Estee Lauder Colour Portfolio Ultimate Makeup Kit for Holiday 2015 Review, Swatches, EOTD

Did you like the Lancome Auda[City] in Paris eyeshadow palette, reviewed here? If yes, you need the Estee Lauder Colour Portfolio Ultimate Makeup Kit for Holiday 2015. No, they are not dupes. Similar soft neutrals across the spectrum - not just meh browns, but also rosy, khaki, purple and smoky shades. A similar wearable mix of s shimmers, satins and mattes without chunky glitter.

Scroll down for the review and swatches of the Estee Lauder Colour Portfolio Ultimate Makeup Kit for Holiday 2015.

Packaging of the Estee Lauder Colour Portfolio Ultimate Makeup Kit for Holiday 2015

The square box comes with a magnetic closure. A tad too bulky for travel, unless you have ample room in your suitcase and are going away for a month. However, the inside is certainly travel-friendly, as you will see. 

The kit includes:

1. 30 eyeshadows, in removable sets of 10 each
2. Two lip glosses
3. One black kajal pencil
4. One dual-ended applicator 
5. A removable palette with mirror
6. A look card (pictured further below)

Now before I move on to the shadows themselves, a word about the "removable palette". You can pop out pretty much everything inside the Colour Portfolio kit. On the left is travel-friendly - travel-perfect, rather - palette with a mirror which can hold 10 shadows and an applicator. Surprisingly, this palette does not carry the Estee Lauder branding. Would have been nice to see a bit of bling on the lid but it certainly matches the exterior of the Colour Portfolio kit.

Each set of shadows is protected by clear film, which has the shade names and finishes printed on it in gold. Shade names are inaccurate. Yes, that is what I said.

What makes this palette all the more special is that you can remove the set of 10 shadows inside and replace it with either of the other two sets. So if you do not want a blue-centric set and prefer a purple-centric set for a particular trip, pop out and pop in.

There! Now you have rosy and purple shadows to travel with.

The how-to card features six different looks.

Shades in the Estee Lauder Colour Portfolio Ultimate Makeup Kit for Holiday 2015

The three pop-up sets of 10 eyeshadows are named:

1. Smoky Skies
2. Steel Orchid
3. Tempting Nudes

Shade names are a mess. There are two "Khakis" - a gold and a greenish khaki. Two Wild Truffles, both of which are different. Two Sepia Sands. THREE Black Chromes - one satin, one matte and one shimmery. Two Waves - one a tad warmer. Ummmm... attention to detail, anyone?

This is Smoky Skies. In real life, this palette is a smidgen deeper than on screen.

Tempting Nudes is at the top while Steel Orchid is below.

Formula and pigmentation of the Estee Lauder Colour Portfolio Ultimate Makeup Kit for Holiday 2015

The shadows are either shimmer, or matte or satin. No glitters. As I said, this is good for soft looks. The formula and pigmentation are very similar to Lancome Auda[City] in Paris. Beautifully blendable and buildable.
Of course, "some animals are more equal than other animals" -  a shimmer named Amethyst Spark is dry and sheer - though definitely buildable, as you will see in swatches below. A shade named "Khakis" turned out to be a gold highlighter.
No creasing noticed, though I always wear primer on my eyelids. There is surprisingly little powder fallout from these shadows. You have to pummel away with your brush to kick up some powder, and even so there isn't much. Whatever Estee Lauder is doing here, they need to develop further and come out with fallout-free shadows.
The kajal pencil is the last word in black, and is creamy enough. I dislike lip gloss, so I cannot really talk about their formula. Gloss fans can judge for themselves from the swatches.

Swatches of the Estee Lauder Colour Portfolio Ultimate Makeup Kit for Holiday 2015

I am afraid I have not been diligent enough to swatch 30 eyeshadows, two glosses and a kajal pencil. I have a selection of 16 eyeshadows - leaving out the highlighter-shades, the blacks, the greys and browns - and the glosses and kajal pencil for you instead.
Shade names are a mess, as I told you above. There are two different Khakis, both of which are incredibly different, three Black Chromes (I'm showing you the paler, shimmery one), two (dupe?) Wild Truffles and so on.  

In natural light, on bare skin - no primer. Both glosses are on the extreme left and the kajal pencil is to the extreme right. As for the eyeshadows:
From left, row 1: Smoky Ember, Amethyst Spark, Candy Crave, Nocturnal Blue, Cobblestones, Khakis 1 (the greenish one), Sepia Sand, Black Chrome.
From left, row 2: Lavish Mink, Hot Cinnamon, Tranquil Moon, Peacock Blue, Provocative Plum, Wild Truffle 1, Khakis 2 (the gold one), Wild Truffle 2.

In direct - but reddish evening sunlight. Amethyst Spark looks subtler here.

Verdict and where to buy

I am all about soft shadows now. Subtler shimmers and satins in lieu of stronger glitter. Which makes this palette a great choice. As I said, if Lancome Auda[City] is your thing, this will float your boat. Bake your cake.
Also, this is a great travel-palette. You can slip 10 shadows of your choice into a nifty travelling case and pop it into your suitcase for a week away. This is my favourite thing about this kit. 
The downside? If you are someone who identifies your eyeshadows by name, then this palette will have you pulling out your hair in clumps, because of the atrocious duplicate and triplicate naming they have used.
Price-wise, this palette costs $83, as opposed to Lancome's $68. It is £55 if you want worldwide shipping. True, you get 30 shades, but the question arises whether you want to pay $15 extra for 14 more eyeshadows (of which six are highlighters/pale shades), two glosses and a pencil.
Estee Lauder has 30 shades to Lancome's 16, including one pop of colour for every 10. Estee Lauder offers two glosses, a best-forgotten two-bit applicator and a black eye pencil in lieu of Lancome's decent blending brush (we won't talk about the other end of that brush now). Most importantly, you get customisable travel palettes from this kit.
FOTD with these eyeshadows - and my first bold lip look - coming up. 

Soft or bolder eyeshadows? What floats your boat? Tell me in the Disqus comments widget below.

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