Holiday Beauty Trend Report: Why Does All This Makeup Look Like Candy?

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The holidays are coming up, which means that beauty brands are releasing limited-edition gift sets of their most popular products or repackaged versions of old classics. This year, brands like Too Faced and Ulta are creating products whose packaging makes them look just like candy. Are they playing up the "beauty is sinful, just like chocolate" angle? Or is this just a way to make beauty products look as bright and shiny as jewelry?

LORAC takes the theme and runs with it with their "Eye Candy" set. There are lip and eye palettes here, and each one is wrapped up to look like a candy bar. To really stick with the sex/sugar motif, the palettes have names like Caramel Love Affair and Blackberry Truffle Seduction.

Next up: Too Faced. The L.A.-based company's holiday offering is the "Sweet Indulgence Palette," a set of 16 eye shadows in a pink and gold tin that looks like it should be holding bonbons. The shadow colors also play into the sugary theme, with names like Gum Drop, Marshmallow, and Malted Milk Ball. The kit, however, also includes blushes and highlighter that have absolutely zero to do with the candy concept.

Then there's Ulta. The beauty megastore has its own in-house brand, and this year they're selling a Holiday Tumbler Gift Set designed to look like a milkshake, complete with red and white swirly straw. The plastic cup contains sample-size editions of different shower gels and lotions.

So what gives? Sure, the holidays are often associated with sweetness and with indulgent food, but why would beauty brands want to sell products that you almost eat by accident? Perhaps it ties in with the idea of luxury (the Lorac set comes in a big gold box with a bow on it, just like a chocolate sampler). But it may also play into deeper thoughts and fears about food, a subtle way of saying to women 'if you eat chocolate, you'll get fat, so put it on your face instead.'

Regardless, let's hope no one ingests any of these eyeshadows.

· Lorac Eye Candy Full Face Collection [Sephora]
· Too Faced Sweet Indulgence Palette [Sephora]
· Ulta Holiday Tumbler Gift Set [Ulta]