Catrice: Coolibri Eye Shadow Pens Review



I didn't get these the first time I saw them in the store. The colours seemed too ra-ra for me.

A week later at another Kruidvat store, I decided to swatch the testers on my hand. Still ra-ra but it was a Hey, I-can-make-it-work! ra-ra. I was very taken by the swatches and bought all four shades:

L-R:
01 Precious Nectar - beige gold
02 Birds Flying High - turquoise blue
03 Virgin Forest - dark spring green
04 Exotica - orange with a hint of coral

The composition of these pens is similar to that of the Catrice Made To Stay Highlighter Pen. The pens also remind me of GOSH's Mineral Waterproof Eyeshadow (sticks), only cheaper.

Coolibri is the latest Limited Edition collection by Catrice. It was released in June in some countries and here in the Netherlands, the collection made its appearance only in July. It's a cheerful collection, with many vivid, eye-catching colours reminiscent of the flora and fauna of the Amazon/rainforest. The nail polishes sold well (most of them were gone by the time I got to the stores) but sales of the eyeshadow pens were slower, it seems.


Well, I think the Catrice Coolibri Eye Shadow Pens are awesome! In a nutshell, they:

• come in retractable pens.
• have a silky soft, creamy texture.
• glide on nicely on the eyelids.
• are very pigmented.
• don't dry too quickly, allowing time to fade out any hard edges with the fingers.
• are waterproof.

Catrice doesn't claim that the Eye Shadow Pens are waterproof, preferring to call them "extremely long-lasting" instead. In reality though, they are waterproof and are fairly crease-resistant. On me, I see the beginnings of a crease only after about seven hours. In fact, last weekend, I wore the turquoise blue one under a powder eyeshadow and when I came home around eight hours later, there was surprisingly no creasing. Very impressive.

Ingredients:
Cyclopentasiloxane, Mica, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Polyethylene, Lauroyl lysine, Ozokerite, Octyldodecanol, Synthetic beeswax, Lecithin, Tocopherol, Ascorbyl palmitate, Citric acid, Silica, Tin oxide.
May contain: CI 15850 (Red 6), CI 19140 (Yellow 5 Lake), CI 42090 (Blue 1 Lake), CI 77289 (Chromium Hydroxide Green), CI 77400 (Bronze powder), CI 77491, CI 77499 (Iron oxides), CI 77510 (Ferric ferrocyanide/Ferric ammonium ferrocyanide), CI 77891 (Titanium dioxide).


Now, back to the ra-ra colours. Great for colour-blocking but neh, that ain't for me.

Here are the Coolibri eyeshadow swatches:

L-R: Coolibri 01 Precious Nectar, 02 Birds Flying High, 03 Virgin Forest, 04 Exotica


Used On Its Own
Yes, the eyeshadow shades are bright and intense but the turqoise blue or the green one would work well if used alone. Just stay close to the lash line.

Products used:
Catrice Coolibri Eye Shadow Pen - 02 Birds Flying High
GOSH Velvet Touch Eye Liner - Black Ink
Catrice Lashes to Kill Mascara - Black Green


Layering
Note: In the next three eye looks, I've used the following powder eyeshadows to supplement the Coolibri ones:

L-R: Catrice feMALE Eye Aquarelle Duo Chalks (Boys Are Back);
No7 Stay Perfect Mini Trio Eyeshadow Palette (Cappuccino);
Stage Five-Shade Shadow Palette (Gossip)


Actually, I like the Coolibri pens even more when used as a sticky eyeshadow base. You've probably got a few poorly pigmented eyeshadows lurking somewhere in your drawer. You know, those that you wish you never bought. Well, if you have the Coolibri Eye Shadow Pens, this is the perfect time to get those lousy eyeshadows out.

However, this layering won't work so well with highly pigmented powder eyeshadows. They have such good coverage that they tend to overwhelm the Coolibri eyeshadows. The eye look below demonstrates just that.

Layered on top of the orangey Exotica is the mauve taupe shade of Boys Are Back, one of the Catrice feMALE Eye Aquarelle Duo Chalks. The orange here is hardly discernible.

Products used:
Catrice Coolibri Eye Shadow Pen - 04 Exotica and 01 Precious Nectar
Catrice feMALE Eye Aquarelle Duo Chalks - Boys Are Back
GOSH Velvet Touch Eye Liner - Truly Brown and Black Ink
Catrice Lashes to Kill Mascara - Black Green


On the other hand, those eyeshadows with poor colour pay-off look so much better applied over these Coolibri shades. Experiment with different colour combinations. The Coolibri eyeshadows give the powder eyeshadows a lovely undertone and conversely, the powder eyeshadows give the Coolibri shades a different look.

Here, I applied a pale taupey brown powder eyeshadow on the green of Virgin Forest above the lid fold and left the green exposed close to the lash line.

Products used:
Catrice Coolibri Eye Shadow Pen - 03 Virgin Forest
No7 Stay Perfect Mini Trio Eyeshadow Palette - Cappuccino (middle shade)
Smashbox Jet Set Waterproof Eye Liner - Bronze
Catrice Lashes to Kill Mascara - Black Green


I call this final eye look a purple sunset. Over the orange Exotica, I applied a purple eyeshadow on the lid fold and then, let it 'radiate' orange.

Products used:
Catrice Coolibri Eye Shadow Pen - 04 Exotica and 01 Precious Nectar
Stage Five-Shade Shadow Palette - Gossip (purple shade)
GOSH Velvet Touch Eye Liner - Black Ink
Catrice Lashes to Kill Mascara - Black Green


Great eyeshadow pens and affordable too! Price: €3.49 each (1.64g / 0.057oz). If you haven't got access to Catrice, you could try the eyeshadow sticks by GOSH.


Catrice website

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

GORGEOUS eye looks, I love them all. Stunning eye-catching colors! These eye shadow pens are a great buy. Take care, Nicole x

esther said...

Ik vind je make-up ontzettend mooi. <3

Het is wel jammer dat de nagellakken in de limited editions van Catrice de laatste tijd niet echt speciaal zijn.

Anonymous said...

Stunning looks, especailly the last 2!!! Green looks great on you hun. "KTee"xx

Cynthia Z said...

These look cute! I love the matching packaging....colors, I'm liking Precious Nectar & Virgin Forest :)

♥xx♥

Witoxicity said...

@Nicole
Thank you for your very kind words, Nicole! I'm really glad I got them, despite my initial hesitation. :)

@Esther
Leuk om te horen, dat je de look mooi vindt. Je hebt helemaal gelijk wat betreft de limited editions. Ik vind ze zelf ook al een tijdje niet bijzonder en heb ze daarom niet gekocht. Hopelijk komen ze binnenkort weer eens met bijzondere lakken. :)

@KTee
You're so kind, KTee. Thank you! I'm really pleased you like the looks. :)

@Cynthia
Cute and perky! :)