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 25 (June 16 - 22) - The "Welcome, Summer!" Makeup Capsule - The official start of summer this year is June 20 and to kick it off, show us one or more of the makeup beauties that you'll being using for your hot girl (or guy) summer look! AND, be sure to check back later for a crossover prompt that will be an additional part of this week's summer slay theme.

Optional Monthly Theme: In addition to (or in lieu of) the current week's theme, we're having a month-long theme for June as well in keeping with Pride month. So, if you'd like to go with or include this optional theme, then include in your curated capsule, one or more product(s) from a LGBTQ+ founded/owned beauty brand. 

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 6.16.2025]

Spoiler

Week 26 (June 23 - 29) - The "My Best Self" Makeup Capsule - This week's capsule finds inspiration in a few sources. Feel free to draw from any of these as you put together a makeup capsule with one or more products that make you feel like the best version of your current self because we are always changing, growing, and getting better!

Self-Care Month starts on June 24 and shines a spotlight on the importance of self care, with a focus of encouraging all to take/make time to focus on our well-being, undertaking activities that help us to feel better, mentally, emotionally, socially, spiritually, and in our homes, workplaces, etc. There are a host of ways to curate a capsule this week, including:

💄Self Expression - If makeup is a form of self expression or self-care, show us the go to product / products that express who you are and/or holds a special self-care meaning for you. If you're comfortable sharing your look, consider posting to the Gallery or What are you wearing in 2025??

🎶Song and Slay - Curate a capsule with one or more makeup products inspired by a song. It can be a song that reminds you of summer, a makeup look worn by your favorite musical artist, and/or a look inspired by the theme(s) for the summer cheek challenge (coming soon). Speaking of song, if there's an artist or song(s) you're listening to and loving this summer, let us know at the 🎶✨Song of the Day and Music Thread!✨🎶.

😎Your Sizzling Signature Summer Style - Are there products you reach for during these longer, warmer days? Some tried and true favorites for a 'no-makeup' makeup look. Or, beauties that give you that bronzed goddess glow? Pull 'em out for a capsule that captures your sizzling signature summer style! If you have a fab outfit to go with your summer makeup look, stop on by the The Fit, The Fab and The Face: Outfit and Inspo Thread and show us your outfit of the day!

NOTE: Themes for July will be posted by or before the first part of Week 26.

Previous Capsule Themes: [Updated: 6.16.2025]

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> 
23 - The Love Is Love Makeup Capsule 
24 - The Sleeping Beauties Makeup Capsule and/or The "Shop My Stash 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.

[itsfi]

Gorgeous, gorgeous capsule @blackkitty2014‌‌ ❣️ I'm spying some significant dents in a couple of the shadows in ND I Need A Nude 😍 I love Natasha Denona eyeshadows; they're so good. Oh my goodness, is that the Chantecaille Bronze Glow Tint? It looks like you've almost polished it all off, wow! 

Okay, my heart sank when I read that you thought you might have inadvertently thrown out your Hermes highligher. Oh noooooo!  😢 Maybe you just misplaced it? Put it somewhere other than where you normally do? Maybe in a purse? Or your suitcase? Or, in another drawer? 

[blackkitty2014]

Thx you @itsfi . I’m looking the whole entire weekend for this but no luck. I even made my husband pulled all the drawers out to make sure it didn’t fall out due to overflow makeups. Now I can’t decide if I need to buy a replacement. Ugh

  

[danielledanielle]

I want to believe it's in a really weird place @blackkitty2014 .

I once found a pair of eyeglasses in my fridge, so you never know.

[blackkitty2014]

Thx you @danielledanielle @itsfi 

[itsfi]

Ugh is right; I'm so sorry @blackkitty2014. Oh, that's a hard one - that highlighter is a beauty and it's one of the limited edition ones, too. I don't have it but have swatched it when I've had the opportunity.  

[danielledanielle]

Capsule Battle Week

It's palette on palette.  Went in with more options than necessary.  As usual.   Couldn't take a panorama, so it's three pics

 

A lot went unused.  Sunday me is always like, let's be really creative.  Tuesday me is usually over everything 🤣

The wins: Danessa Myricks Beauty Groundwork: Defining Neutrals - Palette For Eyes, Brows, Face & Lips for brows, the lashes and my Pmg X for Balette Royale.

And ...

The Vice Lipstick Palette was put into play!  Yeah it's old... The were 4 untouched shades.  The other version of this I also had, but it was way more used.  I think I was in every pan, and it's been tossed 🥲🫡

There was only one bag for this week.  A foldable makeup bag from Amazon that is overpriced, even on sale.  BUT, it was the Fit. So, maybe worth it.

 

[itsfi]

If you're going for options, GO for options!!! 😀 There was a lot of oooh'ing and awww'ing on this end @danielledanielle as I was going through the beauties you set aside for this week. How do you like the Juvia's Place blushers? I've only tried their eyeshadows and lip products. 

[danielledanielle]

@itsfiSame, I think this is the only juvia's blush palette I have (?), I like it for the range of shades.  It's fickle /patchy, but I've used the Yoshiki Red (Koyudo ) blush brush with minimal problems so there's something to need stuff about how it's pressed vs the formula.  I just remember being disappointed when I first got it, so I haven't tried the blush duos and now I have too much blush, so 🤷🏽‍♀️

Saharan II... It's not this red, contrast is crazy in this pic

 

[itsfi]

Week 10 - (March 3 - 9) - The "International Women Founded / Owned Beauty Brand" Makeup Capsule and/or The Palette(s) Makeup Capsule 

Both themes in one capsule - a couple of palettes and all women-founded/owned brands, They all fit in one bag, along with this week's brushes - Danessa Myricks and Danessa Myricks x My Kit Co - I know there are some DM brush fans here (@CynthieLu @peculiarzmakeup) - the collab has some nice brushes. 

• MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Skin Face Essentials – Longwear Full Face Cream Palette 
• PAT McGRATH LABS Mini Eye Shadow Palette: Midnight Voyage - this may be swapped out later in the week for another eyeshadow palette, depending on what direction I go with an avant-garde eye look for the last week of the BALETTE ROYALE: Showdown of the Shadows 
• Bossy Cosmetics, a new-to-me, women-owned, Bob brand - lipstick in Focused; lip gloss in Empowered 
• Not pictured: Glossier Boy Brow Volumizing Eyebrow Gel-Pomade (another woman-founded beauty brand), SEPHORA COLLECTION Translucent Loose Setting Powder (I am slowly making my way through this jar; aiming to use it up before summer), and several mascaras (many, maybe even most, from women-founded/owned brands) which I'll be putting to the test this week and probably next as well. 👁

Pat McGrath Midnight Voyage Palette (Mini)

[danielledanielle]

These were very smart choices @itsfi , kudos for using a 6 pan, too

[itsfi]

@danielledanielle, it took me a while (read: days) to pare down products and finally arrive at this capsule - not having space to fit everything on my little table helped a lot. 🤣 I'm interested in seeing how the MUFE holds up in warmer weather (I'm thinking I'll be relying on a mattifying setting spray). So far, the MUFE has a place on the Travel Squad and I'm auditioning eyeshadow palettes, though I've a feeling there may be 2 of those that I take on the road. Or, I may just opt for a few eyeshadow sticks. 🤔 

[CynthieLu]

You've covered both sides of this theme very well @itsfi.👌 The palette's are both impressive! PMG's is mini but mighty, and the full face palette from MUFE has a lot of your face covered with it's range. 

Guilty 😊 I do like DM's brushes and supporting her brand when I can. I have 2 of her independently released brushes ( it would have been 3 but it only was released here once with a small inventory imo) and I like them. I feel like I'd love her collab with MKC but I've never splurged. Yet. 🙃

[itsfi]

@CynthieLu, I feel like this week's themes lend themselves to a lot of options. These worked out well.

[ather]

 I had planned to take out more than one capsule but time was not my friend! 

But here is my first capsule. This theme I have been looking forward to! I don’t always have enough items for all capsules but this one seems to be a winner for me. And how fitting!! I am excited to see what this week brings!

[CynthieLu]

Lovely mix of products for your capsule and right on, so many women founded brands!! @ather 🩷 I'm looking right at the Ami Cole, that looks really pretty and like a hazelnutty shade?

You know I feel the same, I don't have enough products to do my entire capsule with the themes but I usually can find a few. 👌 

[ather]

@CynthieLu  Yes! I seem to gravitate toward certain brands and only use them. I don’t venture out more. Also sensitive skin girlie. So I use what works! Yes. I love the Ami Cole lip gloss. It is bliss. It’s wonderful! 

[CynthieLu]

It's hard to adventure with new products when you have sensitive skin, a tad too risky sometimes isn't it? @ather.

I get really pleasantly surprised when I try something new and my skin actually tolerates it.  Like the DDG peel pads and the exfoliating mask from D'ior. 💕 I'm soo lucky I can get away with these exfoliators.

Have you tried anything that you were surprised your skin was cool with?

[ather]

@CynthieLu  Hmmm nothing so far. I feel like it is so reactive. Today I was lucky to get random hives. I couldn’t pinpoint what did it. The only thing I can think is I put food colouring in my pancakes (for my little guy) and maybe that did it. But they were like clean ones. So odd. 

[itsfi]

Fun capsule @ather! It's all woman founded / owned brands - woohoo! It's one or more products and you hit all of them with the theme for this coming week and the optional month-long theme. Niiiiice! Which shade/flavor is the Rhode balm? And the Rare Beauty eyeshadow stick? I love eyeshadow sticks - so quick and easy! 💖

[ather]

@itsfi  Thank you! 😊 this is one capsule I knew I could hit the mark! I can likely do 3-4 capsules with it. I must gravitate towards women owned brands which is an awesome thing!! The Rhode is in Shortcake which is so pretty! And the Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez All of the Above Weightless Eyeshadow Stick Integrity  did you see that Ilia has some new eyeshadow sticks out? I saw a video where a girl had one eye done and omg it looked insane. She was showing all the colours that looked good on brown eyes. I may pick one up during the sale! 

[itsfi]

Yes, I read about the Ilia eyeshadow sticks and they sound and look nice @ather. That’s a good one to put on your sale list. If you do pick one up, would love to know how it compares to the Rare Beauty.