This is our official list in search of the best makeup gift set on the market today. Scroll further down for full details on each product and a subsequent useful guide to choosing a quality makeup set.
Quick Look:
- 5.0 out of 5.0 stars SHANY All In One Harmony Makeup Kit
- 4.5 out of 5.0 stars BR 2012 Complete Makeup Kit Runway Colors
- 4.5 out of 5.0 stars SHANY Carry All Trunk Professional Makeup Kit
- 4.5 out of 5.0 stars Cameo Carry All Makeup Trunk Train Case
- 4.0 out of 5.0 stars Clinique 8pc Spring Gift Set
We know time is of the essence, so the above is a cheat sheet of what’s ahead, just in case your’re in a hurry. Otherwise, keep scrolling down for more detailed and constructive info on each item.
5 Highest Reviewed Makeup Gift Sets
Shopping for makeup can be a fun challenge when it’s a gift for someone else. Not knowing skin tones or preferences can make it hard. Do they prefer matte, satin, or shine? Will they use this for evening or day? Save yourself a lot of hassle and browse the best gift makeup gift sets on the market today. There are many to choose from and we have narrowed down the best on the market for you to look at.
1.) SHANY All In One Harmony Makeup Kit
The SHANY All-in-One Harmony Makeup Kit (New Edition) has so much makeup to choose from your color combinations will be endless. 168 highly pigmented eye shadows await you for both day or night wear. This kit also includes six lip glosses, three blushes, and various applicators.
Customize your look with natural colors, trendy shades, and bold hues. 98 shimmer shadows provide a rich luster of color. Cool tones ranging from blacks, blues, purples, and greens. Warm colors in reds, oranges, bronze and gold tones. 70 pastel shimmer shadows vary in a wide array of colors.
Each blush is perfect to wear alone or mix them together to compliment any skin tone. The blush comes in pale matte pink, vibrant shimmer pink and matte peach. The 6 lip glosses will delight you. One is a shimmering bronze and the other 5 are matte that comes in pale pink, peach, terra cotta, bright red and deep red.
This is a functional palette is perfect for the aspiring makeup artist or the seasoned user. You can use lighter colors to highlight, deeper colors to define and brighter vibrant colors to add an edgy pop to any look.
PROS
- Great value
- Blends perfect and beautiful colors.
- Compactness makes this set easy to travel with
CONS
- Case can break easily, handles with care
- For longer color needs use a primer or a base
2.) BR 2012 Complete Makeup Kit Runway Colors
The BR 2012 Complete Makeup Kit Runway Colors has over 98 pieces and folds out for ease of use. It included 84 eyeshadows, 3 blushes, 1 press powder, 9 lip gloss, 1 eye pencil and 3 applicators. These are high-quality powders and at a fantastic price.
It has a compact closed size of 6.5 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches and weight only 1 pound. This makes it great for traveling or for when it is not in use. Enjoy having the pallet of professionals at the tips of your fingers with this kit.
Those who love this rave about the great shades, and strong pigments with a smooth finish. Even professionals like and use these colors. They stay on well and blend easily for day or night use.
This really makes a great gift and provides countless looks for all skin colors. Enjoy the variety and fold-out design that makes using it fun and easy. At this price, we encourage you to buy two of these so you can keep one for yourself.
PROS
- High-quality eyeshadow with a smooth finish
- Great all around makeup kit and a nice low price
- Great colors that can meet any need, day or night
CONS
- Can arrive poorly packed so inspect carefully
- Kit is Smaller than it seems in the pictures online
3.) SHANY Carry All Trunk Professional Makeup Kit
The SHANY All-in-One Makeup Kit has it all. The carry all trunk contains four mini eye shadow pallets, two lip glosses, two lip liners, two lipsticks, four nail polish, two eyeliners, two blushes, and one bronzer.
Enjoy creating fun looks with this all in one makeup kit. Includes all you need to achieve a fun look in no time. The nail polish choices are fun and are perfectly paired with the eye shadows. Have fun using lip liner and glass to achieve subtle yet defined looks.
The solid aluminum makeup case is reusable for any purpose. All items are authenticated with the SHANY Logo so you know you are getting quality. Designed by makeup professionals in the US, this product was not tested on animals. SHANY is a proud member of PETA.
Use with SHANY Paraben-free Eye Shadow Primer and the SHANY 12 Piece Essential Brush Set to achieve the all-day look your desire. This makes a great gift and is perfect for a beginner or those wanting a basic look.
PROS
- Makes a great gift
- Wonderful sturdy container that can be reused
- An excellent beginner or basic kit with everything you would need, including nail polish
CONS
- Big container with a lot of space so makeup shakes around
- Limited choices on the color pallet
4.) Cameo Carry All Makeup Trunk Train Case
This stylish and trendy yet durable and reusable aluminum case by CAMEO comes with a variety of high-quality makeup. It is sure to please both the aspiring make-up artist or the professional.
This kit contains 32 eyeshadows, 4 lipstick, 4 nail polish, 2 blushes, 1 blush brush, 1 mini blush brush, 1 eyeshadow brush, 1 mirror compact, 3 applicators, 1 double ended lip pencil and 1 double-ended eye pencil.
Achieve all the different looks you want, day or night. A complete set with everything you need but the foundation. It can accommodate both light and dark skin. The colors are easily blendable to create a variety of styles. You will have plenty of color choices amount the 32 eyeshadows.
This is a great gift, but you better order two sets to be safe, because you will not want to give it away. Don’t forget that CAMEO makeup is never tested on animals and they are a proud member of PETA.
PROS
- Great selection of color and a variety of products
- The stylish and trendy reusable aluminum case
- None of the cosmetics are tested on animals and they are PETA approved
CONS
- Customers complain it often arrives broken from shipping
- the makeup won’t stay on long without the assistance of other products
5.) Clinique 8pc Spring Gift Set
This Clinique 8-piece set has the most bang for the buck and all of the products are very large. They are close to full size except perhaps the eye circle corrector, and a slightly smaller mascara. This gives you not only makeup but also all the other items you need to take care of your face.
Provides a simple look but also takes care of the skin and makes sure it has all the help it needs. From dark circle corrector to eye makeup remover, this kit has everything covered that you might need. The Clinique brand is also formulated to work together for maximum benefit.
Comes with: Even Better Eyes Dark Circle Corrector 0.1 oz size, Even Better Dark Spot Correcting Hand Cream Broad Spectrum SPF 15 0.5 oz size, Rinse-Off Eye Makeup Solvent 2 oz size, Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+ 1 oz size, High Impact Mascara in Black 0.14 oz applicator, Different Lipstick in Raspberry, All About Shadow Trio in three shades, and a cosmetic bag designed by Tracy Reese.
Enjoy the high-end quality with Clinique and get all the products you need for everyday use in one little kit. This kit is very popular and many claim ofter using it they add more Clinique products to their everyday regiment. This is a great value for yourself and also makes a great gift.
PROS
- Complete kit with bag is easy to travel with
- Clinic quality that even sensitive skin can use
- Over $85 in products are included in this kit making ti a great value
CONS
- Not full product sizes
- Only one lipstick color
Brief Guide to Selecting a Quality Makeup Gift Set
Regardless of your budget, you will have many choices. Many all in one kits focus heavily on eyes with a few products for the rest of the face. Others will have a complete look from eyes to lips. Department brand names to those products that are endorsed by PETA are included here so you will have no problems picking the perfect gift. Have fun looking at all these great makeup gift sets.
What Are They?
A makeup gift set is a kit of lots of different types and colors of makeup, all put together in a nice gift box. There are usually a variety of shades in the set so that the recipient can find good colors to suit her hair and skin color, and also dress up for different occasions.
A typical set will contain eye shadow and eyeliner for the eyes, lip gloss, lip liners and lipstick for the lips, nail polish, blush, and bronzer. Some kits also contain some basic makeup equipment such as an eye shadow brush, blush brush, mirror, lip pencil and eye pencil. Others include products like moisturizing lotion.
Who Can Benefit
This is a fun gift for any woman or girl who enjoys using makeup. Even if she already has a big collection of makeup, this can be an avenue to try new colors and brands that she has not experienced yet, and opens up endless possibilities in matching different shades together.
For a girl who is just starting to wear makeup this can also be an exciting gift which will be very useful as well. You can buy her a set that will be the basis of her makeup and that she can experiment with and find out which colors look good on her and which shades she likes.
This is also great for a husband who is not sure what to buy for his wife. Makeup sets are great value, as usually they contain good brands, and at a price that will be a lot lower than buying all the products separately.
What To Look For?
It is important to either get a kit that has a large variety of shades and colors to suit all skin types, or even better, to find and match the color palette to the recipient of the gift. This will help them to look their best and enhance their natural beauty.
If you want to give a gift that is portable, or if your friend travels a lot – look for a case or some way to carry it around. Also if you’re buying for a younger girl or someone who has sensitive skin, look for makeup that is more sensitive.
Also think about what is needed – if they are just beginning with makeup then maybe a wide ranging set with lots of different products would be good to start them off.
Look for essentials, like concealer, foundation, blush, translucent powder, mascara, neutral eye shadow, defining eye shadow, eye liner, lipstick, fluffy powder brush, blush brush, eye shadow brush, crease brush, eye liner brush, tweezers.
If they already have a good sized collection of makeup, then maybe something more specialised, or some different colors, are what is needed. Maybe they particularly like lipstick – in which case a set that is heavy on the lipstick side would be a good idea.
Look for some good brands to be included if it is someone who already has quite a bit of makeup and has developed a taste for what they like. If it is for a beginner you might want to pick one that has a carry case, since they might not already have a good case to keep their makeup in.
Also have a look at the size of the kit so that you know how big the gift you are giving is – sometimes appearances can be deceptive!
Try and decide whether you’d rather have quality or quantity or both, and what your friend would prefer – as some sets go more on way than the other.
What To Avoid?
If you are buying a set that has a case included, avoid getting a cheap and more breakable case as it won’t last very long. Also avoid getting a set that has very few colors that your friend will actually wear, and look at how big the sizes are – if there are just a few tiny sample sizes it may not be that useful of a gift.
Don’t get a makeup gift set for a friend that doesn’t wear makeup – or nail polish for someone that doesn’t wear nail polish. You might want to look your friend over and check what she wears, because you might be surprised! Even Kate Middleton doesn’t wear nail polish because, according to Elle, it’s against royal etiquette.
FAQs
What is the advantage of buying a whole set, over just a few things?
If you’re shopping for a beginner, a whole set is good because if they only apply makeup in one or two places their face might look unfinished. And for everyone, a whole gift set gives more potential and variety so that it makes it really fun.
If you think about going to buy your own makeup you would most likely stick to what you really need – so getting a vast array of different products make it much more exciting of a gift, as it’s something that you wouldn’t get yourself.
What are some good brands of makeup?
Some of the top brands include Nars, Urban Decay, Make Up For Ever, Wet n Wild, Becca, Anastasia Beverly Hills, NYX, MAC, e.l.f., Kat von D, L’oreal, Two Faced, Rimmel, Estee Lauder, and Chanel.
What are some benefits of makeup?
A study highlighted in Huffington Post seems to indicate that makeup can enhance a first impression, and make people look more attractive and competent. While you don’t need makeup to be a great person, it can help your outward appearance look better to someone else.
Is makeup bad for your skin?
If you have sensitive skin or allergies, you may need to be careful with what type and how much makeup you use. But it isn’t bad to wear it every day so long as you remove it properly afterwards, and try and stick to using high quality makeup. A little break from wearing makeup can help if you’re having any skin breakouts. It is also recommended that you don’t sleep in makeup, and clean your brushes well.
Wrapping Up
When buying a makeup kit for someone it is important you buy something you would like for yourself. Look for quality products that provide not only variety but also what matches the person you are buying for. The golden rule of buy only something you would personally use is good to use.
Many products are PETA approved or can be used for gentle skin. The variety of kits available on the market today can easily overwhelm you but we have helped narrow down the top 5 makeup gift sets.
You can buy with confidence but we also recommend ordering two sets. Often we hear stories of how many intended gifts end up being kept because of how nice they are. Avoid this and order two. You will not be disappointed with the variety, from reusable cases to the ultra compact designs.