New Max Factor Excess Shimmer Shadows And Eye Liners

Whatever is in the water over at Max Factor, its doing them serious good. They are coming out with new products every few weeks its seems, with a full nail varnish line, a foundation and now 2 more added to the ever growing list. Might I first introduce their new *Max Factor excess shimmer eye shadows. Oh mammy now these are something I can really talk at length about, would you just look at them! Six shimmer gel based, cream-like, dark to light pots that dreams are made from. 

The first thing I noticed with these little pots was how well they were sealed. At times you can pick up a product in the shop and you wouldn't be sure if its been opened as there is no protective seal or plastic, so this was a plus for me. I'm getting more obsessive about hand sanitizer and hygiene in general as I get older and make up is a big one. The pots themselves aren't much to look at with plain black lids, but flip them over and you get to see whatever lovely shade you have picked inside the glass. The only thing that bothered me with some of these was the lids tend to loosen and can come off, which is a pain if you popped one in your makeup bag. But a plus is that despite them being glass, they don't weigh down your overall makeup bag. So as you can imagine I'm carting them around (carefully) with me everywhere!

The six shades are all beautiful in their own right with Crystal being a light pearly white - which is amazing on the inner eye and under the brow as highlighters. Next in the light side is Pearl which is still giving me a hard time to work with, I tend to use this near the waterline or the inner corners on my eye and build colours over it. Something like the lovely Pink Opal, its a colour I would never ever normally use as I am too fond of my darks, but wow does this pink shimmer really work wonders for my green eyeballs! 

Although the three lighters shades are lovely, the three darker shades in this collection are my utter love. A Copper that is so subtle you could wear it on its own as a natural look. Then my favourite of the lot, Bronze. I have a feeling this eye shadow will have every last bit dug out from the base and be overused. Lastly a bold black in Onyx that makes the most perfect smoky eye. 

I need to sit down after describing all those shades, they are just too much for me to handle. 

A few things to note when using these eye shadows. For all gel/cream based shadows, its always best to use a base of primer and then a regular powder in a close shade to your base gel/cream shadow. This helps them to stay longer and not slide into the crease of your eye. Thats never a good look. I personally don't think they last the 12 hours that Max Factor say they do, but they last most of the day, with just a little topping up needed if your going out later that night.

 Another thing is that these eye shadows build amazingly, like just wow. With a brush or with your fingers, they are so feckin' easy to work with and blend together really well. A big thumbs up to the lovely people in Max Factor for getting it spot on with these. You can pick them up in Boots right now for €9.99 - but theres a 3 for 2 offer on, so you will be able to get three! (If not more. Enabler? Me! Never.) 

Next is the *Max Factor excess intensity longwear eyeliners. There are already six of these in shops now, but these three colours are going to be released in January to compliment the new shimmer eye shadows. These three are violet, jade and cobalt that twist up to release the eyeliner. I'm a big fan of the strong blue liner over black liner to give the eye a major pop, but I'm a little ifie with the other two colours. I'm certainly not brave enough to go out and about with these striking colours just yet, but around the house I look pretty damn fancy - if I do say so myself.

These are smooth and easy to apply, but I think they could be almost too soft as they snap off easily if you twist them up even a little too far. They also tend to move a bit more then other eyeliners I have tried. But pared with a good primer and I think they stay much longer, without budging. They are definitely not smudge/water proof like Max Factor claims, nor are they near 12 hour long lasting, but they do still work well. I think there particularly handy because you never need to sharpen them - but that could just be the lazy in me talking.  For €8.99 with the three for two offer in Boots at the moment, you can try out the other shades while you wait for these ones to be released in January. 

Do any shades call out to you?

*I did not pay for this item, it was a PR gift.  Please see my disclaimer here. 

Brand Spotlight: Oriflame 'The One'

Last month I was delighted to attend the launch of Oriflame's new collection 'The One' that is aimed at a younger audience - post here. I was given some of the range to try out and I have to admit, I went from not even knowing this brand existed to pleading for some of the products for my birthday next month. I'm genuinely converted to this brand and can't understand why I don't see it more on the blogosphere. Everything in this post has been gifted to me (see my disclaimer here) and you can order online here.

First up is the gorgeous colour impact cream eye shadow in the shimmer colours rose gold and golden brown. Theres 8 colours in this collection and the wonderful thing that I noticed is that they all compliment each other. You could literally buy any of them and create a look, this is perfect for beginners or maybe someone who isn't quite sure about a little present! I really love the little plastic pots that they come in, they look high end and something to display on your beauty draw or in your room. The two here are easy to use, no fussing over make up brushes or any need to overly blend. Stick your finger in the pot, swipe over your lids and your good to go. Personally I like to use a base of a regular eye shadow in a similar shade before applying the cream shadows for a base - the creams will stay longer and they wont crease.

 Initially I thought the price of €12.95 was crazy for a tiny pot until I used them for a few days, seeing how well they looked, blended and stayed put all day, not to mention after a month of daily use there is hardly a dent in the product. Right now they are on sale for €9.45, so I may just indulge.. 

Keeping with the the theme I want to talk about the volume blast mascara in black. I'm not a big mascara buff, I either like it or I don't, simple as. For me this was an ok one, I liked the length of the wand and the plastic bristles are small so its easy to get up close to the base of the lashes, but the formula didn't blow me away. For €12.45 I think you could get a cheaper and possibly better mascara from Seventeen or another brand. It also only comes in black or blue, which I think is odd that they don't have a more sought after shade like brown. Maybe they might add to the line and more colours will appear.   

However the real gem that I have been bursting at the seams to tell anyone that will listen is the eye liner stylo in black. I wasn't going to even try this when I first saw it, liquid liner and pencil are the only things I use, not even gel makes the cut. I had used these felt tip pen-like liners before and had a dreadful time of it. But seeing as I wanted to be able to write a decent review for the aul blog, I decided to take the pen to my eye balls. And lads, I'm so feckin' glad I did, you've no idea. I have actually swapped everything I normally use for this felt tip liner, its got me all a-flutter with its stupidly easy to use ways, its unbelievably staying power and its tiny tip that makes wings utterly perfect. I'm wearing it in the photo above and there are swatches in the photos below too. When this runs out I will be getting it again, theres just no other way to say it. At €11.45 I would normally think its a crazy ass price, but you can't put a price on love. 

Next its all about them under eye dark circles, oh bane of my life. I'm all about the concealers and colour correcting make up, if I don't have a good base my foundation and the rest of my make up is just going to go flop. This is the illuskin concealer in the shade fair light, one of only three lighter skined shades you can ger. I'm always a little annoyed when brands don't cater for a wider range of skin tones and this is one of those times. But that rant is for another day. This little tube is easy to use and the product is creamy and easy to apply, not drying out too quick so yo have time to blend and set it. The photo above in the bottom left hand corner is a swatch slightly blended into the skin, you can barely see it as it matches my skin tone so well. I'm impressed with this and it says put all day once its set with powder, but I'm not sure if I would pay €9.95 for it as I use other concealers that I have loved for a long time that are cheaper.

I'm not going to say too much about the long wear nail polish in the shade cappuccino as I want to do a separate review on it soon, with proper swatches and a big natter on what I think of it. But overall, I like the range of 15 shades that come in this line. Cappuccino isn't my normal go-to colour or something that I would ever pick out, but when I used it I was surprised at how much I liked it. I think this would be a good one for winter. At €9.45 its not really breaking the bank, 

Next is another big love from this collection, colour unlimited lipstick in the shade fuchsia excess. I don't know if I should start with how much I love the sturdy but cute packaging, the easy to use tube and product, the staying power or the excitement I felt when I saw the range of colours. Its just one of those products, you pick it up for the nice packaging and go back to buy 1 more after you see how gorgeous it really is. This isn't overly moisturising but its incredibly pigmented. It has a crazy lasting power after a few drinks, some food and a sneaky kiss it was definitely faded but not in the 'oh my god are they my lips?! Jesus someone pass me the lippie to fix this catastrophe!' way, more in the, ah I'll fix it when I'm off to the loo next, way. And eh bonus points, this colour matches my hair! We all know I love a good hair and lip match, yes sir. This comes in 10 different colours and I want at least 6 more. For €13.75 I do think its a little dear, but if you were treating yourself to some hair/shoe/jumper matching lipsticks, I think these ones should be on the list.

 Lastly is the illuskin blush in pink glow. I'm not much for the blushes, I have to admit. I thought this was a little too pink toned for my complexion, but none if I had a little tan I think this would have been gorgeous. Curse looking naturally like a milk bottle. The lighter side is more of a higher and has a shimmer to it compared to the matte pink blush. A handy two in one product that also has a little mirror. This comes in 2 other shades and I personally love the more peach toned compact. Its normally €12.45 but its currently marked down to €9.45. 

Is there anything that caught your eye here? Have you heard of Oriflame before?

*I did not pay for these items, they were  PR gifts.  Please see my disclaimer here