This time of the year is proving to be very expensive to me because there are just too many nice products on offer. Today I would like to tell you about Boots's own No 7 brand's limited edition Christmas Collection. I'm not going to review the Mirror Ball collection (the highlighter, eyeshadow quad, lipstick, jumbo pencils, etc.), but concentrate on the limited edition 9 colour eyeshadow compacts and eye pencil sets. Both of them available in 3 colours: Candy Cane, Smoky Jewels and Precious Metals. The colours work very well together, so you can co-ordinate the eye pencils with the compact with the same name, which I think is pretty cool.
Candy Cane, Smoky Jewels, Precious Metals
Right then, first off the eyeshadow compacts. In style they remind me very much of a small compact Lancome did a couple of years ago also with 9 colours, only difference is, these eyeshadows work much better together (the Lancome shadows are very hard to use together). You get 3 rows of co-ordinating shades, although of course you don't have to stick to using them together. Candy Cane is a nice soft pastel palette, with blues, pinks, purples and greens. Smoky Jewels has darker, "smokier", jewel toned colours, blues, greens, purples, browns. Precious Metals has a collection on metallic shades: gold, silver, bronze. The eyeshadows are nicely pigmented, smooth and easy to blend. You get 3.6 g for £12.50 (the pans are about the size of a 5p coin, so that's why they're only 0.4 g each).There's often a 3 for 2 offer on No 7 products or at the moment you get a free gift if you spend £22 or more on No 7 - check it out here!
Read more of my review and see lots of pictures and swatches after the jump!
Candy Cane
Candy Cane
Smoky Jewels
Smoky Jewels
Precious Metals
Precious Metals
Next up the eyepencils. Again we have 3 sets: Candy Cane, Smoky Jewels and Precious Metals. The eyepencils are similar colours to the eyeshadows and would work really well together. They are excellent, very smooth, blendable, but once applied, they will not move. I wore Smoky Peacock (the dark green one) in this look and it stayed put all day. I'd compare these pencils to Urban Decay's 24/7 eyeliners, but these No 7 ones are cheaper and if you get these sets, you will not need to buy any eyeliners again for years! They are 0.8 g per pencil and the sets cost £13.50 each.
Candy Cane, Smoky Jewels, Precious Metals
Candy Cane
Candy Cane
Smoky Jewels
Smoky Jewels
Precious Metals
Precious Metals
A whole lot of pencils!
Finally here are the swatches. Everything was swatched on bare skin, no primer, no base at all. You can see my hand is a bit red in the third picture, that's because I had to scrub it hard to get the eye pencils off (never occured to me to use make up remover, doh!). These pencils are really great!
Candy Cane, Smoky Jewels (with flash)
Candy Cane, Smoky Jewels (natural sunlight)
Precious Metals (with flash)
Precious Metals (natural sunlight)
Candy Cane, Smoky Jewels (with flash)
Candy Cane, Smoky Jewels (natural sunlight)
Precious Metals (with flash)
Precious Metals (natural sunlight)
I love all of the eyeliners. I'm going to place an order from Boots for both Precious Metals and Smoky Jewels. Thanks for much for posting this. How do you compare these liners from the L'oreal Chrome eyeliners?
ReplyDeleteI tried to place an order with Boots for Precious Metals and Smoky Jewels. Unfortunately, they don't see to USA. Do you know of any other online stores that will see these eyeliners?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately they are exclusive to Boots. :( But I thought you could buy some No 7 products in the US, however, I don't know where, sorry.
ReplyDeleteI have some L'Oreal HIP eyeliners, if they're the same as the Chrome ones you mean, then they are pretty similar.
It's a bit more expensive, but the UD 24/7 mini-liners box offers more variety in terms of colour, so you've greens, purples, browns and blues in there as opposed to the singular collections.
ReplyDeleteI really wish some day cosmetic companies can introduce a pick n' mix system for sets! That way i'm not always left with a dud item I don't like to use.
Nice review though, I'd really love to read more reviews on No7 products, since it's not really a makeup brand I find featured that often in blogs. If they do, it's just a quick shoutout that the £5 voucher is back or something.
I SO much wanted to buy all of these too, (I don't blame you one bit for doing so), but we had zero ££ to spare...=(
ReplyDelete