The power of packaging. Every year I want one. Every year I know full well the pans are tiny, if you have ANY HG blushes , bronzers or finishing powders in any shades you likely own everything offered already. Welcome to months of constantly putting them in my cart and having to talk myself out of buying it over and over again.

I wish Hourglass would do fully customizable pallets and just come out with new packaging every year. That way, if you just wanted the new packaging, you could buy that for twenty bucks and if you needed to refill a certain powder or try out a new blush, you wouldn't need to buy a whole new pallet. Then, to get people to buy more, they could do a deal that if you ordered six pans of product, then they could throw in the holiday packaging for free. And yes, I agree that they need to change it up with the blush colors. Except for that orangey one in the snake palette, they're all pink. Why not throw in a purple, peach or red?

For a $90 palette there really should be no “issues”.

Would love a cooler toned bronzer from HG. Also, it's s been the year of blushes so what an opportunity to go all out and give us a strawberry red, lavender or rich magenta, Barbie/ cool toned pink, rosey brown, just to suggest a few.

Tara I still miss Mel and all of her sweetness, I often circle back to her videos and re-watch her tutorials and just to hear her voice gain makes my mornings a little brighter. She will forever be missed. 💜💜💜💜

I absolutely agree with your assessment of these palettes! They are too expensive to have redundant shades in them, and I’m so over luxury brands like Hourglass and Pat McGrath that keep on making the same thing and exact color story every year!

Thank you so much!! These are $135 in Canada, so definitely an investment. I absolutely adored last year’s Elephant palette and was hoping to fall in love with a version from this year… but I just kept looking at photos and watching first impression videos without pulling the trigger. Everyone has been initially raving and I couldn’t figure out why! They’re just so similar to last year! I didn’t even notice how similar the first two palettes are to each other, either. Your reviews are unmatched; the comparison photos beyond in depth! Thank you so much. You just saved me a pretty penny… that now I’ll be spending on the I Need a Nude palette hahahaha 🙈

Hi! Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the Hourglass face palettes! You definitely saved me from spending $90 on a palette this year. I agree that they should look outside the box and create something different to keep their consumers interested in purchasing from them every year from the first time buyers or collectors. Hope you are feeling much better! See you soon Gorgeous!❤

Totally agree with you. I stopped buying all palettes they release since 3 years ago. Now I just limit myself to 1 and the one that I feel is worth it. Last year I got tiger, this year I got the deeper palette with the tiger packaging. They need to stop repeating shades over and over. How about a true peach blush? A cool pink blush? Just new variety of colors!!! Face and eye would be awesome! Thanks for being honest. Other channels just go crazy over the packaging and start recommending…

Tara Lynn, I had followed you for the longest time, and today I noticed that you look the most beautiful that you ever had. Keep up whatever you´re doing because itś working. Blessings to you always!

Hi Tara! I appreciate you reviewing these Hourglass palettes. I think I'll pass since I have the Butterfly palette from last year. I always appreciate your advice on luxury products. I usually wait for you to weigh in on a product before I buy😊

Thank you for sharing that about Mel. I got the owl customized palette and it will now make me think of her. ❤

Finally an honest review! I'm so tired of all these KZfaqrs ranting and raving how great everything they review is... I'm watching to find out the digs on products... not hear someone fawn over every single product.

I really want a hourglass palette but it bugs me they put two of same blush shades…. I dont understand why ??? I would love a palette with one warm blush and one cool blush….

Since I don’t have any of these hourglass palettes nor many hourglass products in general, I am actually really interested in the Jellyfish palette because it looks like one I can actually wear on my very fair cool skin. Most hourglass palettes in the past seem too dark for me or the wrong undertone. I see your point though for people who already have many of the palettes. I think this year I might get a couple of them.

Thank you for this video. It was helpful. I wear 335 in Fenty, 4N2 in Estee Lauder, 44.5 MAC powder foundation, and M18 in PML. Last year, I purchased Elephant and Tiger and all the shades in both work for me. Ironically, the bronzer in one worked as a contour, which was great because I'd use the bronzer in the other as a bronzer. I plan to get Snake this year. Radiant Light is a repeat shade that I have and I get a lot of use out of it, so I'd be happy to have it in Snake. This would be my 3rd Hourglass face palette, and all the shades will work for my complexion, both as stand-alones and in combination with each other. I can understand the frustration for those who have a lot of the brand’s face palettes and powders in general.

Thank you SO MUCH for demonstrating both the blushes of the Jellyfish palette! Every other reviewer assumes that only seasoned makeup collectors are watching ("I won't be applying diffused heat - we have seen that one 1000 times" - 😵‍💫). So helpful

You answered my question! Thank you so much, Tara! I have tan-deep skin and was I was wondering how the bronzer from last years tiger palette compared to the bronzer in the snake palette. Thanks for showing us! Much love!🌸🙌🏽💕

Love your honesty so much Tara, I don't usually find out how similar palettes are to what I already have until I commit 😬 I hate having that guilty buyers remorse from repeating my makeup 👍

Thank you for your honest review. I really want to get my first hourglass palette but the new price increases really got me thinking twice. Thank you for pointing out how similar the blushes look when swatched. i don’t use bronzer, I have many Dior highlights already.. I think I might just go for one full size blush that I really like.

I asked for the jellyfish pallete for my bday today. I have always wanted one of the Hourglass powders and am excited to play. On my fair skin, those colors will look great!

Thank you Tara!! Iv been screaming to myself that every year they repeat the same thing over and over and think customers are fools! Similar blushes, everytime. For that reason i dont own a single holiday palette and skipping this year too. Im looking for something truly unique and in which ill use all the shades and everything looks different.

I love watching you because you are honest. I seen other reviews and they are only happy and want you to buy a palette. With you is other thing- you are honest. If something is wrong, you tell us. Thank you ❤🌺

I’m a first time buyer - yes, there’s still people who don’t have it yet 😂 So yes, I agree, it’s extremely disappointing to have repeats to those who have already some of these pallets. But maybe, just MAYBE - they’re targeting people like me who never bought any of those? So for me as a first time buyer this is no issue. But of course that makes me only time buyer as well, because next time I won’t want to buy any repeats, so they definitely missing the mark

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyy, it's wonderful to have you back, you've been missed - VERY much 😊❤❤ I bought the snake as I wanted some depth in the blushers/bronzer. I probably won't use the highlighter (I don't their strobe powders on me) and one of the finishing powders. Tbh, I think I got FOMO as I missed out on last year's pallets, so I grabbed one quick. Having watched this video and because I agree with everything you've said, I'm hoping HG (UK) will accept returns of unopened products 🤞. Thinking about it, I don't need more blushers or bronzers - (I've literally just bought the two latest Chanel DOUCEUR D’ÉQUINOXE blushers). 🎵🎶🎶🎺 Where has your signature music gone? 🎷🎵🎶🎵. I missed it 😕 God bless our very dear, animal loving friend, Mel 🕊🕊🕊. I will never stop missing her 😢😢 Lots and lots of love to you, 💗❣️💗❣️💗❣️💗❣️💗❣️💗❣️💗

I bought the leopard palette with the owl packaging. It's my first Hourglass product overall, so it's 6 new shades for me 😅. The hype of the snake tempted me, but I just didn't think it was worth the effort of "making it work" for my light medium skintone

I knew it was gonna be hard for them to top Tiger from last year.

Tara ur amazing. I love ur honesty as to why ur my favourite. I missed last years holiday (I kicked myself for not getting the Tiger last year) so I wanted the snake. but I saw a review and as I suspected, it pulled an orange tone. I have a medium skin tone but I know it would have been too warm esp when winter is coming up. I hate having to be “careful” when applying blushes. It sucks the fun out. However, I think the repeat shades are great to those who missed last years palettes bc we can’t get them anymore. Esp to those who don’t even have hourglass singles. Yes they are repeat to collectors but to those that are not and missed out, it’s great. I think this is why Hourglass goes this. Thanks for the review Tara, I hope u feel better ❤️

Thank you so much for your honesty! I know I can count on you to be 100% real. I am on a low buy so I can skip this or wait for a sale. I did not buy one from last year’s launch (super hard 😅), but I have two previous holiday palettes and one single. I think I’m good.

I so agree, it seems companies just can't nail it. This is my first palette, I'm new to these palettes. So I was between the ones they already have on their website but these ones seemed to have more colors, specially blushes plus the gorgeous packaging I choose the Leopard, I think even if theyre not new shades it works for my light medium complexion and I get 3 blushes vs the other ones that have more strobe and bronzers. I wish they had included in the leopard the At Night blush, it would have been perfect! Yes, they all look the same....

Oh, Tara! Thank you so much for saving me money. I was on the fence with the Jellyfish palette. Now, I am off the fence. It is beyond me that Hourglass hasn’t included more cool toned pinks, rosy reds and purply plums especially this year.

Thanks so much for this review it’s the best I have seen. Skipping for me I really like my elephant palette from last year !!! Glad your back filming missed your pretty face ❤😊

Thank you! Finally, someone mentioning all these blushes in Houglass palettes look the same when applied on the cheeks 🥰

Thank you so much, I value your opinion, and couldn’t wait for your specific review. I have the elephant palette and absolutely love it. The blush is a very similar like you said. I too, was SO excited for this new launch of these hourglass palettes, but I think the hype is not worth the reality. I really appreciate you! ❤

Really appreciate your honest review, Tara! I know a lot of people use these palette shades as eyeshadow, as well. I think that definitely brings more value. But I agree with your assessment about the same-same of these palettes!

In my humble opinion, I purchase these palettes for the formula and the value you get in comparison to purchasing these full size individually it’s worth it to me. And they’re in a convenient palette, I don’t have to grab a bunch of sep. compacts. I do agree that the shades are similar and they could’ve stepped outside the box but I count on Hourglass for the formula w/ my mature skin, the affect it gives….it’s def giving, for me. I wanted to try their strobe and finishing powders, they’re the BEST.

You truly are a detective of the makeup world, well done!👏

I would have love to see you using some of the shades in the eyes as eyeshadow ❤I think all the palette look beautiful on you is hard to choose one

Thank you so much for this review! I've only tried Hourglass once before, and I wasn't impressed at all with the Mood Exposure blush. It gave a lot of...nothing...as far as pigmentation went. I was considering giving the brand a second chance when I saw these palettes, but your excellent review paused me in my tracks. Only the Snake one would even be worth trying on my skintone, but I'm not $90 convinced just yet. Thank you so much for the no BS review, and you just got a new subscriber!

I miss Mel, I’m glad you mentioned her.

It’s actually so frustrating for me as I missed out last year and would love to get one this year, I’m a medium tan (Dior 4wo) and was leaning towards the snake/leopard but I just can’t justify that amount of money of two pretty much similar blushes in one palette 😭

There were so many repeat shades this year. Last year I bought the Tiger palette and then got the elephant when it was heavily discounted. This year I only got the Snake palette because it has new shades. You’re right, Hourglass definitely has the same pink tone over and over and over. That’s why I liked the snake and tiger. That being said, I have fair skin and as long as I’m careful, I can use those pigmented blushes. Honestly, I loved the blush and sculpt palettes they came out with this year and am thrilled I picked those up, especially after the sculpt one immediately sold out. I use these constantly when I go away, so they’re worth it to me.

I picked up Jellyfish but this will be my first ever Hourglass product so I’m happy although I wish the blushes were different! I hope they create a fair, very cool-toned palette with ethereal glow and a grey contour shade though next year! Everything seems to lean warm with Hourglass 😭

God bless Mel RIP, so lovely you mentioned her, I really miss her and her videos ❤❤❤

Thank you for helping me resist spending $90, mainly to get the owl packaging! Hourglass has beautiful powders and I can't deny that, but I am already happy with the two I purchased last year. If I want a new blush or bronzer I will purchase a single.😊😊😊

I have never bought one of these palettes before. I have the 3 pan original finishing powder palette and individual diffused heat blush, mood exposure mini and diffused bronze light mini. I ordered the jelly fish, and in my collection, 5 are “new” to me. I hope I love it when I see it in person. I think I’m one of the only people totally excited to have 2 finishing powdered in the palette I chose. Another great review Tara!! ❤️

Love how thorough these swatch pics are. I'm fair-light & cool toned, I do tan in the summer. I got the jellyfish palette and I absolutely love it. I have the butterfly palette I don't reach for it much anymore because I generally prefer the pink blush. I got the leopard palette too. I love that enough to buy another one for my mom because I don't want to part with it, but for me and my skin tone jellyfish takes the cake and I've never loved powders more. I also really love the gold highlight that's in both the butterfly and leopard and I like that I can use them all liberally because I have repeats of three of my favorites. I'm all good now, I don't need anymore hourglass anything. I feel like if you're going to drop money, drop it on powders because they last where creams and liquids dry out and go rancid, but if possible, just spring for the ONE that best fits your skin type. The hourglass powders are definitely a look, they have a certain type of fine glitter to them, no matter what the shade & to your point, you only need so much of one kind of thing.

Why so many similar pinks in all of these palettes??😂 One is plenty!

Thanks Tara. I enjoy other reviews too, but you helped me make my decision! I only own one palette (and ambient product) from Hourglass: Elephant palette. I agree Jellyfish and Leopard are all too similar. I was very tempted because of the Owl packaging. If I could mix and match the items inside or just buy the Owl case itself, I would do that. But for $90, like you said, not so different that I can justify.

Thank you for a great video Tara! I won’t be purchasing these but the owl packaging is nice and would consider it in honor of Mel. I was rewatching her videos last night and couldn’t help but to tear up a bit. Miss her content and hearing her adorable laugh so much! 💕💕

I loved ur honest review. I have never bought any of the palettes and have always wanted to try, so I picked up the snake palette!

Tara your hair color is stunning, it suits you so well

Love how honest you are. Just saved me $90

Glad you’re feeling better. I’ve been sick also on and off cold allergies it’s horrible.

Hi, I am brand new to hou glass and don’t own anything of theirs yet so I ordered the leopard since I am medium to tan skintone. I think even though there’s only one new color it won’t matter to me as I think they all look pretty and will look good on my skin. Thank you for the review.

Thank you for your review. I bought the Ghost palette several years ago and I enjoy it but don’t feel the need to ever purchase another one of these as they are all very similar.

I agree 100% with you again thank you Tara Lynn

Thanks for the side by side comparison of last year’s/this year’s collections. I agree with you about the palette. I picked up the tiger palette last year and I think it’s better than the snake palette (at least there was two different blushes). Additionally, hourglass, can we get a deeper bronzer. The powder is beautiful but since it’s not deep enough as a bronzer, I use it as a finishing powder.

Thank you for your thoughts and comparisons. Very helpful. I ordered 2 this year but hadn’t ordered any before so I think I will enjoy them.

I WISH they would come out with a Cool toned palette.

I am neutral/warm olive green. I don't like blush much, but I heard a lot of other people with have green don't like it either so I can't commet on blush looking the same. BUT lipsticks, all look through same on me. Everything looks brown on my lips. I need to use a lip liner to try and get the true color. My natural coloring and lip color overide most things. Same with eyeshadow!! My beiges and browns need to be warm. Anything else all looks gray on me. But being neutral/warm olive green I can wear some dark neutral colors even some into dark winter. So skintone really plays into what looks good on each person.

As always, thank you for the thorough review. I adore the Hourglass palettes, but skipping them this year for all of the reasons you have mentioned. They would be great for someone who doesn't own some of these palettes already. But, since I already own Ghost, Unlocked, and Sculpture, I don't think these new ones offer me anything different. In fact, I skipped last year's as well for the very same reason. Maybe next year they will get more creative. On a side note, I have not tried their skin tint, but plan to get it during black Friday sale. I love their Ambient Soft Glow foundation and their unlocked lipsticks.

This was so helpful thank you ! You look amazing in all of the pallets

I appreciate the many side-by-side views of the swatches. It spoke perfectly to your points. Very thorough!

And this right here.. when your at your final thoughts of the video.. This my friend is why I so much respect you because I’m not happy with these pallets honestly and I almost bought two of them before I watched Morgan Turner‘s review and yours . And thank the lord I’m glad I’m not dropping $90 and I agree I love my palette from last year Hourglass elephant

Thanks for doing all 3 comparisons Tara, now seeing them all side by side, it all looks like 50 shades of Neapolitan. Was considering getting jellyfish, but it's not anything different from what I have, will definitely wait for a sale.

The best and honest review I have seen for these palettes, many thanks!👏

Yesss! I was just thinking that! I hope next year’s include eyeshadows rather than the same blush and bronzer shades. We need everything in these palettes if they’re going to be $90.

Really appreciate your efforts to apply all the pallets and provide a detailed review. Thank you! ❤

I appreciate this review - particularly to show us how similar and pigmented they are! Big love!

I got the snake color story in the owl tin. I figured that has the most new. I’m freaked bout by snakes so customizing with the owl was the way to go!

Your review is relieving because it successfully quashed that FOMO/"I gotta have it" gut worm these pallettes sometimes give me. I'm trying to do better (and have been!), but we all have our weak spots & Hourglass triggers mine 😅! I'm so glad you're feeling better Miss Tara; illness shouldn't be a thing in the summer! ☺️

Omg thank you so much i watched maybe 20 videos from different creators on KZfaq i wanted to makeup my mind on getting the jellyfish or the leopard palette btw i dont have any of hourglass palettes at this point & my complexion is light so i should be able to use both but cant afford 2 of them… thank you so much for applying the blushes separately not piling them on each cheek the i probably would apply them I know i wanna get the leopard palette thanks to you Much much appreciated

Thanks for your honest review, I invested in the two Chanel face palettes this past spring so I really don’t need more blushes 😂 the Chanels were also $90 for four shades but at least I can use them for eyes as well

Thank you for your review. You said exactly what I was thinking when I saw the, that they all look the same or like repeats.

Thank you! You just saved me $90!! Beautiful review!!

Butterfly didn't have a bronzer so the jellyfish is a big improvement on that. I think how much this is used can also be a factor. I have used mine a lot and it still works fine but the powders just aren't quite as nice as they were. I don't blame the powder I thinks its the brushes transferring tiny amounts of other products just a little bit over time with frequent use. I scrape the top sometimes which helps. They still work but not quite so well as before. I can see where people might want to just get a new one after about one year of regular use and they might want something pretty similar to what they had before. But then again couldn't they at least just update one of the blushes to give some more variety. And also why don't they sell these as a refill option without having to buy a new palette?

Really appreciated this video. It was helpful. I live in Ontario Canada & the pallets are $122.00. We just got them.

Thank you. I'm African American and I wish they would make a deeper bronzer. Elephant bronzer barely worked last year and your swatch showed that Snake was damm near the same. If they gave 3 shades of blush a mauve, coral and a pink with 3 different depths they would sell even more. They make good quality and if the shades were right it would be perfect for travel but Hourglass just can't get it together. I have yet to find the "perfect" face palette for my complexion.

I think what they were going for was a pink-toned blush and coral-toned blush in each palette with bronzer, highlights, powder congruent with the depth of each palette. Seems like the problem is there is not enough of a depth difference between the light and medium palettes and not enough difference between the pink and coral tones within each palette. And they didn’t take into consideration that some people would want more than one palette and therefore would basically be stuck with dupes…yikes! The deepest one looks gorgeous-it really does-but the blushes are way similar.

Great video. Thanks for your honesty. I wanted the elephant last year but it was sold out. So I settled for butterfly. I am very pale, but with rosy cheeks(rosacea). I was thinking about getting jellyfish or leopard this year. But after watching your video I think I will just carry on with my butterfly one. They all look gorgeous in the pan. But just all so similar. Thanks for the comparisons, they really helped me decide.

I’m so glad you are feeling better. I really wish I had waited for your video before making a ridiculous impulse buy. I bought the snake palette with the Tiger lid. I am going to blame it on my sinus infection. Your videos are always thorough. Thanks, my dear. ❤️😘

Yesssss back to back videos

I haven’t purchased one of these hourglass 6 pans since 2018 and I don’t feel like I’ve missed out on anything. Every year I want to get one but it’s not worth the $80 -$90 price tag, not with so many repeat shades. I’m hoping NARS or someone else will wow us with a face/eye pallet this holiday season 🤞

Agreed! I've got the butterfly palette last year and wanted to buy more but after seeing your videos, it's too expensive to buy repeat colours. Thank you so much for the review. I'm gonna wait for the 2024 palette 😂

I use an HG finishing powder as my last step every single time I do my makeup ( just before spray). I have never bought one of these palettes before. I have a large single (Dim) and a trio. I was SO mad at myself for missing out on the elephant palette last year so I bit the bullet and ordered the Jellyfish palette which is a whole lot more than $90 CDN lol 😅but…..as a newbie I’m pretty excited! Xo 🇨🇦

Absolutely appreciate your review and comparison. I have the Elephant palette and thanks to you, I’ve saved $170 Aussie Dollars!

I'm not a collector and don't have prior years releases so for me I like the snake palette to try more hourglass powders

If you actually use it often like I do you appreciate the repeat finishing powders I bought all three this year and I bought the jelly fish FOR those finishing powders I had hit pan on in my Butterfly. I buy these for the value of HG, being offered in a palette versus $61 dollars Canadian for one. I do appreciate the finishing powders being given again, I literally bought the jellyfish so I could get the powders again! But I can see your points but I can use bold blushes at my fairest it’s all in how you utilize the product regardless of skin tone IMO. I also am a collector but I love having those two lightest finishing powders again each year as I hit pan on those. I may have skipped this years if I did not get the finishing powders again. And I would never buy it with eye shadows and face together. So even though I love your channel I disagree on the “No repeat” etc. 💜 But I love your channel and I appreciate your honesty and thoughts and can see your points as well. For me I prefer having those powders included though.

I only have the sculpture palette and use it for quick looks and on vacation. Lasts forever for me, so Im ok spending money for the convenience of a full face. I use the bronzer and blush for eyes, so no desire for eyeshadows for me personally. BUT, the blushes need to be different! Warm or neutral nude or peach and pink/mauve for different looks. Plus from marketing, if the palettes were different maybe people would buy two or all three . . . Who needs 4 to 6 medium pink blushes? I actually used my hourglass dim infusion blush today which is a lovely peach and i would love to have that in a palette for travel. I also agree with what someone else said about a completely customizable palette and ability to buy the covers alone. Thank you for the thorough swatches with past palettes. I know sometimes hourglass doesnt exactly swatch well, but still helpful.

I think Hourglass changes the packaging each year for collectors like yourself-and refines the palettes as a discovery set for people like me who have never tried or purchased their most iconic products. Perfect example, I just purchased Leopard. I’m not a collector so this will be the palette I use for a couple of years (if the pans are as large as they appear! xx thank you for an amazing review! 😓💕🌷

Tara Lynn, you are the best...I don't buy unless I check with your reviews first🏅

Jellyfish looks like a better option than the butterfly one if you want a bronzer included. Personally i can only assume hourglass arent trying to appeal to the collector - not sure if thats a wise move .

I ended up getting the light palette. I’m Fair to light skin tone. I only have one of the dim and diffused light colors, so 4 shades will be new to me shades and I’m very excited. I skipped last years

Worth every penny if you have them to so spare!

I feel they treat it as their signature product. I’m 48, just discovered makeup. I am scared of powder and in fact HG is the only brand I believe I’d like to try in the hope to give my maturing skin some soft focus light and blur. Personally I wouldn’t like them to go adventurous with these palettes. I want cool pinks, soft highlight , and soft bronzer , and luminosity… and a beautiful packaging. I don’t want eccentric controversial whatever on the packaging. Hope to be able to buy one good pallet this year. It will last me a decade most likely lol

The comparison swatches to the previous palette like tiger and elephant ones is the reason I’m watching this video. I have the elephant palette because of your last year’s video. I wanted all of this year’s release but not sure about them now since this video 😢

Thank you such a thorough and frank review!! We can always count on you to give it to us straight. I have come to the conclusion Hourglass is just gaslighting us all. They introduce things that are packaged beautifully yet are merely repeats of previous palettes or repeats within the same palette all the while insisting they have done something new and different. I swear it feels like a game with them. I think at this point, like with PML, Hourglass has changed their demographic and long time users of their products are not the demographics for these palettes. These palettes are a great entry product into the brand, but I am started to really be disgusted with these price increases, which seem as though they are just raising prices because other brands did and folks still paid the price. You’re the best❤❤❤❤❤

Always enjoy your honesty. 😀😀

You do such great reviews. Think I will stick with the four I have.