New from the Drugstore

I've been collecting a few new things from the drugstore and thought I'd put them all in a post to share with you. There's a few bits from Catrice, from essence, and from Maybelline.

Catrice

Catrice has really been killing it in the high-quality, low-cost department lately. They stopped making their old seven-shadow palettes and replaced them with four nine-shadow palettes. I have the one called "The Precious Copper Collection" and the shadows are absolutely beautiful. All nine shadows are shimmery but there's no chunks of glitter, only metallic shimmer. The shades are warm-toned and gradually go from rose gold on the left to coppery bronze in the middle, to a rich chocolate brown on the right. There is also a "Light" shade (opal) and a "Sculpt" shade (purpley brown). The shadows blend nicely and I get a decent amount of wear out of them. There are three other palettes in the range: The Essential Nude Collection (nude shades), The Modern Matt Collection (pinky nude matt shades), and The Nude Blossom Collection (pinky shades). You can pick these palettes up for R99 each at Dischem.

I bought The Liquid Luminizer Strobing Pen in "020 Ready for Champagne!" on a whim, and although the colour is gorgeous, I find the applicator a bit difficult to work with. Concealer in a pen form, that I can do. Highlighter in a pen form? Not so much. I find that it dries down quite quickly, however, if I put a few drops on the back of my hand and then either use a stippling brush or a damp sponge and gently dab it onto the high points of my face, I can get a blotch-free application. This shade is a beautiful champagne gold, kind of like a liquid version of The Balm's Mary Lou-manizer.

essence

Essence completely revamped their stands and I for one couldn't be happier. There's always something fun and new to try out, but this revamp made me feel like a kid in a candy store! I tried the Volume Stylist Lash Extension Mascara that contains lengthening fibers. I love the packaging, especially the textured cap. The mascara is quite wet and thick and it makes my lashes look nice and thick. The shape of the wand didn't do anything as far as I could tell, but I like that it's quite straight. I can't comment on the 18 hour claim (who wears mascara for that long?!) but all in all I liked it, even though it did transfer slightly onto my brow bone.

I'm a big fan of the original Lash Princess Mascara and I'm liking this Lash Princess Sculpted Volume Mascara as well. I like the curved wand as I can cover all my lashes in one swipe. This mascara transfers much less than the Volume Stylist one and I've been using this one exclusively for the past month.

I've seen setting sprays that can be used as primers, setting sprays that give you a glow, and setting sprays that make your makeup last ridiculously long, but never have I seen a setting spray being marketed as "mattifying". This one claims to instantly mattify your skin post-makeup application, and that it is oil-free. I was a bit skeptical at the beginning, as I was scared that my makeup would look cake-y or that it would dry out my skin, but I am pleasantly surprised. It doesn't make my makeup look glowy, so I have to be careful to not use too much powder when setting my makeup. But I do find that my skin stays shine-free for longer and that I have to powder less during the day. So, a thumbs-up from me!

Maybelline

Sticking with strobing, the new Maybelline Master Strobing Sticks are creating quite a stir in the beauty world. People love the compact applicator and the beautiful shades. There are only two shades (there might be more overseas, but here we only get two), and I have the cooler shade "100 Light Iridescent". It comes in a twist-up stick and the texture is creamy and smooth with no chunkiness. It applies easily to the high points of the face and I either swipe it directly onto my cheekbones and blend it out with a brush, or I dab my stippling brush in the product before dapping it onto my face. The texture is similar to Benefit's Watts Up highlighter (I have a feeling the shade "200 Medium Nude Glow" might be a dupe for Benefit?), but at a fraction of the price. 

Have you used any of these products? Let me know in the comment section!

Until next time!

Hildegarde

xoxo