Makeup

How Does a Holiday Makeup Collection Come Together?

Here's an exclusive look at the mood boards that inspired some of our favorite brands' holiday beauty collections

by Dawn Davis

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Long before Pinterest became everyone's favorite way to spend their lunch break (and then some), beauty brands were crafting tangible inspiration boards for their collections each season.

Picture this: The creative team spends months tacking ribbons, photos, fabric scraps, and magazine pages to giant slabs of cork on an expansive white wall. They stand around, arms crossed, evaluating these mood boards. They take some pictures down; they add others. Finally, a color scheme starts to develop and a theme emerges. Only then do they actually start to conceptualize the packaging, shades, and formulas that go into manufacturing makeup.

While every collection has a different story -- and creative process -- behind it, holiday beauty collections tend to be especially interesting: "Parisian desserts!" "Shimmery snowscapes! "Moroccan vacations!" So we knocked on beauty brands' metaphorical doors (via email) to see if they'd give us a glimpse at the mood boards that inspired their fabulous holiday launches.

Skip ahead to see our favorite holiday beauty mood boards.

Sure enough, these collages totally wowed us -- so we're sharing them here. Whether you want insight into what makes these collections special or you're looking for some holiday beauty inspiration of your own, we have a feeling you'll love what you see. At the very least, let them inspire you to add to your own holiday Pinterest board.

SEE NEXT PAGE: The inspiration: Stila

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