REVIEW || Paula's Choice Makeup Products

Hi guys! Today I have another review for you, this time of a few of the products from the Paula's Choice makeup range. You may or may not remember I was sent a couple skincare products a while ago to review, and when they asked if there was anything else from the brand I wanted to test, I took a look at their site and saw they also make makeup! I had never heard anyone else talking about any of their makeup, and since I love makeup more than skincare anyways, I requested they send me a few things to review... and here I am finally getting around to reviewing some of those Paula's Choice makeup items!

As always, all the opinions expressed on this blog are my own and 100% honest. I was sent these products for review, but was not paid to write this post. =)

Paula's Choice is first-and-foremost a skincare brand, so it follows that most (if not all) of their makeup products have a skincare side to them. The glosses are anti-aging and have an SPF, for example, and there are some pretty nice ingredients in many of the products, so I was looking forward to giving them a go! I received a brow kit, mascara, set of chubby lip pencils, lip glosses, a makeup remover, and a sunless tanner. The only thing I haven't tried is the sunless tanner because I just don't tan... I almost gave this one a go, because it was a concentrate you just pump into your favourite moisturizer to apply... but it's just so not my thing. Sorry.

And now I guess we should get into my thoughts!

Brow Defining Cream Duo

First, the brow kit. Brows are so important, and one of my 2 most basic makeup needs! This kit comes in a compact with a pretty nice mirror, two coloured brow creams, and a double-ended brush with a spoolie on one end, and an angled brush on the other. The kit retails for $20 USD on the Paula's Choice website.

I think this kit comes in only the one shade, and personally I found that the dark colour is very dark, but the light is too light (it's very blonde). So how I found works best for me is to use the dark shade to define the lower line of my brows, and the tail, and then I work the lighter colour into the front and tops of my brows, and that works pretty well. Someone with darker or lighter hair/brows than me might find themselves only able to work with one shade or the other.

As for consistency, these are creams, not gels, which means they aren't sticky but also don't offer any hold, so I like to pair this product with a brow gel. The brush itself is a pretty good mix of soft and firm, and worked well enough for me, and I love that it includes a spoolie to help shape and blend! All in all? It's a good product, but not amazing. But I do prefer pencils most of the time, so this may be better for another type of person. Also, I didn't find it had amazing staying power, or ever really set fully, unfortunately.

Resist Anti-Aging Lip Glosses

As I mentioned above, these glosses don't just make your lips glossy, they're meant to protect your lips with an SPF of 40, and contain anti-aging ingredients to hydrate, protect, and smooth your lips. They retail for $18 USD on the Paula's Choice website.

These glosses come in plastic squeeze tubes with a narrow angled plastic applicator tip, which isn't great for precision, but these are a sheer gloss, so precision isn't a huge deal. Personally, I found these smell like the maple icing on a Tim Horton's maple glazed donut, but not too strongly. It's mostly a sugary smell that mostly manages to disguise the sunscreen scent, and they have not discernable flavour (aside from a slight sunscreen-iness).

These come on two colours: pink and clear. I did find them slightly sticky, but not horribly. While these aren't my thing (as a non-lipgloss lover!), they could be a good option for gloss-wearers as a simple summer lip product when you want protection and a little more shine or colour than your average SPF balm. Also, I suppose you could use the clear as an SPF 40 lipstick topper!

Berry & Bright Lip Collection

This set contains four chubby lip pencils, three of which are bright or berry colours (as the name would suggest), and the fourth is a shimmery topper. From the looks of things, these are no longer available, and were a Holiday 2015 release. The Paula's Choice website actually does not currently sell any lipcolour products, aside from the pink gloss I showed above. I'm not sure there's much point in reviewing them now, but I will say they were quite nice, if not spectacular. Not sure these will ever come out again, but if they do, I'll pop my swatch picture up and move onto the next product. (these were $45 USD).

Fantastic Lash Mascara

This is a regular (read: non-waterproof) lengthening mascara. It has a bendy, narrow brush with soft plastic spike bristles. It retails for $12 USD on the Paula's Choice site.

This is not my favourite type of brush, for sure. The spikes are pretty widely spaced, and I didn't find it did much for separating. So if you love the voluminous, lots-of-lashes look like I do, it may not be for you, either. The texture is nice: not too wet or dry, and it doesn't dry too hard and crunch, which is great, but it is still firm enough to hold some curl. It does make lashes look long and spiky, so if that's your look, and you don't need waterproof, you could give this one a go!

Gentle Touch Makeup Remover

This is a bi-phase makeup remover promises to remove even waterproof makeup easily without irritating skin or eyes. Specially formulated for use around the eyes, but works all over the face, including lips. Contains antioxidants, and is free of colourants and fragrances. Retails for $15 USD on the Paula's Choice website.

While I did think it was pretty great to include a makeup remover in a PR package full of makeup products, I was not expecting to like this as much as I do! It's actually probably my favourite thing I recieved in this whole post, which just proves that skincare really is what Paula's Choice is best at. It's non-oily and doesn't leave a ton of horrible residue on your skin. Contains tea extract and aloe to soothe. And it really does remove even waterproof mascara quickly and easily! I'm not sure what else you could possibly want from a makeup remover! With the exchange rate, though, it becomes almost $20 CAD for a makeup remover... you'll know if that price is worth it to you or not.

***

Overall, although most of these products were still pretty good, none were spectacular or super special, in my opinion. I think the coolest is probably the lip glosses, assuming you like lipgloss, but unfortunately I don't really. Still, just because I don't like things doesn't mean you won't so if someone above sounded like your kind of thing, I would say you should still give it a go. I just wish they still had those lipstick pencils!

Let me know if you've ever tried any Paula's Choice makeup products and what you thought!

Thanks for reading!