G'old McDonald and In the Taupe Ten Stylo Eyeshadow Pens by Catrice

I recently picked up two more of the Catrice Stylo Eyeshadow Pens ($5.99) when Ulta was having a sale, after having loved Brown to Earth so much. G'old McDonald is a light gold shimmer that performs nicely as an all over lid color or as a highlight on it's own or over other shadows. I'm a fan.

It's lighter than Julep's Warm Gold Shimmer Eyeshadow 101 pen, which has more of an apricot tone to it. I don't think I have any dupes for G'old McDonald in pencil format.

Julep's Warm Gold Shimmer

In the Taupe Ten reads more gunmetal gray than taupe to me, and the formula was a bit problematic. Initially I thought the bunching up you see below might be because the pen was sitting in the heat while I was taking pictures, but it still applied rather patchy on my eye when it was at room temperature.

All is not lost, however, as it works well as a base shade with powder eyeshadows on top. I'm wearing a new favorite, Estee Lauder's Fierce Safari, over In the Taupe Ten below, and all evidence of patchiness is gone.

This is such an easy dark/smoky eye look, and I even got compliments on it, so In the Taupe Ten redeemed itself in the end.

I do have a close dupe to In the Taupe Ten, Julep's Gunmetal Shimmer Eyeshadow 101 pen, which has a much better formula, albeit also a higher price ($18).

Julep's Gunmetal

Brown to Earth is still my favorite of the Catrice Stylo Eyeshadow pens, as both the color and the formula are fantastic. Here I'm wearing Brown to Earth with Fierce Safari, and I love the metallic smokiness that resulted.

In other less happy news, my Westie Lulu passed away on Thursday. She was almost 15 years old, and we had a wonderful life together. I miss her terribly.

Lulu having fun while I raked leaves

Maggie and Lulu enjoying the sun

Lulu opening gifts at her 14th birthday party

Checking out the Christmas presents

Brown to Earth Stylo Eyeshadow Pen by Catrice

Disclaimer: I purchased this.

I picked up the Stylo Eyeshadow Pens ($5.99) in Brown to Earth as part of my Catrice Cosmetics haul from Ulta. I was curious to see how it compared to other comparable products, such as the Mally Evercolor Shadow Sticks ($25), the Laura Mercier Caviar Sticks ($29), and Julep's 101 Eyeshadow Creme to Powder Sticks ($18), as I've got experience with those.

Ya'll, Brown to Earth (cute name) is good, like really good. As good as the much more expensive versions I listed above, which makes me happy. Brown to Earth is a lovely bronzed brown that has multi-tonal shimmer that gives it more complexity beyond just a basic brown.

I've got oily lids but worn over primer, this lasted all day with no creasing. You have a small amount of time to blend out the pigment, and then it sets for budge proof wear. Below you can see heavy application followed by the same swatch blended out.

I did pop a gold shadow on the center of the lid below, so that's why it's looks a bit more gold on my eyes. I found the formula easy to apply and work with, and my only complaint is that I wish there were more colors beyond the six neutral tones that I see on Ulta's site. I already have comparable colors or I would be snatching a few more of these up.

Thus far Catrice is impressing me with their products. I know they are the slightly more expensive sister company to Essence, as both are owned by the German company cosnova Beauty GmbH.

Here I'm wearing Brown to Earth with Maplewood from butterLONDON, another cream eyeshadow I'm really enjoying. I'm also wearing the Sunkissed Beauty Mosiac Powder Compact and Autumn Peach Silky Touch Blush by Essence. On my lips I'm wearing Beautifying Lip Smoother in Blackberry Muffin by Catrice. Yay for drugstore products that are just as good as the mid to higher end brands!

Beautifying Lip Smoother in Blackberry Muffin by Catrice

Disclaimer: I purchased this.

I dipped my toe into the Catrice product pool recently, and I've got to say I'm impressed so far. Today I'll be showing you the Beautifying Lip Smoother in Blackberry Muffin ($4.99), which is actually a lovely coral gloss with gold shimmer. Not sure how it got the name 'blackberry muffin', as there is nothing blackberry like about it, but it's all good regardless.

What intrigued me about this gloss was an Ulta reviewer's comparison of the Beautifying Lip Smoothers to Clarin's Instant Light Natural Lip Perfectors, which I've always wanted to try but balked at paying their $26 price. Both are supposed to be nourishing and provide soft washes of color. A comparison of the ingredient lists tells me both also contain shea butter and mineral oil, with Catrice also listing jojoba oil, while Clarin's has mango butter.

What I know is that Blackberry Muffin does feel quite moisturizing and comfortable, with a light, non-sticky texture. It wears a short 2-3 hours, which is about normal for me with this kind of non-sticky/light gloss. I like it!

Blackberry Muffin

I only see 3 shades listed on Ulta's site and I chose Blackberry Muffin because it looked the most vibrant, and I lucked out with it being the kind of coral pink I like. The gold shimmer is not super obvious unless it catches the light, and then it pops.

 

I wouldn't call the Beautifying Lip Smoother super smoothing, as my lip lines are still obvious, but it does have a nice shine and gives lips that plump and juicy look. I quite like it, and with Ulta's frequent sales, think it's definitely an inexpensive treat to check out if you are a gloss fan like I am.