Hourglass Universe Ambient Lighting Edit Palette Review / Swatches

The Hourglass Universe Ambient Lighting Edit Palette launched this week, as part of three new palettes for the Hourglass holiday 2021 collection. There’s the Universe Palette, Universe Unlocked Palette, and also a brand new Ambient Lighting Edit Volume III.

BUY HERE: Nordstrom / ULTA / Space NK US / Space NK UK / Lookfantastic / Sephora / Cult Beauty / Selfridges 

Hourglass Universe Ambient Lighting Edit Palette

The Hourglass Universe Ambient Lighting Edit Palette is one of two five-pan face palettes for holiday 2021. Last year, Hourglass launched their Sculpture Collection which featured a six-pan face palette, and then a four-pan face palette too.

Hourglass have been getting a bad rap for their lack of inclusivity, which is 100% justified. Their products just don’t go deep enough, but it’s good to see that they’ve launched the Hourglass Universe Unlocked Palette to cater for deeper skintones.

Then, the Ambient Lighting Edit Volume III has been designed with deeper skintones in mind. They could obviously still do better, but it’s a start, and it shows that they’re (finally) listening to their fans.

The Hourglass Universe Ambient Lighting Edit Palette is very different to any of the past Hourglass palettes, as the packaging is a tin this year. When I mentioned that in my news post, I had a couple of emails and messages on Instagram asking if it really was a tin, and I can confirm, it is a tin.

I honestly thought I would hate the tin packaging. It’s super heavy, and really feels high quality, which I never expected. It’s beautiful packaging, with a tan marble design, with gold foil accents.

I have a couple of the Hourglass holiday palettes, and they’re usually very lightweight, but the Hourglass Universe Ambient Lighting Edit Palette is heavy, weighty and luxe. So please don’t let the tin style packaging put you off, as it doesn’t feel like a tin.

“Available for the holiday season, Universe features four brand-new shades of Ambient Lighting Powder, the groundbreaking finishing powder that recreates the most flattering light sources. Along with Infinity Powder, it includes four limited-edition shades of blush, bronzer, and highlighter.

The name “Universe” and the design of the palette are inspired by the unique swirled texture of the powders, which channel a celestial glow. The powders are hand-made using an advanced miscelare technique, meaning no two are exactly alike.”

The Hourglass Universe Ambient Lighting Edit Palette contains five face powders, with four square pans, and one larger, rectangular pan, with a mirror inside the lid. This specific palette contains four limited edition shades of  blush, bronzer, and highlighter.

The beautiful marble design on the packaging of the palette is inspired by the unique swirled texture of the powders, which channel a celestial glow.

Due to their marbled formula, no two powders are ever the same, and I love that they’re always unique with their marble patterns in the powders.

Inside the Hourglass Universe Ambient Lighting Edit Palette, there are the following shades;

• AMBIENT LIGHTING INFINITY POWDER (Fuses three acclaimed shades of Ambient Powder in one: Diffused Light, Dim Light & Hypnotic Strobe Light)
• AMBIENT STROBE LIGHTING BLUSH (NEW) – Vibrant Heat (vibrant pink)
• AMBIENT LIGHTING BLUSH (NEW) –  Luminous Rose (soft plum)
• AMBIENT LIGHTING BRONZER (NEW) – Glistening Bronze Light (golden bronze)
• AMBIENT STROBE LIGHTING POWDER (NEW) – Supernatural Strobe Light (champagne)

The Hourglass Universe Ambient Lighting Edit Palette is such a beautiful palette, and the shades are even more beautiful in real life, compared to the images I’d seen online.

There’s three sparkly shades within the palette, and the two most sparkly shades are the Luminous Rose Blusher and the Supernatural Strobe Light Highlighter. I do wish the Glistening Bronze Light Bronzer was a little less sparkly too, as it does look glittery when looking up close in the mirror.

If you like sparkly, glitzy face powders, I think you’ll love the Hourglass Universe Ambient Lighting Edit Palette. This is the most sparkly Hourglass face palette I’ve ever tried, and even though they are sparkly, I still love all five powders.

I am very much a matte blush/bronzer fan, but I like how luminous Hourglass powders are, as they do look naturally luminous. I feel like the Hourglass Universe Ambient Lighting Edit Palette is a little less natural looking due to the sparkle, but as you can see from the swatches, they’re all very pretty.

BUY HERE: Nordstrom / ULTA / Space NK US / Space NK UK / Lookfantastic / Sephora / Cult Beauty / Selfridges 

All images belong to Makeup Muddle.