Out of all the beauty brands, I’m always the most excited for Lorac’s holiday releases. I almost always love their holiday collections and this year is no exception. They released four new palettes; three minis and one full size. I bought the full size, Fairytale Forest, and one of the minis, Mystic Oak. Today’s review is for Mystic Oak  and I’ll hopefully have a review up for Fairytale Forest in a few weeks. 

The Mystic Oak Mini Palette is $15.00. It contains six shades; four shimmers and two mattes. All of the shadows can be used wet or dry. The packaging is cardboard with a sturdy magnetic closure and a mirror. Unlike the larger, newer Lorac palettes, the shadows in the minis can not be removed or rearranged. With that, let’s talk pros and cons!

Pros:

• The Lorac mattes and what they call their diamond shine formula, have always worked perfectly for me but their original metallic formula contained citrus oils that I’m allergic to. Their newer palettes do not contain those oils so I’m able to use them. I am still slightly sensitive to some of the shades but I’ll talk about that in the cons section. 
• The matte formula has been consistently great across all the palettes that I’ve tried from the brand and it’s no different with this one. They’re pigmented but incredibly blendable. I had no issues with fallout as long as I tapped off my brush.
• If you love shimmery gorgeous shadows, this is the palette for you. All of the shimmers are fantastic but Mist and Luna are especially sparkly. They literally look like crushed diamonds. 
• The shades Frost and Mist are less opaque and more like topper shades. I personally like this but others may not. 
• This palette is a smoky eye made easy. If you’re intimidated by smoky eyes (like me), this is the palette for you. 
• This color story is simple and edited down but so glam. It makes me think of the holidays, especially New Year’s Eve.
• All of the shades blend and layer together beautifully. 
• This is definitely a mini palette; about the size of a credit card! It’s very travel friendly. 

Cons:

• I am still sensitive to an ingredient in the shade Magic. It did slightly burn my eyes but it was nowhere near as bad as the original metallic formula. The stinging only lasted for a few seconds and I was able to wear the shade with no issues but it’s something to be aware of if you have sensitive eyes.
• The shade Luna is very fragile and an absolute glitter BOMB. I don’t use glitter glue because I’m lazy but if you do, this is the shade to use it with. No matter how wet my brush was or how much I tapped the brush off, I still got glitter all over when using this shadow. 

Swatches & Shade Descriptions:

These eyeshadows do have names and shade descriptions so I will copy them from the website. I’ll be going from left to right. This photo was taken with flash to show off the sparkle. 

• Frost- pearl shimmer
• Mist- cool champagne shimmer
• Willow- nude peach matte
• Luna- deep grey with silver shimmer
• Magic- soft copper shimmer
• Thorn- jet black matte

Eyeshadow Looks:

I created two looks using this palette. I almost always use an eyeshadow primer and set my primer with a cream or white colored shade, which this palette does not contain. 

This is my favorite look that I created and I’ve actually worn it twice. It’s so simple but beautiful. 

1. I applied Magic all over my lid and blended it into my crease.
2. I applied Mist in my inner corner.
3. I applied Frost on my brow bone.
4. I smudged Thorn on my lower lash line and applied it in my water line. 

This look was prettier in person than in pictures, in my opinion. The shade Luna has an almost duochrome effect so it can look patchy when it’s actually not. I really like the way this slightly smoky look turned out and it could have been much smokier if I would have added Thorn in my crease… but I just wasn’t feeling that brave😂

1. I blended Willow into my crease.
2. I applied Luna all over my lid.
3. I applied Mist in my inner corner and on my water line.
4. I applied Frost on my brow bone.
5. I smudged Thorn on my lower lash line.

Brushes Used:

• Crease Brush
• Flat Eyeshadow Brush
• Small Angled Brush
• Smudge Brush
• Eye Crease Brush
• Blending Brush, I used this brush to blend out the edges and set my primer.

If you are curious about any of the other products on my face, you can find these looks in my recent posts on Instagram.

Final Thoughts:

I really love and recommend this palette. If you’re reading this before Black Friday of 2021, be aware that Lorac almost always has a 50% off sitewide sale during the Black Friday weekend. For the past few years, this has included their new releases so if you’re interested in this palette or any of the others, wait for this coming weekend to make a purchase. What do you think about their holiday collection this year? Thanks for reading and have a great day!