Capsule Makeup Collection Challenge 2025

[itsfi]

Happy New Year, BIC! It's year 2 of the capsule makeup challenge. 

What is this challenge about?

It's a mix of curating a group of products that are "must haves" for you and your lifestyle and shopping your stash by putting your beauties to use and seeing what, if anything, you need to declutter from your stash and/or to fill out your collection. 

How does this work?

To add a little bit of fun and creativity to curating a makeup capsule, there will be a weekly theme or prompt on which that week's group of beauty products will touch upon. There's no need to have every single product for the week fit the theme exactlay. All you need is one product. And, truth be told, how that product fits into the weekly theme is subject to interpretation. Yours, primarily. So, please  feel free to be creative. For example, last year for "green" week, there were a host of possibilities for what it means for a product to be "green" - capsules that included one or more products that were (a) green in color; (b) "clean"; (c) contained in green packaging or that (d) cost a lot of "green" 💸💸💸 fit the bill. 😉 For more examples, you might want to check out last year's thread - Capsule Makeup Collection Challenge 2024 to see what beauty products others in the Community have used and posted about. 

When and where are/will the weekly themes posted?

The weekly themes are (or will be) included in the original post - under the section titled "Current Makeup Capsule Theme" or "Upcoming Makeup Capsule Theme". Occasionally, I will post a link to a separate post with the monthly themes.

⭐ CURRENT MAKEUP CAPSULE THEME ⭐

Week 4 (January 20 - 26) - The "How Low Can I Go?" Makeup Capsule 
"Low" can have a host of meanings for this week's challenge. Low can mean any one or more of the following: 

🌿  astoundingly affordable makeup products that perform amazingly well - either a capsule made of up products each costing (regularly priced) less than $25 USD / $36 CAD or a capsule of makeup products that, all in, totals less than $50 USD / $72 CAD. [NOTE: these thresholds are arbitrary and if you want to set a different ceiling, go for it!]

🌱  the minimal number of products you need for an everyday or full face look. BONUS: if you can do this with 6 or less products, and are up for another challenge, check out theSephora Six - Fast & Furious Edition thread

🌳  your interpretation of "low"

Upcoming Makeup Capsule Themes: [Updated 1.19.2025]

Spoiler

Week 5 (January 27 - February 2) - The Lunar New Year 2025 Zodiac Sign Lucky Colors" Makeup Capsule  
Lunar New Year falls on January 29 this year and 2025 is The Year of the Snake. For this week, curate a makeup capsule in celebration of The Year of the Snake. A few ideas for your capsules may include beauty products consisting of any one or all of the following ideas. Remember, you don't have to a full face of makeup for this theme, just one product will do, though you can certainly include more. 

🎊  Colors deemed to be a "lucky" color for you in 2025 based on your Lunar Zodiac sign. This is just for fun and there are different determinations of what your sign's lucky color is this year, so please bear this in mind, but I thought this might be a fun and different approach to this capsule. I'll list the The "lucky" colors have been uploaded in the spoiler below in a spoiler near the end of Week 3, to keep the original post from being too long. Please note that since these zodiac animal signs are based on the lunar calendar (where the first of any given year may not, and often, does not, fall on the first of the month, some of the years and animal signs listed below may need to be adjusted based on your actual birthday. The below chart is a general estimate for those with birthdays in January and February of any given year. If your birthday falls in either of those months and you would like to know a more definitive lunar zodiac sign, you can put that into an online search to get more accurate information.

Spoiler

🐍  Products from a Lunar New Year, Year of the Snake collection

🎋  The colors red and gold are often associated with Lunar New Year

🎏  Makeup brands from countries that observe Lunar New Year. FYI - Lunar New Year is not celebrated by all Asian countries, generally speaking. It's more significant and more widely celebrated in, among other East Asian countries, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Previous Capsule Challenge Themes: [Updated: 1.19.2025]

Spoiler

1 - The "New Year, New-To-You" Makeup Capsule  
2 - The "Mocha Mousse" Inspired Makeup Capsule
3 - The "Favorite Feature(s) Focus" Makeup Capsule  

Additional FAQs

Spoiler

Why weekly? 
Years ago, beauty & lifestyle blogger Serein Wu, did a weekly series (on her blog and YouTube channel), Makeup Bag Monday, where she rotated her makeup bag each week with new product launches and makeup already in her collection. Every Monday, she shared the products she selected for the upcoming week and provided detailed makeup reviews on the makeup she used for the previous week. My reviews here will likely not be as detailed, but I will at least try to include a few thoughts about the products at the end of the week or beginning of the next week.  If weekly works for you, great. If not, feel free to join in based on what works best for you. 

Having a weekly capsule at the ready at (or near) the beginning of the week has also been helpful with making getting ready in the morning easier and more efficient, and that, has made it more fun too. It's also a great way for me to see how well a product performs with other products and that makes the decision to keep, donate, re-home or toss an item a lot easier. Also want to note that if the makeup for the week's capsule is not something you want to use for the entire week, that's fine, too. I generally use the makeup in the week's capsule 4-6 days during the week, sometimes more, sometimes less. 

When are the weekly themes posted?
I generally try to post the themes for the next month about two weeks before the start of that next month (so around the 15th of each month, give or take a few days), except that, for this month, weekly themes for weeks 2 thru 5 for January will be posted by or before end of the day on January 2. Weekly themes are updated at the end of the then current week (e.g., Sunday). This year, I will plan to update the weekly themes the Sunday before the start of the next week's theme, around 9pm Pacific / 10pm Mountain / 11pm Central / 12midnight Eastern Time.

What if I don't have enough products to fit the theme for a full face?

There's need for your entire makeup capsule to fit the weekly theme(s). Just one item will do. And, even if you don't have one that fits squarely within a theme, feel free to post your makeup capsule. We'd love to see what you're using and hear your feedback on the products as you put them to use - are they a favorite or a potential favorite? Are they just 'meh'? Or, is it time to declutter the item(s) from your stash?

Is there anything else I should include in my capsule?
It's all up to you what to include in your capsule. Some weeks, my capsule consists of completely different items than the week before. Other weeks, I've swapped out just a few items or have included additional items in one category of products - some of us refer to this as giving us options for the week. 

You may see reference to "fits." That was creatively coined by our fabulous @danielledanielle and refers to the bag or component that will hold the week's makeup and, specifically, does all the makeup for the week's capsule fit into the bag / storage component. You ca also include the makeup brushes and tools you use for application, if you wish.

[peculiarzmakeup]

Thank you! I’m gonna try it on all together I’m on a fam visit so I couldn’t bring all my makeup on board but soon! I will try it! I appreciate your encouragement ❤️ @ather 

[itsfi]

These are lovely choices for this week’s capsule @peculiarzmakeup. Are the swatches from Danessa Myricks?

btw, super excited to see what you do with the Groundworks palette this year - excellent choice for a pan it! product. 

[peculiarzmakeup]

Thank you for the kindness and encouragement! I’m looking forward to my first pan it project 🙂 the bottom swatches are the Danessa Myricks Beauty Dewy Cheek & Lip Palette Dew It Undercover and the other one is the Danessa Myricks Beauty Groundwork: Defining Neutrals - Palette For Eyes, Brows, Face & Lips 

The swatches on top are Rokael lip cremes which suprisingly have a strong resemblance to the other product palletes when I looked at them all together they fit quite nicely 🙂 @itsfi 

[itsfi]

They all create a beautiful color story @peculiarzmakeup, and one that you look smashing in. As someone who doesn't wear brown, nude lip shades often, I have been captivated by how well you wear them and it's made me dig into my stash more for them.

[peculiarzmakeup]

That is so kind I really appreciate it! It’s been such a fun journey playing around with shades! I bet they look spectacular on you, you always pair things beautifully. Thank you for making me smile this Sunday 🙂 always appreciate your encouragement and your creativity kindness and so much more ❤️ @itsfi 

[CynthieLu]

That's a beautiful collage @peculiarzmakeup. 👏 🤎

Ahh you've got a really enticing array of products here. I can see DM's defining neutrals palette really working well for this week's theme of creating you own Mocha Mousse looks.

I feel the theme is where ever the inspiration takes you. Even the way you described how Mocha inspires you as soft and sweet, that feels like it could really describe both. 

[peculiarzmakeup]

Thank you so much! I just reglanced at the collage and noticed how similar the shades are in each area it’s actually kinda neat fits in with the theme. I found these products have created the theme very well! Thanks for saying it’s a personal definition too I love that. I appreciate it ❤️ @CynthieLu 

[CynthieLu]

Yeah you really picked out a beautifully matching group here. @peculiarzmakeup they're are so cohesive. 🤎

I think the idea letting these new trends be your Muse and going where the inspiration takes you is kinda fun too. 😉 

[peculiarzmakeup]

Thank you! I think the word cohesive is a great way to look at this! I really enjoyed pairing these together! It’s fun to see how different inspirations lead into capsules I really enjoy that aspect 🙂 @CynthieLu 

[itsfi]

Week 2 (January 6 - 12) - The "Mocha Mousse" Inspired Makeup Capsule 

• Primer: Dr. Jart+ Mini Cicapair Color Correcting Treatment SPF 30 15 mL/ .50 fl oz is good for reducing or just completely masking redness on my cheeks and around my nose. I also have just the little bit of GUERLAIN Parure Gold 24K Radiance Primer 1.2 oz / 35 mL left to use up.

Spoiler

• Foundation: It's going to be a light coverage week, for the most part - I'll rotate between the Live Tinted Hueguard Tint Skin Tint SPF 50 and the Victoria Beckham by Augustinus Bader Priming Moisturizer (Golden)
• Concealer: DIOR Backstage Concealer 2N 
• Finishing Powder: Hourglass Ambient® Lighting Finishing Powder Dim Light (part of my 2025 pan it! challenge)
• Setting Products: I'll switch between the Dior Forever Perfect Fix Setting Spray - this has a paired really well with the Guerlain primer and the SEPHORA COLLECTION Translucent Loose Setting Powder (gratis)

Eyes:

Spoiler

• Primer: about-face Shadow Fix Eye Primer
• Eyeshadow: Cle de Peau Quad (discontinued)
• Eye Liner: Danessa Myricks Beauty Infinite Chrome Waterproof Micropencil Eyeliner Bronzite (upper lashline) (from SEPHORiA 2024: ATL) and Makeup by Mario Master Mattes Brightening Pencil - Light 1 (discontinued) (waterline)
• Mascara: Cosnori Perfect Setting Mascara Waterproof Long & Curl

Cheeks:

Spoiler

• Blush: Ami Colé Desert Date Cream Blush & Lip Multistick Hibiscus for some color. I love the monochromatic look but it doesn't always translate so well on me; I need a little color somewhere. This week, it'll be courtesy of my blush. This can also serve as a lippie if I tire of the neutral brown lip look.
• Highlight: Byredo Fluid Highlighter Stick Gilded Memoir
• Bronzer: Pixi On-the-Glow Bronze Stick - Soft Glow 

Spoiler

• Lip Balm: Sulwhasoo Glowing Lip Balm
• Lipstick: Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Fenty Icon The Fill Semi-Matte Refillable Lipstick She A CEO - on its own it's a deep, dark brown. Paired with the Fenty gloss or Fenty lip oil and it gives off those mocha mousse vibes.
• Lip Gloss: Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer Champ Stamp Fantasy 
• Lip Oil: Pound Cake Cake Theory Lip Tone Equalizing Oil - this was generously gifted to me by a friend. I'm not sure about the "neutralizing" claims of this product but it feels super comfortable on and looks beautiful paired with the liners and the lipstick in this week's capsule.
• Lip Liner: It'll be a heavy lip liner + lip oil/gloss week 😍 with my lip liner options consisting of Merit Lip Liner (Bespoke) (this was part of a limited edition holiday set a few years ago, hoping it is made part of the permanent collection at some point - it's one of my favorite neutral brown lip liners - creamy and glides on beautifully). Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat Lip Liner Love Trap and Dominique Cosmetics lip liner (I think the shade is Crush; it was part of a holiday set a few years back; a lovely pinky- nude brown shade that is the ideal mix of those two color families for my lips.

The Weekend Edition of this week's capsule.

The Process: 

Spoiler

I have a few approaches to selecting the makeup products for each week's capsule. 

• The Focused Approach - For last week's capsule (New Year, New To You Makeup), I started by pulling out a couple of the on-theme products I wanted to use (namely, the Saie blush (gratis), the Dior lipstick Dazzle and the Aerin fragrance, which I'm blending with other fragrances at the moment to see what combo I like with it). I focused my other products around those with the idea that I wanted to incorporate at least one 2025 pan it! challenge item (Cle de Peau and YSL eyeshadow quad) and filled out the rest with a mix of products I've used before. I had 11 makeup items (did not count skincare or fragrance) - for this year, I'm aiming for most of my weekly capsules to fall within the 8-12 product range. Some weeks will have more items and some, less.

• The "Cast My Net Out Wide & Pare Down" Approach - Set aside what I think I'd like to use for the week's theme and then edit from there, trying to be as realistic as possbile with what I'll use as well as what I'll want for options. This is what I tried for this week's Mocha Mousse theme - as you can see, I leaned more into options. 😮🤣 More on how I arrived at all of this in the spoiler below.

• The "Keep It Simple (& Stunning) Approach - This is when I really want a well-edited capsule, but without sacrificing options. It usually means my capsule consists of 6-10 products, depending on whether or not I'm going for a full face of makeup.  

Week 2 Process: 
I made the mistake of filling the bag with whatever I could fit in the bag. 🙄 This is a very spacious bag, so whoops! 😬 I guess "paring it down" is all relative. lol.

What I started with ... again, very spacious bag. Ha!


I didn't realize just how spacious until I emptied the bag and placed all the products into groups - complexion - eyes - cheeks - lips. As well as skincare, skincare/makeup hybrids, and fragrance.



The cheek products were easy to decide on as there were only 3 and in different subcategories - blush, bronzer, highlight. We eventually arrived at this, which, while less than what we started with, looks like a lot ... because it is a lot. Eeeeek!!! I could have done better with paring down the lip and complexion products. Next time. 

Edited to add: Tags and swatches added to post. Will update post later today to tag products and include swatches.

[Mellmars1185]

@itsfi Amazing mocha mousse capsule! The Cle de Peau palette is perfect for this challenge. How do you like the CT liner shade? Even your bag goes with the theme! I love it 🤎

[ather]

@itsfi  Wow. Look at this capsule!! It is amazing. I love the bag it looks so spacious and perfect for a bigger capsule. I don’t think you picked out that many face products I mean you really need to have options and if the bag allows I think it’s a win win! That eye palette is gorgeous! I bet the looks you did with this capsule are stunning by!! 

[itsfi]

Awww, thank you @ather! Putting the capsule together makes me realize that I underestimate how much I have in my collection. 😬😂 All the eye products for this past week were a hit. The dark brown eyeliner is a tad darker than I usually wear but it can work if I use a light hand. They had all the shades at Sephoria 2024 to swatch and the lighter 2 shades were off in terms of their undertones or the shade itself. It is a sweet souvenir (and practical one, too) from the event. 

[CynthieLu]

Mocha Mousse just sounds like a delicious capsule @itsfi I feel like everything here really looks like it will pair together very well. The tones I'm seeing, even in your bag, are all so well in line with the theme. 👌🍫

[itsfi]

Thanks @CynthieLu! The eye products work superbly together and it’s been fun mixing and matching the lippies for some great combos. 

[peculiarzmakeup]

Beautiful capsule! I did some research on Pantone’s color of the year and it’s fascinating. I love how your capsule has gold toned products, that little bit of primer left goes so well with the theme this week! The swatches are beautiful, the tones and shades are so gorgeously paired with your product picks! The bronze, highlight, blush trio is so well paired. Love the lip shades, as you mentioned Bespoke being a part of your collection I am also glad they brought it back in 2025! I enjoyed reading about your approach to your capsules. Mocha Mousse is shining bright through your beautiful picks, photos, and process. Excellent capsule! Love seeing the swatches, I appreciate your exemplary display of what mocha mousse looks like for you ❤️ @itsfi 

[itsfi]

@peculiarzmakeup, I wish I reached for the Guerlain primer when I first picked up the sample - another reminder to use what I have sooner rather than later - so many lessons being learned, or relearned. 😆 

It’s great to see Merit making some of their limited edition shades permanent - makes me think it’s only a matter of time (and soon-ish perhaps) that we’ll see lip liners on the shelves from them. This one is creamy that it glides on smoothly. 👍🏼 

[peculiarzmakeup]

Reminders of learning are always helpful too the relearning is a great way to assess if something is a need! Always learning 😊 ah I need to try the lip oil for merit I have a lipstick I’ve loved everything so far maybe I can sample in store and yes it’s so neat when things become permanent or are brought back it’s always a new way to celebrate its merit haha @itsfi 

[CynthieLu]

My New Year, New-To-You Makeup Capsule   🎉🍾

The New:

✨Revlon Cream Eye Shadow Pods

✨Nyx Butermelt Blush

✨Saie Dew Blush Liquid Cream Blush Chilly ( Gratis 💝🙏)

✨Valentino Donna Born In Roma Eau de Parfum Travel Spray 0.33 oz/ 10 mL  ( Gratis 💝😊)

✨Clarins mascara

✨Rephr Eye Brushes 

The rest: 

Danessa Myricks Beauty Linework Paintbrush Fluid Liquid Eyeliner 0.034 oz / 1 ml 

Danessa Myricks Beauty Yummy Skin Soothing Serum Skin Tint Foundation with Peptides + Ceramides 4 

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked Palette Evil Eye 

Benefit Cosmetics Mighty Fine Waterproof Brow Pen 3 

Here's to another fun year of capsules 🎉 Thank you so much @itsfi for putting this thread together for us. 🙏 It's going to be another fun year of capsules, I'm excited to see this challenge unfold and peak at what everyone is using. 😊 Have fun everyone! 

I'm surprised I had enough in my stash to really focus on the theme New. But in the end I did have a nice group. A few of these were gifts, gratis and products in my collection that I'm just getting to open now. Plus my new brushes ( a little gift to self )  I'm having fun getting used to everything. 😀

[Mellmars1185]

@CynthieLu Great capsule to start the new year! How did you like the formula of the NYX blush and the Revlon eyeshadow? I love your photo!

[ather]

@CynthieLu  Great capsule!!