Show & Tell: Mega Impact Eye Liners

'Show & Tell' is a weekly segment spotlighting one or more Avon products of my choice.

In my opinion, these eye liner pencils have THE BEST formula of all Avon's liners.  The color applies smooth and richly; a little goes a long way; it is blendable, and it dries to a smudge-resistant finish.  The only drawback to these babies is that they are in the traditional pencil form, which means sharpening a very soft product -- no easy task.

I have three of the currently available four shades, swatched here for your viewing pleasure.  The little "stick" poking up from each swatch is a single stroke of the pencil to show how creamy the color applies.  At the bottom I've smudged them out.

Black Flash has a small amount of multicolored shimmer which doesn't really translate to the eye. Extreme Cobalt is a beautiful true blue with teal green shimmer.  Golden Fawn is almost a taupey nude metallic shade with silver shimmer.  The only one I don't have is the chocolate shade, Brown Shimmer...which I am so tempted to pick up before Avon decides to randomly discontinue this line, as they sometimes tend to do.  Be on the lookout in February for four new shades of these!

All products mentioned, photos, and opinions described herein are my own.  I have not been paid or otherwise compensated for this post, and the products were purchased by me with my own money.

Avon Haul and First Impressions: Campaigns 1 & 2

Note: I submit my Avon order every other campaign.  This means that I receive products from two campaigns at once, but half as often as the regular timetable.

Happy late Monday!  I got my Avon order in tonight, which is earlier in the week than usual due to the holiday shipping schedule.  Here is a pic of most of what I got:

Lots of pink and black this time!

Nail Experts Gel Base Coat;
Nailwear Pro + polish in shades Red Reveal, Coral Reef, and Pastel Pink;

Nail Art Enamel in Black Drama;

Raspberry Hibiscus Shower Gel;

Faceted Iridescence Earrings;

Cream Eyeshadow Brush;

Irresistibly Sexy Lipgloss in Undressed Nude;

Beauty Carry All Bag (pictured below);
Bejeweled Key Chain, K (not pictured);

Body Illusion Legging in size XL (not pictured).

I'm trying out a layer of the gel base coat as I type this.  Application was typical and smooth; drying time was very quick, to a surprisingly glossy finish.  After about 20 minutes there was no residual smell, which told me that all the chemicals were gone (meaning faster drying time for subsequent layers of polish!)

The Nailwear Pro + polishes aren't exactly a new thing anymore, but I got them because recently I've noticed that I have a lack of pretty, feminine polishes in my collection and sometimes I feel like a sparkly blue is just a bit too juvenile for me. Red Reveal is a true blue-red and great for my skintone.  Coral Reef is a beautiful, deep peachy-pink which will be perfect for spring and summer.  Pastel Pink is a nice creme which, although I haven't tried it yet, looks like it won't take a dozen coats to be opaque.

The shower gel smells nice, although a bit synthetic fruit-ish.  More hibiscus than raspberry, it is very sweet and reminds me of the pomegranate mango scent.

 

I got the cream shadow brush because looks like it will be great for applying powder shadows wet. The bristles are dense and stiff but soft to the touch and not too thin; however the brush head is pretty small, about the width of my pinky finger.  I think it will do nicely.  Although I was tempted to order one of the new cream eyeshadows, ultimately I decided not to since I prefer to use a pencil as a base instead of cream shadow.

So far I'm very happy with the Nail Art Enamel; the brush is long and flexible and the formula is thin but opaque and smooth.  My only complaint is that the tip of the brush seems a little rough-cut.

Undressed Nude lipgloss: I'm always looking for that perfect nude lip shade, so I picked up this one.  It looks a little bronzey in the tube, but applies pretty sheer with multicolor shimmer.  The applicator is a little different: a slightly flared doefoot with a sort of "cup" for gloss in the end.  What I can't get over is the scent... it's faint, but is like a slightly sweet sunscreen.  I'm pretty sensitive to smells, and so I couldn't even leave it on my lips for the evening. :(

Now for the bag: I thought this beauty bag would be a plain, clear blue bag.  Not exactly!  The plastic is grooved in such a way that it distorts objects which aren't right up against the side.  The yellow arrow is pointing to the bottle of Red Reveal sitting inside the bag, maybe 2-3 inches from the polish I am holding up.  Pretty cool!

As for the leggings and the keychain, I'll keep it short: leggings are super comfy and a keeper; keychain is small and cheap-looking and will be going back to Avon.

I hope this was helpful, and if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post below!

All thoughts stated in this post are my own, honest opinions.  I have not been compensated to review these products, and all were purchased with my own money.

Show & Tell: Desert Gold vs. Golden Diamond

'Show & Tell' is a weekly segment spotlighting one or more Avon products of my choice.

This week I will be comparing Avon's limited-edition GLOW eyeliner in Desert Gold and their Glimmersticks Diamonds eyeliner in Golden Diamond.  Both liners come functionally packaged in the same retractable, self-sharpening style as you can see in the pic below:

The color of the plastic packaging and the label/lettering are the only differences.  The actual product is even more similar:

Both liners are a pale yellow/golden base with gold microshimmer, which makes the liner pretty reflective although not totally metallic.  The Desert Gold (top) has a slightly creamier texture and is much easier to move (for blending, smudging, etc.) as you can see by the left sides of the swatches.

In my opinion, these liners are more suited for use as eyeshadow bases or highlighting the brow bone or tear duct than actually lining the eye.

I apologize for the 'blueness' of these pictures -- it's a cloudy day today. :)

All products mentioned, photos, and opinions described herein are my own.  I have not been paid or otherwise compensated for this post, and the products were purchased by me with my own money.

First Post

My intentions for this blog will be to discuss Avon products, weight loss, and life in general (should it come to that). I hope it goes well!