Cosnova | Berries in the Snow

Review: Catrice Aqua Ink Lip Liner & Aqua Ink-In-Gloss

6. November 2017

// MAKE UP / BEAUTY / LIPS //

Earlier this year there have been several product launches from Catrice Cosmetics that were quite appalling to me because their inspirations came from asian beauty products. I talked about the Catrice Lip Cushion before and today I will show you the Catrice Aqua Ink Lip Liner and Catrice Aqua Ink-In-Gloss:

Catrice therefore called out for the term “asianification”, which means the creation of products that are inspired by the technology and ingredients used in the asian beauty industry. Some inspirations come from the very popular cushion products, but also lip tints which are super popular in Korea. I own two Catrice Aqua Ink Lip Liners and a Gloss from their Aqua Ink collection, and I will share the swatches and my impression on these products with you today.

Catrice Aqua Ink Lip Liner

The Catrice Aqua Ink Lip Liners are lip liners with a felt-type ball-shaped applicator. These lip liners are creating a semi-permanent tint effect and are water-based according to their description. The lip liners are available in 6 shades and are vegan, too.

I have shade 050 ” Don’t Copy My Poppy” and 060 “I Feel InspiRED Today”, the two boldest shades from the collection. The Catrice Aqua Ink Lip Liners come in a pencil shape in a sleek black design with adjusted colors for the cap and bottom of the pen. They feel smoother than a regular felt pen upon application, but swatch very vibrant. Once applied the color is rub proof and doesn’t budge. But if you do not fade them out right after application, they will start to bleed out while freshly applied. Once dry they do not bleed out any longer but stay at place.

The difference between the colors of the two shades is not very huge once I apply them on my lips. Below you can see the two colors applied to my lips. On the right side I applied 050 and on the left side I applied 060. The finish of the lip liner is matte and it gives a very long-lasting stain on your lips. It will fade after eating and drinking all day long, but the hint of color will still be visible on your lips.

Catrice Aqua Ink-In-Gloss

The second lip product is the Catrice Aqua Ink-In-Gloss, and as you can tell from the name already, it is a gloss which gives a semi-permanent stain to the lips. Similar to the Lip Liners this product is water-based and vegan. It comes in 4 different shades. Moreover, it has a lightweight finish and contains Glycerin and feels moist on the lips and doesn’t dry them out.

This here is the shade 020 “Jump Into The Red River”, a classic red shade again. Typically for a gloss it comes with a angled sponge applicator. Surprisingly, the swatched product is super vibrant in color and not what you expect a gloss to be. Unlike the lip liners this product doesn’t dry down matte but stays glossy and moist on the lips. Also this stain is very long-lasting and despite fading out throughout the day by drinking and eating it will still leave a hint of color on your lips.

Below you can see some pictures of the two products on my lips again. The upper one is the Catrice Aqua Ink Lip Liner in shade 060. What you can see in this picture is, that this dark red shade is quite tricky upon application, because it tends to appear patchy if not applied with a lightweight hand. The second point is, that you have to be careful on the borders of your lips in order to avoid feathering. I start to use it inside out when I’m using it on my whole lips. I wouldn’t use it only to frame my lips though. The lower picture shows the Catrice Aqua Ink-In-Gloss. Apart from having a very good pigmentation for a glossy product this gloss might accentuate dry areas of your lips. For a best result it would be important to exfoliate your lips before applying (which is generally a good rule to follow, and shame on me because I always end up to forget it).

The Catrice Aqua Ink lip products might not be perfect, but they are generally a very affordable and long-lasting choice. Both products have really great staining properties, but need some time to get the perfect way of applying them without patches or feathering…but, once you know how to deal with these minor points they are a great choice for every day, especially if you are not the type of person who runs to the toilet to reapply lipstick every 2 hours.

The Catrice Auqa Ink Lip Liner retails for 2,99€.

The Catrice Auqa Ink-In-Gloss retails for 3,49€.

Did you try any of these products?

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beauty Catrice Cosnova review

Review: Catrice Lip Cushion

22. May 2017

Recently, there have been several product launches from Catrice Cosmetics that I really loved. One of their inspirations for their new products comes from asian beauty products, which makes me -as asian beauty product lover – super happy. I’ve already been excited when the first oil cleansers and sheet masks launched by western brands appeared at the drugstores and now it is even makeup. Here is my impression of the Catrice Lip Cushion:

Catrice is calling out for the term “asianification”, which means the creation of products that are inspired by the technology and ingredients used in the asian beauty industry. At the moment cushion products are one of the focus points. Apart from cushion foundations cushions have been used with asian beauty products for all kinds of makeup: lip cushions, eye liner cushions, blush cushion…Catrice Cosmetics has chosen the lip cushion amongst other things.

Catrice Lip Cushion is a lip gloss with medium pigmentation which is applied via a jumbo sponge applicator. There are a total of 6 colors available. Here I show you shade 050 A Little Soulfruit:

This lip gloss contains avocado oil to moisturize the lips and leaves – as typical for a gloss – a glossy finish on the lips. If you remove the cap you will spot the sponge applicator. It is still white and unused.

If you want to apply the lip gloss you have to twist the bottom part of the Catrice Lip Cushion Pencil.

For the first application I twisted 2-3 times until I saw that the sponge gets slowly soaked with the tint.

The sponge tip is very soft upon application and is very easy to use.

And this is how the Catrice Lip Cushion in 050 A Little Soulfruit looks when applied on my lips. Below I also show you the swatch of the product on my arm. Since it is a lip gloss it still has that sticky feeling to it, to my personal dislike. I prefer tints and lipsticks over the sticky texture, but on the other hand your lips won’t feel dry when applying the lip gloss and it also gives some more volume to the lips than tints and lipsticks.

I’m happy about seeing more products that are inspired from asian beauty trend. The Catrice Lip Cushion clearly remind me of the lip cushions by Etude House. Unlike the Catrice Lip Cushion the ones from Etude House were no lip gloss, bur creamy lip paint. That caused that the sponge applicator was after a while completely blocked by the dried product. Other brands started to provide their products with a second applicator sponge which you could exchange, one the first one was to dirty or unusable. I would wish that Catrice also offers these additional sponges at some point. It would also help to keep the product more hygienic. But considering the price of only 4.99 € each you cannot complain to be honest.

Did you try the Catrice Lip cushion already? What are your thoughts of “asianification”?

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Review: Essence Juice It Edition

6. June 2016

// PR SAMPLE / BEAUTY / MAKE-UP //

Since midths of May a new limited edition by Essence is available: the Essence Juice It Edition. The makeup products from this line are dedicated to summer and fruits and therefore come along with colorful and fruity packaging design. Until middle of June you will be able to get the products from this edition from your local drugstores. When I saw the press release I was already eyeing some of these products, but luckily, on the same day I wanted to go to the drugstore and take a closer look, I received a package containing a total of 8 products from this edition! I was utterly happy in that moment :D

Essence is a european drug store brand, which is easily available here in Germany, but also in many other countries around the world. Their brand philosophy is against animal testing and their products are really affordable, providing a reasonable quality. The colors of the Essence Juice It Edition are described as a “reminiscent of a mixed peach, watermelon and cherry fruit basket, and the gel-like, partially scented textures conjure-up spring colour effects on the lips and nails”. Sounds perfect for summer to me! But let’s take a look at the products I received:

First of all, and probably the key item of this collection, are the Essence Juice It Jelly Nail Polishes. There are a total of four colors of these semi-transparent jelly nail polishes available and I received 3 of them called Jelly Orange, Jelly Water Melon and Jelly Cherry. Additionally there are some Essence Juice It Scented Nail Stickers which you can use to spice up your nail art.

The nail polishes have a short application brush, which made it a bit difficult for me to paint my nails. With one layer the colors are not opaque and you will see the white of your nails through the polish. Two layers, or even three layers are really pretty nice and give a nice jelly effect, aswell. The glossy jelly finish also stays for a long time and is not disappearing after 1 or two days, but the surface of the dried nail polish is prone to fine scratches. the staying power of the nail polish was nice though, depending on how much work you do with your hands of course.

The scented nail stickers have a nice fruity scent and there are quite some different motives on the sticker sheet, reaching from fruits to flamingos. You just have to press them onto your nails and you are done. I didn’t use the stickers yet, but I think I will definitely go for it during the upcoming summer weather.

The item I wanted to buy anyways from this collection was the Essence Juice It Detangle Brush! I fell in love with the watermelon inspired design at first sight. The brush is similar to a tangle teezer, but smaller. The brushes feel a bit stiffer than the ones of the Tangle Teezer, but still it is so cute and has the perfect size for carrying it around! My favorite item from this collection!

A makeup line without any lip products is not a real makeup line :D So here are two lip products from this collection, the Essene Juice It Jelly Tint Lipstick and the Essence Juice It Glossy Lipliner. The Jelly Tint Lipstick in shade “01 Cherry Cherry Lady” reminds me of the Holika Holika Aqua Petit Jelly Tint. It doesn’t show any tint though on my skin, but seems it has a very subtle pink stain. It is not visible on my lips and has more a feeling of a balm than a tint or lipstick. The Glossy Lipliner in shade “02 You Are One In A Melon” has a light pink color and a creamy texture. It spreads nicely across the skin, but unfortunately is barely visible on my lips, too.

The last product I want to share with you from this edition is the Essence Juice It Cherry Eau De Toilette. This light perfume has a nice fruity scent and luckily does not have any overpowering artificial cherry scent. It will be liked by people who love fruity perfumes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t last too long and fades too quickly.

All in all the theme of the Essence Juice It Edition fits perfectly to the summer season and the colors are nicely selected and make me crave for fresh and colorful fruits. I really like the Jelly Nail Polishes and the Detangle Brush and also the scented Nail Stickers are such an adorable idea. Since Essence is a drugstore brand the products will be available at an affordable price, too, so if you like any of the items it is worth to grab them as long as they are still available.

What is your impression of the Essence Juice It Edition?

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Just as a short reminder: All products mentioned and reviewed on this blog are of my personal opinions. This product here was sent to me for reviewing purpose by http://www.essence.eu/ which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

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Review: Essence Winter? Wonderful! Collection

17. December 2015

// PR SAMPLE / BEAUTY / MAKE-UP //

Another post to bring you into the winter and Christmas moods! After yesterday’s Etude House Snowy Dessert Collection today it is all about the latest Christmas/Winter collection by Essence called “Winter? Wonderful!”, which was kindly sent to me for reviewing purpose.

Essence is a european drug store brand, which is easily available here in Germany, but also in many other countries around the world. Their brand philosophy is against animal testing and their products are really affordable, providing a reasonable quality. The new Essence Trend Edition “Winter? Wonderful!” is available from mid of December until January 2016 and will be perfect for those of you who love winter-themed products. The color range of these products reaches from white, grey and iceblue to warmer, nude shades like light pink and apricot. The key piece of the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Collection is definitely the eyeshadow palette, but also the four nail polishes from this collection have each different effects like “frosted”, “crystallized” or “iced”.

Let’s start off with two of the lip products from the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Collection: the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Tint & Oil No. 01 “if kisses were snowflakes” and the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Lip Balm! The Lip Balm comes in a clear plastic container, so you can see the bullet inside. The bullet looks like ice, since it is a clear balm with shimmering particles. It gives a soft, shimmery finish to the lips. The moisturizing property of the lip balm is okay, but not overwhelming. Nevertheless, if you are looking for a simple lip balm with shimmer particles this product might suit you. The Lip Balm retails for 1.99€. The Essence Winter? Wonderful! Tint & Oil caught my attention because recently oil tints are gaining more popularity. I was hoping for a tint similar to the Tonymoly Shaking tint Delight. No.01 is a light pink color, almost clear with a strawberry scent. It comes in a silver container with an included applicator. Compared to the Tonymoly Oil tint the Essence Tint & Oil is much more similar to a gloss, which means it is kind of sticky and not watery/oily. Unfortunately, I’m not a friend of sticky lip products, especially not during cold and windy seasons, so this one is not my cup of tea. The Tint & Oil is also available in another pink shade called “02 …I’d send you a blizzard”. They retail for 2.99 € each.

The Essence Winter? Wonderful! Eye & Inner Rim Pencil comes in two shades aswell: 01 cold as eyes and 02 eye candy. I will show you shade 01, a white highlighting pencil, which you can use under your eyes, in the inner corner of your eyes, or in the water-line. The pencil has a harder texture, which means it is good for precise lines, but not suited to be used for eyeshadow, since it is not creamy enough. The color payoff is nice and visible. It doesn’t come with an included sharpener, so make sure to have one at hands. The Essence Winter? Wonderful! Eye & Inner Rim Pencils retail for 1.99 €.

The last face makeup product I will show you is the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Eyeshadow Palette in “All Ice On Me!”. This palette comes with five different shades: white, grey, light pink, light brown and darker brown. The grey and the light brown color contain shimmer particles, whereas the other shades are matte. The packaging design of this eyeshadow palette is eye-catching, too, since it is illustrated with snow crystals all over. I really love the design of this palette!

The backside of the palette contains some description and how to use the eyeshadow palette. The palette doesn’t come with any applicator or brush. The color payoff of the colors is not very pigmented. Even with a primer the colors are very soft. The palette also creates some fall-off, when I’m using my brushes. I would say the colors are more suited for a very natural and soft eye makeup. It will be hard to create any bold makeup though. Also the shimmers are very soft and almost not visible when swatched. The palette retails for 3.79 €. Below you will find the swatches for all the face makeup products:

The Essence Winter? Wonderful! Nail Polishes are available in 4 different shades, plus one Top Coat. The nail polishes are available in 01 the frosted, 02 the semi matt, 03 the iced and 04 the crystallized. The top coat is an ice-topping called 01 a winter’s tale. Below, I used No.01 and No. 03 on my hands. 01 “the frosted” is a white matte nail polish which, which looks like sugar icing. With two coats of that nail polish you can achieve a nice opaque layer on your nails. It dries very quickly, so it is also super easy to apply in several layers. 03 “the iced” is a shimmery, rough effect nail polish. I used it on top of the white nail polish, but it can be used on its own, too. This one needs a bit longer to dry than the frosted nail polish, but they look both very pretty and winter-y on the nails. The nail polishes retail for 1.79 €. The top coat which I didn’t show retails for 1.99 €.

And in order to have nicely hydrated hands the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Hand Balm is ideal! The packaging of the tube is beautiful and fits perfect to the season. The balm feels nourishing but not too heavy. It absorbs fast into the skin and has a nice scent, too! It retails for 1.99 €. Last, but not least, the collection also includes two hair ties with an attached fake fur pompom! I bet it looks super cute on a ponytail. The hair tie is available in white and in pink/apricot and retails for 1.49 €.

How do you like the Essence Winter? Wonderful! Collection? What is your impression, or did you try any of the products already? My favourite is the frosted nail polish and the hand balm. But I also like the eyeshadow palette despite the natural pigmentation. The design of the collection is really pretty in my eyes, too!

Just as a short reminder: All products mentioned and reviewed on this blog are of my personal opinions. This product here was sent to me for reviewing purpose by http://www.essence.eu/ which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

Fell free to join my giveaway with Japan Candy Box, too! Did you see it already?

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