Disclaimer: Products featured were provided for review.
Hey everyone, happy Monday! Today I have the review and swatches of the
"Hello, Sunshine!" limited edition spring collection from
Mary Kay to share with you all. I don't know how the weather has been elsewhere but it actually snowed here yesterday so there is no sign of spring anytime soon for me but it was very refreshing to play with some fun, springy colors. To see some swatches and reviews, click.......
Mary Kay Springy Eye Duo in "Summer Sunset" and "Stonewashed" ($18):
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| Housed in light blue plastic jars with twist-off lids. |
Despite the look of these, the Springy Eye Duos are actually cream shadows with a very light and smooth texture. Summer Sunset is a combo of soft coral with gold shimmers and a pastel gold shimmer. Stonewashed is a combination of a matte light brown and a dusty baby blue with a satin finish.
The pigmentation was amazing and they all felt very soft and buttery. However, I had great difficulty keeping these on my lids. When worn alone, the shadows creased and faded and within less than two hours, the colors were hardly even noticeable on my lids (happened with all four shades). I then tried the cream shadows over a base; I used Stila Prime Pot, which is the tackiest eye primer I own. The lasting power increased quite a bit but there were still some creasing. Perhaps topping the colors off with a powder shadow of a similar color would increase the wear further but I was a tad disappointed that the duos can't be worn on their own, especially given how gorgeous the colors are and how effortless the application is.
Mary Kay Gel Eyeliner with Expandable Brush Applicator in "White Daisy"($19):
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| Gel Eyeliner in "White Daisy" |
The Mary Kay Gel Eyeliner in "White Daisy" is a white gel eyeliner, definitely not something I have tried before. The shadow comes with its own mini expendable brush applicator (see photo below), which works fairly well to apply the product. The formula of this white eyeliner is quite different from your usual gel eyeliner in that the pigmentation is patchy and it takes some time to set, which leads to quite a bit of creasing during application. I personally don't see this being used as a liner because it is just too hard to attain a nice even line. However, I tried tapping the product on my lid with my fingers and using it as a base color for light shadows and that seemed to work just fine.
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| Expandable Brush Applicator included with gel liner (expanded) |
Mary Kay Lip Gel in Cherry Twist ($18):
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| Lip Gel in Cherry Twist |
The lip gel in Cherry Twist is a gorgeous and pigmented pinkish red lip gloss. I really love the packaging of the product, the clear see-through tube has a double wall design that looks quite neat. The formulation of the lip gloss is great, it feels light and moisturizing on the lips and I like that the color is buildable, you can go with either just a sheer wash of color or you can go for a more intense cherry hue.
Mary Kay Creamy Lip Color in "Retro Rose" & "Carefree Coral" ($17):
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| Creamy Lip Color in "Retro Rose" |
Creamy Lip Color in Retro Rose is a beautiful rosy brown lipstick with a subtle shimmer that's not very noticeable on the lips. The lipstick has a light vanilla scent, much like M.A.C lipsticks and the formulation is very pigmented and creamy. This color isn't something I would pick for myself but because the application and formulation is so wonderful, I quite like it!
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| Creamy Lip Color in "Carefree Coral" |
Carefree Coral on the other hand is a gorgeous warm rose colored lipstick. Like Retro Rose, it has a very pleasant vanilla scent. The pigmentation is great and the lipstick felt creamy and moisturizing. I think because of the smell and the good formulation, these remind me very much of the M.A.C amplified cream lipsticks. Overall the lipsticks are definitely two of the best products from the line.
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| Lip Gel in "Cherry Twist", Creamy Lip Color in "Carefree Coral" & "Retro Rose" |
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| Lemon Parfait |
No makeup collection is complete without a couple of nail colors and the "Hello, Sunshine!" collection includes two very pretty soft spring colors. Lemon Parfait is a pastel yellow cream. I had to use three coats but the formula is good for a color like this. All the pastel yellows I had in the past had a lot of streaking problems but Lemon Parfait was reasonably self leveling and the polish dried very quickly.
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| Lemon Parfait, three coats with no top coat. |
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| Carefree Coral |
Carefree Coral is a gorgeous soft orange with a crelly (cream and jelly hybrid) finish. The pigmentation of this is sheerer than Lemon Parfait but it was still a three coater. The formula was really easy to work with and the final result looks super shiny and squishy!
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| Carefree Coral, three coats with no top coat. |
The collection also includes an adorable wristlet that is free with a purchase of $55 or more from the collection.
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| Limited Edition Mary Kay Hello, Sunshine! Wristlet (free with purchase of over $55 from Hello, Sunshine! Collection) |
Overall I think the collection was well done, the eye products were a bit of a miss but the nail and lip products more than makes up for them. My recommendation from the collection is the Lip Gel, the Creamy Lip Color in "Carefree Coral", and the nail polish in "Carefree Coral".
Availability:
Mary Kay is available
online, check out their entire spring collection
here.
So what do you guys think? Which product from this collection is your favorite? Let me know in the comments below!
beauty,
eye makeup,
eyeshadow,
gel eyeliner,
lipgloss,
lips,
lipstick,
mary kay,
nails,
spring,
spring 2014
