Cheap, Not Quite Thrills

I need a restraining order from being within 500 metres of any Priceline store. It's never just stepping inside to buy that one thing I specifically have my eye on. There's way too much temptation all around, and more often than not, I find myself wavering and giving in to an extra thing or two. After seeing the Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal eyeliner in Nude (005) on Laura's blog, I knew that I had to get one for myself. I've been searching for a nude, slightly peachy eyeliner for the lower waterline à la Stila Kajal Eye Liner in Topaz without the price tag, and this Rimmel pencil seemed extremely promising. On a Friday night trip to Priceline to find the Rimmel eyeliner, I couldn't resist also picking up one of the Essence Stay All Day Long Lasting cream eyeshadows in a shade that had previously eluded me: Coppy Right.

l-r: Urban Decay Sidecar, Maybelline Bad to the Bronze, L'Oréal Bronzed Taupe, Essence Coppy Right

I've previously blogged about the shade Glammy Goes To... and I was wary that Coppy Right would have the same issues that left me underwhelmed with Glammy Goes To. Pam convinced me that I should still give Coppy Right a chance, especially as the colour is completely up my alley. Coppy Right is a more flattering colour on my lids than Glammy Goes To, but I find it similarly infused with a whitish-silvery shimmer that makes it very frosty if built up in opacity. I tried it initially with the Ecotools concealer brush that I use for my Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze, but I think it works best applied in thin layers with the fingers. On its own, it gives a shimmery, light wash of a slightly cool, frosty, taupey brown. Used as a base, it does intensify and deepen the colour of eyeshadows placed over it, but it also has the tendency to make the lids look scaly and dry.

Coppy Right might be a better choice than than Glammy Goes To, but both don't hold a candle to Essence Eye Soufflé in Pas Des Copper, which tones down the frostiness, amps up the pigmentation and has a much smoother, creamier formulation. I don't know why Essence hasn't reissued any more Eye Soufflé cream shadows, as I find them vastly superior to the Stay All Day range.

The Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal pencil in Nude is beautifully smooth and pigmented. It's an orange/peachy colour when swatched on the arm, but is much more nude and toned down when applied. It's definitely a warmer, more brightening colour than Essence Kajal pencil in All I Want, which I've since binned as the olive-beige shade didn't do anything for me. I haven't worn it enough to comment on the lasting power, but I tried smudging it off with my fingers after I'd applied it to the lower waterline (bad, I know), and it surprisingly didn't budge in parts.

While I can't really fault the product itself, my lower waterline is extremely sensitive, and I found that applying this pencil caused my eyes to sting. I also didn't find it really flattered my eyes, in the sense of making me look more awake or making my eyes appear larger. While it's less stark than white eyeliner, I wouldn't say that the effect is entirely natural. I think it's still obvious you're wearing something on your lower waterline, and it draws attention to that area by subtly changing the shape of the eye in a way that I'm not used to. The eye becomes more bottom heavy, if that makes sense. It probably wouldn't be an issue if I had an eyelid crease, but with monolids, the overall effect looks a little unbalanced. That being said, I honestly think Nude is more or less a dupe for the Stila eyeliner in Topaz, and for under $10, it's a total steal.