Lorac is one of the high end brands that I’ve always wanted to try. I really loved some of their new holiday releases for 2018 so I decided to pick up the ones I liked the most, the Shine Bright Color & Light Source Cheek Palette and the Shine Bright Alter Ego Lipstick Set. The cheek palette is $29.00 and contains four blushes and two highlighters. The lipstick set is $25.00 and contains five full size matte lipsticks. I have to say, I was slightly disappointed in my first Lorac purchase. I’ll get into all the pros, cons and swatches down below.

Pros:

Color & Light Source Cheek Palette-

• A wide range of skin tones will be able to enjoy this palette. The blushes Aura and Technicolor will be perfect for medium to deep skin tones while Tea Rose and Blossom will be perfect for fair to medium skin tones. For the highlighters, Bold Spirit is best for medium to deep skin tones while Opalescent is best for fair to medium skin tones. However, any skin tone could probably make all of the shades work.
• All of the blushes and both highlighters sit beautifully on the skin and don’t draw attention to pores or fine lines.
• The blushes and highlighters last on my skin for the entire day.
• The highlighters are more on the subtle side but can be built up. This could be a pro or a con depending on what you want.
• The packaging is a sturdy cardboard with a magnetic closure.

Alter Ego Lipstick Set-

• All of the lipsticks are nicely scented with vanilla. It does dissipate on the lips and the lipsticks do not have a taste.
• These lipsticks are more on the satin matte side. This means that they are more comfortable than a traditional matte and they have a little shine to them.
• Each shade is different and there’s a nice variation of tones.
• The packaging is sturdy but not heavy. This is more of a con to me since they are luxury lipsticks and I wish they had more weight but it might not be to you.

Cons:

Color & Light Source Cheek Palette-

• Kickup, kickup and more kickup. I had heard Lorac’s powder products had a lot of kickup and wow, that was no exaggeration. This might be something that doesn’t bother you at all but it drives me CRAZY, especially when it’s an expensive product. I feel like at least a quarter of the product is wasted.
• This is a con that really only applies to those near my skin tone, but the blush shades Aura and Technicolor and the highlight shade Bold Spirit are way too deep for me. The blushes are so pigmented that it took me forever to blend them out. I highly doubt I’ll use them much in the future.

Alter Ego Lipstick Set-

• These lipsticks are honestly the worst of both the satin and matte lipstick worlds. They don’t last on the lips at all like a cream/satin but they’re uncomfortable like a matte.
• Most of the shades bunch up around the inner part and corners of the lips.
• They transfer onto everything.

*From left to right and top to bottom: Mama Bear, Secret Agent, Trendsetter, Fashionista and Siren. 

So, do I recommend these holiday sets? Well, yes and no. If you break down the price, the Color & Light Source Cheek Palette would be close to $5.00 apiece for each blush and highlight. The Alter Ego Lipstick Set would be $5.00 a lipstick. Those are not bad prices for the quality. This lipstick formula is usually $18.00 apiece and the single blushes/highlighters are $23.00 apiece. I would NEVER  pay those prices for these formulas but I don’t regret the price I paid for the sets.

I honestly don’t see myself purchasing anything else from Lorac. That amount of kickup in the powder products is a deal breaker for me and I have lipsticks I like more that are $3.00 from e.l.f. However, I would love to know if you’ve tried these sets and what you thought or if you’re wanting to pick them up! Thanks for reading and have a great day!