Folks, it has been a year. We’re finally getting some real restrictions (like a mandatory mask mandate and no parties/gatherings allowed) here in Alberta, but they’re long overdue. With close to a thousand new cases per day in Edmonton alone—a city of less than a million people!—tensions are pretty high. (My tensions are pretty damn high). So, I figured: let’s do something a little different for this year’s holiday makeup look.

You know, because this year has been extremely hellish, and we all desperately need a good face mask and a little makeup therapy.

Love the holo effect on the Sephora Collection Holographic Sheet Mask ($7 CAD)!

Following a bountiful Sephora delivery and a few new Invisibobble faves from FarleyCo, I thought we’d focus on an easy makeup look with a traditional holiday red lip this year. My reasoning was simple: without in-person gatherings, I think a lot of us are likely to go through more than one Zoom holiday party this year. So, rather than going all-out on one big makeup look, I love the concept of a big eyeshadow palette that’ll let you throw together a number of different looks throughout the season.

The Sephora Collection Wild Holiday 2020 collection is perfect for it. Each product in the line is affordable and fun, and what the eyeshadows lack in pigmentation and endurance, they make up for in shade range and price.

Sephora Collection Wild Eyes Eyeshadow palette review, swatches

The Sephora Collection Wild Eyes Eyeshadow Palette (on sale for $17 CAD) is far from perfect, but I loved it for this makeup concept. It contains 16 different matte, shimmer, and glitter eyeshadows in a thin, lightweight cardboard palette—my favourite format. I know that many people are partial to a super luxurious eyeshadow experience, but I love portable palettes that are easy to swap in and out of your luggage.

(Oh, travelling! Do you remember travelling?)

Sephora Collection Wild Eyes swatches (Holiday 2020) in indirect sunlight; primed skin

Right side swatches from the Wild Eyes palette

I usually love the quality of Sephora Collection eyeshadows. These ones, however, were a little disappointing. They’re more sheer than most of the brand’s eyeshadows, needing at least a half-dozen swipes for each swatch, and they faded a little throughout the day. At barely a dollar per eyeshadow, though… Well, they’re a steal. It’s a great palette for putting together a few neutral makeup looks for family FaceTime on Christmas morning, and wear time doesn’t really matter if you’re going to be at home all day. Instead, I like to think of it as setting you up for a smokier makeup look for your midday drinks with your friends!

Of these eyeshadows, the matte black and matte beige shades were the most disappointing—but a few (like that knockout shimmery brown) were as rich and pigmented as you’d expect from Sephora Collection. I used the shimmery grey and taupe for this look, then deepened them with a bit of the shimmering brown and matte black for a super-easy smokey eye.

The entire contents of the Sephora Collection Wild Wishes Advent Calendar

Sephora Collection Wild Wishes Advent Calendar review, contents

It is a truth universally acknowledged that if Sephora Collection puts their flagship cream liquid lipstick (01 Always Red) in a holiday set, I will buy it. Or, if they send it as a sample, I will keep it forever. (I think I have three or four open tubes of varying sizes right now). It’s the perfect bright red; good warm and cool balance, and a super comfortable formula that’s cheap as dirt when bought in a set.

Sephora’s Cream Lip Stain Liquid Lipsticks ($19 CAD) apply thinly with fantastic pigmentation, and they easily last 4-6 hours through eating and drinking. They’re drying in the way that any solid coating is drying. (That is, they’re a little uncomfortable, but way more comfortable than most liquid lipsticks.) I find their formula to be less sticky than my holy grail Maybelline liquid lipsticks, but the packaging means that the tube will last much longer than a liquid lipstick from Smashbox (whose shades are so, so comfortable but dry up completely in just a handful of wears.)

I usually think advent calendars like the Sephora Collection Wild Wishes Advent Calendar ($60 CAD) are a bit of a rip-off, and honestly? They are. But they’re fun and unique, and Sephora’s always has the best selection of travel-ready sample sizes. I only ever take a carry-on, and I can’t live without their teeny-tiny lipsticks, nail polishes, and (most importantly) makeup and/or nail polish wipes.

A holiday makeup look festive enough for this hellish year

At the end of the day, isn’t that what we really need? Something to get us through the hellscape that has been 2020? I know that things won’t magically get better in 2021, and that they’re unlikely to even get marginally better for a while, but god: we all need a little hope right now.

And so I leave you with this: a makeup look that I love, a top that no longer fits, and my favourite set of false lashes (forever the Kiss Faux Mink Little Black Dress lashes). Oh: and an obnoxious but cooling clay eye mask, with a super-soft inside lining. Because you know you’re going to cry this holiday season.

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Disclaimer: This post contains both product samples and affiliate links, plus a secondhand tree that I love (but haven’t finished decorating yet).