Colour Shifters

It occurred to me that I haven’t given CoverGirl much love on my blog. For whatever reason, their products don’t call out to me. Currently the only CoverGirl products I use are the LastBlast Volume mascara and Wetslicks AmazeMint in Red Riot. I used to have their Eye Enhancers Quad in Country Woods which was one of the very first eyeshadows that I owned. I'm guessing I was 11 or 12. I remember liking it a lot, the shadows were nicely pigmented (better than rival Maybelline and other cheap eyeshadows I had), the quad consisted of warm wearable browns and had a good mix of light and dark, matte and shimmery shades.

Recently, I decided to take a closer look at the CoverGirl range. Mainly due to the fact I had a $10 voucher off CoverGirl products that I had to use before the end of May. I contemplated the obvious choices: one of their well-reviewed LipPerfection lipsticks (I was eyeing Heavenly intently), or repurchasing Country Woods. But I rationalised to myself they'd be the absolute last things I needed: more pink lipstick and brown eyeshadow. Instead, I opted for two products I wouldn't normally consider, a LipPerfection lip liner in Seduce (210) and Intense ShadowBlast in Beige Blaze (800).

The first picture is my lips filled in with the LipPerfection lip liner in Seduce all over. The colour is a medium peachy nude which can be worn by itself or to neutralise one's natural lip colour. The picture on the left in the second row is my lips with Face of Australia Lip Quench lipstick in Pink Champagne. I've previously bemoaned that this lipstick is too cool and pinkish-purplish on me, but with Seduce as a base it magically transforms into a noticeably warmer and more yellow-toned pink. I wouldn't have thought to use lip liner in this way, but it's surprisingly effective. More so than using a nude lipstick underneath, as mixing lipstick can be a little messy, especially if they're on the creamy side. The lip liner on the other hand really adheres to and almost soaks into the lip, possibly due to the fact I find the formula a little drying.

l-r: Beige Blaze, Essence Mystic Lemon and Taupe of the Pops (with Beige Blaze), without

The IntenseShadow Blast in Beige Blaze was a product I was first introduced to in this video by Zoë Foster where she goes through her travel makeup bag essentials (it appears at 4:15, and she's also written about it). After a quick Google search (this review swayed me in particular), I decided that I needed to have this seemingly all-purpose miracle tool (primer, cream eyeshadow, eyeshadow intensifier, cross between Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin and Eden). Taking it home, the first thing that struck me about it was the smell. I don't know if it's because the product's been sitting on the shelf for 2 years, but it has this distinct slightly sour, metallic smell that I find really off-putting. The colour itself is an intensely shimmery, yellow-leaning champagne. After about two minutes, it sets to the point where you can't rub it off, so it's best to blend it out with the finger straight after you've applied it to the lid.

I definitely can see a difference to the intensity of eyeshadows when it's used as a primer. I tested it with two fairly ordinary eyeshadows, Essence single eyeshadows in Mystic Lemon and Taupe of the Pops (reviewed more in depth here). I'm guessing if I used already very pigmented eyeshadows, the difference wouldn't be as apparent. The swatch above shows the difference between the Beige Blaze applied underneath the eyeshadows and without. Instantly richer and more pigmented, though Taupe of the Pops looks somewhat distorted in colour due to the shimmery yellow undercurrent from the Beige Blaze (not so much a problem for Mystic Lemon, which is practically the same colour). For this reason I'd recommend using Beige Blaze only with similar eyeshadow colours. I tried it on my lids and I didn't notice a significant improvement from the existing cream eyeshadows that I use for my base/primer, but possibly because I only used a very small amount and blended it out with my finger so it ended up quite sheer. To me, this product would be best used to intensify underperforming beige/champagne/yellow/gold eyeshadows and really make them come to life.