Bourjois and I are like two peas in a pod – I love this brand and is, in fact, my all-round favorite drugstore brand. I adore their lipsticks (especially Rouge Velvets), mascaras, eyeliners, powders etc. However, I always do feel a tad apprehensive of a new launch – you never know what it brings – will it be a friend or a foe? Bourjois Smoky Stories (£7.99) are the latest eye shadow palettes from the brand and they come in eight color variations. I've had the pleasure of test-riding the In Mauve Again 07, a purply/violet variation. I must say that I felt very excited about the packaging as it looks fancy on all photos. I was honestly hoping for something similarly genuine, smart and beautiful as their Silk Edition Compact Powder (which I adore). In person, it does have a very interesting flask shape which looks semi-elliptical, semi-cyllindrical on the sides and you can lay the palette to rest on its flat sides which does look fancy on a vanity. I do like how the color of the packaging mirrors the color of eye shadows but there is something I don't like. I'm not sure if the idea to make the entire packaging out of plastic was wise as it gives off a not-so-luxury vibe. A metal lid and a truly metal made sides would look and feel better, I think. I also am not a fan of the two-sided spongey applicator. I never use those and I think that the beauty industry is over them for the longest time now. What I do like, however, are the eye shadows themselves!
Bourjois i ja smo dva jako dobra druga – ovaj brend mi je posebno drag i ustvari je meni omiljeni drogerijski brend od svih. Prezadovoljna sam njihovim ruzevima za usne (posebno Rouge Velvet mazalicama za usne), maskarama, tusevima i olovkama za oci, puderima itd. Ipak, uvijek docekujem novitete sa odredjenom dozom opreza – nikada ne znate kako ce donosenje promjena da se dopadne vama kao pojedincu ali i siroj publici. Da li ce oduseviti ili razocarati? Bourjois Smoky Stories (cca 20KM) su posljednje paletice sjena za oci koje nam donosi ovaj brend i dolaze u osam nijansi. Imala sam zadovoljstvo da isprobam In Mauve Again 07, ljubicasto/lila varijantu. Kada sam vidjela kako izgleda pakovanje na fotografijama, bas sam se obradovala posto mi se ucinilo jako lijepim. Mislim da sam ocekivala nesto jednako korisno, lijepo i kompaktno – nesto slicno njihovim Silk Edition kompaktnim puderima (u koje sam zaljubljena). Uzivo paletica ima doista interesantan pljosnati oblik koji je polu-eliptican, polu-cilindrican ako je gledamo sa strana na kojim je mozete i poloziti (lijep je prizor na kozmetickom stolicu). Dopada mi se sto boja kucista prati boju sjena no imam jednu zamjerku. Nisam bas sigurna da je odluka koristiti plastiku za cijelo kuciste najbolja ideja. Mislim da bi kvalitetniji metalik premaz uz cvrscu plastiku ili metalni dijelovi ucinili da djeluje luksuznije (a samim tim i da ucini cijenu prihvatljivijom). Takodjer vec znate da cu reci kako ne koristim dvostrani spuzvasti aplikator. Cini mi se da ih je cjelokupna beauty industrija prevazisla tako da bi to brendovi trebali uzeti k znanju u skorije vrijeme. Ono sto mi se pak jako svidja su same sjene!
In Smoky Stories palettes, you get a total of four shades – three are regular satin shades and the one in the center is called ‘Light Touch’ and contains shimmer which looks like pressed pigments to me. In Mauve Again (07) is not exactly a mauve-based palette as it seems more lilac/purple to me. Three regular shades contain no glitter (yay for that!), just a hint of micro shimmer and are really creamy and buttery to the touch. They're almost that cream to powder type as they're so soft. They are of a solid and buildable pigmenation and very easy to blend. I'm actually pleasantly surprised with them and if they just were a tad more pigmented, they'd be very similar to Urban Decay eye shadows. You get a light lilac, violet and a deep orchid purple shade – all are of a satin finish. The glitter in the middle is purple-hued and even though in theory it can be used on the inner corners and under the brow – I'd only dab it all over the lid for an instant glam look (that's your day to night transformation, right there). Surprisingly, there is almost no fallout (even from glitter) and longevity is solid even without a primer but after 4h+ you do get some light creasing on very oily eyelids. It's a habit of mine to use a base and I wear it under these eye shadows as well, resulting in an entire day of wear. I wasn't exactly following their video instructions (look here) but went intuitively with the application. I aimed to create a smokey eye with a dash of shimmer. You can also see how it looks from a different angle in this Manhattan blush review (here). You like?
U Smoky Stories paleticama se nalaze ukupno cetiri nijanse – tri su klasicne sjene za oci dok je cetvrta (koja se nalazi u sredini) shimmer koji me dosta podsjeca na presovane pigmente. In Mauve Again (07) mozda nije istinska mauve nijansa vec bih je opisala kao dio hladnog lila/ljubicastog spektra. Tri nijanse su standardne sjene koje ne sadrze sljokice (veliki plus za ovaj detalj), samo mrvicu mikro shimmera i izuzetno su mekane, puteraste na dodir. Gotovo da se radi o tipu kremaste teksture koja postaje puderasta u dodiru sa kozom – toliko su meke i fine. Solidne su pigmentacije koju je moguce slojevima intenzivirati i jako je lagano blendati. Cak sam ugodno iznenadjena te mislim da bi, uz samo malo jaci intenzitet, mogle biti jako slicne Urban Decay sjenama. U paletici se nalaze njezno lila, ljubicasta i tamnija boja orhideje – sve su satin finisha. Sljokice u sredisnjem dijelu paletice su ljubicastog podtona te, iako se teoretski mogu koristiti u unutarnjem kutu oka i ispod obrve za osvjetljavanje – ja bih ih koristila samo kao zavrsni sjajni sloj preko cijelog kapka koji trenutacno transformise sminku iz dnevne u nocnu. Iznenadjujuce, uopste nema mnogo rasipanja (cak ni kod sljokica). Trajnost je takodjer solidna cak i bez baze ali u tom se slucaju nakon vise od 4h na masnijim kapcima pocinje primjecivati nakupljanje u pregibima. Meni je nanosenje baze za sjene preslo u naviku te sam je koristila i ispod ovih sjena (ne na swatchevima, samo na oku). Nisam bas slijedila video tutorijal za koristenje ove paletice (mozete da ga pogledate ovdje) nego sam sjene intuitivno nanosila a cilj je bio njezniji smokey-eye uz dasak sljokica. Takodjer mozete pogledati kako sjene izgledaju iz drugog ugla u sklopu recenzije Manhattan rumenila (klik ovdje). Dopada vam se? Ako da, preporucila bih da ugrabite ovu paleticu na snizenju – tada cete se tek osjecati bas zadovoljno omjerom ‘ulozeno-dobijeno’.
*Some of these products may have been sent to me for review. For more information, see my disclaimer.
