During a recent trip to Wellington, I found myself in Mecca with money to spend and no list. The ByTerry Ombre Blackstar cream eyeshadow pen caught my eye in it's sleek, gold, luxurious packaging. As I am working towards a smaller collection of high quality products, I decided this was something worth picking up. I decided on the shade Blond Opal, a shining shade that sits somewhere between gold and silver. It is the perfect highlighting shade that I use to brighten the inner corners of my eyes, or to sheer out with my finger under my brow bone. This makes it a product that I can use every day. The pigmentation of this product is incredible, and that is partly because it can be applied directly to the skin rather than with a brush or finger. If you work quickly, it can be smoothed out to a more sheer shade. The staying power of this product is impressive. It sets quickly, and once it has set, boy is it staying put! It won't budge, yet it will remove easily with makeup remover. There is approximately 4cm of product that can be rolled up. This, combined with such a small amount of product being used each time, means that this product should last a very long time, and repurchasing would be a long way off (years).
For $66, you aren't just paying for the product/formula. You are paying for luxurious packaging and a high end brand. On the skin this product looks very similar to any other cream eyeshadow. However the staying power is beyond any other product. It is luxurious, easy to apply, will last a long time and is unlikely to dry out. It is a product that makes me feel excited to do my makeup and reminds me of a special trip with my mother, and for that, it is worth $66 to me.
*Please note that I use this in small areas, NOT all over the lid.
Last year I had a wee trip to Wellington and one of the must visit places for the weekend was Mecca Cosmetica. I had heard so many good things about these cream eyeshadow sticks on YouTube that I knew I wanted one. But I didn't want to try something this expensive without actually trying them in person. I picked up the shade Frozen Quartz which is taupe light brown gold shade which I thought would be perfect as an everyday sort of shade that I would get a lot of use out of. Next on my purchase list is Misty Rock though which is a darker purple grey sort of shade (for me it wouldn't be an everyday shade but I'm sure I'd get lots of use out of it).
So the packaging is pretty simple. It is a golden metal tube. The shade colour is shown on a loop at one end of the product (great if you have more than one). The lid fits very tightly which is great for a cream product so it won't dry out. Inside the lid there is a twist up part where the product comes out of.
This is where the amazing part starts, the product is even better than the sleek packaging. I use this straight from the bullet onto the eyelid. Once you apply it you have some time to blend it out, it is just as easy with your fingers as a brush. Then it sets. And once it sets it does not budge. My eyelids have a tendency of just eating eyeshadow even with the best primers. But this stays all day! I have used it by itself, and with other eyeshadows over the top and it makes everything last longer and I love the look that it creates underneath other shadows. I think this is an amazing product. The one thing I would note is that I can feel it on the lids, it creates a bit of a tightness, I think this might be what makes it last so long. Now this doesn't bother me at all but if you are particularly sensitive to that sort of thing then it might be a problem.
Now as you may have already guessed I adore this product. I will be purchasing another but the price is a wee bit prohibitive ... but I'm sure I'll justify it to myself soon.