Review: Catrice

Ever since Catrice re-vamped their product line I've been wanting to try some of their stuff out.  I've heard lots of good things about their new lines and so I bought a few Catrice products today.


I got the Limited Edition: Hidden World Eye Soufflé in 02- Yes, I Wood!, the Absolute Eye Colour eyeshadow in 420 Talk Like An Egyptian, and their Ultimate Nail Lacquer in 440 I Wear My Sunglasses At Night.

L-R: Eye Soufflé, Absolute Eye Colour, Ultimate Nail Lacquer

First up is the Limited Edition 'Hidden World' Eye Soufflé in 02 'Yes, I Wood!'

It comes in a round glass pot with a chrome effect lid.  I really like the packaging, it's good quality.  You get 4.9g of product which is good and it only costs €3.99.

'Yes, I Wood!' is a neutral colour, somewhere between a pink and light brown colour, with a nice slight shimmer.

The consistency is like a mousse, it's got a nice light feel to it but still gives even coverage.  This is great for brightening up the inside of a smokey eye, or on it's own for a neutral look.

I put some on over my own eyeshadow, it's on the right side of the eye, and the brown is a Benefit shadow.  I did this really quickly though.  The colour doesn't show up very well in the photo it's a little brighter in real life.  You can see the shimmer in the eye soufflé in the photo.

(Update: I noticed the day after wearing this product that it had irritated the skin on my eyes.  The chemicals in the formula are too strong for my skin and caused a bad reaction.  I only had a reaction like this once before, with an eyeliner marker.  I did a patch test on the inside of my arm, but as the skin on the arm is not as delicate as on the eye there was no reaction.  This reaction may not happen to everyone but I thought I should mention it here as I won't be using this product anymore, even though I really liked it)

Next is the Catrice Absolute Eye Colour, single shadow in 420 'Talk Light an Egyptian'

This is a gold, glittery shadow.  It looks a little yellow in the photo, it is a bit lighter in real life and it's very glittery.  I've been looking for a gold eyeshadow for ages and this is perfect.

It comes in a clear plastic case, which is quite heavy and looks much better in real life.  I really like the packaging, I didn't think I would but it's a lot stronger than it seems in pictures. This cost around €3.40, I can't remember the exact price.

This is the first Catrice shadow I've tried and I really like it so far.  It's very pigmented for a glitter shadow, and the glitter is really bright.

These photos aren't great but I thought I'd put them up anyway.  The colour hasn't shown up (again!) but you can still kind of see the glitter and shine.  I would wear this shadow with a brown smokey eye.

Lastly, I also got the Catrice Nail Lacquer in 440 'I Wear My Sunglasses At Night'.  This is a black polish with purple/light green glitter.  The glitter is very small so in the bottle it looks like a dark purple colour, which I like.  It cost around €2.70.

This nail polish has really good coverage, dries quite fast and is a nice colour.  The glitter takes away the harshness of the black, but it's still quite subtle.  The glitter is small so it won't be too difficult to take off unlike other polishes.

I'll post pictures later because I couldn't take any today.

Overall I really liked these Catrice products.  All of the products are quite cheap.  These three items cost €10.07 in total. I want to try out more of the polishes and some lip products next.

Christmas Beauty Gift Ideas!

Need an idea for a Christmas gift for someone?  There are loads of different make-up gift sets out in time for Christmas this year.  Here are a few I've picked out which would make great Christmas presents.


1. Stila 'In The Light' eye palette - €33.60
2. O.P.I Gold & Caviar Duo - €20
3. Soap & Glory Graffiti Print Minis Set - €18 (on sale €14)
4. Benefit 'I'm Glam Therefore I Am'- €39.68
5. NARS Holiday 2011 Lipstick - €23.54
6. Too Faced 'Beautiful Dreamer' - €49.09
7. Nail Rock Duo nail wraps - €13.45
8. Barry M Lip Paint Set - €16.14
9. NARS 'Drop Dead Gorgeous' Nail Varnish set - €29.59
10. Nails Inc 'In The Crowd' Mini Nail Polish Set - €53.13


All products are available from asos.com and usual official stockists of each brand. 
Images from asos.com

Review:ELF Beauty Book Neutral Edition

I posted a few weeks ago about the ELF Beauty Book I had bought.  I've tried out most of the colours by now so

The palette I bought is the Neutral Eye Edition.  I think there are some new palettes available for Christmas.

Here's all the colours.  The colours are a bit different in real life though.  Top row from left; cream, gold/brown, metallic brown, dark purple with grey/brown undertones.

Second row from left: peach/nude colour, pink, purple/pink, purple.

Bottom row; brown/peach colour, rust, mauve, dark purple with black undertones.

I found that these eyeshadows were good quality.  They were generally well pigmented and the colours in the palette complement each other well.  Most of the colours have some shimmer in them, which I liked, and there are a couple of matte shades too.  I used the ELF Eyelid Primer underneath the eyeshadows which made them show up much brighter and made them last longer. 

ELF Eyelid Primer

                                  

It also comes with a mini eyeliner in Coffee, which is a dark brown colour. 

I really like these shadows.  I've been using this palette loads since I got it.  The packaging is really nice too, and there's a guide which shows how to contour and highlight too.  It's only about €6.80 I think and you get 12 shadows, an eyeliner and a mini brush/applicator.  This would be a really good idea for a Christmas present.

Review: Essence Gel Eye Liner

Lots of brands have been releasing gel eyeliners recently and here is one from Essence.  The one I have is '02 London Baby'.

It comes in a cute little glass pot with 3ml of product.  This only cost about €3 I think, which is sooo cheap for something that works this well.

When I bought this first I thought it was black, but when I opened it it's more of a grey/dark brown close up, with a slight metallic effect.  I really like this colour as it's not as harsh looking as black, so it's nice for wearing during the day.

I applied this eyeliner using the Essence gel liner brush from the Denim collection (about €1.50 and it's brilliant!). 

I really liked this eyeliner.  The gel makes it easy to apply and the fact that it's waterproof means it lasts throughout the day.

Swatch:

As you can see from the swatch, this eyeliner gives great coverage.  It's well pigmented too.  As I said before, the colour is really nice and a change from the ususal black for me.  I haven't tried any of the other colours yet but I think I will, this is my new favourite eyeliner :)

Benefit Primpcess Travel Set Review

I recently got the Benefit 'Primpcess' travel set. It contains a mini 'Bad Gal Lash' Mascara, three eye shadows in a light matte cream colour, a shimmery light pink and a matte brown colour. It has a 1.2g pan of Boi-ing in 02, and a 1.2g pan of Eye Bright.  There is also a cute mini pot of the Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner in 'R.S.V.P'(3.2g) which is a very light shimmery pinky/brown colour.  There are two mini brushes in the set too; a mini concealer brush and a double-sided 'Talent Brush'/'Fluff Shadow' brush.

Benefit Primpcess (colours didn't come out well)

Inside: From Top; Bad Gal Lash Mascara, Eyeshadows, Fluff Shadow/Talent brush, Concealer Brush, Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner, Boi-ing, Eye Bright.

It also comes with a little booklet describing how to do a smokey eye using the Benefit set.

 The Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner in R.S.V.P.  The colour didn't come out very well in this picture, it's a bit pinker in real life.  This is a really nice product, can be worn on it's own as a light natural colour, used as a base for another shadow or to highlight just inside the eye.  You can use these as a liner too but I haven't tried it with this colour, I think it might be too light for that.

Overall I reall like this set.  I love the eyeshadow colours, they have good pigmentation, and the darkest eyeshadow works great as a liner.  The mascara is really nice when you put it on first but I found I needed to apply a few coats to make the curl last.  The concealer was a bit dark for me but it has really good cover.  The Talent brush was really good for eyeliner and the concealer brush was quite good, and the Fluff Shadow brush was ok.  I loved the Cream Shadow/Liner and as usual for Benefit, the packaging is really cute and bright, the colours didn't come out great in my pictures though.