As my love for Seventeen’s Falsifeye Mascara still lingers on (I’m on tube No.3!) I decided to try out a few other bits from them. I have to admit that this was a brand I used probably 10-15 years ago, and never took much notice since whenever I was in Boots. With their re-branding (now looking a lot less teeny-bopper like) I found myself hoovering around the stand a lot lately and they have some really good products all at a very affordable price point.

Que the purchase of their new contour kit “Define and Conquer”. Not sure why they have used the word “Conquer”, I find it a bit strange! Anyway since this was launched in Irish stores a few weeks ago (it actually sold out in some places!) it has caused a bit of a stir, and obviously I had to see what the fuss was about.

Firstly the packaging gets 10 points and another bonus for a mirror included in the palette. The packaging certainly makes you think you have paid quite a bit more than €7.49, and any NARS fans out there will instantly see a resemblance to their matte, black sleek packaging.

The formula itself is where the points start to go down. When I purchased this I never took it out of the box and certaintly didnt realise that this is a powder formula countouring kit. That first of all puts me straight off. Of course contouring with a powder is not a no-no, plenty of us use our bronzers to do excatly that. Personally though for me, I find you get a more natural and easier application when you use cream formulas. I found these to be very powdery when you swiped your brush in them so a lot of tapping is needed to get any excess off.

There are two palettes to choose from – “fair” and “medium”. I went with fair being a pale-faced gal. As you can see the highlight is a slight off-white, creamy colour and the contour colour is well pigmented but a very reddish-toned brown. This I think is far too harsh for any pale skin-tone, especially for daytime wear. In order to achieve a natural contour, a more ashy, cool-toned colour is needed. With the highlight being a quite chalky, powder texture, it done nothing in regards to highlighting. In fact it just sits on the skin and looks quite obvious.

Overall I suppose this isn’t a bad contour kit for the price point. If you have a medium or olive skin tone, this may suit you better. I certainly don’t think it suits fair skin tones, the brown is just too muddy. You would certainly get away with it on a night out but not in daylight. This will be left in the back of my drawer for a few month and forgotton about I’m afraid. A big thumbs down.

But all is not lost! When I picked up this kit, it was a 3 for 2 offer so of course I took advantage and picked up their Shimmer Brick and Gel eyeliner. Both of these I just LOVE!

The shimmer brick actually gives such a beautiful highlight – a stark difference to the contour palette! You need only a tiny bit as it’s very pigmented, and you can also use this over your eyeshadow for a bit of a lift. They come in two shade ranges – Pink and Bronze. I went with the pink toned one. Although this looks quite shimmery, it is actually very subtle when applied. I’m really impressed with this and will last ages too. A bargain at €6.29.

The gel eyeliner aswell is a gem of a find. I had recently run out of my MAC gel liner, and this was a steal at €3.49. And I can’t really believe I’m saying this but it blows MAC way out of the water! The texture is extremly creamy (think Bobbi Brown cream liner) and so easy to apply. The stated that it is 16 hour wear, and although I wore it for around 10 hours, it certainly didnt budge or fade in the slightest. Highly recommend you pick on of these up

So there you have it. Although I was a bit disappointed about the contour kit, there are still some hidden gems from this brand that I was really happy with!

Let me know if you have tried any of these, or what I should try out next!

Much love,

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