Professional Makeup Artist | Organic Chemist | Educator

Sunday, 16 August 2015

Essence Eyebrow Gel-Colour & Shape - Review, Swatches & Mini Tutorial


Hey girls! Today we are going to be talking about eyebrows because I just had to have this brand new brow product as soon as I spotted it at my local departmental store. The Essence Eyebrow Gel is part of their latest summer collection and I have never tried anything like it before. I am planning to get the ABH Dipbrow pomade so I was expecting this to be something similar as its dupes have started popping up in the market. Read on to find out what this product is actually like.

Product Claims

Colour and shape! Perfectly emphasize and shape your brows without any stickiness with the eyebrow gel. The gel has a pleasant powdery finish and offers long-lasting results. Especially easy to apply with the essence precise eyeliner brush.


What Do I Think?

The packaging is good quality and compact but the tiny glass jar is prone to breakage. On screwing the top off, the gel looked creamy but once applied, it started to dry within seconds. So basically it is a cream-to-powder product but you do not get much time to blend it out. The bright side to this property is that it stays put all day not matter how hot or humid the weather is. I splashed water on my face many times but it never showed any signs of budging. For a brow product, I think this is most important attribute because no one wants to be forced fix their brows repeatedly. The pigmentation was pretty good. I swatched heavily with my brush and then used the same swatch to apply a lighter one next to it. You may apply as lightly or heavily as you wish.

Now, coming to the shade, there is currently just one available in Essence Eyebrow Gel range. Luckily, I happen to be a brunette with dark ash brown tones in my hair so this was close to perfect for me. This is not for ladies with chocolate or warm brown hair as there is nothing warm about it. However, you may use this as a base and top it with a suitable brow powder shade. Since women with black hair are advised to pick a lighter colour for their brows, this would be appropriate. You might assume that this won’t suit you if you have light brown hair but it will. This is because it can be applied as lightly or heavily as you desire. If you have golden brown hair, you may use it lightly as a base and apply your own shade of brow powder on top. Unfortunately, there is nothing for red heads or blondes in this range yet.

Initially, I had some trouble with application as I felt it dried too fast and didn’t give me the result I wanted. Eventually, I figured out how to use it so I have created a mini tutorial to help you out. I found it best to blend it in the direction your hair grows and comb it out. I didn’t find a small slanted eyebrow brush did the job well so now I use my Make up Academy F3 brush. It may seem broad but it has just the right stiffness and density for using this gel. I discovered that although it is excellent for filling in your eyebrows, it cannot be used to line them. Normally, I prefer the natural look only filling them in provides but when I wish to go for a bolder look, I add in a brow pencil for lining.

In my experience, Essence Eyebrow Gel is an excellent brow product for brunettes with a pocket friendly price tag. You will especially love it if you lean more towards naturally filled full eyebrows.




Price

PKR 590 (for 3.0g)

Availability

You may buy this from your local Essence kiosk in all major cities

Pros

Very pigmented
Lasts all day long
Readily blends
Intensity can be controlled
Fills in brows well
Good packaging
Affordable
Easily available

Cons

Not for lining eyebrows
Dries too quickly
Only one shade available yet

My Rating

4/5

Have you tried this eyebrow gel? What do you prefer for shaping your brows?

Love,
Sadaf


Disclaimer: This is a personal blog edited by its owners and the opinions expressed here belong solely to its owner's. For questions and queries please email at thepoutpainter@gmail.com
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Monday, 3 August 2015

DMGM Photo Fix Lip Color – Review and Swatches


By far most of you guys already have an idea about my – actually mine and Sadaf’s – obsession with lipsticks especially liquid lipsticks. I had DMGM Photo Fix Lip Colors on my wishlist ever since I first spotted the swatch of Plum Frost online. For some odd reasons I did not buy it for quite some time until, while on my trip to Khi, I stumbled upon the brand everywhere I went! And finally one day, leaving behind all the self-restraint I had imposed upon myself, I entered Scentsation in Dolmen Mall (leaving my aunt and cousin to shop groceries) and swatched a few Photo Fix Lip Colors from the range and ended up choosing Plum Frost. I bought Exotic Rose a few days back from just4girls.


Product Claims

Get set for instant glamour with just a one step sweep of light weight, non–transfer liquid lip color. Provides exceptional coverage with a moisturizing rich matte finish. Longwearing & comfortable on the lips. Won't feather or smudge.






What Do I Think?

They come in a packaging similar to MUA Intense Kisses, a small sturdy high quality plastic tube with a fine doe-foot applicator that picks up right amount of product. The formula of both the colours I got is very creamy, applies really smooth and dries matte within seconds. Both Plum Frost and Exotic Rose have very fine shimmer which is invisible to naked eyes unless you really stare at the swatches; also undetectable once you apply the product on lips. A thin layer of product gives you perfect opaque coverage, that’s how pigmented they are. I tried layering up to see if they get tacky but to my pleasant surprise, they didn’t. Although not over-powering and annoying but there is a scent to these liquid lipsticks, typical of makeup products, which is undetectable when the product is applied.
Now coming to the insane part! The lasting power. These are super long lasting! Apply as a creamy formula and once dried matte they do not feather or budge at all so much so that you will need a good oil-based makeup remover to get the product completely off your lips. Yes, water and soap also don’t work to remove it. I noticed a slight uneven coverage with the shade Exotic Rose, which I presume is due to it being a shade lighter than Plum Frost and I being a person suffering from OCD. Haha! Anyway, you may need to fill in those spaces while applying this shade to achieve the perfectly opaque coverage.
The weather these days is extremely hot and humid, the time of the year when I shy away from wearing any king of makeup because I perspire a lot and DMGM Photo Fix Lip Color stayed affix on my lips for straight 7+ hours and that too with eating and drinking. These really live up to DMGM’s claim of being water-proof and transfer-proof (I put them to test by kissing the back of my hand a few times :D). A makeup product that survives Pakistan’s hot and humid weather and my perspiration is a keepsake and these for sure are. I plan to pick up a few more shades from the range especially Bahama Spice and Fuschia Bite.








I’d suggest girls with warmer and darker complexions to swatch Exotic Rose on themselves before purchasing it just to be on safe side.


Here is a casual snap of a few swatches I took when I bought Plum Frost from Scentsation, Dolmen Mall. I am so sorry I don't remember at all what the fourth swatch was of :(


Swatch Update!








1. Free Kiss: Vibrant Red Orange
2. Apple Candy: Warm neon pink with coral undertones
3. Prom Pink: Dull mauve nude with a hint of brown
4. Bahama Spice: Chocolate brown with red undertones
5. Iced Copper: Metallic pale pink-y copper
6. Crimson Craze: Vibrant neutral red
7. Exotic Rose: A universal blue-toned bright neon pink
8. Just Nude: Pale neon peach
9. Fuschia Bite: Deep berry-toned fuschia
10. Italian Rose: Dull rose-y mauve
11. Fuschia Love: Pure neon shocking pink
12. Doll Pink: Cool-toned pink
13. Plum Frost: A deep maroon-red, perfect marsala
14. Coral Cameo: Vibrant coral pink

Price

PKR 1050

Availability

Enem, Liberty Market, Lahore. Just4girls.pk

Pros

Creamy formula
Quickly dries matte
Transfer-proof
Water-proof
Long Lasting
Great Pigmentation

Cons

Exotic Rose and Coral Cameo give uneven application

My Rating

4.5/5 
(only because I still have not found my “too good to be true” liquid lipstick)

Which liquid lipstick, in your opinion, outdoes DMGM Photo Fix Lip Color?

Love,

Fizzah and Sadaf


Disclaimer: This is a personal blog edited by its owners and the opinions expressed here belong solely to its owner's. For questions and queries please email at thepoutpainter@gmail.com
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