During BeautyBay's recent 15% off sale, I purchased the new Pixi H2O Skintint (£21, 35ml), Endless Silky Eye Pen in BronzeBeam (£11) and Shea Butter Lip Balm (£8) in Ripe Raspberry from the Spring 2014 collection.
The H2O Skintint is a water-based tinted face gel that is supposed to be hydrating, long-lasting and water-resistant with a semi-matte finish that lasts all day. Aside from being paraben-free and fragrance-free, it contains antioxidant-rich green tea, moisturising rose water, soothing english chamomile and relaxing lavender. I was surprised to see that it is made in Korea.
The lightest shade No. 1 Cream was a good match for my MAC NC20 skintone. The pump dispenser is easy to control and the plastic tube packaging makes this convenient for travel as there is no fear of breakage. The texture is a very light cream that feels cool upon application. I had rather mixed results with this as depending on the skincare that I used prior to applying it, there were variances in the finish. When I used Paula's Choice Anti-Redness Exfoliating Solution, the H20 Skintint applied patchily with a tendency to pool in my pores and dry patches also appeared on my cheeks. It applied much more smoothly when I prepped my skin with Shiseido Ibuki Refining Moisturiser instead.
Being a tinted moisturiser, I did not expect this to offer much coverage. Indeed, the level of coverage is pretty light and does not cover blemishes well although it does even out some of the redness in my skin. It also takes quite a bit of blending to achieve a smooth, streak-less finish. Although titanium dioxide is listed as the third ingredient, there is no SPF level stated on the packaging which is disappointing as it means you can't rely on this alone for sun protection. Overall, I was a bit disappointed with the H20 Skintint as I was hoping that it could be a fuss-free all-in-one product for those days when I do not have time for applying foundation.
List of ingredients is below.
The Shea Butter Lip Balm has a nice creamy texture. It does not feel as balmy as Fresh Sugar Tinted Lip Treatments but it does keep my lips hydrated without any peeling thereafter. Ripe Raspberry is a sweet pink that shows up nicely with just a couple of swipes.
Being a longtime fan of Pixi's Endless Silky Eye Pens, I always pick up any new shade that they release. Bronze Beam (center in the pic below) is a medium brown with a bit of a glimmer. It's not as muddily flat as Black Cocoa (left) and lighter and cooler than Copper Glow (right) which is more chocolate. I find Bronze Beam a bit too light for the upper lashline but it's nice for adding some depth along the lower lashline.
Swatched from left to right: Black Cocoa, Bronze Beam and Copper Glow.
In the pics below, I used Bronze Beam on both the upper and lower lashlines.
Below is the look that I did using all three products, along with the Metallic Magic Eye Alchemy palette from their Holiday 2013 collection.
BeautyBay is currently offering 20% off all Pixi products until 17 March to celebrate St Patrick's Day, with free international shipping, but they do not have the H20 Skintint in stock while they only have a few of the eyeliner pencil shades available (excluding Bronze Beam). I received my order in just under two weeks. The Skintint is also available on ASOS.
