Here is a part one of the ItStyle reviews. I went to the store opening in Murska Sobota and got a bag full of their products. It took me a bit of time to properly test it all, but here are my thoughts.
Before I'm starting to talk about the products, let's talk more about the brand. ItStyle is Italian beauty brand that offers a wider range of makeup products as well as some other accessories. All the products are manufacture in Italy.
As soon as I saw the store, I thought of Kiko. If you've ever been to Kiko, you'll notice that the layout is pretty much the same. Makes sence, since Kiko is also an Italian brand. You get a wide range of colors in all ranges. It's definitely an eye catcher for beauty lover. What I like the most was a wide range of shades, especially among eye liners, nail polishes and lipsticks. I also couldn't take my eyes of the glitter and found a fun scent among their perfume shelves. I believe it's called Sun. It's been stuck in my mind ever since. A really summery oriental scent, if anyone is interested.
I should mention that this is the first official ItStyle store in Slovenia. Imagine my surprise when I heard this and the fact that it's in Murska Sobota (think of the part of your country that's on the other side of all the action and all the good stores). But I guess it makes sense, since we're also located near the three boarders (Austria, Hungary and Croatia) and it opens up a wider market, since we get foreign buyers into our shopping centers often.
I've seen online that ItStyle has limited editions, but I'm not sure if they're available in our store. It would be fun though.
Now let's talk about my experience with the products. I'll try to keep it as brief as possible, since I tested a lot of products.
ItStyle 24 Hour Foundation - 04 Medium Beige
Foundation comes in a heavy glass bottle with a plastic top and a plastic pump. You can pump out a small amount of product.
In it is 30 ml of foundation and it costs 13.95€.
It has a thicker consistency. To the touch it's smooth and it spreads with ease. It has a greasy feeling base to it, but it doesn't look greasy on the skin at all.
The coverage is actually really good, I'd say medium to full coverage. You can obviously build it up, but it can look a bit heavy. It hides everything except pimples. The finish is what I would call semi-matte. It doesn't look deadly matte, it has just a bit of sheen to it.
You have to blend it quickly, because it sets quickly. You won't need to set it, if you're skin is not oily. It's obviously not the most natural looking because of the higher coverage, but I love that.
It lasted through the sweat and hot weather, so it's definitely long lasting. On my t zone it just got a bit more sheeny, but not shiny at all. I last checked it after 5 hours and it still looked flawless.
It seems to have some fragrance to it, but it's not too obvious.
Obviously the shade is way too dark for me, so I mixed it with Catrice Lightening Transformer Drops. Just so that I could wear it through the day and go out normally. I did use it in the original shade on the outer parts of my face, where I almost applied it as a bronzer. I set it with powder only on my t zone.
For some reason, I think this was the lightest shade in the store. I'm not sure, I'll have to check. But on their website they have shade 01 Ivory as their lightest. That one would probably be a good match for me.
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| Lips: Paese Silky Mat Lipstick in 707 |
ItStyle Compact Blush - 04 Plum and 09 Peach
The blushes come in a plastic black packaging with a transparent plastic lid. It's a very cheap looking packaging as well as plastic. I feel like this could break any time.
In each is 5 grams of product and it costs 7.95€.
Texture of these is very hard and dry to the touch. There's a stiff layer over these that you have to break in order to get any color off of them. They swatch worse than they apply. I feel like you have to put a bit more effort in it to apply them evenly, because they can look a bit patchy because of that texture.
Pigmentation is actually still kind of poor. I like my blushes very subtle, so it doesn't bother me that much. Although I do kind of hate building them up. I'd much rather apply it lightly on the brush and just do one swipe on the cheeks. But they both lasted on my cheeks through the whole day, although they did fade a bit. Shade 04 is more pigmented and easier to apply than 09.
I'm kind of confused with the shade names. They should be named the opposite. In fact they both seem quite similar in the packaging, but look just slightly different on the actual cheek.
Both blushes have a cheap powdery scent to it.
09 Plum is a peachy pink shade with a slight pink sheen to it. I can't decide if it's cool or warm toned. Obviously on me it looks warm toned.
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| Lips: Etude House Fresh Cherry Tint in PK001 and ItStyle Lip Gloss in 09 Meat Pink |
04 Peach is a brighter warm mauve shade. It has that muddiness to it and it's matte with a slight sheen to it.
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| Lips: ItStyle Lip Pencil in 12 Red |
ItStyle Compact Blush in 04 Peach is a brighter warm mauve shade. It has a bit of peach to it, a bit of pink and a bit of that mauve undertone. Next to it I compared Catrice Illuminating Blush in 010 I Am Nuts About You and it's slightly lighter and less warm peach toned. Next to it is Trend It Up Powder Blush in 050 which is again similar, but has cooler and less peachy undertone to it. It also has a bit more of that silver sheen to it.
Compact blush in 09 Plum is peachy pink shade with a slight pink sheen to it. It's also a bit dirty looking like 04. I compared it with H&M Pure Radiance Powder Blusher in Rosy Brown. Rosy Brown is actually even more peachy toned and warmer. It has that same slight sheen as 09 but the sheen here is slightly warmer. It's like a peachier version of 09.
ItStyle Hydrating Lip Balm
The lip balm comes in a white plastic packaging with silver details. It closes securely.
It doesn't say how much is in it, but it costs 5.95€.
They have more versions of lip balms, but this one is for dry and chapped lips. It has a waxy texture. The texture reminds me of Burt's Bees lip balms, so those that have more wax in it. But it still applies smoothly and doesn't feel heavy on the lips. It's slightly greasy, but doesn't make your lips sticky.
It gives a slight sheen to the lips, but doesn't actually look shiny. Which means it's a good base for other lip products.
In the bullet it looks pink, but goes on transparent. The scent of it is fruity sweet.
ItStyle Lip Gloss - 09 Meat Pink and 10 Brown
Lip glosses come in a plastic lip gloss packaging with silver details. They close well and don't leak.
In each is 9 ml of product and it costs 5.95€.
I love the formula of these. It's ultra comforting to wear and almost kind of soothing. Not too thick, but also not too liquid. There's no stickiness to it, but it does stay on the lips fairly well for a lip gloss. Obviously it's not a long lasting product.
Shade 10 is a bit more pigmented, although still sheer as you would expect from a proper lip gloss. Shade 09 is sheerer, or at least it seems so, because it's actually lighter in the shade.
The scent is somewhat chemical and cookie dough like.
10 Brown is just what it says. It's a warm light brown shade. I love these kind of shades, so this is definitely one of my favorite products by them.
09 Meat Pink is a light mauve pink shade. It actually looks sheerer than 10 and looks a lot lighter on the lips.
ItStyle Lip Pencil - 12 Red and 14 Natural Beige
It comes in a shiny black pen form. On the bottom of each pen is an indicator that tells you what shade is inside.
In each is 1.1 grams of product and it costs 3.95€.
The formula of these goes on the lips really smooth and it feels just slightly sticky. However it doesn't stick your lips together, it just adheres to the lips really well.
Pigmentation is great and you can do one swipe and it covers the lips well. With darker shades, like the red one, you will need to apply all over the lips in order to look super opaque.
I like the formula, because it feels fairly lightweight, is long lasting and doesn't feel drying at all. It's quite comfortable to wear.
They don't have a scent.
12 Red is a warmer classic red. I usually have cool toned red lip liners, but this one has a a nice warmth to it. I really like this shade.
14 Brown is a warm toned medium brown. It's a pure brown that I don't have in a pencil form yet and I really like this shade. It's going to be perfect for fall.
ItStyle Extra Mat Lipstick - 01 Brown Plum
It has a rubberized matte black packaging and it closes securely. The details are silver.
In it is 4 grams of product and it costs 9.95€.
The formula is a bit thicker and it doesn't have that ultra smooth feel like Avon Perfectly Matte lipsticks. But it adheres to the lips really well and it's pretty long lasting.
It has good pigmentation. You get a good color payoff with just one swipe on the lips.
The finish is not completely matte, because it has a bit of sheen to it. To me it just looks like a high pigmented lipstick. But to be fair, it doesn't have a shine to it either. If you blot it down, it looks more matte.
If you apply too much it can look a bit uneven and it starts to gather in the center of the lips, which I hate. So it's not the easiest formula to wear. Obviously it will emphasize dry patches.
The scent is somewhat creamy and artificial.
01 Brown Plum is a medium burgundy shade with a slight plum tint to it. But in general a perfect mix of plum and brown, just like they named it.
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| Eye makeup: here |
ItStyle Lip Liner in 12 is a warm and slightly brighter red. I don't have any dupes for it. Kiko Smart Fusion Lip Pencil in 513 Red Papaya is a lot brighter and more orange toned shade. Avon True Colour Perfectly Matte Lipstick in Coral Fever seems similar, but is in fact more vibrant and more peach toned. Lip Liner in 14 is also a unique brown in my collection. It's a medium cool toned brown. It seems to have that grey purple undertone to it. Golden Rose Dream Lips Lipliner in 501 is a lot lighter nude shade with a peach undertone. Avon True Colour Perfectly Matte Lipstick in Marvelous Mocha is also lighter and again a warmer brown shade with peach undertone to it. The closest shade to is Avon True Supreme Nourishing Lipstick in Smooth Mocha which has that cooler brown tone to it, although it's still a lot warmer than the lip liner shade.
ItStyle Extra Mat Lipstick in 1 is medium burgundy shade with a slight purple tint to it. Avon Mark Plump It Lipstick in Divine Wine is a lot lighter and more purple mauve shade. Avon Mark Plump It Lipstick in Truffle seems more similar with that browny red shade, although this one is more brown toned.
ItStyle Lipgloss in 10 is a warm toned brown. It has a lot of peach undertone in it. Colourpop Ultra Glossy Lip in Weho is very similar. I notice that Weho is just slightly more brown toned and has a bit less of that peach undertone in it.
Here are also the swatches of all the products.
An overall thought of this brand is that there are some good products at an affordable prices and then there are some products that are just not worth it for me. Some products also have a quite high prices for what they are. I like the foundation and I'm even considering getting the lightest shade (if they actually have it in the store) since it has great coverage and I didn't even need to powder it. I also really like their lip glosses which have such a comfortable formula. Lip pencils are also winners in my book. I hope that they have a wide range of colors, because I would definitely get more. They apply smooth, stay on well and don't feel drying.
I don't really have much to say about the lip balm. It's such a basic product and every person has their preferences on what it should feel like on the lips. I prefer a more nourishing ones and greasier. I hated the fact that mat lipstick formula gathered in the center and it's also not completely matte. The biggest let down in this category had to be the blushes. I actually like both shades, but the packaging is so cheap and the top layer is so hard, that I wouldn't buy another shade from this range.
I'll have a second part of the review up next. It's more about the eye products as well as nail polishes. In the second part will also be a giveaway, so keep an eye out for that.
*PR products
