Smokey Eye drama kit eyeshadow palettes by Max Factor

I recently spotted new eyeshadow palettes by Max Factor and decided to test them. They looked like great choice of colours and that they would be wearable even during the day time, not only for the smokey look as the name suggests.

Price: 8,99€ in DM drugstore in Slovakia.

Colours: I bought 2 palettes, 01 Opulent nudes (brown quad with 2 matt colour, one shimmery colour – bronze and one matt with micro glitter – cream colour) and 04 Luxe Lilacs (purple quad with 2 matts, one shimmery – lilac colour and one iridescent – white colour).

Texture: the eyeshadows are extremely powdery. You have to tap off excess otherwise you will find, especially dark colours, quite annoying to clean out from the under eyes area.

Pigmentation: the purple quad is not pigmented enough for me, I was actually disappointed that I had to reapply colours few time to get the desired intensity. The brown quad is pigmented enough and easy to apply. Both quads blend well and the choice of colours makes it easy to create a look even when you aren’t a makeup lover.

Longevity: darker colours stayed on the eyes well just with the eyeshadow base. On the other hand, the light colours in both palettes wouldn’t last all day so I had to use cream eyeshadow underneath to ensure that they stayed on till evening.

Final verdict: with the price tag it has, I’m actually quite disappointed. The quality of the eyeshadows is not excellent and the amount of the product is not generous either. I had to use smaller brushes for their application otherwise I would also get the colour “next door” on them. You can get bigger palettes by Essence paying half of what you pay for these by Max Factor and they are at least the same quality if not better.

Naked Smoky palette by Urban Decay

I finally received my 20% off coupon from French Sephora and I immediately jumped from the joy. New Naked Smoky by Urban Decay has been released only recently and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. I’m a big fan of Naked palettes, I collect them and love to use them. Let’s see if this one is as good as previous ones.

Price: 49,95€ with 20% off 39,96€.

Texture: all eyeshadows are smooth and blend easily. Most of them are very pigmented, only Radar is little bit less pigmented but it works well to deepen lighter colours so I’m ok with it. The only eyeshadow that the Urban decay could have done better is Armor the eyeshadow with glitter in it. It looks nice on the eyes but the glitter falls off on the face.

Colours: even though it’s called smoky palette, it is very easy to create just everyday look. It has lot of light colours and surprisingly lot of colours with matt finish. It is very versatile and I found myself using it all week without reaching for any extra colour and still creating totally different look. My most favorite colour is High, it is highly pigmented shimmery nude colour that makes your eyes look almost wet.

Longevity: without good primer I noticed that the eyeshadows creased at the end of the day, so I recommend using something underneath them.

Final verdict: definitely worth buying it, especially when you can get it on sale. The sturdy packaging and the brush have good quality and I see myself traveling with it a lot.

Urbaniced lip cream by Essence

When I saw this lip cream on the shelves I immediately thought of Lip tarts by OCC. While these are expensive they are very nice liquid lipsticks. I was very curious to see how these new lip creams by Essence perform and if they are really comparable to OCC.

Price: 2,75€ for lip cream by Essence in German DM drugstore. Lip tarts by OCC cost 18$ in US Sephora (currently on sale for 9$).

Lip tart by OCC (left) and Lip cream by Essence (right)

Scent: lip cream by Essence has nice cocoa scent while the scent of lip tart by OCC reminds me of a paint aroma.

Colours: I’ve seen 2 colours of Essence lip creams, I bought 01 Go for a stroll (bright matt pink). Lip tarts by OCC are sold in several finishes, mine is in matt and this finish is sold in 41 shades.

Pigmentation: I got disappointed very much here. While you need a tiny bit of lip tart by OCC (half a size of brush head that comes with it) you need at least 3 times more of Essence lip cream to get colour everywhere on the lips.

Texture and application: lip cream by Essence has thicker creamy consistency while the lip tart by OCC is liquid. While the texture of Essence lip cream reminds me of dimethicone and is quite smooth on the lips, it forms patches and I had hard time to achieve uniform colour. The OCC tarts while being liquid apply smoothly and evenly on the lips and form one uniform light layer of colour.

Lip tart in colour Hush by OCC (left) and Lip cream in colour 01 Go for stroll by Essence (right)

Longevity: lip tarts by OCC last for 4-5 hours on me, if I don’t eat. Lip cream by Essence stays the same time but it sticks to all dry patches on the lips, soaks into the lines and it doesn’t look good already after half an hour after the application.

Final verdict: apart from the packaging there’s nothing common between the lip cream by Essence and lip tart by OCC. In fact, the lip cream by Essence is so bad that it is going to trash.

Longlasting eye pencils by Essence

Let’s continue with Essence cosmetics today and actually on Friday as well. I bought few products and as you probably read on Monday, I quite liked the new eyeshadow palettes, so let’s see what else is good or not.

Price: 1,55€ in Austrian DM drugstore (how do they make money with that price??).

Longlasting eye pencils by Essence

Colours: I bought 20 Lucky lead which is darker gray (not my favorite, it looks like washed out black) and 02 Hot chocolate which is warm medium brown (makes green eyes look even greener I love it!). On the website they have 8 colours, I’ve seen in the drugstores only 2 that I bought. The pencils are very pigmented and the colours are consistent.

Texture and application: the pencils have creamy texture, creamer than eyeliners by Catrice. They slide on eyes without problems so really easy application. You have some time to blend before they set.

20 Lucky lead (left) and 02 Hot chocolate (right) eye pencils by Essence

Longevity: once they set, they stay on the lid all day even through the work out. I also used them for waterline; there they stayed only for 4 hours so I prefer to use them on upper lid as regular eyeliner.

My verdict: easy to use and very longlasting, that look good on my eyes (especially hot chocolate colour). They are retractable so good for travel and for the price, you can’t beat it. I’m going to look at other colours for sure!

“All about Roses” and “All about nudes” palettes by Essence

I’ve recently seen 5 new palettes by Essence in German drugstore, I swatched them and could not leave them behind. They felt so nice that I had to take with me 2 of them.

Price: 3,95€ in German DM drugstore.

Colours: each palette contains 8 colours. “All about nudes” is a palette with earthy tones (5 matt colours, 2 shimmery colours and 1 matt with micro glitter). “All about roses” is a palette with pinks, mauves and purples (3 matt colours, 5 shimmery colours). They have medium pigmentation, buildable to certain extend.

All about roses eyeshadow palette by Essence

Texture: the eyeshadows are buttery smooth, they blend like a dream. When dipping a brush into them, they have little bit of fallout so tap your brush to remove the excess before applying them onto the eyelids.

Longevity: with just a regular eyeshadow primer they last well except the light colours. Those either fade out completely or crease in the inner part of the eye. If you apply cream eyeshadow underneath them (for example cream eyeshadow pencil by Rimmel, Milani, Bourjois, Astor…), they last all day without creasing or fading.

All about Nudes eyeshadow palette by Essence

Final verdict: east to apply with just enough pigmentation, these palettes are ideal for everyday use, suitable also for beginners. I don’t mind using cream bases underneath the eyeshadows as they look nice. The quality/price ratio is unbeatable so I absolutely recommend trying them.

Blush and glow collection by N.7

I’m always trying cream face products, especially from a drugstore. It is hard to find good one and at the same time I’m thinking why? They are great not only for dry skin to create glow but also for oilier skin girls to use them as a base for powder products for better makeup longevity.

Price: 15£ in Boots drugstore in UK. It was really good value considering that 1 product alone costs 9,95£.

“Pop & glow” blush: it is bright pink (colour “Rose blossom”). It is hard to blend as it moves around and leaves patches behind. If you leave it unblended (so bright pink) it is too bright for my light skin tone, but it may suit darker skin tone in unblended state better. It dries into matt powder finish and doesn’t stay sticky at all. On me it lasts no more than 4 hours.

“Instant radiance” highlighter: it is light shimmery champagne colour that gives soft highlight. It blends quite nicely, not like the blush, so it is also suitable for beginners. I quite like it, I use it when wearing a no makeup look. I use it together with BB cream and the skin looks nice and glowy. As with the blush it doesn’t last longer than 4 hours.

“Instant radiance” bronzing highlighter: it has warm shimmery bronze colour. It blends easily, doesn’t feel sticky and stays on my skin up to 4 -5 hours. It creates beautiful bronzy, sun kissed look on the face, similar to J-Lo effect. It is my favorite from the trio, I used it a lot this past summer to create glowy bronzy look.

Final verdict: I’m getting rid of blush, I’m going to use up champagne highlighter but I wouldn’t repurchase it. On the other hand, I really like bronzing highlighter and I may repurchase it once I use it up completely.

Creme Puff blush by Max Factor – more colours

I’ve already done a post about Crème puff blush by Max Factor and I really liked that one I reviewed. It is comparable to Ambient lighting products by Hourglass and I couldn’t resist buying more colours. They costs normally 12€ but you can buy them for 8,45€ in German DM drugstore so of course I bought other 3 colours. I hope the Max Factor will come out with bronzers and highlighters with this formula as well.

Top row: 25 Alluring Rose and 15 Seductive pink, bottom row; 10 Nude mauve and 30 Gorgeous berries

from left to right: 10 Nude mauve, 25 Alluring rose, 15 Seductive pink and 30 Gorgeous berries

Have you tried these blushes? Let me know!

Master sculpt by Maybelline

Contouring and the highlighting has been quite a craze over last 2 years and lot of high end brands came out with their contouring products. On the other hand it’s been very hard to find a contouring and highlighting product in drugstores. There is not much to choose from at all and you can rarely find something good. Maybelline came out recently with contouring-sculpting powder so I was very excited to try it out.

Master sculpt by Maybelline

Price: 13,49€ in DI drugstore in Belgium.

Colours: I bought Contouring palette n.1 Light/medium. The contouring colour is light neutral brown. It is so light that I cannot imagine using it for medium skin tone by any means. Even when you build it up it is not very intense. Highlighting colour is off white with pearl finish shade with some small glitter here and there. The colour would be visible also on medium skin tone (with intensive application).

Consistency and application: contouring colour is quite smooth and blendable so it is easy to apply. Since it is not intensively pigmented you have less chance to make a mistake. Therefore I think it is very good contouring product for beginners. Highlighting colour is little bit chalky but usable, just tap off excess product before application. It won’t give you an excessive shine but I think it is a good option if you don’t like strong highlighting or if you are a beginner.

Longevity: it doesn’t last as long as some high end products, I noticed that both shades faded away after 4 hours.

Final verdict: if you are a beginner and quite pale, plus on the budget, definitely try this product. If you already have some contouring and highlighting products it is not worth buying. In any case, I’m pleased to see that the drugstore brands are coming out with the contouring palettes.

Gel manicure by Essence

Let’s continue with Essence today. I wasn’t very happy about the Sally Hansen gel manicure; you can read in my previous post why, so let’s see if this one is any better.

Price: base coat and top coat cost 2,69€ each, the colour nail polish 1,69€.

Colours: I bought 10 True love which is darker wine colour almost identical to nail polish n. 870 from Color Riche line by L‘Oreal.

Texture and application: the brush on base coat and top coat is thinner than on the colour nail polish, still all three nail polishes are easy to apply. The colour nail polish is well pigmented so you can sometime get away even with one layer, two layers are pretty looking. The layers dry quickly so you can do your manicure within 20 minutes or less.

Look on the nails: the nail polish is shiny and looks really like gel manicure.

Longevity: it doesn’t last longer than my favourite regular drugstore nail polishes (nail polishes by Flormar and Color Riche by L’Oreal) and that is 3 days. I was disappointed by the longevity, on the other hand the nail polish finish and shine is beautiful, it dries quickly so I’m going to use it as I would my regular nail polish.

Miracle gel manicure by Sally Hansen

I noticed that some drugstore brands came up with gel-like manicure products promising finish and longevity of real gel manicure without using an UV lamp. Of course I was curious to see how they perform. I tried duo of products by Sally Hansen and trio by Essence. Let’s start with SH first, about the Essence one next time.

Price: individual nail polish costs 7,99€, the duo with top coat polish 13,99€.

Colours: I bought 310 Shock wave which is medium Barbie pink and 240 B girl which is light turquoise. The colours are not bright as the Sally Hansen says on the packaging they have rather pastel feel.

Texture and application: both nail polishes have wide brush so the application is easy. The texture is not the best, first 1-2 layers have streaks so sometime you have to put even the third coat. That means longer drying time. It can take up to an hour to get the nail polishes to apply and dry.

Look on the nails: the nail polishes are not extremely shiny which is disappointing since they are supposed to mimic gel manicure. Moreover from closer look you can still see streaks here and there, especially if you have uneven nails like me.

Longevity: Sally Hansen promises up to 14 days of bright colour and shine. Well as mentioned in previous part, it is not super shiny and the nail polish started to chip after 5-7 days. While it doesn’t stay on my nails for 14 days, 5-7 is still a lot for me, so I don’t have problem with longevity. On the other hand the nail polishes look quite bad so I don’t want to have them on my nails for that long.

Battle of primers – part 4

Even though these primers don’t share the same texture they share the skin type they are suitable for – dry skin. Let’s see what the differences are.
Side note: all primers were applied under Lasting perfection 16 hour wear foundation by Collection which I reviewed previously.

PRIMED PORELESS BY TOO FACED

Price: I got mine in a kit, similar to what French Sephora has now (“Beauty expert darlings set” for 15€). Regular price for 30ml is 30€.

Texture and application: it has similar texture and colour to the Porefessional by Benefit (thin silicone based gel) but blends a lot better that the Benefit primer. You can actually use a brush for the foundation application, not just a sponge. It blurs bigger pores quite well although not as much as primers with thicker consistency.

Performance: it kept my skin matt for 4 hours, and then the skin got little bit oily. I didn’t see any breaking down of foundation or exaggeration of dry patches, the foundation only faded away from my T-zone (after 7 hours).

PORE REFINING SOLUTIONS BY CLINIQUE

Price: 15ml for 26€ which makes it almost the most expensive primer (only Hourglass beats it).

Texture and application: it has similar texture and colour to the Porefessional by Benefit and Primed Poreless by Too Faced. It doesn’t blend into the skin as nicely as primer by Too faced but still better than primer by Benefit (I recommend using a sponge for foundation application). It slightly covers bigger pores and acne scars but not to the extent of thicker consistency primers.

Performance: it kept my skin matt for 5 hours, after that slightly oily for another 3 hours. The foundation didn’t break down but faded away around the T-zone. This primer is my personal favourite although I’m not very happy with price.

SMOOTHING PRIMER BY SEPHORA

Price: 15ml for 10,95€ but it is very often on sale.

Texture and application: it has medium thick gel-like consistency (silicone based as all the primers) that blends ok into the skin so you can use brush or sponge for the foundation application. It doesn’t hide acne scars or bigger pores the best but it smoothes skin beautifully.

Performance: it kept my skin matt for 5 hours, shiny for another 3 hours before the foundation started to fade away. I noticed that the skin looked glowy like in the photo shoot where they use Vaseline to attain that wet look. I actually like that look as my skin looked quite healthy.

MINERAL VEIL PRIMER BY HOURGLASS

Price: 9ml costs 18$ (available only in US or UK).

Texture and application: it has thin creamy consistency that blends well into the skin. You can use brush or sponge for foundation application. It is not comparable to primers by Rimmel, Revlon or Max Factor that I reviewed in part 3 since it blends very easily and doesn’t require working in section. Side note: it has SPF 15 so at least little bit of sun protection.

Performance: it kept my skin matt for 7-8 hours, the foundation faded away only around T-zone later during the testing day. I didn’t see any dry patches to stand out so that is why I think it is suitable for dry skin. However I’ve seen lot of Youtubers to mention that it is suitable only for oily skin so if you have dry skin like me buy a smaller size to test it before buying the full size.

Related posts:

Lasting perfection 16 hour wear foundation by Collection review
Battle of primers – part 1
Battle of primers – part 2
Battle of primers – part 3

Battle of primers – part 3

In this post I wanted to regroup primers that are very similar in basically everything. Keep on reading if you want to know how they perform.
Side note: all primers were applied under Lasting perfection 16 hour wear foundation by Collection which I reviewed previously.

Price: Max Factor primer costs 10,99£ (30ml), Revlon primer 12,99£ (27ml) and Rimmel 5,99£ (all bought in UK during my last trip).

Texture and application: all of them have slightly thicker creamy consistency (not as thick as regular blue packaging Nivea though). They don’t blend easily into the skin, it’s better to blend them in each section of the skin separately. The less you use the better for you. The same goes for the foundation application. The primers are sticky so you better apply your foundation in section as well. Use minimum of it and blend well. I think the best tool in this case is flat brush or fingers to really blend the primer and foundation. They don’t hide bigger pores as good as other silicone based primers. Side note: Max Factor primer has SPF 20 which is quite a nice sun protection in case you don’t have any it in products you apply on your face.

Performance: these primers kept my skin matt for 5-6 hours than I noticed that the foundation got caky in some places and the skin didn’t look its best. I don’t think they are suitable for oily skin, nor would I recommend them for dry skin as they make skin look worse than without. I think they are suitable for normal skin although due to the problematic application I would rather go for Garnier, The Balm or primer by Gosh (see the Battle of primers part 2).

Related posts:
Lasting perfection 16 hour wear foundation by Collection review
Battle of primers – part 1
Battle of primers – part 2
Battle of primers – part 4

Battle of primers – part 2

Let’s continue today with primers that are more suitable for normal to oily skin. In last post the primers didn’t get the best reviews so let’s move to better ones.
Side note: all primers were applied under Lasting perfection 16 hour wear foundation by Collection which I reviewed previously.

PERFECT BLUR BY GARNIER

Price: 30ml for around 12€, depends on where you live.

Texture and application: it has thicker consistency (silicone based), similar to Magic Blur by L’Oreal but I find it easier to blend. It sticks to the skin well and you can use brush or sponge for foundation application. Due to its thicker texture it hides well bigger pores and acne scars.

TIME BALM BY THE BALM

Price: 30ml for 14,99€ in DI drugstore in Belgium.

Texture and application: it has thin consistency (but thicker than the primer by BareMinerals); it blends well into the skin so you can use brush or sponge for foundation application. It doesn’t blur imperfections like scars or big pores as well as thicker primers.

VELVET TOUCH LINE PERFECTOR BY GOSH

Price: 12,99£ in Superdrug drugstore in UK, you can find it cheaper in Germany or Austria.

Texture and application: it has thicker white cream (silicone based) texture, that blends well into the face so you can use either brush or sponge for foundation application. It blurs imperfections (acne scars and bigger pores) quite well.

Performance of the primers: all these three primers perform the same. They keep my skin matt for quite a long time (7-8 hours) and the foundation breaks up around dry patches. Therefore they are good option for oily to normal skin, not so great for dry skin. If you have acne scars or bigger pores and you want to get the best deal, choose a primer by Garnier.

Related posts:

Lasting perfection 16 hour wear foundation by Collection review
Battle of primers – part 1
Battle of primers – part 3
Battle of primers – part 4

Battle of primers – part 1

I recently reviewed Lasting perfection 16 hour wear foundation by Collection that didn’t work on my skin at all. I have dry skin but this foundation triggered oil production and I looked like a disco ball. Before throwing it away I got this idea that I could actually test out all my primers that promise to keep the skin matt and the staying power of a foundation longer. I realised that I have quite a lot of them so I’m going to review them in 4 parts.

THE POREFESSIONAL BY BENEFIT

Price: 22ml for 34,50€ at Sephora (you can buy smaller size for 10€ to test it out for yourself).

Texture and application: it is silicone base primer with thin consistency. It also has light nude colour and is recommended to put either under or over the foundation. When I applied it, it didn’t set or blend into the skin so I recommend a sponge for applying the foundation in order not to move the primer around.

Performance: it kept my skin matt for 4 hours and kept my foundation together for another 2 hours. After that, the foundation started to fade away. Compared to other primers I tried it is not the most effective so I don’t recommend it for oily skin.

REVITALIFT MAGIC BLUR BY L’OREAL

Price: 13,99€ in DI drugstore in Belgium, price will depend on where you live.

Texture and application: it has thicker consistency than Benefit primer; it blends quite well into the skin yet I found that a sponge wsa better for a foundation application. The colour is white which is invisible once blended into the skin. Thanks to its thicker consistency, it managed quite well to hide my bigger pores and acne scars.

Performance: the primer kept my skin matt for 4 hours and then the foundation started to break up on several dry patches. This is not a primer for dry skin, if you have normal to oily skin I would give it a try (when you see it on sale).

PRIMETIME BY BAREMINERALS

Price: 30ml for 26€, I got mine in a small trial pack with the price only 10$.

Texture and application: it has very thin, gel-like consistency that doesn’t set on the skin. I let it dry for 10 minutes and it was still moving. You definitely need a sponge for a foundation application.

Performance: it kept my skin matt for 4 hours than the foundation broke up and clanged to dry patches. Moreover since the primer moved, the foundation settled in my fine lines and it looked really bad. This primer is actually one of the worst I tested.

Related posts:

Lasting perfection 16 hour wear foundation by Collection review
Battle of primers – part 2
Battle of primers – part 3
Battle of primers – part 4