No7: Amazing Eyes Pencil Review

I had a look at the customer reviews of these No7 Amazing Eyes Pencils on the Boots website and it appears that these pencils enjoy pretty good ratings. There were some negative reviews but there were many positive ones: 'favourite eye liner', 'stays on for hours', 'so long wearing', 'doesn't smudge'.

Well, I won't spout forth such words, I'm afraid.

These eyeliner pencils came in a holiday boxset that was issued by No7 in the run-up to Christmas. You've seen those three very pretty but disappointing eyeshadow palettes, Stay Perfect (Mini) Trio Eye Shadow Palettes - Cappuccino, Twilight and Beside The Sea.

The pencils that came in this boxset are smaller versions of those in the normal range. The regular ones retail for £7.75 / € 7.95 per piece and come complete with a smudger at the other end. I have here 05 Black and 10 Brown. One's a matt black and the other, a lovely taupey brown with very subtle shimmer.

Ingredients

So, here's what I think:

Once properly warmed up, they go on fairly creamy and the pigmentation is all right. They are quite easy to smudge out for a smokey look.

While they aren't faded by the end of the day, I can't say they are terribly durable. On my lids, they show early signs of creasing within two hours. When used to tightline, most of it is gone by midday. They aren't waterproof, so they do smudge if you have watery eyes or say, after a short walk in the rain.

The good thing about these pencils is that they are hypoallergenic, so ladies with sensitive eyes would probably find these agreeable.

Personally, I can't give the Amazing Eyes Pencils the thumbs up. To those ladies who love them, good for you! I don't think these pencils were made for my kind of eyelids. On a couple of occasions, I actually ended up with mildly racoon eyes by evening. Not a pretty sight.


More information:
My review of the No7 Stay Perfect Mini Trio Eye Shadow Palettes
Eye looks with the abovementioned No7 eye products
Boots Nederland website
Boots UK website

Adorned Nails: KOH Grungy Touch

Hmm, I may be speaking too soon but this could be my favourite KOH Vintage Jeans polish.

I have to say, the swatch for this polish on the nail wheel that KOH passed me had a lighter shade compared to what I have on now. When applied, KOH Grungy Touch is actually a dark blue. The shade of blue is quite similar to that of KOH Casual Blue but compared side-by-side, Casual Blue has some hints of petrol blue.

Grungy Touch is a cool polish. It has those dense silver/blue microglitters and it dries matt!

I love the suede finish.

This polish was kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

Previous Vintage Jeans polish: KOH Casual Blue
Next and final Vintage Jeans polish: KOH Urban Style


Reminder: KOH Giveaway featuring KOH Red and KOH Woodstock Green.

Adorned Nails: Essence Applause, Applause

I'm taking a short break from blue nail polishes. It's Chinese New Year today and of course, no Chinese New Year is complete without the auspicious colour red.

I've got just the perfect red to welcome the Year of the Dragon. I've deliberately kept this polish for this ocassion: Applause, Applause from the Essence Circus Circus collection. You might remember the pink crème/glitter duo (stick) called Essence Cotton Candy. Well, Applause, Applause is its red counterpart.

The red crème applied beautifully, almost like jelly. I did two coats.

And then, you have the glitter half. I didn't want to do the same thing as before (with Cotton Candy) - blanketing the entire crème with the glitter polish. I gave it red glitter French tips instead. I freehanded it by pulling the brush from one side of the nail to the other.

But I'm not done yet.

I need some gold on this to complete the look. I used this Chinese-like lattice design from the Chez Delaney plate T05 and stamped it at the crème/glitter border with a gold polish from the PUPA Crackle Nail Art Kit.

To everyone ushering in the Year of the Dragon, Happy Chinese New Year!

Essence: Nail And Hand Care Gloves

I mentioned the other day in my post on the Le Couvent des Minimes Gardener's Hand Healer about sometimes wearing gloves after applying my hand cream.

Well, this is the pair of gloves that I've been using. It's a cheap and cheerful lilac-coloured pair from Essence that I bought about half a year ago. It's for bedtime use, so there's no need for anything fancy, right?

The gloves come in one size and are made of 97% cotton and 3% spandex. The gloves didn't look terribly promising when I first removed them from the packaging - notice the scrunched-up sections at the base of the fingers (my first thought: Essence knows how to make great nail polish potions and yet, they can't make a simple pair of gloves?!!).

Fortunately, when worn, the fit is okay for me. The thumbs are a bit too long but that's not a major issue. Some ladies may find the fit for the other fingers a bit short though.

They are machine-washable and after some months' use and washes, I'm definitedly seeing some fuzzing. These gloves retail for only €1.99 per pair. At such a budget-friendly price, I should perhaps get me a couple of backups, in case Essence decides to discontinue this item.

What Essence says about these gloves:
The cotton nail & hand care gloves are just the right thing when your hands need some time off. After applying essence hand and nail care products, simply pull them on and relax overnight. The gloves make the care effect even more intensive and your hands will look young and pampered again the next morning! Now rough, chapped hands are a thing of the past!


More information:
Essence Cosmetics website