There was a lot. This took way to much time to write. And this is just makeup that came out during 2022, not necessarily everything I bought throughout the year. I’m going to have to either control my spending or never do one of these posts again and we both know I’m not doing the first so you better enjoy it so I hope my efforts were not in vain and that this is useful or at least entertaining to you, my reader.
The Bad
23. KIKO Blossoming Beauty Romantic Shades of Face & Eyes Palette
I love Kiko but this one was a bust. I have a full review on it if you are interested in details and swatches, but to sum it up, this was powdery, poorly pigmented and not very long lasting. Don’t judge Kiko’s face products by this palette though, their bronzers and blushes are usually very good.
22. Stassie x Kylie Pressed Powder Palette
The mother of all disappointments. I cannot tell you how excited I was about this palette – and how could I not? The colour story is so gorgeous and actualy kind of unique. And I know I wasn’t alone in the anticipation, because I remember a few American beauty content creators getting very frustrated when they found out this was not being sold in the US (I have no idea why, but if I had to guess I’d say probably due to approval of certain pigments for use on the face).
Fear not my USA friends, you dodged a bullet. The powder blue and baby pink matte eyeshadows are absolute trash. Yes, there are other shadows in there that work fine (that’s why this didn’t rank last), but we all know no one comes here for the browns. The two light blue mattes (Go Bestie and Turks and Cake) are the dustiest, sheerest, poorly done eyeshadow that I’ve bought in about 10 years, because even cheap drugstore brands have done better in more recent times. Not. Worth. It.
Also, wtf is with this packaging? I hate the cover and I’m honestly a little embarrassed to leave it laying around. People who know nothing about makeup will just see that I have something with two girls in a pseudo-pornographic butt touching pose. I had to explain this was a Kylie Jenner eyeshadow palette (and not a dirty coaster) TWICE. I don’t know who’s their target demographic, but it’s certainly not me.
21. Beetlejuice X Revolution Adam Water Liner
I loved the collection, hated this liner. This is supposed to be a water activated eyeliner, and it’s a dry paste with a white base and a teal swirl. When you use water to mix the two, you get the light minty-blue shade you see on the pan. But has you can see on the pan too, that minty blue is very sheer and transparent. You cannot get an opaque eyeliner with this, and if you try to get more pigment the paste gets too thick and your eyeliner gets crooked and overall very messy.
So not good to line your eyes at all. Maybe it’ll work better as a cream eyeshadow base.
The Okay
20. Fenty Beauty Sun Stalk’r Face + Eye Bronzer Highlighter Palette
I was very excited when this palette was announced. I’ve never tried the Fenty Beauty Sun Stalk’r bronzers, and this was a way to try multiple colours at once. Problem is, the pans are too small to fit a properly sized bronzer brush. I always get a little bit of the neighbouring shades on my brush and that is just sooo frustrating.
Also… I don’t think the formula is out of this world. It’s good, but the powders could be smoother. Maybe I’m just spoiled by my gel-powder and baked bronzers. I have tried it as an eyeshadow palette and it works fine, but I have enough matte browns in my collection (and in better formulas).
Not necessarily bad, but not a winner for me, mainly due to being inconvenient to use.
19. Clarins Milky Boost Capsules
I’ve written a review about this – and I also compared it with previous iterations of the Milk Boost foundation line – so I won’t go into much detail here. It’s a good light coverage foundation, but I’m just not a light coverage girl. Also, you only get 30 uses out of it, which ends up making it very expensive.
18. Haus Labs Hy-Power Pigment Paint in Blush Matte
The Haus Labs revamped line was one of the better 2022 makeup launches. Sir Husband treated me with an online order from them and of all the things I tried, this was the least impressive. This is a matte coral cream shadow (or cream blush, but I like to stick to powder) that’s nicely pigmented and dries down to a matte finish – but unfortunately, it creases. A full review is coming.
17. I Love Revolution Gingy Highlighter
Okay, I don’t know what is up with Makeup Revolution this year, but they killed it with the collaborations. The Shrek collection was incredibly cute and I bought the Gingy highlighter knowing full well I could never wear it. This swatches just like it looks on the pan: a very orange-toned gold. Sure, I can use it on my eyes, but will I ever? Not likely.
But look at that tin! So adorable, with the fixed broken legs! This was probably my favourite Shrek character, so I just had to have it. It would be illegal for me not to get it.
16. Illamasqua x Amy Double Trouble Face Duo
I recently reviewed this, and like I said in that post, the blush is good, but it’s not as great as Illamasqua’s regular powder blush formula. Both powders work well but the brand has better offerings in their regular line.
The Nice
15. Estée Lauder Captivating Glow Gift Set
Again, something I reviewed recently. I sing praises to this kit on that post, so if you’re surprised to see this in the 15th position, it’s because the best products on the kit already existed in Estée Lauder’s permanent line (so they are not a 2022 launch) and at full price this isn’t that great of a deal. But if you can find it on sale, I absolutely recommend it.
14. MAC Black Stack Mascara
I don’t get overly excited with mascara. In fact, I might have tried other formulas that came out in 2022 and just not realized it. I am aware that MAC’s Black Stack mascara did and it’s a good formula. It adds decent length, but it’s in the volume that you can really tell a difference. I really enjoy it, the only downside it that it’s almost as hard to remove as a waterproof formula, which is annoying.
13. Betleejuice x Revolution Shadow Palette and Eyeliner Set
This collection from Makeup Revolution was so well made. The house eyeshadow palette is adorable. The eyeliner set colours are so well curated. I half bought this to use it, half to just look at.
I was expecting the eyeshadow formula to be mediocre but it’s actually quite nice. The matte pink and the matte lilac (in the middle) are very good – these shades are hard to make in general and for a inexpensive drugstore brand to come up with really nice versions of them, that’s commendable. Some of the shimmers could be smoother and have less fall out, but none are uncomfortable to wear and honestly, with a bit of eyeshadow primer. this palette goes from nice to great.
The eyeliners transfer really well onto the waterline – again, something I wasn’t expecting! Lasting power however is very weak. You would have to bring them along with you and keep reapplying throughout the day. If you don’t mind that, these are a great deal and an inexpensive way to add some really fun eyeliner colours to your stash.
The Good
12. KIKO Happy B-Day, Bellezza! Colour Shock Eyeshadows in 02 Energetic Copper and 04 Stylish Taupe
I wrote a dedicated review on these as well, and I was so happy to see KIKO bringing back this formula. The only reason these pigmented, long lasting cream eyeshadows don’t rank higher is because the colours they came out with are not that interesting or unique. They need to come out with more colourful and shimmery shades.
11. Haus Labs Bio-Blurring Loose Setting Powder in Translucent
This is a really nice powder. I need to try it with more foundations and write a review on it to go into more detail, but so far I’m really pleased with it. It is slightly blurring, makes skin look nice and does not alter my foundation shade. A proper review is coming.
10. Catrice Disney Villains Collection: Cruella Highlighter Palette and Queen of Hearts Eyeshadow Palette
My favourite Disney collaboration I’ve seen so far. I love the packaging, the graphics, the colour stories. The Queen of Hearts palette is good for the price: the mattes are smooth but a bit powdery, and the shimmers are very creamy and quite intense. There is one of those gloss, petri-dish like cream eyeshadows (that Huda Beauty first released with their Naughty Nude palette), called Wonderland, and it’s just as useless as you would expected to be. But in spite of that, the palette has a nice amount of shades with a diverse enough colour story.
The highlighters are quite shimmery and you can see the shimmer particles on the cheek (but it’s still shimmer, not glitter), so they are not exactly “natural”, but they are pigmented and very long lasting.
9. MAC Best-Sellers Eyeshadow Palette & Clinique Glow to Go Cheek Pop Palette (Holiday 2022)
These two products are paired up in the same rank position because these are holiday releases that are made of permanently available or previously released shades, but this way you can get them at a much better deal. And in cutter packaging.
The MAC Eye Love Surprises eyeshadow palette in the shade Best-Sellers is entirely made of permanent eyeshadows, some of which I’ve been wanting for a while, like Samoa Silk, that has been discontinued in my country, and Rose Before Bros, which is one of their most recent mattes that are also smoother and more pigmented. And I have discovered a new favourite shade, Tutu Good, that is a very shimmery, peachy coral (middle shade).
The Clinique Glow to Go Cheek Pop palette contains the shades Ballerina Pop (previously released), Coral Pearl Pop (a chance for me to try their Pearl Pop line) and the Gold Celebration highlighter that they usually release for Lunar New Year. These shades have been around previously but I have none of them and the Cheek Pop formula is great in general, so this felt like a must have and I don’t regret it.
8. Chanel Illuminating Blush Powder in Pêche Rosée
This was a part of Chanel’s Spring/Summer collection and I’ve reviewed it quite a while back. Even though the colour is not unique and the product is quite pricey, this is a fabulous blush. Love the colour, the shine, the way it looks on the skin. Probably my favourite Chanel blush, quite honestly.
7. Haus Labs Gel Powder Highlighter in Fire Opal & Powder Sculpt Velvet Bronzer Level 4
These are the starts of Lady Gaga’s makeup relaunch, in my opinion. She does not have a line of my kryptonite yet (powder blush, what else?) but she does have some interesting shades of highlighter that I can use as such, and Fire Opal is one of them. The highlighters have that gel powder formula that I love and the bronzer is smooth and creamy. The packaging is also quite nice on both of them. I’m not going to dwell on them here for too long because I will write a proper review in the near future, but they are definitely one of the best things to come out last year.
6. Stassie X Kylie Liquid Eyeliner in Blue Eyed Babe
After the dumpster fire that the eyeshadow palette from this collection was, Kylie redeemed herself with the liquid liners. Well, at least the blue one (I didn’t get the pink). The colour is just like the pictures: a light, powder blue, that is quite opaque and does not darken on the lids, staying true to colour for the whole day. The eyeliner is very pigmented, easy to apply and lasts all day.
Very well done. Now I regret not getting the pink eyeliner instead of the palette.
The Great
5. Glamlite Hershey’s Kisses Special Dark Mildly Sweet Chocolate Palette
Glamlite is probably my favourite indie brand currently. They only really make two eyeshadow formulas, ultra matte and shimmery metallic, but they do both incredibly well. The Hershey’s Kisses collection came out for Valentine’s day last year, I think, and I wanted something from it as soon as I saw it. When it was finally available on this side of the globe I decided to get the “dark chocolate” palette, which has a purple colour story, and I don’t regret it. The mattes are creamy and pigmented, and the shimmers are not as intense as Glamlite’s typical shimmer formula but they perform just as well.
I thought the collection was limited edition but the palettes are still available on the Glamlite’s website so I might write a dedicated review on it. I feel good matte purples deserve all the spotlight they can get.
4. Nabla Cupid’s Arrows Full Colour Stylo Snow Flakes Set
Nabla’s Cupid’s Arrow stick eyeshadows was a very welcomed 2022 launch, in my opinion. I took advantage of their holiday sets and got the Snow Flakes one, that has the shades 10 Midnight Gray, 9 Cappuccino and Powder Blue. I’ve use them as an eyeshadow base and I loved their performance: they are opaque and did not crease nor fade for the amount of time I wore them.
I need to test them out more and write a review, but this is no doubt one of my favourite launches of 2022 and I’m happy to see this type of releases from an indie brand.
3. Benefit Forward to: Gorgeous Christmas Gift Set (and the new blush line launch)
This kit placed 3rd not just because it’s a great deal but because I wanted to save a high spot to feature Benefit’s new blush line. This kit comes with one of the new shades, a full-sized peachy-coral with a soft sheen called Shellie, so I got to try one of the Wanderfull World blushes and it is amazing. Benefit always knew how to make a good blush, and this is no different. I like their ability to make soft, wearable blushes but still have quite a varied shade range that doesn’t just look like the same colour over and over after blending out.
This kit also came with a full size They’re Real! Magnet mascara, the Precisely, My Brow pencil (my favourite eyebrow product), and the Porefessional Super Setter setting spray, which I never knew was so damn good. So four full sized products and an adorable tin box is was you get with this and I 100% recommend it.
2. Pat McGrath Sublime Skin Highlighter in Incandescent Gold 002
This collection came out early last year and it was probably one of the most anticipated collections of 2022. I’m not a fan of the show but one doesn’t have to be to appreciate the aesthetic of the collection. The pan imprint is amazing and this is a Pat McGrath Sublime Skin Highlighter, so you know it’s good. You can read my full praises on the dedicated review here.
1. Tarte Holiday 2022 Collection
If you would have asked me a year ago what brand would take first place in this list, Tarte would not be on my shortlist. But they really came through with their Christmas collection. The Precious Gems cheek palette and the Gilded Glamour eyeshadow set (full review incoming) are amazing and a great deal for the price. I have reviewed the cheek palette and will be reviewing the eye palettes next, because they are still available (and on sale!).
The blushes perform just I you would expect their popular Amazonian Clay blush formula to perform, and the eyeshadows on both palettes are pigmented, smooth, and never crease. Over the years I’ve heard/read mixed reviews on Tarte’s eyeshadow formula, but there seems to be consensus around this palette set, and it seems that these are some of the best eyeshadows Tarte has released recently. The palette set comes with a total of 36 eyeshadows that you can get now for around 30-35€.
Final Thoughts
Overall, there was a lot more good than bad this past year.
I feel like I was finally bitten by the nostalgia bug, because some things I bought regardless of reviews, either just for the packaging or because I find it fun to look at. Some of those blind purchases turned out to be pretty great (the Glamlite Hershey’s palette, Catrice’s Disney Villains collection) but I wouldn’t be too mad if they didn’t. I guess for the girl who basically has every shade, finish and formula she could wish for, packaging is the way to go now. I’m not complaining though, that’s a fun part of makeup for me too.
I think we saw and will continue to see indie brands release interesting collaboration and new products with big colour ranges. The makeup community, particularly the younger generation, has been shifting from well known, established brands for the up and coming, more creative and performance-driven indie/smaller brands, and I’m wondering what the effect will be on the older makeup giants. However 2023 plays out, I’m here for the ride.
