Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Estee Lauder Limited-Edition Holiday Color Spectacular

Yesterday, I showed you the Lancome Holiday Beauty Box. Today, we turn to Estee Lauder's limited-edition Color Spectacular for the holidays, another annual favorite.

For $55 with any Estee Lauder fragrance purchase, you can buy this fabulous collection worth "over" $340. I like this set even more than this year's Lancome set. The rub is that you have to purchase an Estee Lauder fragrance to qualify. I wish it were simply any Estee Lauder product(s). I do wear Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia, but I don't really need any right now. Maybe I'll have to buy my mother some White Linen Light Breeze for Christmas!

Included this year?
  • Deluxe Eyeshadow Compact with 15 coordinating shades (Sugar Cube, Ivory Box, Honey Drop, Lavender, Chocolate, Tea Biscuit, Copper Penny, Petal, Mulberry, Pale Moon, Cinnamon, Apricot, and Mocha Cup in Pure Color Eyeshadow, plus
  • Sage Duo Estée Lauder Signature Eyeshadow
  • Deluxe Face Compact (Estée Lauder Signature Silky Powder Blush in Rosewood and Nude Rose, and Bronze Goddess Soft Matte Bronzer)
  • Four Pure Color Long Lasting Lipsticks (full-size, in Candy, Rose Tea, Fig, and Tiger Eye)
  • Three Artist's Eye Pencils (great for smoky eyes, in SoftSmudge Black, SoftSmudge Brown, and Slate Writer)
  • Projectionist High Definition Volume Mascara (10-day supply in Black)
  • Lash Primer Plus (10-day supply)
  • Gentle Eye Makeup Remover (full-size 3.4 oz.)
  • Four Deluxe Makeup Brushes (Powder, Blush, Lip, and Eye)
  • Look Book with tips on creating four fabulous looks
  • Golden Stand-Up Mirror
  • Cosmetic Traveler Case
  • Companion Makeup Case (red at Macy's, Cream at Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom, and Estee Lauder)
This set is an extraordinary value - really nice! I want one. It is available at EsteeLauder.com, Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Nordstrom, and probably most Estee Lauder counters. There is also a free gift with any $39.50 Estee Lauder purchase at Bloomingdale's, doubling the value of your purchase.

Update 11/19: I ordered mine last night by calling my favorite Estee Lauder rep and having mine charged so it will be ready for me at Bloomingdale's. We were talking about what a great deal this is. And to think I just bought the new powder and blush brushes! Anyhow, Connie said that the eye makeup remover in this set is actually larger than the regular one - very nice!

Photo courtesy of Bloomingdale's

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

It looks great! However I'm not a fan of EL makeup. The cosmetic traveler case is the only thing that grabs my eyes..

Charlestongirl said...

I like Estee Lauder makeup "these days." For awhile, it got pretty stodgy, but it has been updated during the last few years.

Even if you don't use the makeup, the eye makeup remover and brushes more than pay for this set! The EL makeup brushes are really nice.

Just think...if you don't like the color pieces, you could use them as stocking stuffers. :)

Unknown said...

I had a chance to try EL makeup and skincare and while it is nice, I sort of agree with anonymous- this brand is not doing enough to distinguish itself from other makeup names. I, for one, always confuse Lancome and EL.

Stocking stuffers is a great suggestions! If only I had friends and family that was as much into makeup as i am :)

Charlestongirl said...

Hey there, Anna,

I'm interested in your comment. How could EL differentiate their products? What would make them sizzle?

Unknown said...

Hi Charlestongirl,

I guess I meant the way brand projects and markets itself more than anything else. Brands like Chanel, Guerlain, YSL obviously position themselves as a higher end luxury brand in terms of pricing, packaging, fancy ingredients. Brands like Urban Decay and MAC are very memorable because they appeal to a totally different catergory of people- those that love to experiment with color and variety of styles, hence they update collections frequently and their packaging is very unique (especially, UD). But brands like Lancome and EL often get lost in the middle... I have bought quite a bit of skincare from EL in the past and tried their makeup but I do not feel like this brand ever made me want their products really bad. EL should try to come up with some unique product or concept(like YSL came up with Touche Eclat) that would make me really want to buy it.

Charlestongirl said...

Hi Anna,

That makes perfect sense to me! I also like frequent color introductions - more exciting.

Maybe the Michael Kors color line for EL will add some pizazz, like the Tom Ford foray into cosmetics did.

Anonymous said...

I like it so much I bought both the red and cream makeup sets! The red bag has lighter pastel colors and the cream set has darker, more earthy colors. Red has face makeup remover, cream has eye makeup remover. The lipsticks of both are so gorgeous-total 8 lipsticks in two sets-all different colors. There are some color overlaps in the shadow pallete though, too many browns but all are nice! I also bought the lipgloss gift set. No free gifts for us here and our prices are twice of what is in USA.