Black pencil liners aren’t really exciting to talk about. I mean, it’s black, and hopefully it does its job. What that job is though can really change from person to person though. For me, a black pencil liner is used to tightline my waterlines (that flap of skin on the inside of your lashes!) and it must. stay. put.
Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Eye Crayong in Blacquer
I’ve used many a pencil liner over the years that just completely bled off my water line. They’d rub off, wear off, or just… melt off within about 30 minutes. How freaking frustrating is it to create the perfect eye look and then have it ruined within the hour when your eyeliner suddenly decides to gunk up and go to the inside corner of your eyeball? You might be grossed out right now, but you know it’s happened to you. It’s happened to all of us!
Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Eye Crayong in Blacquer – swatch
However, I have found a black pencil eyeliner that actually fights the powers of darkness attacking my makeup look, and that badass is the Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Eye Crayon in Blacquer. It’s got quite the long superhero name but this little guy knows how to get the job done.
It’s super black and it FRIGGING STAYS PUT on my water lines! So much so that I can actually apply it to my upper water line and it will not transfer to my bottom. I have never experienced this kind of majestic power built into an eye liner before! Seriously! I’m at the point where I’m actively throwing out all my other black pencil liners because when you find the holy grail, why bother use anything else?
‘Murica inspired look
Here it is in use on a few looks. Ugh. Look at that beauty. It’s not budging for no one.
Urban Decay Electric amazingess
Yassss yassssss!
I can get away with wearing this for roughly 13 hours without issue (I don’t think I’ve worn it longer than that). Around the 10 hour mark I will suffer some very minor outer corner fading, but that’s fairly impressive considering what I’ve had to put up with before. If you’re looking for something to wear like iron, I’d say give the Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Eye Crayons a shot.
Side note: Thank you for all of the well wishes over the last week as I’ve rebuilt my site from scratch. I’ve got 75% of the content back online (thank you, THANK YOU Google Cache!) as of typing this and I should get the remainder done this weekend. With this blog post, I’ll be resuming my normal schedule of Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, with the occasional bonus entry thrown in every now and again. It was only a week, but damn it feels good to be back.
As a blonde, I struggle with my barely visible brows. Even worse, I’m a blonde with very little brow hair at all. I don’t overpluck my brows (not even during the 90s when it was fashionable to do so) so it’s not that I got rid of them slowly over time. It’s just that I’ve really only got the first half of my eyebrow and no tail to speak of (pictures shortly!). So I’m always searching for something to use on my brows. Unfortunately, most of those options have been from highend brands (Anastasia) or harder to find brands in Canada (NYX). Sometimes you’re just searching for something cheap, and readily available, you know?
Maybelline BROW Define + Fill Duo in Blonde
Maybelline‘s brand new BROW define + fill duo fits that bill on all accounts: it’s at the drugstore and it won’t break your bank (~$10 CAD). (As a note, mine also says BROWsatin on the side of the product, but that’s not written anywhere on the box.)
Maybelline BROW Define + Fill Duo in Blonde
One end of the product has your typical brow pencil – it’s larger than the NYX or Anastasia counterparts, but it’s not enormous either. The other end has a foamy tip that picks up shadow from the cap. The intention is that you fill in your brow with the pencil and then follow it up with powder to set it.
Maybelline BROW Define + Fill Duo in Blonde – Swatch
Colour-wise, the Blonde shade I have actually matches my brows quite well. It leans a bit warm, so I think redheads could get away with wearing this shade as well. Despite the warm tones, it doesn’t make my brows look unnaturally orange, but I know some blonds prefer more of a grey cast to their products. Personally, I flip between the two without noticing much difference on myself.
Naked Brow
Here’s me with nothing on my brows. You can see that I have about half of a normal brow, but that I’m lacking a tail.
Brow filled in with Maybelline’s Define + Fill Duo – pencil only
Here’s my brow with the Maybelline define + fill duo pencil applied to my brow.
Brow filled in with Maybelline’s Define + Fill Duo – pencil + powder
And finally, with the pencil and powder applied directly to my brow.
Final Thoughts
I feel the pencil part could do with being a tad smaller in diameter. I struggled to fill in the very end of my tail without making it look too blunt. I also think the foam tip of the powder applicator is too big and I couldn’t really use it to fill in the tail of my brow since I have next to no hairs there. However, I’m happy that something labelled for blondes actually works with my colouring! Often companies make products that are flat out too dark for us and make us look rather silly. I like that the pencil dispenses enough product to help build up my brows in a natural way without looking chunky. (The pencil also doesn’t feel as scratchy as the Anastasia Brow Wiz does to me.) The products wears all day and didn’t melt off my face, so total win there!
Those with fuller brows will likely benefit from this more than I can with my half brows. That being said, I do reach for this quite often as I really like the natural look it gives me and the colour tone is perfect.
This review features a press sample sent for consideration.
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.
Clarins irisdescent shadow in Aquatic Rose
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.
Clarins irisdescent shadow in Aquatic Rose
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.
Clarins irisdescent shadow in Aquatic Rose
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.
Clarins waterproof eye pencil in Aquatic Green
Next up is the Waterproof Eye Pencil in Aquatic Green. It comes with a smudger on one side and the colour on the other.
Clarins waterproof eye pencil in Aquatic Green
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.
Truly Waterproof Mascara in Aquatic Green
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.
Truly Waterproof Mascara in Aquatic Green
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:
Clarins Aquatic Treasures – eye look
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.
Clarins Aquatic Treasures – eye look
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.
And this is how the products looked after several hours, including being out in the rain!
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.
So, I’m not a Sephora VIB Rouge member (and I’m never sure if I’m proud I’m not, or sad that I’m not), and every now and again they release items that are available to VIB Rouge members at first. Last month, I noticed Too FacedMelted Rainbow sitting oh-so-pretty on Sephora’s site but it unfortunately had the nasty “VIB Rouge only” sticker tacked onto it. VIB Rouges usually gets first pick of the crop and then eventually the products open up to the rest of us peons who haven’t spent over a thousand bucks at Sephora that year. So okay fine, I’ll wait. And wait. And wait…
Imagine my surprise (quickly followed by shock and horror) when I tweeted at Sephora and found out that Melted Rainbow was not only a Sephora exclusive, but also a solid VIB Rouge exclusive! GYAHHHH NO! I panicked – what if I never got to add Melted Rainbow to my collection? What if it became the one Melted Lipstick I never purchased? Would I look back and mourn the one missing piece in my collection?!?!
However, I’ve got friends in high places (aka they spend more than me) and I reached out. Nicole over at Beauty | Brains | + was already putting in an order that day and added my beloved Melted Rainbow lipstick to her cart. YAY!
Too Faced Melted Rainbow (limited edition)
I mean, I had to have it. Have you not seen my collection of Too Faced Melted lipsticks? This sucker is limited edition! Nothing makes a makeup addict panic like the words “limited edition” and the idea of missing out on something.
Too Faced Melted Rainbow (limited edition)
So this is it. This is Melted Rainbow. And it looks rather unlike a rainbow. Or a melted one at that. (Wouldn’t a melted rainbow actually be brown?) It has the same consistency as all the other Melted lipsticks I own and it’s packed with just as much pigment as the rest of them do. There’s nothing subtle about this colour, and I love it for that.
Too Faced – Melted Violet, Melted Rainbow and Melted Fuchsia
I was curious how this would compare to the other shades in my collection. On the web site, Melted Rainbow looked rather similar to Violet, Fuchsia, and possibly Fig. However, once I got it out of the packaging and started swatching it, there’s a very real difference between the shades.
Too Faced swatches – Melted Violet, Melted Rainbow and Melted Fuchsia
In the end, Fig was so far off the scale that it wasn’t worth swatching. However, Rainbowends up looking like the lovechild between Violet and Fuchsia. It’s certainly distinguishable enough from both shades, although it does retain some of their colour properties. But thankfully, it IS its own shade, and not so close to the others that I can’t justify owning it. (Haha… as if I wasn’t going to buy it no matter what!)
Wearing Melted Rainbow
And there’s Melted Rainbow on me. Is it normal to match your eyeshadow to your lipstick? Probably not, but hey, I like it! Melted Rainbow turned out to be an especially vivid pinky-purple that looks vastly more pink on me. I love it, and I’m so glad it’s found it’s way into my collection!
Last month I picked up Kat Von D‘s Ink Liner in Neruda (white) as a last second “oh just add it to your cart” addition to my Sephora order last month. A liquid white eyeliner is an intriguing product and I wanted to see how this would work out for me.
Kat Von D Ink Liner in Neruda
The Ink Liners, unlike the Tattoo Liners, have a felt tip brush. However, unlike a lot of felt tip brushes I seem to have encountered over the years, this one has a flex to it that is near identical to the Tattoo Liner’s brush tip. I was really, REALLY happy about this because I much prefer using brush tips for their flexibility. They give me the ability to create a sweeping line when drawing on my eyeliner AND it fills in all the necessary folds in my (aging) eyelids. By comparison, a hard felt tip tends to leave me with a jagged, disjointed line.
Kat Von D Ink Liner in Neruda – single layer versus multiple layers
The formula is a wonderfully pigmented liquid. It doesn’t feel heavy, but the pigmentation is so intense that it doesn’t require much building up. This really surprised me because whites are notorious for being translucent and nowhere near opaque. Imagine my surprise when a single swipe delivered about 90% opacity (shot on the left). Incredible! I am also able to layer it without the colour lifting!
Kat Von D Ink Liner in Neruda – winged liner
On the eyes, Neruda is so much fun to use. It can create a very mod, stark look like the one above (which I LOVED wearing, it looked so different from my usual black winged liner) or you can use it to create small accents to your eyeliner. I’ve often seen it used in double winged looks (one black wing, with a small white line beside it to add some amazing contrast).
Kat Von D Ink Liner in Neruda – winged linerKolme checking out Neruda
Final Thoughts
I didn’t buy the Kat Von DInk Liner expecting it to be waterproof, so I wasn’t disappointed in that respect. I love that the white colour is almost totally opaque, was easy to use and had a wonderful felt tip brush that mimicked my beloved brush tips. I’m also incredibly pleased that the colour stayed true to itself through a typical 12 hour day. Love, love, love! Highly recommended. If white isn’t your thing, there are also the usual black and brown shades, but there’s also some gorgeous greens and blues you may want to check out too!
