Showing posts with label pencil. Show all posts

Rimmel: Exaggerate Eye Definer, Wonder'Swipe Liner to Shadow and Scandaleyes Volume On Demand Mascara

I received a package from Rimmel a while ago. It was inspired by a London look which I can see with these color schemes. I already have some of my favorites from Rimmel and I was excited to try new products out. 


Review: NYX Micro Brow Pencil - Taupe

I was avoiding buying NYX Micro Brow Pencil for such a long time, because I just thought it's too expensive. But then I had the chance to check out shades in person in store and I gave it a go. It's always compared to Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz. I am cheap when it comes to brown pencils, because I use them daily and there's so little product in it, that I go through it so fast. 

Review: Maybelline Tattoo Liner - 900 Onyx

I first heard about this liner from Mateja and when I saw it in the store, I decided to give it a try. As much as I love liquid liners, it's sometimes too much work to put on. Sometimes I just prefer a pencil which smudges quickly, gives me just enough definition and I'm already out the door. This new Maybelline Tattoo Liner is one of the better ones from the drugstore that I have tried in a while.


Review: Essence Micro Precise Eyebrow Pencil - 02 light brown

Essence added new Micro Precise Eyebrow Pencils to their range. In an instant I saw these, it reminded me of Catrice Slim'matic version. After all, it's the same brand and they are both known for bringing out similar products. I love these tiny brow pencils for defining the edges of my brows.

Review: Avon Mark Epic Intense Eyeshadow Mini Palette - Color Crush and The Big Intense Kohls

I recently received the most colorful palette from Avon Mark Epic Intense Eyeshadow Mini Palette collection - shade Color Crush and I wanted to share it on the blog, because I think it's so fun. Avon has also updated packaging and added some new shades to their The Big Intense Kohl Longwear Kohl Eyeliner and I'm sharing with you new shades.

Review: Catrice Lip Foundation Pencil (020 Caramel Blonde To Go, 030 Addicted To Cafe Au Lait)

One of the Catrice novelties that got my attention when I saw it in the store, were their Lip Foundation Pencils. I adore Essence lip pencil formulas, but Catrice's were usually a bit drier and they didn't have as many nudes. Now they came out with a range dedicated only to nude lip colors. 


It comes in a pencil form with black design. The bottom and cap should indicate the shade inside, although I would urge you to test them in the store, if they offer testers. 

In each is 1.3 grams of product and it costs 2.59€.


My problem with lip pencils is that they usually have names written on the pen and once you sharp it a few times, the name is gone. These have names on the caps, just don't mismatch them, if you have more then one. 


It's a regular pen that you have to sharp and it fits into most regular sharpeners.


Catrice offers 4 nude shades. The lightest one 010 Can't You Hear That Super Base? was a bit too pink for my liking. I like nudes to be more warm toned and less pink. I also didn't get the darkest shade called 040 Take You To The Chocolate Shop as it looked too dark for my natural lip color. In general these are all very much suited for light to medium skin tones. If you're darker, these will look too pale on you.

I got two shades that seemed the most similar to my natural lip color, although I have very pale lips anyway. The shade 020 Caramel Blonde To Go is a more pink toned nude with warm undertone. 030 Addicted To Cafe Au Lait is more peach toned nude and it also has warm undertone


I compared it to some of my other similar lip liner shades. Golden Rose Dream Lips Lipliner in 501 is the peachiest nude of these all and it's somewhat brighter than others. Essence Lipliner in 11 In The Nude (old formula) has similar warm nude tone, but it's a bit more brownish and slightly darker. 


The formula reminds me of the old Essence Lipliner formula. New one is a bit harder to the touch, while older version was creamier. Essence Longlasting Lipliners are even creamier than this one from Catrice and could easily be categorized under lipsticks. I find that it's the most similar to my Golden Rose Dream Lips Lipliner formula, which I adore. It has the perfect combination of good pigmentation, creamy waxy texture and it's not greasy. 

Finish doesn't have any shine. It's what they describe velvet matte and I agree. It's smooth to apply, but gives you wanted precision and it wears comfortably. I don't feel like it dries out my lips, but it's a matte formula, so it won't nourish the lips either. It will accentuate any dry patches that you may have.

On me these last really well, like normal bullet version of matte lipsticks. 

You can also see how both shades look on me. The difference between these is minimal, but you can still notice one being more pink and one being more peachy nude.





I am a true lover of nude lipsticks and even more so of nude lip pencils. With a nude lip pencil I can define my lips and even cheat a bit with making them slightly larger on certain parts. It gives you the lasting power of a matte lipstick, but doesn't dry out your lips. Formula is creamy enough, but also precise enough for detailed application. Both nude shades are perfect my-lips-but-better shades. I am really impressed with these and for the price, you should really try at least one shade, if you like nude lip pencils.

Review: Catrice Slim'matic Ultra Precise Brow Pencil (Light, Medium, Dark)

One of the new products by Catrice that I was most looking forward to trying out was Catrice Slim'matic Ultra Precise Brow Pencil. I've been on a haunt for the perfect shade of super slim brow pencil ever since my brows developed a few gaps. There's so much emphasis on brows these days, that you can't not analyze yours and try to make them a bit fuller than they actually are. Don't get me wrong, I still hate Instagram brows. My brows need to be fuller, but still look like I actually have hair and not too precise, because that just makes me look like an evil witch.


Pencils come in a very slim pencil shape. Packaging is colored in the shade of pencil, so you can easily spot different shades in the store. On one side is very fine pencil tip that is 1.5 mm wide. On the other side is a spoolie. I love spoolies and think every brow pencil needs them. I always brush my brows before applying the product and after I've applied to blend it together and prevent it from looking too bold. This spoolie is just soft enough and not too hard to the touch. I think it does the job good. I also like that caps are different color so that I don't get confused where each belongs.

In it is only 0.05 grams of product and the price is 3.29€. I bought two in Austrian DM where the price is 2.95€. I've been using one of the shades for three and a half weeks and there's still some product inside, so it doesn't get used up super quickly. 



A few photos to give you an idea how slim this pencil actually is.




I have all three shades. One was sent to me and I bought two other shades, because I wasn't sure which one would suit me better. 


010 Light* is obviously the lightest brown and it has a very obvious yellow undertone. It's a bit too light and too warm for me (it might work in the summer when my hair almost gets blonde). 

020 Medium is my favorite shade and it suits me best. It's the most grey toned brown, but isn't too dark. In fact, it's the most similar to my favorite Catrice brow pencil - Catrice Eye Brow Stylist in 020 Date With Ash-ton

030 Dark is the darkest, although it's definitely not too dark. Just a shade or two darker than 020 Medium. It has more of a chocolate brown shade, but also a bit of yellow undertone to it.

Range is more suited towards light skin tones or brow shades. The darkest shade is still not dark enough for really dark brows. The lightest shade might work for lighter brows, but it might be too warm for ashy blonde hair. There would be nice to have a very light grey in the range as well.


I also compared it to some of my other shades. Catrice Eye Brow Stylist in 020 Date With Ash-ton is one of my favorite shades of brow pencil. It's similar to 020 Medium. The only difference is that 020 Medium is slightly darker and just a bit less yellow toned. I find that it's the closest shade to 020 Date With Ash-tone. Holika Holika Wonder Drawing Skinny Brow in 02 Dark Brown is the most yellow toned. In darkness it looks more similar to 030 Dark, but has a lot more visible yellow undertone to it.


Pencil has quite soft but still firm texture, kind of like a crayon almost. You can draw hair like strokes and depending on pressure, you can control how dark it shows up. In general you can make this really natural and sheer or apply more and make it bolder. Catrice says that it has powdery texture, but I wouldn't say that. It's more like a matte cream that doesn't have any shine and it doesn't move through the day. It's definitely long lasting. I would advise you to only pull out as much product as you need for one application. I've heard some say that it may break quickly, but it hasn't done this to me yet.

In general the pigmentation is very good. Definitely better than their Catrice Eye Brow Stylist pencil.

The tip is really precise and allows you to create very thin hair like strokes. I usually work in small sections with short strokes slowly filling in where I feel I have gaps and making a cleaner line on the edges. This is perfect for those that just want to fill gaps and not color in the whole brow. 


Here are my natural brows.


I've applied all three shades to give you some idea as to how they look like on me. In general, I could wear all these shades, because they are not that different once they're on brows. I only think that Light doesn't really suit me right now that I have darker hair.




On the bottom photo I'm wearing shade 020 Medium.


I am really happy that Catrice decided to make pencils like these. I love that they're really precise, well pigmented, have nice texture and are long lasting. I can make my brows more natural or fill them in completely. The shades are also a bit cooler as I like them. Especially compared to Korean such products.

Review: Holika Holika Wonder Drawing Skinny Eyebrow - 02 Dark Brown

I have been on a search for a brow product that would offer me something precise with which I could draw on individual brows. So far, Holika Holika Skinny Eyebrow turned out to be a good choice. It was extremely hard to find super slim brow pencil in our drugstores. Thankfully, Catrice recently came out with Slim'matic Ultra Precise Brow Pencil. I also both that one in two colors, so expect a review soon and comparison with Holika Holika.


The packaging is a slim plastic pencil form in the color that it's inside. Mine is 02 Dark Brown. There are two sides, one with a spoolie and one with an actual pen. They both close really securely, but also not too tight. I also like the fact that both sides have different length of caps and only fit on one side, so you can't get confused or ruin the product by putting it on the wrong side.

In it is only 0.05 grams of product and it costs 7.98$ on Jolse. Looking back at it, I must have been crazy to justify this price for such a small amount of product. The pencil is so thin that you can't expect a lot of product, but there could still be more in it.



Spoolie is quite basic and not too hard, but definitely not soft to the touch. I find that it brushes my brows well. It's also not too long.


Pencil side is really small and slim. I would say it's around 1-2 mm wide. It comes with a straight cut tip, but with use usually gets rounded. You can definitely draw on hair like strokes with great precision


Shade 02 Dark Brown is what I would describe as a medium brown, but it has an obvious yellow undertone. It actually suits my hair color well, because I usually color my hair in medium warm brown that has golden sheen to it. So for that, it suits me, but I would still prefer a more natural grey toned brown as it would be more like my natural brow color. I've noticed that most Korean brow products have yellow undertone and this might be a turn off for all of you looking for something natural, more grey based.


I compared it to my favorite brow pencil - Catrice Eye Brow Stylist in 020 Date With Ash-ton. Catrice is a lot more grey based, even though it still has some warmth to it. They are both a medium brown, but Holika Holika is actually really pigmented and can quickly look darker if you apply more.


The texture of pencil is medium hard. It allows you to draw on hair like strokes. Depending on how much pressure you put on, that's how dark it will be. You can also make it lighter by using light hand when drawing. It doesn't feel greasy or waxy in any way. 

It has a matte finish and good pigmentation. It's also really long lasting. On my brows it stays through the whole day without any touch ups. 


I wanted to compare size of its slim pencil to my other pencils. Essence LE Lights of Orient Eyebrow Shaper in 01 Sunkissed Beauty is the largest pencil, but it's in fact a normal eyeliner pencil size. Next to it is Trend It Up Ultra Slim Kajal in 020 which is as small as Holika Holika pencil. 


Here are more photos of how spoolie and pencil look on the brows to give you an idea how big they actually are.



On my left side is my natural brow. As you can see, my natural brows are very grey toned. I also have a few gaps which I want to fill in with a color that would be dark enough, but would allow me to apply it in short strokes instead of filling it all in like a coloring book.

On my right side I lightly applied Holika Holika pencil. My brows looks more defined with it, slightly darker, definitely warmer and fuller. But it still doesn't look like an Instagram brow which I really dislike. 



Compared to my warm hair color, this shade of pencil doesn't look off and it actually works on me.


Holika Holika is my first skinny or slim brow pencil and I am definitely in love. I love how precise you can get with it, the fact that it has good pigmentation and that it stays on my brows through the whole day. The shade is still not what I'm looking for. I want something that is more greyish and closer to my natural brow color. Because this one is so warm toned I have to fill in my entire brow otherwise it looks weird. I want something that I can just fill in the gaps and it looks exactly like my natural brows, but just a tad bit warmer and I think I found that in new Catrice brow product that I'll have a review up soon. Catrice's pencil is also cheaper, because paying that much for 0.05 grams is too much for me. 

Review: Non.U Eyebrow Pencil (shade 2)

Hey Beauties!

Another product to review from Born Pretty Store. I've seen this particularly shaped eyebrow pencils in some higher end makeup products, so I was interested to try cheaper version first. I chose this one from Non.U.



It comes in a paper box. It has shiny black plastic packaging with purple writing on it. It closes securely and the packaging is of good quality

It costs 3.78$ and you can buy it here.


It is double-ended product. On one side you'll get eyebrow pencil and on the other side you'll get a spooly. Very convenient, since I always use spooly before and after I draw in my brows.


Eyebrow pencil has a drop like shape. I think the shape should allow you to draw hair like stripes with one side being thicker and the other side creating thinner end of the hair. Unfortunately, I think it's a bit too thick in general to create thin natural looking hair. 

Spooly is great it makes it easy to brush the hair and blend the product. 



The pencil is more of a cream pencil. It's very creamy for something that's defined as an eyebrow pencil. It looks like a cream product in a pencil form. The fact that this is creamy, means it's not long lasting. It doesn't really dry to any more matte finish, so this can fade or go off, if you touch it. I also don't like the fact that the brows look a bit shiny, because of the cream formula. 

I chose the shade 2, because it seemed like the lightest brown. It's actually pretty dark yellow based brown. The warm yellow undertone is quit noticeable on the swatches. I don't think this is light brown, it's more suited for medium brows, maybe even the best for Mediterranean skin tones, because of a yellow undertone. It's a bit too dark for my taste and my current hair color. 


I apply this in a way that I brush my brows with a spooly.


Then I draw a few lines in between my brows, where I have sparser parts. After that I brush the brows again with the spooly, to spread product through the brows. 


This creates a stronger darker brow. As you can see it still is a bit more on the warmer side and fairly bold in terms of impact and color. 

On the packaging there are instructions on how to apply it. It seems like you should draw the upper end of the brows first, then go in the down part of the end of the brow. After that connect the front upper part with the end upper part and front lower part with the end lower part of the brow. Kind of like an "instagram brows" thing, where you start to outline the brows. Then I just blend it all and I'm left with the same result. 

Because of the cream like formula it makes the blending process really easy, but it also makes it messy. I think the formula should be harder and this way you would get a lot more precision. 


There is nothing essentially wrong with this product, it's just not after my taste. It's a very creamy eyebrow pencil. The shade is too dark for my brows and it's more suited for darker brows. I don't like the fact that it's a bit thicker and you can't draw thinner lines with it. I also don't like the creamy slightly shiny look that it gives to the brows. Double-ended design is what drew me to it in the first place and I love the packaging and multi-functional use of it.

This would be perfect for someone that wants that perfectly draw on and filled in brows, what it's referred to as "instagram brows". It might even be better for someone that has very  sparse or short brows, because this gives off a lot of color payoff. Though you might wanna think about that creamy formula and maybe set it with some powder after applying it. 

If you're planning on getting something from Born Pretty Store, you can use my code PETRAH10 and you'll get a discount of 10%