Vice Cosmetics I like you but it's just not gonna work out. | Powder foundation and brow gel thoughts
Vice Cosmetics I can safely say is one of the powerhouses in the local cosmetics scene. With punchy neon coherent branding and inclusivity front and center in products as well as advertising, Vice Cosmetics has become a household name despite being just shy of five years in the industry.
Touting inclusivity in its makeup with its genderless approach and with a wide range of shades suiting almost all skin tones in the Philippines (unheard of as most locally available brands only release 2-4 shades in base products) at really friendly prices- this brand has cemented itself as the standard in catering to shades darker than 'light, vanilla, beige and/or cream'.
So why don't I like it?
Vice Cosmetics started in 2017 as an affordable local brand that is at par in terms of trends, ingredients, textures, shades and technology, with other Korean and American/European brands that are well known in the Philippines.
Dermatologist-tested, cruelty-free, vegan and paraben-free, keeps up with latest beauty trends, nice sturdy packaging, inclusive shade range and stellar advertisements and extremely affordable...what more can you ask for? To be honest, nothing really except one thing.
Stability of the pigments. Ok so personally, I don't buy into the 'acidic skin' trope of the colour changing on you. But I'm willing to adjust and get the next shade over to make it work.
Stability of the pigments. Ok so personally, I don't buy into the 'acidic skin' trope of the colour changing on you. But I'm willing to adjust and get the next shade over to make it work.
The positives : the texture of the powder is buttery smooth. It doesn't have a strong 'talc' smell as most powders do. It blends well and holds up on my dry sensitive skin and doesn't irritate it. It's hard to compete with the pricing Php 245 with it being vegan, cruelty-free, paraben free and with spf as well.
But the colour changes. Drastically. After 30 minutes or so, the shade that was so perfect on me, turns about 2-3 shades darker and has a more orange-red tint to it. It's such a small minute thing but for that reason alone I hate using it. I don't want to have to buy a base that's again a mismatch for this powder to correct it again. What's the point of that?
Vice Cosmetics Dual Finish powder foundation- Wet or dry powder- Spf 25- Oil control- Blurring (yeah like most powders, don't know why that's here... but ok)- Buildable- Vegan- Dermatologist tested- Cruelty-free- Paraben-free- Comes in 8 Filipina-friendly shades
Now maybe I just have to adjust and get the shade that's two notches up, which is Tisay the lightest shade in the whole line. I'll keep it in mind as I do like the formula. The shade is the only problem for me as well as the packaging ( the latter is more of a personal taste). I'm also not sure about oil-controlling because I have dry skin but I didn't feel like this powder dried me out. I haven't used this on my face wet but I doubt my sentiments about the colour will change. This works best dry in my opinion.
Left with brow gel in natural brown (darkest) right bare no product.
Now the brow gel is ok. The brush is a huge though. It smudges when your eyebrow is wet and/or oily and you touch it, but for the most part the shade is pretty neutral. It doesn't leave your brows crunchy but it gives a little hold.
Gandoll Volumizing Brow Gel- Long-wearing- Flexible hold- Natural-looking finish- Php 195
The smell reminds me of a faint hairspray scent but not off-putting at all. I like the bottle but the brush, as I've mentioned, would work better for someone with already full brows as it's big. I think it's a bit big especially for someone with sparse brows; it will tend to touch the skin and leave messy streaks.
As you can see, it does have fibers that lend a little fullness, supposedly to your brows. Maybe it is there, but I really don't see much difference. I feel like the 'cream' product makes the fibers slide off the brow. Not bad but not really something I would buy again. The formula isn't that great in a sense that it doesn't lend to fullness nor is it really sweat-proof. Now I know it doesn't advertise as such, but we are in a tropical country. Case closed.
The brand over-all is great. The price point is amazing, but I'm looking for something more catered towards my needs. I feel like it's a great makeup starter brand and the eye palette from the BTS collaboration is great ( I use it a lot) so it's not all nays for me. Yes, the title is OTT but I had to hook you right?
What do you think about this brand?
xx,
CJ
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