In my post called Window Shopping the Hourglass Custom Quads, I came to this realization:
“The more I think about it, the more I realize having a quad isn’t necessarily what I want. A palette with one finishing powder, one highlighter, one bronzer, and three blushes sounds like heaven!”

So, Hourglass is off to a great start by having the Fox palette, the darkest of this year’s holiday offerings, meet those exact specifications. In addition, this palette contains 5 new shades and the only repeat is Lucid Glow, which I don’t own and have been trying to get my hands on. Fantastic!

Today’s post is going to follow my usual format when discussing Hourglass products.
First will be the review with comparison swatches included, next will be the assessment as to how well the brand has done this year, and lastly a list of things I wish to see in the future.

I received this product early because I purchased it prior to the official launch (shortly after the links were available online), and I paid for express shipping. However, I also ordered the Swan Palette (in Deer packaging) via standard shipping. It arrived too late for me to include anything but comparison swatches in this week’s post, but I will publish the review as a bonus post as soon as it’s completed. A review of the Dusk Quad will be in the Swan post as well. If you haven’t already, be sure to click follow to be notified by email whenever a new review is out!

DISCLOSURE: I am not affiliated with this brand. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I used two random influencers’ codes that I found online (via Retailmenot) to get 10% off my orders.

Anyone who wants to see a list of links to my past Hourglass reviews can find them HERE.

What We Got

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit – Unlocked- Fox Palette

IMPORTANT NOTE: Any Hourglass powders that have a swirl/marble/veining can differ in color from palette to palette. For example, Lucid Glow could look lighter and yellower or a darker coral-pink than mine depending on how much of each color is present in the blush. Amethyst Haze can look more of a plum-purple if it contains less of the shimmery pink. So, even though I am sharing swatches, mine may look different compared to what others have.

SOLAR GLOW (Highlighter) – I finally have a perfect highlighter from Hourglass! In terms of shade, last year’s Gilded Strobe Light from the Lotus Palette was everything I wanted, but the strobe formula tends to enhance texture more than I like. For some reason, this new one does not. Gilded Strobe Light is a golden shade with the same color depth as Solar Glow, but Solar Glow has warm yellow-gold veining along with marbling that looks identical to Gilded Strobe Light. Although Solar Glow is described as a “golden bronze” on the website, the yellow veining keeps it from having as much of a golden-orange tone as Gilded Strobe Light. So, the color stands out a little more on my skin, but it’s still in the right color family for me.

The shade match, plus the level of shimmer refinement makes this not just the best highlighter I own from Hourglass, but the kind of highlighter I like in general. Infinite Strobe Light from the Snake Palette was also a decent shade match, a little less reflective than the typical strobe highlighters, and it is slightly darker than Solar Glow. Divine Strobe Light from the Tiger Palette worked too, but neither than one nor Infinite Strobe Light became favorites. With Solar Glow, I can use my best brushes to get the exact level of shine I want, as it blends easily into my skin.
The shine doesn’t fade or dull down as the day goes on, nor does it have any other longevity issues.

I have swatch comparisons below, and a photo with me wearing the highlighter is in the Canyon Heat section.

LUCID GLOW (Blush) – If I wear this like a blush, I can see a faint peachy-pink tinge (the brand describes it as coral) on my cheeks. However, I feel this looks the best on me as a highlighter when paired with Amethyst Haze. Although Lucid Glow is a warm shade, the pink tone still manages to compliment the cooler pink-berry color of Amethyst Haze better than Solar Glow, which is even warmer.

Lucid Glow also makes a great blush topper for Canyon Heat. I prefer to wear a radiant blush the majority of the time, so the sheer color from Lucid Glow doesn’t alter the color of Canyon Heat that much, and just adds the glow.

I see this color as the warmer version of Iridescent Rose, a shade that Hourglass has put in at least 4 palettes by now. It’s around the same depth as Lucid Glow, and the brand calls it a warm rose, but it has a pearly-mica type of sheen that makes it appear cooler toned on me. Perhaps Iridescent Rose would look even better with Amethyst Haze on those with a cool undertone, but Lucid Glow helps to bridge the gap in making that shade work on me. Therefore, I don’t mind having this in my palette, even though I don’t wear it as a standalone blush.

DESERT LIGHT (Finishing Powder) – The performance of all Hourglass finishing powders are the same on me, as long as the shade isn’t too light, which then makes my skin look dry, textured, and ashy. These powders are lightweight, sheer, easy to blend, have minimal ability to lock in makeup, and minor blurring capabilities. So, choosing between them comes down to whether or not there is visible shimmer and if the shade is a good match. The palest one I can wear from Hourglass is Dim Light, but it can slightly lighten my foundation if I am too heavy-handed. Desert Light is darker and warmer, so it suits me even better. It is technically still lighter than my skin tone, but I could only tell by applying a heavy swatch to my face. When rubbed in, the slightly brightened area did not look unnatural. So, it’s no surprise that using a normal amount on my face works well as a finishing powder.

My closest match, especially right now, is Eternal Light. Eternal Light is the tiniest bit darker than my skin tone (again only detectable when swatched heavily), but applying a normal amount looks perfect. I always have to preface that the Eternal Light shade from the Ambient Lighting Palette Trio in Volume III had noticeable gold specks in it, but Eternal Light from the Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked Lotus Palette does not. This is why I prefer Eternal Light from Lotus and that’s the one I consider to be my best finishing powder shade from Hourglass. This new one, Desert Light, contains gold shimmer again, but the particles are far tinier than the Volume III trio. So, I don’t mind the beautiful sheen and the brightening effect. Desert Light is particularly well suited to calming down a “loud” blush, like Amethyst Haze, plus it adds a little warmth. I just have to be careful using it in my bronzer zone because it can make Bronze Fusion look even more subtle than it already is.

CANYON HEAT (Blush) – This is finally an orange blush I can get behind! Past orange blushes from Hourglass were metallic, to the point of seeming more like highlighters, and were just too saturated for my liking. Canyon Heat is more of a slightly muted terracotta with a soft matte finish. The earthy orange-brown hue is quite flattering. It shows up on me, but a little more pigment could have made this blush better able to suit those who are darker than me. This is probably going to be too light for some people I know.

I find it interesting that of the three blushes, this one has the least amount of sheen. However, it still contains Mica, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, and Boron Nitride as the first three ingredients. There is a possibility that other people could have a stronger sheen in theirs than mine. Then again, the Desert Light finishing powder also has those top three ingredients, but still has even less of a sheen than Canyon Heat. In any case, Canyon Heat is not flat matte, but isn’t shimmery like the other blushes either.

I like Canyon Heat, but I need more time with it to decide if it can surpass my older favorites.

AMETHYST HAZE (Blush) – Hourglass has a few mauve blushes (Mood Flush and Mood Exposure), and they released a deep-pink berry blush called Rose Heat from Universe Unlocked in 2021, but Amethyst Haze and Mauve Fusion are the closest they’ve gotten to making a purple blush. Amethyst Haze is like a magenta-berry and is one of their darkest blushes, alongside Red 0 from the Lotus Palette in 2024 and Rose Heat from the 2021 Universe Unlocked Palette. Mauve Fusion from this year’s Swan Palette is a slightly lighter, cooler, and less pigmented version of Amethyst Haze. I consider it to be a fuchsia-pink. Mauve Fusion has a touch more blue tone, while Amethyst Haze has a little more red.

I’m always happy to see a dark blush option from Hourglass, and that it’s less pigmented, making it easier to work with than Red 0. Amethyst Haze is also only moderately metallic, so I think it has a pretty finish.

BRONZE FUSION (Bronzer) – This bronzer isn’t as light as Lustrous Bronze Light from the Leopard and Elephant Palettes, but it’s just barely dark enough to show up on my skin while the last of my summer color is clinging on. Solar Bronze has been my correct bronzer shade up to this point, but what Bronze Fusion has going for it is the fact that it’s the darkest shimmer/glow bronzer Hourglass has made so far.

The foundation shades I wear most of the year are Nars Light Reflecting Foundation in Caracas (but in some formulas, like Sheer Glow, I wear Macao), Hourglass Ambient Glow Foundation 13.5W, Danessa Myricks Yummy Skin Serum Tint in 11, and Chanel N1 in BD91. I should theoretically wear BD101, but I make BD91 work even outside of winter. I used to mix BD91 and BD121, but BD121 is too orange.

Why this is important is because I can see the bronzer on me when I wear BD91, but when I wear a full face of BD121, I can only see the warmth the bronzer adds in person. The sheen is subtle to begin with, but even harder to see in photos. So, once again, I find myself liking a product that will unfortunately be unusable for a lot of makeup lovers that have come to expect the “Color Palette 3” of the holiday palettes to be deep-skin friendly.

How well this continues to show on my skin throughout the year will determine whether it’s above or below Solar Bronze as my favorite.

When it comes to using these powders on the eyes, it’s once again something I’ve done for review purposes, but will rarely do in my everyday life. It’s similar to how I dislike using Hindash powders on my eyes, but love them on my face. They just look so dull on me as eyeshadows.

How Did Hourglass Do This Year?

Regarding the Fox Palette specifically, I think Hourglass did a fantastic job in catering it to my preferences. I’m thrilled about that for myself, but it’s a step backwards from being inclusive towards those with deeper and richer skin than mine. There are four options this year, if we count the Sephora-US exclusive Horse Palette. Considering that one has all repeat shades, I’m willing to overlook it, but I understand why some of the people I know are disappointed that Fox is their only option and that they can only use half of the palette.

Staying on the topic Fox, I feel that the quality is better this year. The powders feel slightly less dry. The shimmers are more refined. The choices to make most of the shades warm-toned suits me well. One of my biggest complaints with how they used the marbling “miscelare technique” in the past was to combine a color with beige, effectively ensuring the combination would turn into a medium value color at the darkest. As fascinating as the swirls look, I would have rather Hourglass make dark palettes with solid colors (like they did in Lotus) to ensure there aren’t huge shade discrepancies among the same palettes. Lucid Glow isn’t new, so I’m lucky mine had enough pink veining to be wearable. Amethyst Haze and Bronze Fusion look solid from afar, but they are actually the combination of two dark colors on each tile. I believe even the Solar Glow highlighter has the subtlest bit of marbling between dark warm gold and bronze. I’m happy they’ve done this successfully for the darker powders.

Although the depth of the colors could be be improved, I feel like Fox has the most cohesive and complementary options for those in the warm-toned Tan to Medium-Deep skin category. For example, with the Lotus Palette, I felt that I was forced to use the two blushes together to create a middle-ground color because the two had such a huge difference in depth. The person who could rock the lightest blush alone wouldn’t be able to use either of the two highlighters. In Fox, I can use Lucid Glow in various ways with both blushes, and technically by itself. The highlighter, bronzer, and Canyon Heat blush are beautifully warm and clearly go together. If I feel Amethyst Haze is too dark or too cool, I can fix both issues once I put the finishing powder on top. I can also use all three blush shades to create the perfect medium toned neutral flush on the cheek that isn’t too muted or too bold and isn’t too shimmery either.
The only downside is that I have to be careful using the entire face palette together since the combination of Lucid Glow and Desert Heat can tone down the vibrancy a bit too much. Some examples of this are in the photo below, but I would realistically only use 4-5 shades at a time.

I’m still gathering my thoughts about the Swan Palette, and I don’t own Deer, but it seems Hourglass intended for Deer to suit those with fair skin who want not only light Ambient powders, but ones specifically formulated to require building up. Both Han Beauty 101 and Theresa is Dead seemed less than pleased by the Deer Palette, even though it was intended for people like them. It really highlights the fact that it’s not enough to match someone’s skin tone depth. Preferences play a big part, which is why being able to customize these palettes in the future is so important. Hourglass makes a lot of money off people (like me) who buy more than one palette, but they also know fatigue is starting to set in. The limited availability of custom quads was likely a test, and I hope the customers passed that test.
Also, regarding Deer, Han Beauty 101 said that she has used the palette enough times that she’s getting more pigment now, especially having switched to a denser brush. So, perhaps that’s something to keep in mind for those who want to buy Deer.

I think the amount of repeat products Hourglass put in the palettes are acceptable (Deer – 3, Swan -2, Fox -1, Horse-6), because I view Horse as no different than the Owl Palette from 2023 that didn’t have a Color Palette attached to it. Besides the holiday palettes with special packaging, Hourglass releases a few repeat palettes and trios each year anyway. They just don’t get talked about as much and disappear off their website just as quickly as they arrived.

Overall, I’m quite happy with Fox. Usually it’s the blushes that have me the most excited for the holiday palettes, but this year it’s the highlighter, finishing powder, and bronzer. I think this is a good addition to my collection, which is quite the relief considering I am supposed to be cooling it on buying face palettes. It’s nice to know the hefty price was worth it.
I didn’t get all holy grail shades, but many of them have become second favorites instead.

Future Wishes

I liked the animal options this year. The new artist they hired, Sasha Unisex did a great job. After all, a good portion of my decision to buy a second palette was for the packaging.
I am still hoping and wishing Hourglass will commission a Panda and Rabbit in the future.
Since we’ve had non-animal ones like the Barney’s cover, Evil Eye, and Lotus, I would go crazy for a star/moon/celestial design. I’d also love to continue on the mythological train and have a phoenix, mermaid/siren, unicorn, etc.

I’m still hoping Hourglass will take the two colors within At Night to be mixed into one solid color, with an increase in pigmentation. If they made a solo blush out of the darker of the two colors in At Night, I think that would be pretty great too.

Hourglass makes a lot of pinks and berries, but I’d love a red-brown similar to Pat Mcgrath’s Paradise Venus or Benefit’s Terra. Perhaps the reason Hourglass has zero true red blushes is because they don’t use carmine. Red 0 from Lotus was still an ultra deep pink. I would just like to have less pink and orange, and I’m still hoping we’ll get darker nude blushes that will look natural on someone with dark skin.

The creation of a rich dark bronzer is still on the wishlist for so many people. That would be great to finally see next year.

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Sometimes I create mock ups of what my perfect Hourglass Ambient Edit Palette would look like, if I was in charge of the arrangement. It was easy to decide my top two finishing powders, bronzers, and highlighters, but I have been so indecisive about the blushes that I decided to cut that portion from today’s review. I think I will try to include it in the Swan post instead. So, if you’re interested in seeing that as well, please visit my blog again soon!

That’s all for today! Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤