Yesterday, I went into one of my favourite places in Perth (Western Australia, sorry Scotland!):
MECCA Cosmetica in Hay street Mall. Reasons I love Mecca? It is just so bright and airy, and not overly bright with lights everywhere, it seems to be actually naturally bright, which means you don't have harsh shadows everywhere in your face while you try work out how your makeup looks. The Mecca girls are also some of the nicest, chattiest people, to the dismay of my long-suffering boyfriend who was tagging along - he had to pop out and do some "boy stuff" long before we were done.
So, the little haul. Items from Mecca:
NARS Larger Than Life Long-wear Eyeliner pencil, in Via Veneto - 45AUD
Kevyn Aucoin Precision Brow Pencil in Brunette - 50AUD
To begin with: NARS long-wear eyeliner is a new product, and Mecca stock all 9 shades. A 0.58g roll-up kohl liner in matte jet black, there is no shimmer or sparkle to the Via Veneto. If you're fast, you have a window of time to be able to smudge this liner, if you're going for a smokey look. It sets in about 7 seconds, no kidding. Wow. Of course, the true reason I love this product is because once it has set - it will NOT budge!
I rubbed my hand after applying a thick line, and only about a minute's worth of hard rubbing, will cause this to rub off. Even so, as it loses some of itself, it will not smear or smudge any further.
Testing for waterproof: I had my hand under a fully opened tap for over a minute, and then decided to rub while it was under. I would say after the (very hard) rubbing, it lost around 30% of its colour. The water alone did nothing. I hope you're starting to see why this is my favourite product of the week.
On the packaging: NARS do lovely black packaging, which looks so professional in my makeup kit. The colour on the end of the pencils shows you easily what colour you have picked up (although I think some of the colours don't show the most accurate representation of colour). The end of the pencil itself actually contains a pull out sharpener! This is great for putting a point back on, and also for hygiene purposes of removing the top layer and any possible bacteria, which is great for the professional. The roll-up pencil usually annoys me in a product, but not only does this pencil roll up, but it also rolls down!~ Can't tell you how great this is, especially for cleaning purposes, as I like being able to over-extend a roller to be able to disinfect.
In all, product of the week, and a 4.5/5. Gets a less than perfect due to it not standing up to a full gorilla-handed rubbing, and gets that high due to being fantastic consistency, waterproof and still able to be smudged while retaining it's colour and opacity.
Animal testing: No
Animal products: Not sure for this particular item, I will be emailing NARS for a list of their products that contain animal ingredients to check.
On to Kevyn Aucoin's Precision Brow. I have no idea how long this product has been around, but it is fantastic. Sadly, Mecca only stocks Brunette, while there are three shades in all - Blonde, Brunette and Auburn. I will try grab the other two from the states now that I have tried this product out.
Precision Brow is a 0.10g roll up (and down!) pencil with a very thin "lead" that will not need to be sharpened, ever. The colour is great - a true natural brown, rather than the red-browns a few other brands produce for brunettes. Works for people with mousey brown hair, finally! Would say this also works for medium to dark blondes but I would probably not use it for light blondes. We will see!
Tried this under water on my hand too, with rubbing and wow, could not believe how water resistant it was. Not entirely waterproof, but I think you could wear this in heavy rain and not worry. Sadly as it's summer, I won't be able to test that theory for another few months.
Because of how thin this pencil is, a light touch is needed, and for darker hair you will be best to build it up, as I can see this snapping easily, especially if you apply on an angle with a heavy hand.
The other end of the pencil is a brow wand for grooming and blending brows too, which is a nice addition for the home user, as most people don't invest in a brush for this.
I would love to see this with a lid for the pencil end, as it is quite open, which means it will definitely need to be kept in a closed plastic case with other pencils, so no other product such as powders can get in.
In all, great product, fantastic shade (thank you so much guys, for creating a natural brown), but it gets points off for the open-ended pencil and the snapping.
Animal Testing: No
Animal Products: Yes
Kit Cosmetics Products: Too Faced Shadow Insurance - 34.95AUD
After Mecca, I stopped off at the Kit Cosmetics in Myer, Forrest Chase. Not my favourite place, as the lighting is just too harsh while not being bright enough. Well laid out store though, and so many brands. Did you know they stock Lipstick Queen? Fantastic!
From here, I bought the 11g Too Faced Shadow Insurance. Now, I normally use Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion so I may be harsh on the Shadow Insurance, because the Potion is -the best- primer in my opinion. However, I do love the Too Faced as well.
The packaging is a little boring compared to the other Too Faced products, but the label fits into the rest of the range, very retro and cool. Great colour on the packaging too, and amongst all my black products it's easy to recognise.
Shadow Insurance is completely colourless, and finish-free. Too Faced do stock two other primers that reduce redness on the lid, or give a shimmery finish to applied shadow. I prefer using the plain formula and using other products to give different effects.
Now, the Shadow Insurance is great. Almost no creasing (all shadows will crease a teeny bit, no matter how "non-creasing" a formula is), really allows the pigment to show up better, and once it's on it won't smudge too much. However, it does smudge more than I thought it would, but as long as you aren't too heavy on the eyeshadow, especially dark shadows, it definitely works well.
I can't give this product too high a rating, as Urban Decay does it better, but it's still a great product and does what it claims. It's a great choice for the Aussie market. I give it 3.5/5 as it's a great product, good choice of packaging and not too bad a price.
Animal Testing: No
Animal Products: I'm not sure. Too Faced brushes are animal-free, but I am not sure about the makeup.
