Sephora + PANTONE UNIVERSE Color of the Year Lip Gloss Set

When my limited-edition Sephora + PANTONE UNIVERSE Color of the Year Lip Gloss Set ($20) arrived, I drew in my breath and vowed to change my attitude toward orange. Orange and I have had a difficult relationship since I had an orange shag carpet in my apartment during graduate school. You can imagine. Live with all that bright orange for a few years, including coordinating draperies, and you might revert to the quiet of soft greys and pastels that characterize my home today.

Tangerine Tango is the color of the season - if not the year - and I need to get hip to the trends. Sephora is making it easy for me with its mouthwatering new collection. This colors of the glosses in this set are scrumptious.

I've already gushed over the packaging of all of the items in the new collection. I think the elegant, classy, and expensive packaging had to cost more to manufacture than the makeup, and the makeup will hold its own against like items costing many times as much.

Did I mention the easy-to-remove round, clear plastic seals on both sides of the boxes? Easy to remove, they ensure you that your precious new makeup has been untouched by grimy, inquisitive hands. After I removed the seals from the lip gloss set, I pulled up box cover, beautifully designed with the multicolored orange pattern, and saw the glosses. Wow! They appeared to be vibrant variations of Tangerine Tango, and once I used them, I realized that they offered four different finishes. Had I read the marketing speak below, I might have known that beforehand. I was too impressed with the photos to actually read.

Get a new dimension of gloss with this lacquered lip color that promises infinite depths of crystal reflections. The moisturizing formula will leave lips looking and feeling perfect, while the hypnotic shine creates a constant play on light. The set includes four spirited hues inspired by the Color of the Year, Tangerine Tango, in four must-have finishes. Hydrating and long-wearing, these energized glosses sculpt the lips so they appear perfectly shaped, plumped, and pretty.

The normally sized glosses in my own photo show exactly how they arrived (not in the order they are displayed in Sephora's photo above). From left to right, the colors...

• Tangerine Tango Luminous, Pantone #17-1463 (tangerine with shimmer)
• Tangerine Tango Vivid, Pantone #17-1463 (tangerine)
• Tangerine Tango Glaze, Pantone #17-1463 (tangerine with gold shimmer)
• Tangerine Tango Opal, Pantone #17-1463 (tangerine pink with gold shimmer)

I was graced with brilliant sunshine yesterday, had taken the day off, and was able to get swatch photos. I swatched the colors on my arm in the same order listed above, top to bottom.

Tangerine Tango Luminous at the top of my arm is a shimmering, very bright orange. It is semi-transparent, making it extremely wearable for us orange phobes. Like a ripe apricot, it makes my mouth water. The next shade is a little more difficult for orange phobes. Tangerine Tango Vivid certainly is - vivid, opaque, and in your face. I'm wearing it now, and I'm not sure I could leave the house in it. I have to work up some bravery - something that shouldn't cause you you brunette beauties to fret. I think the only way I could wear Vivid is as a stain. Apply, blot, and follow by a kinder-to-fair-blondes, gentler gloss, maybe with something pink or gold in it. Even when blotted, it's vibrant.

I can't tell you it doesn't look good on me when applied straight up. It's just so far out of my comfort zone, I'd feel conspicuous leaving home in it. "Is everyone staring at me, wondering if that little aging blonde is fashion victim or an Angelina Jolie wannabe?"

I've become such an accomplished online beauty shopper, I knew Tangerine Tango Glaze would be my favorite shade of the four, and it is. Sheer, peach, and shimmering, the color and finish are gorgeous. I'm sorry my swatch looks uneven on my arm. It applies beautifully on the lips. I thought I had a fairly even swatch, but my camera says otherwise. Sephora needs to make Glaze part of its permanent collection. It's an everywoman color, and it's a way for orange phobes to ease into the color of the year.

Tangerine Tango Opal was an extremely pleasant surprise. The color of a ripe peach, it straddles the line between opaque and transparent, and the color absolutely gleams on the lips. Had I had Opal years ago, I might be more friendly to orange today.

By now you've figured out that the names embody a description of the finishes. It's also a nice feature that those over 40 can actually read the names on the bottom of the tubes (unlike some of my favorite, unnamed, European brands with teeny tiny print). Sephora took care of every detail when it created this collection.

Where are you going to find a stunning gloss set for $20 - a set that impressed a jaded luxury makeup buyer? Sephora! I'm not sure how Sephora is going to top the Sephora + PANTONE UNIVERSE Collection. They've set an amazingly high bar. If anyone from Sephora is reading this feature, congratulations! The collection is a home run.

Next up, I'll show you the collection's Blush Duo, another don't miss item, and it has another luxury touch in the packaging I couldn't believe. The colors in the duo offer more pink, so those who prefer pink will find colors to love. As you know, this collection is available only at Sephora, and I am dead-sure it will sell out.

Photo at top courtesy of Sephora; other photos by Best Things in Beauty