Affordable homegrown brand San San is the main feature for LocalPH : The makeup edition. To be specific, I'll be featuring their very online famous concealer pen. Is it worth the cheap price tag?
Read on for further dissection...
It's no secret that I love online shopping especially for makeup. And more especially for hard-to-find and/or exorbitantly priced makeup in the Philippines (seriously though, those import taxes :/).
Thank the makeup gods for online shops right?
I first introduced this product in my blog in this post, and I noticed a lot of traffic there so I thought to expound a little more on why I think you should check out this affordable contour powder.
I'm not 100% sure if the product is cruelty-free, or if the the box is cruelty-free.
Contouring - Is the use of creams, liquids and/or powders to create depth and "shadows" on the face to give it structure and dimension. These contouring products are usually a neutral to cool brown colour, ideally with gray tones in it.
PACKAGING / SCENT
Shawill's Perfect Powder in 003 is housed in a sturdy sleek and glossy compact with a nice-sized mirror —very reminiscent of the NYX Blotting Powder compact and their Matte Bronzer compact. The scent is very talc-y like those old-school makeup with perfume-y scents. Not particularly strong (I don't mind it at all) but you do smell it every time you open the compact. It doesn't linger on your face though.
Related : Shawill Coloring Eyebrow Review
TEXTURE / COLOUR / APPLICATION
This is supposedly smooth and soft but not so soft that it leaves a dent in the pan when you dip your finger in. The one I got however might have been a bad batch because it's tougher and a little hard when swiped.
I have tried the testers at different Shawill counters and they are indeed smooth. My case seems to be isolated. Other people who've tried this swears by its smoothness or "creaminess".
The colour is a cool matte brown. I would say it's mauve-y so there's still a little red in this but with taupe / gray in the mix. It's easy to build-up because of the texture but you do have to take some time in blending it in and making it look diffused.
I can't get the truest colour on camera but it's a little more light and a little more brown in real life
People who prefer extremely heavy pigmentation from the get-go might not like this. You have to swirl the brush (the denser, the better) more than once to get a decent amount of product on it. Then again, that might be because I got a bad batch.
As you can see (I actually don't know if you can) but it's definitely a little mauve, a little taupe and a little gray kind of brown.
Affordable (Php 168) and easily accessible (Watson's and SM carry Shawill) it also wears well. In a night setting it lasted well over six hours on my dry-sensitive skin until I had to take it off. No adverse reactions as well!
From my experience, it tends to react to foundation/oil in the foundation/oil on my face and pulls a tiny (like very tiny) bit more red because of it. So I make sure to set the face with a powder first then use this. It's a good tip nonetheless, since powders blend better on top of powders.
Verdict : Decent buy.
TIP
After I use this on the hollows of my cheeks I blend it in more with a warm bronzer. I find that it looks better because of the transition it gives. It's not just my skin/foundation then a cast of shadow under my cheekbones.
Have you tried this? Any other "contour" products that are easily accessible and affordable out there? Let me know below!
xx,
CJ
PS. I still use a brown bronzer to sort of mix around the contour area because I think it's a little weird looking if there's only a grayish brown stripe under your cheekbones. I find it a little unhealthy-looking. Plus I love bronzer. When I do my face, I can go without blush, but not bronzer #VSGlow #JLOGlow
This has been making rounds on instagram as a great quality and most importantly cheap pen eyeliner. I decided to get one and take it to the test.
And yes you read it right "Sleak" not "Sleek" —another popular and affordable High-street brand that's also available in some parts of the US. I know most brands copy each other in terms of packaging, but this Shawill takes the cake for blatant packaging and logo "similarities". Good job on the name change though.
I do like how it's packaged though. Every detail is on the little box and I appreciate that. This was priced at the time of purchase Php 99 (around $3). The pen clicks shut and doesn't leak when stored tip side down.
NOTE : Ingredients are nowhere to be found unfortunately.
NOTE : Ingredients are nowhere to be found unfortunately.
The felt-tip is a little thick over-all so don't expect to make really precise liner looks with this. It does taper out but it doesn't provide really thin and precise lines. At most you'll have to go over (and over) the line that you did. It works better if you start out with a thick-ish line and angle the pen not go at it directly.
As you can see the liquid isn't patchy when applied thickly. When I tried to make finer lines it applied patchy and I have to press down the liner to get more liquid to the narrow tip. Which in turn makes my supposedly thin line thick at the part where I pressed the pen down.
The way I've been applying thinner lines with this is the dotting/dash method, wherein I slant the tip against my eyelid then press down instead of dragging it along my lash line.
The thinnest line I can achieve with this pen. Not that bad.
It works well. But I like the variety of liner looks I can get with a different tipped pen liner. Another thing is that it cracks along the outer crevices of my eye. (You know where the top lid and lower lid meet at the end of the eye? Yeah that part. And I don't have particularly oily lids.)
So that's a bust. It's also not waterproof nor smudge-proof. It can actually be removed easily with water. I don't particularly mind that much but for oilier lids and people with hooded eyes that can be an issue. I wanna say it's water-resistant at most.
CONCLUSION
It's a pass for me. The packaging is sturdy. The ink is black. It's pretty easy to apply. I find the size and shape perfect for beginners. Plus it's cheap...
But it's not waterproof, it drags a little because of the felt-tip, I can't make a really fine eyeline and it cracks in the folds of my outer corners. And those are the major things I look for in a good liquid (pen type) liner. Right now I'm trying to finish this so I just skip lining the outer part of my eye anymore (no cat eye boo) and stick to a straight line.
Have you tried this liner? Have you tried any of Shawill's liners?
xx,
CJ
PS. Shawill recently has ton of new things I'd love to try. I've swatched most their highlighters, blushes and eyeshadows and they are all really smooth and pigmented. The lipsticks are also a must try I heard. I've only tried one from one of their lines and it's pigmented and creamy. Too creamy in fact; I broke that one :(.
PPS. While I don't really mind the copy-cat packaging, I am wary of the false advertising. But what can you do, lots of brands do that.
It's been a while since I posted my first impressions on this cheapy eyebrow pen. (here) And I decided it was about time I make a full review on it after testing for more than a month already.
If you're not familiar with eyebrow pens, think eyeliners but watered-down and made for the eyebrows. It's supposed to be easy to apply, easy for the brows (no hairs sticking to waxy pencils) and natural looking. (you can mimic hair strands because of the pen tip)
NOTE : Ingredient list is nowhere to be found even online.
As one can expect from Asian beauty companies, cutesey is something we do quite well. The stripe design and pastel pink evokes the sailor-vibe and I quite like it. The pen itself is pretty typical, plastic with a brush tip and ball bearing inside to mix the product.
According to the Sales Attendant there're only two shades — dark brown and light brown. The dark brown is in a blue pen.
Despite being light brown, I find the formula really pigmented for an eyebrow pen.
"But hey isn't the fact that it's pigmented, good?"
No. It's a different ball game when it comes to eye brow products, namely pen types. The "sheer-er " the better. Also when doing brows, you want to slowly get into it so it won't look harsh and too drawn-on.
USAGE / PERFORMANCE
I go in with a light hand and start outlining the outer edges of my eyebrow. Then with a spoolie in hand (or a cotton bud or finger) I spread it out. It tends to dispense a LOT of product especially if you press down or shake it beforehand.
I sweat quite a bit but I wouldn't classify myself as oily so this lasts on me the whole day. Not saying that this is oil-proof though because this melts on my sister (she has really oily skin).
It looks a little patchy because if I keep on lining it it just appears darker and darker almost black so I confine it to the outline of my brows and the ends. I completely gave up putting "hair-like" strokes to the front. To blend everything, make it budge-proof I put on Wet N Wild waterproof black mascara.
VERDICT
Pass on this one. I don't "hate" it but I did try to like it. I really did. It's cheap. The color is natural (if sheered out) and I think it looks okay on the ends of my brows but when I try to draw "brow hairs" on the inner part of my brow it just looks like I DREW brow hairs on the inner part of my brows.
It doesn't come off as natural (in person. Looks quite nice in pictures though.) at all. I don't know if I haven't gotten the right way to do it or I just suck. Apart from not looking natural, it's not oil-proof, waterproof or smudge-proof. (I think the whole point of eyebrow pens are that they're waterproof and/or smudge-proof)
Ugh...I hate wasting money. Anyway, I'll keep playing around with it from time to time, just to annoy myself but for the most part I'm going back to my trusty old pencil.
xx,
CJ
PS. Have you tried this or any other brow pens? What do you think about brow pens in general?
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/shawillcosmeticsph
