cosnova Archive | Berries in the Snow

Review: Catrice ICONails Gel Lacquers

19. September 2017

/ PR SAMPLE / NAILS / BEAUTY /

Since May Catrice released their new range of nail polishes: the Catrice ICONails Gel Lacquers! These newly formulated nail polishes come in 45 colours and promise to be staying up to 7 days without a top coat. I guess so far I never had a nail polish that really lasted for 7 days, so of course this calls for me to try my luck here:

The Catrice ICONails are formulated with Acai Oil and give your nails a Gel Shine Finish and a long-lasting finish. The square bottles have a modern design with an edgy vibe. Below the main cap there is a second round cap with a brush attached. The length of the brush is very easy to handle and makes it easy to apply the nail polish in few strokes.

I received 4 different and versatile colours from Catrice Cosmetics to try and test for their long-livity within the frame of their #ICONailsChallenge . Plus the one that I already had it makes 5 different colours from this line. Below you can see from left to right the following shades: #16 “Cloud Nine”, a light grey-blue, #05 “It’s All About That Red”, a classic red shade, #34 “The Berry First Time!”, a berry-pink shade, #11 “Go For Gold!”, a gold-metalic shade, and #21 “Want To Be My Bridesmaid?”, a white nail polish.

For my test, I decided for the colour called “For The Berry First Time”, since I was on vacation during the test and pink was the perfect colour for the Caribbean vibes and beach.

I applied only one layer of the nail polish and I was already amazed by the pigmentation of the colour. One coat is totally enough for this shade to look perfectly shiny and nice. I would say the colour looks exactly like out of the bottle. For the test I also didn’t use any top coat, since the nail polish is supposed to be long-lasting even without top coat. Below you can see an image of my nails on the first day:

During the time I tested the nail polish I was in Mexico. This means I was wearing it through 30° C day and night, while I was at the beach, swimming, snorkeling, bicycling…etc. I really put this nail polish to its limits. And yet, below you can see the image after 5 days. Yes, there are some marks on the shiny coat of the nail polish, but still, altogether it looks still neat and has no chips. Starting from day 6 the heat and sand slowly started to make the polish fade after all.

Despite the fact that the Catrice ICONails Gel Lacquer started fading starting from day 6 I’m really amazed. My experience with nail polish and beach and sand is usually that it fades after 1-2 days. This nail polish lasted for 5 days perfectly neat and shiny on my nails without a top coat. Every other nail polish I own would have been melted away by that time. Also the pigmentation of the nail polish is really great for the pink colour I selected for the test. One layer of the nail polish was enough to make it look like a proper gel manicure.

The Catrice ICONails Gel Lacquers retail for 2.99€. For this affordable price I can only recommend you to grab the one or the other colour. Have you tried the ICONails already?

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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 www.cosnova.com which doesn’t influence me in providing my honest opinion on the products.

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beauty Cosnova PR Sample

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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