This Glossier gift set includes bestselling skincare and makeup—and it's bound to sell out

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Every year, your favorite beauty brands release limited edition products to add a little something special into their usual lineups. And every year, like clockwork, these items threaten to sell out before you can get your hands on them for a holiday gift. This year was no different for Glossier, the “skincare first, makeup second” brand known for its “millennial pink”-colored packaging.

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Bad news first: Two of the limited edition holiday sets from Glossier have, in fact, sold out and won’t come back this season. The good news? I tested three of the sets in my role as Reviewed’s beauty editor and my favorite is still in stock—at least for now. Read on to find out why The Essential Edit gift set will dazzle your loved one this year.

What’s included in the Glossier The Essential Edit gift set?

The Essential Edit kit offers five of Glossier’s bestselling skincare and makeup products in either full or mini sizes. Each product in the gift set is also sold separately, making it easy for your giftee to restock on their favorites after trying the samples. Here’s what’s included and what each product claims to do:

• Milky Jelly Cleanser: The kit includes a 2-ounce miniature of the Milky Jelly Cleanser, which you can buy again in mini or in a full-size, 6-ounce bottle. This gel-like cleanser claims to gently dissolve dirt, oil and makeup from the skin without stripping it of moisture, thanks to ingredients like hydrating Pro-Vitamin B5 and soothing allantoin. It uses Poloxamer, a cleansing agent found in contact lens solution, instead of soap to limit eye irritation, too.
   
• Priming Moisturizer: The set also provides a mini moisturizer—not available a la carte—to pair with the cleanser. Post-cleanse and pre-makeup, this product claims to moisturize the skin with hyaluronic acid and plant extracts, thwart redness with tea and honey extracts and protect the skin with vitamins A, C and E. The moisturizer also claims to feel lightweight on the skin and leave it looking fresh and glowy.
   
• Balm Dotcom: The last mini in the set is the Balm Dotcom in the “flavor” Rose. The lip balm—also dubbed a skin salve—moisturizes with castor oil, beeswax and lanolin. The Rose shade has the expected floral scent and a subtle pink tint.
   
• Boy Brow: Perhaps Glossier’s most revered product, Boy Brow is a brow pomade in a small, slim tube with a bristled wand. Its formula claims to condition and fluff the lashes and its small wand allows you to precisely comb brow hairs into place. The kit includes a full-size of its clear shade to suit any hair color.
   
• Lash Slick: The other full-size item in the kit is the brand’s mascara, Lash Slick. This claims to be “extensions without the extensions” for the eyelashes. The tapered wand claims to coat each lash with “teeny-tiny fibers” that add volume and length without any weight. Though it’s water-resistant, the brand says this mascara is not waterproof, meaning it should stay in place all day but remove easily with warm water.

What’s it like to use the Glossier The Essential Edit gift set?

Over the years, I’ve managed to try every product in this kit, but it’s been several years since I’ve picked up some of them. When I received the gift set, I put all of these products to the test at once to see how they hold up—and to determine whether the kit seemed comprehensive to give as a gift.

I’ve liked the Milky Jelly Cleanser since I first tried it in 2016. It doesn’t remove all of my makeup on its own, but it works well as my second cleansing step after using the Garnier SkinActive Micellar Cleansing Water and a cotton round to remove the bulk of my makeup. Though the Milky Jelly Cleanser claims to remove makeup, I don’t fault it for not doing so on its own, as even my favorite cleansers, like the Cerave Hydrating Facial Cleanser, can’t do that. As promised, this leaves my skin feeling clean but not at all tight or dry. I can also rub it right over my eyes without any stinging. The cleanser has a light rose fragrance that washes off without lingering, which I appreciate, though it could bother those with sensitive noses. I’d recommend this cleanser to anyone, regardless of skin type or skincare savviness. 

The Priming Moisturizer lives up to its name, as it creates a smooth, moisturized base underneath makeup. It has a creamy, lightweight consistency that absorbs quickly into the skin and leaves behind a light sheen that’s not oily or overly glowy but instead looks healthy. I applied my favorite Wet n Wild Tinted Hydrator on top of this and blended it in with my BeautyBlender makeup sponge. I’m pleased to report that the moisturizer did not interfere with the way the tinted moisturizer applied or looked on my skin. 

I’ve owned Balm Dotcom in a few flavors, but the Rose is my least favorite because the fragrance is so strong. I like rose-scented things (ahem, the Milky Jelly Cleanser), but the fragrance is overpowering in this, especially considering that it’s placed right under the nose when used as a lip balm. (It can also be used for moisturizing cuticles.) Don’t get me wrong—it isn’t so bothersome to keep me from using it, but for people who already don’t care for the rose aroma, stay far, far away. Apart from the scent, the Balm Dotcom is nice but nothing to write home about. It temporarily moisturized my lips post-application, but didn’t cure my dryness. I also didn’t notice the pink tint this particular flavor claims to give to the lips. If your giftee likes tinted balms and you want to go rogue and buy something that isn’t this gift set, the Balm Dotcom in Cherry or Berry will work better for providing color (assuming your giftee likes those fragrances), or you can go with any of the brand’s Ultralips, which boast a moisturizing, glossy formula in beautiful hues.

If I had to pick one standout product from this gift’s lineup, it would be Boy Brow. I’ve strayed from using this product because I’m not very picky about brow gels and got it into my head that they all work the same. Well, I was wrong. Even in the clear shade, Boy Brow manages to make my brows look fuller by allowing me to tactfully stand up the hairs to create a fluffier look. I also forgot how creamy this pomade is—it feels like applying moisturizer to my brows. And as a result of its creamy (read: not gel) texture, it doesn’t leave my brows wet-looking and feeling hard to the touch. My eyebrows are touchable and look as if they have nothing holding them in place. I don’t think I can give up Boy Brow now that I remember what I’ve been missing.

Like Boy Brow, it’s been years since I’ve tried Lash Slick mascara and I forgot how good it is. The wand separates and lengthens my lashes in just one coat for an eye-popping look. It didn’t add much volume to my individual eyelashes (which, to be fair, are voluminous on their own), but managed to mimic volume by separating the lashes well and creating a fanned-out effect. The skinny wand does not hold too much formula, which makes this easy to apply without any fuss. It also makes it easy to coat the bottom lashes without smudging black on the under-eyes. Application was a breeze and the look was gorgeous—I couldn’t ask for more.

Is the Glossier The Essential Edit gift set worth it?

Boy Brow and Lash Slick are slam-dunks and happen to be the two full-size items in the kit, upping the ante. Anyone who loves Glossier or is intrigued by it—so almost every beauty lover—will enjoy trying the bestsellers in this kit, and I’d be surprised if they didn’t finish their test drive with some new favorite items to buy again. The only miss for me in this kit was the Balm Dotcom, but it comes in a mini size and is only a fifth of the kit. The Milky Jelly Cleanser and Priming Moisturizer—the two other minis—are good quality and make for great travel products or introductions to the brand's skincare staples. 

For the numbers’ people in the crowd, I flexed my math skills, adding up what each product would cost—using cost per ounce for products in mini form that aren’t available for sale—and found that, bought piece-meal, the kit would total about $60. So, you’ll be saving about $10 with the set, too. Just hurry if you want to get in on it, as it will likely go out of stock quickly!

Get The Essential Edit from Glossier for $50

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