Capsule Makeup Collection Challenge 2025

[itsfi]

Hi there, BIC and happy spring! Whether (a) you're spring cleaning, or (b) returning to the office and wanting to use the makeup you have (new and old) or will pick up along the way, or (c) interested in putting together a collection (big or small) of "go to" or Top Shelf product for every day, the season, a special event or occasions, or just in general, or (d) for any other reason, please join us here at the Capsule Makeup Collection Challenge 2025. 

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 exactly. 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. This is about finding a set of makeup products that work for you and your lifestyle, whether already in your collection or waiting to be found by you. 

For me, I've found having a bag of makeup ready at the start of a week to be helpful in getting me out the door more efficiently, and feeling and looking put together. Some weeks my makeup bag has a minimalist look and feel; other weeks, the makeup capsule I've curated for use during the week resembles a more maximalist approach, with several products to choose from. There are weeks when I use the beauties in my capsule every day, and, there are weeks when I may add products into my existing bag of makeup during the week to meet my needs. 

How Can / Do I Participate?  

There are several ways you can participate - You can post a photo of the products you use or tag and list them, as you like. You can give someone's post a heart and / or ask questions about products in someone's capsule. You can post a different capsule every week or once a month or every once in a while, when a theme grabs your interest or draws your attention. 

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 23 (June 2 - 8 ) - The Love Is Love Makeup Capsule - This week's prompt is inspired by both (1) Pride month which will also serve as an optional monthly theme in addition to the other weekly capsule themes this month and (2) Danessa Myricks Beauty Love is Love All Over Face Palette  (which I'm hoping to finally put to use this week). For this week, curate a capsule containing one or more products that are from LGBTQ+ founded / owned makeup brand(s). 

Spoiler

Below is a non-exhaustive list of LGBTQ+ founded/owned brands with primarily makeup offerings. Credit for most of the brands in this list are from 2024 articles from Allure and Byrdie. Brands with an asterisk (*) beside their names are available at Sephora and/or Sephora at Kohl's. To the extent the founder(s)/owner(s) are not readily discernible by the brand name, their name(s) will appear in (parens). If there are brands that should be included, please let me know.

about face (Halsey)
Flower Beauty (Drew Barrymore)
Formula Z Cosmetics (Zach Dishinger)
* Freck Beauty (Nasera Alayon)
Jason Wu Beauty
Jecca Blac
Kevyn Aucoin Beauty
KimChi Chic Beauty
* Makeup by Mario (Mario Dedivanovic)
* OleHenriksen

* One/Size by Patrick Starrr
* Patrick Ta Beauty
Sappho (JoAnn Fowler)
* Tom Ford Beauty
Trixie Cosmetics (Trixie Mattel)
W3ll People (Shirley Pinkson)

UPCOMING Makeup Capsule Themes: [Updated 6.1.2025]

Spoiler

Week 24 (June 9 - 15) - The Sleeping Beauties Makeup Capsule and/or The "Shop My Stash Makeup Capsule - Time to shop your stash! Look through your makeup beauties and choose one or more product(s) that haven't gotten as much love or attention, items that have been "sleeping" in your drawers, bins, makeup bag, etc. You never know what gem(s) you might find or rediscover. The product(s) for this week capsule can include full size, deluxe size or foil samples in your stash. Summer is a good time to revisit the beauties in your stash. If you finish up a foil sample or two with your products this week, let us know what you thought of the item here and/or on theFoil Challenge  thread.

This theme resonates with me a lot as I've been trying to work my way through the products in my collection, and decide whether it's something I'll use and is worth keeping or if it's time to let it go (donate, gift or toss). I suspect I may find a product or two in the process that I'll want to make part of the Shop Your Stash Challenge: The Summer Edition (coming soon).

For additonal upcoming capsule prompts, check out June 2025 Makeup Capsule Themes.

Previous Capsule Themes: [Updated: 5.25.2025]

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  
4 - The "How Low Can I Go?" Makeup Capsule
5 - The "Lunar New Year 2025 Zodiac Sign Lucky Colors" Makeup Capsule  

February 2025 Capsule Themes <Click on link ⬅️ for more detailed description of capsule themes>
6 - The "Black Founded/Owned Beauty Brand(s)" Makeup Capsule
7 - The "Dynamic Duo, Trusted Trio or Killer Combo" Makeup Capsule
8 - The "New York Fashion Week Inspired" Makeup Capsule and/or The "Celeb-Inspired" Makeup Capsule
9 - The Throwback Makeup Capsule

March 2025 Capsule Makeup Themes <Click on link ⬅️ for more detailed description of capsule themes> 
10 - The "International Women Founded / Owned Beauty Brand" Makeup Capsule and/or The Palette(s) Makeup Capsule
11 - The Samples Makeup Capsule  and/or The "Attitude of Gratitude" Makeup Capsule
12 - The "Spring Is In The Air" Makeup Capsule
13 - The "Take 2" / Do Over" Makeup Capsule 

April 2025 Capsule Makeup Themes <Click on link ⬅️ for more detailed description of capsule themes> 
14 - The Spring Sticks Makeup Capsule
15 - The Flush of Color Makeup Capsule 
16 - The Spring Refresh Makeup Capsule 
17 - The “Green” Makeup Capsule 
18 - The Makeup-Artist-Founded/Owned Brand Makeup Capsule 

May 2025 Capsule Makeup Themes <Click on link ‌‌⬅️ for more detailed description of capsule themes> 
19 - The  Asian American Pacific Islander Founded / Owned Beauty Brands Makeup Capsule
20 - The "Tailored For You" Makeup Capsule
21 - The Vacation Makeup Capsule
22 - The Musician Founded / Owned Beauty Brand Makeup Capsule

June 2025 Capsule Makeup Themes <Click on link ‌‌⬅️ for more detailed description of capsule themes> 

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.

[itsfi]

Love all the red and gold @Mellmars1185; the packaging looks great against your background. The Dior foundation stick fits in beautifully with the theme - you just need one product. That said, I would love to see the foundation stick (and the contour one) be refillable, with an offering for cases with special designs, including one for Lunar New Year. I know Dior has special packaging with boxes, but how great would it be if the cases for certain products, like the foundation stick, came in special cases, like some of their lipsticks?!!! I love seeing what is included in the Sephora Canada LNY set - this year's has some fabulous lip products!

[Mellmars1185]

@itsfi Thank you! You have a great point about the Dior packaging! A LYN or some other festive/fun packaging would be something I would buy...mocha mousse or animal print 🤔. I didn't realize that the LYN Sephora set was a Canadian one.

[itsfi]

Ooooh, that would be cool to have a tie in to the Pantone Color of the Year @Mellmars1185. A mocha mousse color with leopard print trim would be fun too! So many possibilities. It's got to be just a matter of time before Dior makes something similarly shaped for a blush stick, right? Maybe then, they'll put this into practice. Dear Dior ...

[peculiarzmakeup]

Gorgeous capsule I love how every shade in the capsule goes so well with one another I love that eyeshadow pallete everything is so pretty. Are these shades you say you wear pretty often? I bet everything looks stunning on you! ❤️ @Mellmars1185 

[Mellmars1185]

@peculiarzmakeup Thank you! I don't typically for these shade on a daily basis. It is not that I don't like them, but maybe just not drawn to them. That is why I love this challenge. It gets me to try things in my stash that I may have forgotten about or need some more love. I did a look today with the Nars palettes and the Huda blush. I like how it turned out 😊

[peculiarzmakeup]

Capsules are great at that! Love that! I bet it was really pretty! It’s fun to try new or thinga not typically used as much @Mellmars1185 

[peculiarzmakeup]

Week 5 (January 27 - February 2) - The "Lunar New Year 2025 Zodiac Sign Lucky Colors" Makeup Capsule  

Pisces ♓️ 

Lavender- Enhance intuition and dreaminess.

Sea Green- Emotional Healing and Depth.

White- Purity and Clarity.

I absolutley adore these themes it was fun doing research I always say this but is so true “I’ve learned another thing” I’m always so greatful for all the things I’ve learned at BIC and the learning never stops and I just love that anyways… I made a collage with the color themes. So pretty! 

I would have to say the product that would accompany me on the lunar new year capsule would be… 

Danessa Myricks Beauty LIGHTWORK VI The Freedom Palette: Magnetic, Customizable, Stackable Palette with Illuminating Pigments for Eyes, Face &amp; Lips 

I think throughout the week I will have to do some digging because I lack these 3 shades in my collection it will be cool to see what turns up! 

I hope everyone has a fantastic lunar new year I look forward to learning more about it 🙂 

[curlychiquita]

The colors look fabulous on you, @peculiarzmakeup!

[peculiarzmakeup]

Thank you so much ❤️ I think it’s so neat everyone has lucky colors for the lunar new year! I appreciate it! @curlychiquita 

[Mellmars1185]

@peculiarzmakeup Beautiful collage! I like how you have captured the light in the top right photo. It is almost like the shadows are beaming! Your eyeshadow looks amazing!

[peculiarzmakeup]

Aww thank you so much! Thats one of my fave eye looks I’ve done with the pallete I do need to try the colors of the theme I think it will look very cool! Oh I just realized we have the same colors!!! @Mellmars1185 

[Mellmars1185]

@peculiarzmakeup Birthday twins 👯‍♀️

[peculiarzmakeup]

👯‍♀️🤗❤️ @Mellmars1185 

[blackkitty2014]

I need to learn from you ladies how to play with colors. Please post the looks you create with this capsule @peculiarzmakeup 🌹

[peculiarzmakeup]

Aw you’re so sweet! Thank you I definitely will. I appreciate that! It will also help me utilize these colors more during the week ❤️❤️ @blackkitty2014 

[itsfi]

That DM palette is a fabulous pick @peculiarzmakeup - for a LNY inspired capsule or any capsule for that matter. The colors are so vibrant and rich! Have you found yourself reaching for any particular shadow(s) more often from the Lightwork VI?

[peculiarzmakeup]

I am in love with blue and green those have always been my fave so sometimes I will do that or I’ve been gravitating to the purples and pinks I really like the white on it it has a bit of a shift in it which is really fun it’s really fun to see all the different surprises and shifts in this palette 🙂 @itsfi 

[itsfi]

@peculiarzmakeup, Danessa Myricks does a wonderful job with color and her shifts are absolutely gorgeous!

[blackkitty2014]

Week 3: Favorite Feature practically none of these are inspired from film but the Chanel quad was featured in Golden Globe (or some similar film reward couple weeks back) 

Week 4: How low can you go: I forgot the first day and use the Chanel gloss but corrected myself by using gift or gwp or deluxe sample the rest of the week on the lipsticks. I had to cheat by testing out the YSL new blush on 2 days  out of 7 😘

[curlychiquita]

I love this picture, @blackkitty2014! You own the most amazing makeup!

[blackkitty2014]

Thx you @curlychiquita 🌹 I have to remember to use them and not hoarding any more 😘