Eyeartist Colorwaves eyeshadow by Astor vs. 3D duo eyeshadows by Essence

These two eyeshadows looked similar in texture and function at first glance, so I decided to pick them up. They are not really expensive; they come from the drugstore so why not trying them, right?

Price: 6,29€ for Astor eyeshadow and 2,95€ for Essence duo eyeshadow (in Austria) or 2,99€ in Slovak drugstore.

Colours:

Astor: on the Astor website there are 24 shades available, I’ve seen in Bipa (Austria) only few. I bought shade 810 Treasure Gold which is shimmery light tan colour.

Essence: there are 9 duos on offer so technically 18 shades. I bought duo 03 Irresistible choco cupcake which is combination of shimmery beige and slightly shimmery warm brown.

Texture:

Astor: the brand claims on its website that the eyeshadows have super soft texture. I don’t agree at all. I had to really dig the brush into the product to get something on my brush. The eyeshadow was hard and dry to the touch.

Essence: the eyeshadows are not super soft but softer than the Astor’s one. They are not extremely powdery and apply easily.

Duo eyeshadows 03 Irresistible choco cupcake by Essence used dry (left) and wet (right)

Pigmentation:

When used dry:

Astor: it says on the website that the eyeshadows are highly pigmented. Well, the one I have doesn’t have much of the pigmentation. I had to reapply it few times to get some colour on my lid.

Essence: the eyeshadows have quite a good pigmentation considering that they are from a drugstore. They looked good on the eyes even when used dry.

Eyeshadow 810 Treasure Gold by Astor used wet (left) and dry (right) 

When used wet (I used fix spray not water): 

Astor: while the eyeshadow has poor pigmentation when dry once you use it with a wet brush the pigmentation becomes a lot more intensive and the eyeshadow actually looks very nice on the eyes.

Essence: since the eyeshadows are quite pigmented when dry I haven’t noticed any significant difference in pigmentation when using them wet.

Eyeshadow duo in 03 Irresistible choco cupcake by Essence (used dry)

Longevity: with good primer both eyeshadows lasted all day. BUT I also noticed that applying wet eyeshadow (in both cases) on cream eyeshadows doesn’t work at all. You will get a strange mixture that doesn’t want to set, therefore use them either wet alone or dry with cream eyeshadows.

Eyeshadow 810 Treasure Gold by Astor (used wet)

Final verdict: I prefer Essence duo eyeshadows since the pigmentation is better in dry conditions. I don’t always have time to wet the brush so pigmented eyeshadow without extra work is important to me. Moreover the price for duo eyeshadow by Essence is far better deal than price for single eyeshadow by Astor.

Macademia natural oil products part 2

Let’s continue with more Macademia natural oil products, namely with detangling spray and hair oil.

NO TANGLE A PRE-STYLER SPRAY

Price: 250ml for 13,58€ at allbeauty.com (I bought 100 ml for tryout)

Scent and colour: it has floral scent and off white colour.

Consistency: it has runny consistency. The spray has just one hole so it doesn’t distribute product evenly, it just squirts everything at one strand of hair.

Performance: it didn’t detangle as promised; moreover the strands of hair that got product on became hard to the touch when dry and the hair in the strand stuck together.

Final verdict: I didn’t like this product at all since it didn’t do what it promised and my hair looked like straws.

No Tangle a Pre-Styler spray by Macademia natural oil

HEALING OIL SPRAY

Price: 125ml for 14,30€ at allbeauty.com (you can buy smaller bottle - 60 ml for 8,68€).

Scent and colour: it has warm nutty and musky scent (I’m absolutely obsessed with this scent) and no colour (transparent).

Consistency: the oil has very light runny consistency.

Performance: thanks to its light consistency it doesn’t weight my hair down, it makes split and frizzy ends look better. It adds some shine to my hair and gives appearance of healthy hair. I use it as a last step in styling when I feel like my hair look dull.

Final verdict: I love this oil and I already repurchased it twice. It makes my hair look nice and shiny, and its fragrance is just alluring.

Healing oil spray by Macademia natural oil

As you can see out of all 5 products my top picks are the Deep repair masque and Healing oil spray. I’m also eager to try Nourishing rinse (a.k.a conditioner), Volumizing dry shampoo and Control hairspray. Let me know if you’ve already tried them.

Related articles:

Macademia natural oil products part 1

Macademia natural oil products part 1

Macademia natural oil brand may not be very well-known in Slovakia or Belgium so I decided to bring you some short reviews of products that I tried past year.

While in US it is easy to get, in Europe, you can buy it only at allbeauty.com or lookfantastic.com website (more expensive than allbeauty).

Macademia natural oil products

REJUVENATING SHAMPOO

Price: 300 ml for 10,96€ at allbeauty.com (I bought 60ml for tryout)

Scent and colour: it has light fresh floral scent and white pearl colour.

Consistency: it has runny consistency, neither too thick nor watery, just regular kind of texture for a shampoo.

Performance: it cleans very well; my hair looked quite shiny and had good volume. For most of people this would be a very nice shampoo, for my dry scalp it was quite drying, unlike the shampoo promises it didn’t moisturized my hair or scalp.

Final verdict: as said below it is too drying for my scalp so I won’t repurchase it. I still recommend it if you don’t have dry skin, my hair looked nice after using it so it could still work for you.

Rejuvenating shampoo by Macademia natural oil

DEEP REPAIR MASQUE

Price: 250 ml for 20,66€ at allbeauty.com.

Scent and colour: combination of nutty and floral notes; it has white pearl colour.

Consistency: it has very thick cream consistency.

Performance: this is the star of Macademia Natural oil brand as everybody who cares about hair knows. It is well-known and well worth the hype. It leaves the hair sleek, shiny, manageable and healthy looking. It is recommended to be used no more than twice a week as it is an intense treatment; I was using it once a week and it worked well.

Final verdict: I love this masque and I always repurchase it. It is expensive but well worth the price. I always ask for it for Christmas and buy it when on sale.

Deep repair mask by Macademia natural oil

NOURISHING LEAVE-IN CREAM

Price: 300 ml for 15,85€ at allbeauty.com

Scent and colour: it has similar scent to the masque, you can smell some nuts notes in it; it has white colour.

Consistency: it has quite a thick consistency; it is not runny or thick as the masque.

Performance: after washing the hair, you take little bit in your hands, distribute it evenly and do not rinse it off. As I have fine hair I had to be very careful about the amount as the thick consistency weighted it down and the curls looked less bouncy. I think this product aims at girls with thick coarse hair not mine. I didn’t notice any difference in my hair texture.

Final verdict: as you can guess I didn’t like the product due to its consistency, it weighted my hair down and it didn’t look good. I wouldn’t repurchase it but if you have thick hair definitely try it.

Nourishing leave-in cream by Macademia natural oil

Let me know if you've tried these products and what you think of them.