Hourlgass Ambient Lighting Edit Palette (Holiday 2016)

The Ambient Lighting 'Edit' palette from Hourglass is the perfect holiday gift (for yourself or others), and contains a finishing powder, two blushes, a bronzer, and a highlighter. The pans are reasonably small, but considering the amount of products you get and their versatility, I personally don't really mind (also, who could resist that marble packaging?!).

Products Included

(1) 'Surreal Light' finishing powder (large pan)

(2) 'Surreal Bronze Light' bronzer

(3) 'Surreal Glow' blush

(4) 'Surreal Effect' blush

(5) 'Surreal Strobe Light' strobing powder/highlighter

Value

Given the amount that you're spending per gram, in terms of the amount of product that you get, economically speaking this palette isn't ideal - if you're looking for value, you won't find it with this palette (in Australia it'll set you back AUD$116, and theres only 0.3oz/9.6g in the whole thing, all products combined). This being said, it's more of a collector's item for hardcore makeup addicts, or the perfect gift for makeup lovers. However if you're looking to try out some Hourglass products, and don't want to pay full price to try out a blush (AUD $55), a bronzer (AUD $72), finishing powder (AUD $67), or a strobing powder (AUD $55), this palette can certainly be seen as worthwhile.

Practicality

The palette itself is sturdy and protects the powders when dropped (yeah, I've already accidentally dropped it), however the pan size poses quite a challenge for anybody who uses any other makeup brush than the 'Ambient Lighting Edit Brush' (AUD $67), which I wasn't game enough to purchase. I have been loving the more nude blush ('Surreal Glow'), however even my MAC 116 brush doesn't fit in the pan all that well, and I find that I get bits of other powders mixed in with it when I try to apply.

Quality

I have personally found that the blush, bronzer, and finishing powder formulas are all consistent with their regular full-sized counterparts (blend well, sheer yet buildable, and have an extremely natural and glowy finish). However the 'Surreal Strobe Light' strobing powder seemed a little chunkier than their usual 'Strobing' powders, and didn't seem to be a suitable colour for the palette. The bronzer is lighter than any of the current full-sized Hourglass bronzers out there and works well with my extremely fair skin, yet the highlighter (well.. 'Strobing Powder') was too dark for my skin tone and extremely golden. I can't imagine how these could work together well.

Breakdown Affordability 3/10

Practicality 5/10

Packaging 10/10

Product Quality 8/10