Despite being around since 1954, Clarins is a completely new brand to me. I had often associated Clarins with more mature adults: I pictured their products on wealthy ladies who did tea and went for luncheons. Far too classy for the likes of me.

And yet… the launch of their summer 2015 collection Aquatic Treasures piqued my interest. It was gorgeous, vibrant and showed a boldness I hadn’t expected from a brand that I (admittedly) knew very little about. And for that, I was very, very excited to try out pieces from the Aquatic Treasures collection.

The first thing I need to mention is the packaging. Forgive me if this is traditional ofClarins and I’m just pointing out a standard design of theirs (I am still a newbie to them after all!) but the simplicity of the packaging lends itself to beautiful elegance. The tiny indent in the cap of the product above inscribed with the letter “C” is such a simple touch, and yet totally unique, in my opinion.

Anyway, on to the actual product. This is the Irisdescent shadow in Aquatic Rose. Clarinsdescribes it as a cream-powder shadow, but I’d say it’s firmly a powder. It is *incredibly* smooth though. Sticking a brush in this pot kicks up no powder and yet it goes on the lids like a dream.

My jaw dropped when I applied this to my lids for the first time. Aquatic Rose was totally opaque in one swipe which is something I was not expecting from such a pale shade. On me, it’s leans towards more of a rose-gold shade than a true rose.

Next up is the Waterproof Eye Pencil in Aquatic Green. It comes with a smudger on one side and the colour on the other.

Again… I’m totally floored. Aquatic Green is a beautiful teal shade with a very fine hint of shimmer running throughout. This eye pencil is a total workhorse product: It is absolutely waterproof (which you’ll see shortly with my eye look below). While the pencil is not as soft as a gel pencil, it’s still very smooth and easy to apply. It went on my water line particularly well too.

And finally, the Truly Waterproof Mascara in Aquatic Green. I was hesitant about this one as I had recently tried a green mascara that had made my eyelashes look ghastly.

However, the Aquatic Green mascara is a murky, dark teal that actually does wonders for my lashes. I don’t know how they did it, but Clarins managed to find a colour that was dark enough to pretend it was black, but colourful enough to give off that edge of colour. But don’t take my word for it! See the results for yourself:

On my lid I’m wearing the Aquatic Rose shadow (with another shadow in the outer corner to add dimension). I applied the Aquatic Green waterproof eye pencil to my upper lash line as well as onto my lower water line. On my lashes is the Aquatic Green mascara. I love how much the pencil works with the mascara – it looks so seamless to me, particularly on the lower lashes.

Do you see what I mean when I say the mascara is dark enough to pass off as a black but still retains that teal-ness to it? Incredible, seriously incredible.

I decided to test out the waterproof claims during a particularly nasty weekend in Toronto. Here’s what my makeup looked like after I had been out in the rain for over an hour AND after I’d gone and seen Inside Out (movie) which was definitely sappy enough to cause me to mist up a bit. You can see that a very small section of my lower waterline has lifted off (and I’m prone to water line problems – there’s only one other product I’ve tried that will actually stay put there), but the remainder of the makeup stayed exactly where I had put it. No colour bleeding, no raccoon eyes… Waterproof products? I’d say so!

Side note: I loved this loved this look so much that I wore it for three days straight – something I never, ever do!

Final Thoughts

I’m in love! I need to check out more by Clarins because this collection surprised and delighted me. I love that everything I tried was truly waterproof because that’s what everyone is looking for in the summer. There’s nothing attractive about your makeup melting off your face and I feel like everything I tried held up to whatever I put it through.

If I had to choose a favourite product out of the three I tried, I think I’d go with the mascara. The colour on that mascara was subtle but it worked out so well.  That being said, all three products were wonderful so you can’t really go wrong with any of them.

So how about you? Is there something from Clarins that you love that I need to try out? Or is it a brand that you’ve not yet tried?

The products featured in this review were provided by PR for consideration.