| Review | Westman Atelier Le Box Holiday Edition 2020

| Review | Westman Atelier Le Box Holiday Edition 2020

As a big fan of Westman Atelier's range, this beautiful holiday box was irresistible! With shades of rosy tones, they're a different and beautiful take on a winter glow. This year more than ever is the year of effortless and minimalist beauty, which is what this brand embraces. This luxurious three-piece box is sure to brighten up your holidays and your complexion. 

Gift Box Packaging

Box Slides Open

Top Layer with Products

Bottom Layer Containing Pouches

PRICE & PACKAGING 

The Westman Atelier Le Box Holiday Edition 2020 retails for $173.00 USD and is available at Westman Atelier. This luxurious set comes in a sturdy gray gift box, beautifully presenting the three items in the set. All of the products come with their respective dust bag or pouch to protect the luxurious backing from scratches, dirt, and dents. I normally find these pouches useless but because these products are meant to be on-the-go and I have taken them with me for day to day use, these pouches are great for protecting the packaging. 

The Super Loaded Tinted Highlight in Peau de Rosé is housed in its permanent matte black compact with gold interior trim. The compact is very heavy for its small size and contains a mirror. The Baby Cheeks Blush in Mimi is housed in a pink twist tube packaging with a magnetic cap. The Lit Up Highlight Stick in Nectar seems to be housed in a special reflective gold packaging. Typically the highlighter stick has a black twist tube packaging. I am unsure when they do sell this product individually if it will come in the gold packaging or the black.  

SHADES 

This set comes with one previously released product and shade, the Super Loaded Tinted Highlight in Peau de Rosé. The other two product shades, Mimi and Nectar, are new to the range and only available in the set at the moment. You can expect these shades to come out in 2021. Since all these shades lean quite rosy and are either neutral or cool, they seem to compliment fair to medium skin tones the best. This is the difficult part of selling a set of color cosmetics because it doesn't suit all skin tones. While it is exciting to see new shades added to the range, unfortunately not all of these shades will suit every skin tone. 

Super Loaded Tinted Highlight in Peau de Rosé - This shimmering rose shade really adds some beautiful and noticeable pink glimmer to the cheeks. The shimmer is fine but there is a high concentration of it in this product. The shimmers have a light almost-silvery pink tone, which will suit light to medium skin tones best. It will stand out more on tan and deeper skin tones but it may not complement deeper skin tones and much as fairer skin tones. Also, the pink base shade leans quite cool, which will suit fair and cool skin tones the best. 

Baby Cheeks Blush in Mimi - This soft nude pink is a beautiful addition to the range, leaning more neutral in tone than the other colors available. The color appears very peachy warm and neutral but I find on the cheeks it appears a bit pinker. The color is on the lighter side, which means it will really suit fair to medium skin tones best. You will lose the impact on tan to deeper skin tones, this is often the issue with more subdued cheek colors. 

Lit Up Highlight Stick in Nectar - This shade is extremely sheer and practically clear on the skin except for the undetectable bits of golden peach shimmer. For those who found the original shade, Lit, to be too cool with its blue-purple shimmer, this one is more universally flattering. However, keep in mind, even when heavily layered, the color from the product doesn't really show up. It is a very subtle tint that will really only be picked up under strong lighting and if you're staring very closely at the area it is applied to. 

Swatches from left to right: Super Loaded Tinted Highlight in Peau de Rosé, Baby Cheeks Blush in Mimi, Lit Up Highlight Stick in Nectar

Swatches from left to right: Super Loaded Tinted Highlight in Peau de Rosé, Baby Cheeks Blush in Mimi, Lit Up Highlight Stick in Nectar

Swatches from left to right: Baby Cheeks Blush in Mimi, Baby Cheeks Blush in Chouchette

FORMULA 

Super Loaded Tinted Highlight

This highlighter has a shimmering finish with very fine shimmer particles suspended in a creamy tinted base. This highlighter has a drier cream texture, like a hybrid between a cream and a powder. The finish it leaves on the skin is more shimmer than a cream or gloss finish. If you like the look of a powder highlighter but with the texture of a cream, this is perfect for you. The cream formula allows it to really blend seamlessly into the skin, with very little effort. 

This product applied best with fingers but you can use a dense buffing type of brush to apply it. I find the best way to achieve precision is with the fingers. The pigment is on the stronger side so, as you build the product, you are also building a fair amount of color on the cheeks. For someone on the fairer side, you can use this product as a blush. This product is also an excellent cream eyeshadow, adding a lot of shimmers and a bit of color to the lids. 

On the cheeks, this formula lasts 5-8 hours, depending on your skin type. If you are more oily, the cream formula is more likely to breakdown sooner. For my dry skin, I find the wear is about 6-8 hours without it traveling around my face. 

Baby Cheeks Blush

This cream blush has a slightly waxy balm texture. It glides beautifully onto the skin straight from the tube, which I appreciate. It isn't overly creamy or wet in texture, so it doesn't leave the skin with a tacky or sticky finish. It does leave the skin with a natural glow, a little dewier than the skin's natural texture. The pigment is quite buildable, starting out light to medium pigment, and can be layered to offer more color. I find that I like just one swipe on each cheek and then, blend it with a stippling brush or my fingers. I will add an extra little swipe on the apples if I feel like I need more color. 

This formula lasts a decent 4-6 hours, at least with this shade, which is on the lighter side. The wear time is affected by your skin type. With my dry skin, this cream blush can wear even for 8 hours. The nice thing about this product is that it's very easy to touch up because of the stick formulation. It makes it very easy to carry around and touch up on the go. 

Lit Up Highlight Stick 

This formula is an extremely sheer and glossy balm. Like I stated in the shades section of this review. the color of the highlight doesn't significantly affect the look of this highlight on the skin. This product is basically a clear balm with some very subtle bits of super-fine shimmer. The peachy shimmer in this highlighter will add just a tint of color to the skin but only if the skin is exposed under very strong light and only if you're viewing the highlight very closely. 

The balm is very smooth and glossy. It applies very evenly and seamlessly on the skin, leaving behind a very wet and glossy finish. The formula doesn't set down, which isn't surprising since it has a glossy finish. You can expect your hair to stick to your cheeks because of the wet finish. However, it doesn't feel sticky on the skin, just wet. You can expect this gloss to last about 4-8 hours on the skin, it really depends on your skin type. I have dry skin and it seems to last 6-8 hours worn in colder conditions when I'm not sweating. 

Admittedly, for the price, a practically clear balm isn't worth such a hefty price tag. Many brands are making glossy skin balms and highlighters these days so, for the price, it's quite expensive. While it looks beautiful and glass-skin like on the skin, this is not the first product I have tried that gives me this effect. 

THE LOOK

For this look, I applied the Mimi Baby Cheeks Blush on the apple of cheeks and upward towards the back of the cheek. I applied the Peau de Rose Super Loaded Tinted Highlighter on the cheekbones and blended a bit just down to the apples. Then, I applied Nectar Lit Up Highlight Stick on the very tops of the cheekbones. 

FINAL THOUGHTS 

I think this is a stunning set for anyone who loves a glow! The biggest issue I have with this set is that the shades don't work for a wide variety of skin tones. This set really leans in favor of fair to medium skin tones with the cool and rosy tones. However, the quality of all the products is excellent and all the Westman Atelier products have a clean formulation without chemicals. The other thing that many will find disappointing for the price is the Lit Ip Highlight Stick, which is an extremely sheer balm. For the high luxury price, it won't be a worthwhile product for many people. 

Overall, I highly recommend this set if these colors suit your skin tone and makeup style. This is not my first time dipping my toe in the brand and I have continually been impressed with their products. In general, I don't think the brand is for everyone because many people will not want to spend so much on products that offer such a natural look. However, my thoughts around this are that it is extremely difficult to formulate products that look so seamless and natural on the skin. I think if you really appreciate minimalist beauty, you will find yourself smitten with these products and their formulations. 

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