Holiday Collections! What to Buy?

Disclaimer: There is nothing to disclose. 

It's the time of year again when makeup brands come out with amazing value sets and palettes for the holidays. It's also a great time of year for beauty sales.

I'm itching to place orders since I was able to get my hot little hands on a Sephora Friends & Family 20% off code, and I just got a 20% off (nearly everything) code for Ulta. My only problem is deciding what the heck to buy!

Here's what I'm considering getting from Sephora:

Too Faced A Few of My Favorite Things - Picture from Sephora.com

Too Faced A Few of My Favorite Things Palette - I have to confess, I haven't been overly impressed with the Too Faced eye shadows I've tried. However, the soft neutrals that make up most of this palette keep calling me, and I've read some good reviews on it.

Urban Decay Ocho Loco 2 Set - Picture from Sephora.com

Urban Decay Ocho Loco Set - I'm addicted to these eye liners, and I really like the colors in this set. I think I'll get a lot of use out of the neutrals in the set, and the brights (barring Deep End) are deep enough that I think I could pull off wearing them on a regular day.

Those two are the things I'm just about positive I'm going to pick up. There's other things that I'm eye-balling, but I'm trying to resist.

Nars Guy Bourdin One Night Stand Cheek Palette - Picture from Sephora.com

Nars Guy Bourdin One Night Stand Cheek Palette - This is really tempting. There is such a hype over Nars blushes, and the colors do look really pretty. I have a hard time justifying it though since I already have the Nars Danmari palette, which has 2 of the 6 colors in this palette, and I don't reach for that one as often as I should.

Tarte Off the Cuff Blush Palette

Tarte Off the Cuff Blush Palette - When I first saw this palette, I thought I HAD to have it, and I would buy it in a heartbeat if I didn't already have 2 of the 4 blush shades and a mini of the bronzer shade in this palette. Instead, I'm waiting for a set of 4 mini blushes that is supposed to be released on QVC to get my Tarte blush fix.

Sephora Favorites Glitz & Glam Set - Picture from Sephora.com

Sephora Favorites Glitz & Glam Set - I'm a sucker for these kinds of sets. Surprisingly, this is the only set this year that has really caught my eye. It isn't in my cart right now because I'm only really interested in the Urban Decay shadow, the Josie Maran Cheek Gelee, and the Too Faced 3-Way Liner. Beyond the Cheek Gelee, I can see using most of these products once or twice before letting them collect dust.

My plotting for my Ulta purchase is a bit more troublesome, but in a good way. Thanks to some strategic purchasing and Ulta's rewards program, I have $131 in Ulta rewards to use on top of the 20% off coupon. I want to go ahead and use all of that. I've got a couple of things that are definite purchases, and there's a couple of items that I'm debating.

bareMinerals Mix Master READY 12 Shadow Palette - Picture from Ulta.com

bareMinerals Mix Master READY 12 Shadow Palette - I love the concept of this palette! That combined with the fact that the READY eye shadows are really good has me buying this palette without seeing any reviews on it. It will be mine!

Urban Decay Shattered Face Case - Picture from Ulta.com

Urban Decay Shattered Face Case - An entire look all in one little palette? Yes, please! I love that they didn't put the lip product in pan-form. The colors are neutral enough to make them easily wearable for me. I'm tempted by the Anarchy Face Case too, but the colors aren't as tempting to me, so I'm showing restraint. (Side note: I already have the Vice 2 Palette, which is why it isn't on my list.)

Here's where my order gets tricky. I want to buy value kits or palettes because they give me the most bang for my buck. There's several that I'm interested in, but they aren't saying, "Buy me now!" I'm also not having luck finding reviews for most of them yet.

bareMinerals Perfect Ten Palette - Picture from Ulta.com

bareMinerals Perfect Ten Palette - I'm drawn to this because of the READY products, but I'm unsure about it because I haven't been able to find any swatches of it yet. That makes me hesitant, and I can't get to an Ulta store easily to check it out there.

Urban Decay Black Market Set - Picture from Ulta.com

Urban Decay Black Market Set - I love these pencils, but the colors aren't jumping out at me as much as the Ocho Loco 2 set.

Anastasia Catwalk Palette - Picture from Ulta.com

Anastasia Catwalk Palette - I've read good reviews about this palette, and I haven't tried anything from Anastasia yet except for a mini of her brow gel.

I've considered a couple of items from Stila's holiday collection too, but their holiday collections seem to be of lesser quality than their regular line.

If you had the $131 and a 20% off coupon at Ulta, what would you pick up? What holiday collection items have caught your eye? Is there anything I should give a second (or third, or fourth) look?

Disclaimer: There is nothing to disclose.