing Powder – pale transcluent powder with a pink tone
• Mauve Haze Ambient Lighting Blush – soft mauve pink
• Soft Bronze Ambient Lighting Bronzer – mid-tone neutral warm bronze
• Sunlit Strobe Light Ambient Strobe Lighting Powder – metallic champagne

Look below wearing the Dragon Palette on the cheeks, Dragon Bronze on the eyes topped with the Hourglass Voyeur Eyeshadow Stick in Phoenix and Urban Decay Moondust in Cosmic Craze + Phantom Glossy Balm in Crave

Evil Eye Palette

The Evil Eye Palette is the medium tone palette of the three. At first glance I thought it would be nearly identical to last year’s Leopard. Side by side swatches show the tones are indeed different with a cooler pink highlight, more neutral/pink tones vs warmer shades. They are similar but I think there are noticeable differences.

• Soft Light Finishing Powder – sheer soft peach beige
• Rose Gold Strobe Light Ambient Strobe Lighting Powder – metallic rose pink champagne
• Pink Fusion Ambient Lighting Blush – soft cool pink glow
• Oasis Glow Ambient Lighting Blush – shimmery light apricot/peach/tan
• Vibrant Coral Ambient Lighting Blush – pink coral
• Natural Bronze Ambient Lighting Bronzer – medium neutral bronze

Look below wearing the Evil Eye Palette on the cheeks, Hourglass Scattered Light Eyeshadow in Reflect, Phantom Gloss Balm in Lucid + Pat McGrath LUST Gloss in Peach Perversion.

Lotus Flower

The Lotus Flower Palette is the darkest variation this year. It’s more neutral in undertone compared to last year’s Snake palette. On my medium tan skin tone the new Lotus Flower pulls warmer than what I see in the pan, but it will probably be more neutral on darker skin tones. I love the colors in this palette, but not so much on my skin tone. The shades are stunning for sure, but since the tones are darker they do require an ultra light hand for my skin tone.

• Gilded Strobe Light Ambient Strobe Lighting Powder – a stunning warm golden shimmer
• Desert Flush Ambient Lighting Blush – burnt peach
• Eternal Light Ambient Lighting Finishing Powder – warm amber tan
• Radiant Rose Strobe Light Ambient Strobe Lighting Powder – metallic copper rose shimmer
• Red 0 Ambient Lighting Blush – deep berry pink
• Bronze Heat Ambient Lighting Bronzer – deep bronze

Look below wearing the Lotus Flower Palette on the eyes and cheeks + Phantom Glossy Balm in Slip

My two favorites are the Dragon and Evil Eye. These arrived at the perfect time as I’ll be traveling soon and will most likely bring one of these with me. Are they worth the price or the splurge? I think they are. I love every single color and each palette has enough shades for a full face look – I often use at least 1 or 2 of the shades on the eyes too.

By popular request, here are side by side swatches of the 2023 palettes vs this year’s 2024 launch:

In case you want a closer look at previous palette launches, here are the blog posts (there are lots more, but here are the more recent ones):

Holiday Palettes 2023: Jellyfish, Leopard and Snake

Holiday Palettes 2022: Butterfly, Elephant and Tiger

Holiday Palettes 2021: Face Universe, Face Universe Unlocked, Edit Vol III

Holiday Palettes 2020: Sculpture Palette, Sculpture Unlocked (quad)

I ordered these palettes the second they launched at the Hourglass website. Since then they’ve added a few more holiday items including a Holiday Brush ($52, 2 variations), new Glossy Balm Duo ($55, Trace and Mystic), Brush Set ($150), Full Face Set + Bag ($270) and a few other sets you can check out here.

Available now at Hourglass Cosmetics. Holiday Launches arriving on 9/20 to Nordstrom, Sephora, Ulta Beauty and all other Hourglass retailers.

This year Hourglass has three new limited-edition Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked Palettes ($90 each) and they are stunning. They’re currently available online at Hourglass Cosmetics and will be launching at Sephora starting 9/22.

You can also customize the palette combination of the compact + palette inside on the Hourglass website (they have an exclusive Owl design) although I ordered the palettes as they are named/pre-designed. There are repeats in each palette but Hourglass gave us quite a few new shades this year.

Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked – Jellyfish

The Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked – Jellyfish is probably my favorite although I’m not thrilled about the finishing powder repeats. They are nice to have and work well to set or blur, but I think the vast majority of us already own the setting powder and are craving all new shades.

Lunar Bronze swatches warm on my arm but it’s actually more neutral. The pink blushes are neutral and the new highlighter pulls cool-toned on me. I am currently in between MAC NC30 and NC35 (I’m wearing NC35 in the new MAC Studio Radiance Serum Foundation) and this one surprisingly shows up on me. At first glance I thought there could be a chance it would be too light but it works for me!

• Diffused Light Finishing Powder (repeat, available individually)
• Rose Fusion Blush (new)
• Opal Strobe Light Strobe Powder (new)
• Bronzer Lunar Bronze (new)
• Diffused Heat Blush (repeat, available individually)
• Ethereal Light Finishing Powder (repeat, available individually)

Look wearing:

• Foundation – MAC Studio Radiance Serum Foundation in NC35
• Powder – Hourglass Finishing Powder in Dim Light
• Eyes – Hourglass Custom Palette (Bee, Yes and Act)
• Mascara – Tarte Tartelette Tubing Mascara
• Lips – Hourglass Phantom Glossy Balm in Mist + Sense mixed

Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked – Leopard

The Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked – Leopard Palette seems the most versatile to me but it has a lot of repeats in it. I do think if you’re new to Hourglass or makeup and want a good mix of shades that you can wear with almost any lip, this is it.

• Dim Light Finishing Powder (repeat, available individually)
• Celestial Strobe Light Strobe Powder (repeat from Holiday 2022 Butterfly Palette and 2023 Blush & Glow Palette)
• Mood Exposure Blush (repeat, available individually)
• Iridescent Rose Blush (repeat from Holiday 2019 Ghost)
• Ethereal Flush (new)
• Lustrous Bronze Light Bronzer (repeat from Holiday 2022 Elephant)

Look wearing the same as the above look, but with Scattered Light Eyeshadow in Ray and Phantom Glossy Balm in Slip

Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked – Snake

The Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked – Snake is the most unique as it has almost all new shades. It pulls very warm and reminds me of the Holiday 2022 Tiger Palette, but isn’t as orangey. This year’s Snake Palette has more pink tones but still pulls warm.

• Radiant Light Finishing Powder (repeat, available individually)
• Coral Haze Blush (new)
• Infinite Strobe Light Strobe Powder (new)
• Sun Beam Blush (new)
• Mystic Flush Blush (new)
• Solar Bronze Bronzer (new)

Look wearing the same as the above look, but with Scattered Light Eyeshadow in Foil and Phantom Glossy Balm in Lucid

I tried to get the same camera and lighting settings as last year to do side by side swatches. I think they’re close enough to give you an idea of how different/similar they are. Full review of Holiday 2022 here.

Holiday 2023 vs Holiday 2022 Palettes

Overall I think the Holiday 2023 palettes are really beautiful. For me they were worth the splurge even though they’re incredibly expensive. Are any of them must-haves? I think it depends on how many other Hourglass palettes you own, but I do think this year’s palettes are among the prettiest ones I’ve tried.

Based on the feedback from many of you, opinions seem mixed. A good portion of you are like me: love these and collect them every year, even if there are duplicates and similarities. Then there are quite a few who passed on the last year’s palettes and aren’t quite sure about this year’s because you own one or two from several years ago and either never used them or think there are too many similarities to justify another one.

With the holiday season approaching (sets come out earlier and earlier every year), I think there will definitely be some upcoming sales like Friends and Family discounts or gift card events etc. You might want to bookmark these or add these to your wishlists for those times.

Currently available at Hourglass Cosmetics. Customization options are exclusive to Hourglass. Pre-designed palettes will be launching at all retailers starting September 22.

What do you think about these palettes? Did you order any of these yet?