Made to Stay inside eye highlighter pen by Catrice

There are not many light colour eyeliners for waterline in general and even less with the low price tag. Till now I liked using beige eyeliner pencil by Max Factor (I think it’s been recently discontinued) and by Sephora. Both these eyeliners cost more than 8-9€ so I was very curious if the cheap “Inside eye highlighter pen” by Catrice would stand the competition.

Made to stay eye highlighter pen in colour 010 In the mood for Nude by Catrice

Price: 2,89€ in DM store in Slovakia (or Kruidvat in Belgium).

Colour and packaging: 010 "In the Mood for Nude" which is light beige colour with cool undertone. It brightens my eyes very well. The pencil is retractable and it has small sharpener on the end so you don’t need to bring anything else with you and you can sharpen it any time. 

Made to stay eye highlighter pen in colour 010 In the mood for Nude by Catrice

Texture and longevity: it has creamy texture that sets quite quickly. It stays on my water line for very long time, good 5 hours which is not usual for me.

Final verdict: the pencil is absolutely great! It costs almost nothing and it lasts on my water line for very long time. This is the winner for me (in beige pencil category) and I’m eager to try other colours from the same edition as well.

Dove Pure Care Sublime Oil Shampoo and Conditioner

I have quite a spoiled scalp so it is hard to find a shampoo that doesn’t irritate it. Most of the shampoos are too aggressive and aggravate my dermatitis (my scalp turns red and itchy; I have to apply special cream from the dermatologist to calm it down). I have only 2-3 shampoos that work ok but I have to switch between them in order to make them work. Plus, two of them are quite expensive and the third one is hard to get, only online. So of course, I’m trying to find something good available at the drugstore. I heard some good reviews on Dove Pure Care Sublime Oil shampoo so I decided to purchase it together with the conditioner and see how they work.

Price: both shampoo and conditioner cost 5,49€ but Dove was on sale, 25% off so it cost only 4,11€ each.

Scent: they have nutty scent with little bit of fruit aroma.

Dove Pure Care Sublime Oil Shampoo and Conditioner

My experience:

Shampoo: it is almost transparent, light brown gel that foams up well. It is not rich thick foam as in case of Redken Diamond Oil (that is quite often being compared to it). Redken Diamond oil shampoo is one of my favourites so that’s why I wanted to try Dove Sublime Oil as well. Dove leaves hair very light while the Redken one makes it little bit heavy feeling. Apparently it leaves less of the residue than the Redken shampoo which is good when your hair is fine like mine. My scalp likes it a lot, it doesn’t get irritated or red so it is quickly becoming one of my favourite shampoos.

It is good and cheap so it will be definitely included in my shampoo rotation.

Conditioner: it has medium brown colour and light cream texture. I have quite dry hair so I really need good conditioning. I used the conditioner heavily but it didn’t work well for me. I used up the whole bottle and I can really say that it didn’t give me enough moisture and my hair didn’t feel very smooth or shiny looking.

While the shampoo is excellent the conditioner is not moisturising enough for me so I won’t repurchase it.

Physicians Formula Eye Booster eyeliner

As always I’m looking for the best pen eyeliner in the drugstore. This time I bought Physicians Formula eye booster (eyeliner and lash serum in one) and I have some interesting findings.

Price: 15,90€ originally, but Physicians Formula was 20% off so it cost 11,92€ (still quite expensive for a drugstore brand), in DI drugstore in Belgium.

Applicator: it is not a felt-tip applicator but a small brush that is not more difficult to use than the felt-tip. Even after using it for few months the brush still holds well its form.

Eye Booster eyeliner by Physicians Formula

Colour: very black colour with shiny finish. Most of the times I don’t mind the shiny finish and when I really want a matt one I top it with black eyeshadow.

Longevity: it lasts all day long, no problem with that. What is even better, I’ve been using it for 2 months and it still works well. I’m very surprised how long this pen can last but at the same time it should because it costs a lot more than average drugstore pen eyeliner.

Lash serum: I haven’t noticed any changes in my lashes.

Final verdict: I really like this eyeliner; I’ve been using it for a long time and it works well. Unless I find something better or cheaper I may continue using it.

KIKO Colour shock long-lasting eyeshadow

It is quite hard to find good cream eyeshadows in the drugstore. Apart from Color Tattoo 24h cream eyeshadows by Maybelline, pencil eyeshadows by Jordana or Milani I don’t recall anything else really good at the lower price point. So of course, I bought this KIKO cream eyeshadow and hoped it would be a good one.

KIKO colour shock long-lasting eyeshadow n.100

Price: around 5€.

Scent: it has artificial scent which is not pleasant but you won’t smell it once it’s on the eyes.

Colour: colour n.100, light shimmery pink with golden particles.

Texture: it has creamy texture. When you swatch it on the hand it blends nicely but it is very hard to get a smooth layer over the eye lid. If you have mature skin on the lids it will stick to its uneven texture and it will look patchy. It will be even more accentuated when you put eyeshadow over it.

Longevity: it lasts all day once it sets (I used primer under the eyeshadow as always).

KIKO colour shock long-lasting eyeshadow n.100

Final verdict: I cannot use it on my eyelids; it looks awful like a snake skin. If you have young wrinkle-free lids try it, it may look better. I didn’t want to throw this eyeshadow away as the colour is very pretty. I tried it as a highlighter on my cheekbones and it looked very nice. This is actually how I’m going to use it from now on.

PARK AVENUE products part 2

Let’s continue with other PARK AVENUE products: face primer, foundation and lip gloss.

PARK AVENUES products

MAT & SOFT MAKE UP BASE

Price: 7,95€

Scent and colour: it doesn’t smell the best I must say, the scent is quite artificial. It has light pink colour.

Mat & Soft make up base by PARK AVENUE

Texture: it has the same consistency as face primer by Catrice. It doesn’t have strong silicone texture as the rest of the primers that aim to mattify your skin. It doesn’t smooth the skin as much as silicone based primers but it helps to apply the foundation smoother compared to no primer.

Mat & Soft make up base by PARK AVENUE

Performance: it mattifies the foundation for about 4 hours, afterwards the face looks shiny.

Final verdict: if you need to mattify your skin I would go for something more effective even if it costs more (for example POREfessional by Benefit).

ILLUMINATING CREAM FOUNDATION (Tinted skin corrector & Highlighter)

When I was buying this cream I thought it would be an illuminating face primer. The name is little bit misleading as it says illuminating cream, foundation and tinted skin corrector at the same time. In fact it is an dewy finish foundation.

Price: 5,50€

Smell and packaging: it doesn’t have any scent. It is packed in the tube which is great for traveling.

Illuminating cream foundation by PARK AVENUE

Shades: it has only few shades to choose from, mine is in colour 01 Nude which is light neutral colour. I usually prefer yellow undertone foundations but this one is wearable for me as well.

Texture and finish: it has very light cream texture with dewy finish.

Application: it is easy to apply; the best method is either with fingers or with brush.

Illuminating cream foundation n.01 Nude by PARK AVENUE

Coverage: it has light to medium coverage; it evens out the skin tone and covers small imperfections. If you have bigger issues to cover, a concealer would be a good solution.

Longevity: it lasted quite well for me, about 7 hours (I have dry skin). Afterwards the foundation started to break on the T-zone. If you have oily skin it may not be for you.

Final verdict: I’m actually surprised how good this foundation is. It lasted quite well, it covered well and my dry skin looked healthy. For the price of 5,50€ can’t beat it!

LIP GLOSS

Price: 3,50€

Scent: it doesn’t have strong scent, I smell little bit of sweetness in it.

Lip gloss  n.05 by PARK AVENUE

Colour: lip gloss n.05 which is light pink-beige colour with small golden glitter.

Texture: it has ticker consistency however it doesn’t bother me as much as usually. It stays well on the lips but if you drink or eat something you have to reapply it.

Lip gloss n.05 by PARK AVENUE

Final verdict: I quite like this lip gloss; it goes well with all my nude colour lipsticks so if you are looking for cheap alternative it is a good one to try.

PARK AVENUE products part 1

I was recently wondering around in our DI store (Belgian drugstore similar to DM) and ended up looking at the Park Avenue stand. Usually I pass by as it is the cheapest brand but this time I decided to buy few products and see if they are good or not.

I bought 3 single eyeshadows, one small palette, lip gloss, face primer and foundation. Let’s talk about eyeshadows first and about other products later on.

PARK AVENUE products

SINGLE EYESHADOWS

Price: 4,25€.

Colours: medium warm brown (n.11), dark cool tone brown (n.24) and warm purple (it was a sample given to me so there is no number on the back of the packaging). All eyeshadows have very small beige glitter that is not visible once applied on the lid. On the eyes the eyeshadows look like they have satin finish.

PARK AVENUE single eyeshadows

Pigmentation: as you can see on the picture the eyeshadows are very pigmented. I was actually surprised by such a good pigmentation compared to the price I paid.

Texture: the eyeshadows are easy to blend, every time I used them I had absolutely no problem applying them and was able to create very nicely blended eye look. However they aren’t as buttery as high end eyeshadows. If you look at closer picture you can see that they didn’t smooth my eyelid and all my wrinkles and uneven skin were quite visible.

PARK AVENUE single eyeshadows

Longevity: I used eye primer (Shadow insurance by Too Faced) every time I applied the eyeshadows. As already mentioned the colours were pigmented and blended well. By the evening the eyeshadows haven’t moved or creased however they lost some of its pigmentation. I feel like they faded away during the day. Still, the eyelook looked good just lighter, little bit washed out.

EYESHADOW PALETTE QUATTRO n.10

Price: 4,95€.

Colours: white, light and dark purple, and cool dark brown. They all have small beige glitter as in the case of single eyeshadows, again it is not visible once applied on the eyes.

PARK AVENUE Quattro eyeshadow palette n.10

PARK AVENUE Quattro eyeshadow palette n.10

Pigmentation: it has little bit lower pigmentation than single eyeshadows.

Texture and longevity: the same texture as previously, they blend nicely and stay on all day but they fade away and the eyelook looks lighter.

Final verdict: these eyeshadows (singles or in palette) are great for beginners since they don’t cost much and they are very blendable so totally fool-proofed. I definitely recommend them when you are just starting with make-up or if you are looking for budget friendly option.