Em Cosmetics Holiday Life Palette New Year's Countdown Edition Swatches, Look, Review

Press sample

Em Cosmetics Holiday Life Palette New Year's Countdown Edition

(counter-clockwise from top left) Sequin Dress Eye shadow, Good Cheers e/s, Couples Gold e/s, Cranberry Cocktail e/s, Happy New Year e/s, Clock Strikes Midnight e/s, Stroke of Plum lip color, Sparkling Punch lip color
(center) Countdown cheek color

I was able to try Em Cosmetics' holiday offering called Holiday Life Palette- New Year's Countdown Edition. It has a lot of red-based hues in this collection, which of course signifies the yuletide theme of this palette. However, the colors can be worn year-round, as there are also browns and golds in this palette. It has six eye shadow colors, one blush, and two lip products.

First, the packaging. Some people think it looks like cheap drugstore packaging, but upon closer inspection, it is not a flimsy kind of plastic at all. It's a sturdy acrylic case - quite thick and not those cheap plastic casings from certain drugstore brands. The only thing I don't like in the layout is that the cream lip colors sit very close to the powder products, so there is a big chance that eye shadow fallout will get mixed into the lip color.

The colors are very rich, vibrant, and are jewel-toned. The reds are garnet-colored, while the gold is a coppery gold, and a yellowish white highlighter. The lip colors are also in the red family.

Swatches: Sequin Dress Eye shadow, Good Cheers e/s, Couples Gold e/s, Cranberry Cocktail e/s, Happy New Year e/s

Clock Strikes Midnight e/s, Stroke of Plum lip color, Sparkling Punch lip color

dark blue eye shadow, lipgloss, lipstick

The only two colors that I don't like in this palette are the first two swatches. The yellow-white shadow is crumbly and does not have much pigment, while the creamsicle-colored one barely showed up on my skin. The rest are really very vibrant, rich and pigmented colors, as can be seen in the swatches above. My favorite eye shadow shades are the gold, cranberry red, the blackish brown with micro shimmer, and the dark navy blue.

In the look below, I used the gold shadow (Couple's Gold) on the lid, the cranberry on the crease (Cranberry Cocktail), and the two darker colors on the crease and outer lid (Happy New Year and Clock Strikes Midnight).

Wearing Em Cosmetics Holiday Life New Year's Countdown Edition eye shadows

With a good base, the eye shadow colors apply really smoothly and glide well on the lids. Staying power is also good; they lasted a good 7-8 hours without creasing.

Em Cosmetics Holiday Life Palette New Year's Countdown Edition blush in Countdown and lipstick in Sparkling Punch

I am quite liking the blush. It has the same cranberry hues as Cranberry Cocktail eye shadow. It gives a nice, soft warmth to my yellow-toned skin.

I am also wearing lip color in Sparkling Punch. I love the very holiday-themed color, a reddish plum that is pretty. I just don't like that it is a bit too matte-looking on my lips.

All in all, I think this is a worthy palette to invest in. It's not as exorbitant as the huge Life palette from Em Cosmetics for $79. This Em Cosmetics Holiday Life Palette New Year's Countdown Edition retails for $29. I also love the rich hues of some of the eye shadows, especially the golds, cranberry and the darker shades. The blush is a nice deep cranberry red that you can use not only during the holidays, but year-round to add warmth to the skin.

You can purchase this palette online at www.emcosmetics.com.

(Media sample was provided by a representative of the brand for consideration. All opinions are mine.)