I don’t usually associate Revlon with eye make-up products, but I recently tried out their new ColorStay Creme Eyeshadows and the Exactify Liquid Liners and I was super impressed! Here’s my review and some swatches of the products…
Revlon ColorStay Creme Eyeshadow Review
Revlon’s ColorStay Creme Eyeshadows ($14.95 AUD for 5.2 g) are little glass cream pots reminiscent of Maybelline’s Color Tattoos that I reviewed before.
I have super oily eyelids, so it’s almost impossible for a cream eyeshadow to stay uncreased on them after about an hour of wear – Maybelline’s Color Tattoos creased after a while, even after setting with translucent powder. But surprisingly, Revlon’s ColorStay Creme Eyeshadows have managed it! These last a whole day on my eyelids without budging once they’re dried, and they don’t even need powder. They also come off very easily with a two-phase eye make-up remover.
Tattooing your eyelids is REALLY FREAKING CLOSE to your eyeballs, and would be much harder to ignore than for microblading my brows, where I just lay back and tried to zen out.
Doing my brows from scratch takes me a good 15 minutes, and I could never get them as good as Leona’s microbladed brows (which I am still loving). But eyeliner only takes me 20 seconds and I’m quite particular about how it’s done, so the payoff wouldn’t be that great.
I’ve seen permanent eyeliner tattoos fade into blue-green tones which look really unflattering. Semi-permanent eyeliner is implanted more shallowly, so this shouldn’t be a problem… but still.
But curiosity got the better of me, so I volunteered for it anyway. What’s the worst that could happen? I could surely hide it with more eyeliner for the next 2-4 years until it faded!
The Semi-Permanent Eyeliner Tattooing Process
Rita Porreca, the director of Sydney Permanent Make-Up Centre in Five Dock, was my semi-permanent make-up artist. She’s been doing permanent make-up since the 1980s, so I knew I was in experienced hands.
After filling in the release and medical history forms, she took some “before” photos of my eyes, then applied some gel eyeliner on me so we could work out what I wanted.
Semi-permanent eyeliner is quite sharply defined while I usually go for a smudged pencil line, but we came up with a thicker line than most people opt for, which I was quite happy with. Since I like my eyes to look bigger, I opted for just the upper lid line, though many people like to tightline their bottom lid as well.
Next, Rita told me about the two instruments that she uses for permanent eyeliner: a cosmetic pen which was a bit slower but also a bit quieter, and a tattoo gun that was about twice as fast but louder and shakier. We opted for the quick option.
She then applied the numbing cream on my eyes and left me to lie back and contemplate my poor life choices while it sank in.
I recently had the chance to meet Lisa Claycomb, the product developer who started the “instant skincare” brand Genie Beauty Products, and learn all about their products. Genie has been a hit on shopping networks QVC and TVSN. What really struck me about Genie were their product innovations, and how much sense they made once Lisa explained them to me. Here are some of their coolest products:
Instant Line Smoother ($59.95 AUD / $38 USD for 19 mL, $99.95 AUD for 30 mL) is the hero product from Genie Beauty. It’s based on film forming ingredients that dry to make a tightening film, filling in lines and flattening out puffiness and sagging skin. This gives your skin an instant pick-me-up in just 2 minutes! You can also mix it into liquid foundation. It dries clear so you don’t need to worry about weird colours, and it contains moisturising collagen, aloe vera and silk proteins to hydrate the skin underneath. I found that it flattened out my undereye area nicely, and as a bonus, my concealer creased less too. There are some stunning before-and-afters on their site showing Instant Line Smoother on people with serious crows feet and sagging – this is definitely worth trying if you’re considering a facelift!
Million Dollar Lash Kit ($29.95 AUD / $15 USD for Lash Booster or Mascara, $39.95 AUD / $25 USD for both, 10.8 mL each) is the best booster/mascara combo I’ve tried so far. The TLC Plus Lash Booster goes on white and has a curved brush for easy application. It extends your lashes quite impressively and is compatible with any mascara. The TLC Plus Lash Mascara has a cool V-shaped applicator that applies 2 coats of mascara with one swipe. Both the lash booster and mascara are loaded with beeswax, carnauba wax and silica and nylon fibres to thicken and lengthen your eyelashes. Here’s the before and after on my lashes:
Natural Mineral Pressed Blush ($24 for 10 g) – One quad, Bouquet, in a black compact with a clear window
Natural Mineral Pressed Bronzer ($24 for 10 g) – One quad, Solaire, in the same packaging
Natural Mineral Pressed Highlighter ($24 for 10 g) – One quad, Aura, in the same packaging
2 in 1 Folding Mineral Kabuki Brush ($20) – Slanted synthetic fibre brush that folds together with a magnetic closure, or folds out into a flat fan shape for contouring.
Natural Tinted Lip Balm ($16 for 2.49 g) – Comes in Tulip (pale pink) and Berry (mauve pink), in wooden pencil form
Natural Lipstick ($18 for 3 g) – Comes in Spice (orange pink) and Plum (mauve pink), comes in black bullet packaging with Crop symbol in a matching colour
I was so excited to try out Benefit’s They’re Real Push Up Liner, which will be released in Australia June 27th. I’m a massive fan of gel liner, but carting a many gel brush around is a massive pain so I’ve been using pencil liner lately (smudge city 80% of the time). What it is: gel liner in windup form. …
Yep… still going with my mission to use up all the things! Here are 10 more empties, I’m inching slowly to the halfway mark… 31. Lush Dream Cream – I received this as part of a prize last year, and finally used this massive tub up… just to receive another one at a recent blogger event! It’s very very good, …
Almost a year ago, I posted about my everyday makeup routine. Since then, I’ve gotten ferncier, and here’s what my everyday look involves now: FACE Skin79 BB Cream – I’ve been slowly churning through a 4-piece mixed sample pack. This one’s supposedly whitening and improves wrinkles, but I don’t really care – it applies nicely without primer with just fingers, …
I love gel eyeliner’s longevity, user-friendliness and colour payoff, so naturally I was very excited when I was given the change to try out a limited edition gel eyeliner from Mary Kay. (I didn’t even know that Mary Kay were active in Australia, but it turns out they had 10 000 consultants in Australia in 2010, and have been here …
