Too Faced co-founder and creative director Jerrod Blandino sums up his inspiration in two words: romance and dessert. He pulled photos of French pastry shops -- think macaron towers at Ladurée -- flowers, and date spots in soft pastel shades.
Photo 7/12
The collection: Too Faced
Rose-adorned palettes, velvet-coated packaging, and colors with names like Strawberry Cream and Ganache epitomize the collection.
Too Faced Love Sweet Love 7 Piece Makeup Collection, $46
Photo 8/12
The inspiration: Fresh
Fresh founders Lev Glazman and Alina Roytberg love classic holiday colors -- specifically red and white. And they filled their mood boards with photos of traditional imagery like stockings hung by a fireplace, packages wrapped in red ribbons, and simple wreaths.
Photo 9/12
The collection: Fresh
Fresh gift sets are known for their packaging, which gets prettier every year. The metallic starburst designs say holiday in a chic way -- without being too cutesy.
When it came time to design their holiday collection, the creative team at Tarte threw traditional out the window. Instead, they opted for cool Ikat prints in bright colors, using mostly fabric swatches on their inspiration board.
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.
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.
