Catrice Eve In Bloom, L'Afrique C'est Chic and Thrilling Me Softly

Eve In Bloom is one of two new Catrice collections for September. See the collection details here.

Lavish bouquets of flowers: colourful foliage and warm light in the park, millfleurs and XL prints on the international catwalks. Floral fantasies ranging from authentic to stylised upon flowing dresses, blouses and headbands. In September 2013, let’s celebrate the magnificence of autumn with the Limited Edition “Eve in Bloom” by CATRICE. The colour scheme is reminiscent of a fresh bouquet of bright red and coral shades as well as autumnal purple in its most beautiful facets.

The collection includes three powder eyeshadow duos in a lucite packaging much like the old Shu Uemura eyeshadows.

There are also three lip and cheek creams. The rose design on the lids looks reminiscent of a Body Shop collection from a couple of years ago.

I picked up the Loose Moisturizing Highlighter, which is an ultra-refined shimmery loose powder. Although it is described as giving a matte effect, this is much too glowy to be matte.

Just peeling off the sticker inside the pot threw up a fine mist of the loose powder. It is very finely milled and featherlight, so the effect is a subtle radiant glow. There are no loud glitter bits.


Thrilling Me Softly is the other new collection for the autumn. See the collection details here.

Belles Rebelles. A rebellion on a mission to create new paths and more passion in the world of fashion. A reunion with gothic culture is developing into an exciting encounter. Catwalks are covered in leather and lace. Graceful, mysterious and feminine. Black dominates the field in a modern interpretation combined with bright reds as well as soft rosé and nude shades. Highlights are set in a cool gold and purple.

It's a gorgeous collection that includes three lip stains, two blush sticks and two Absolute Eye Color Trios.

Catrice's blush sticks are usually good quality so I snapped up the Smooth Blush Sticks in C01 Feverish and C02 Daredevil without hesitation. Feverish is a peachy pink while Daredevil is more red-toned. These are made in Germany and contain a generous 8g.

Below is the Absolute Eye Color Trio C01 Soft Thrill, which looks suitable for everyday wear.

Swatches (from left to right) of the blush sticks in Feverish and Daredevil, plus the Wet Shine Stain Lip Lacquer C03 Fatal.


L'Afrique C'est Chic was released earlier in July for the summer. See the collection details here.

African appeal: colourful, traditional, exotic. Designers are discovering the new AFROdisiac – a journey into the African fashion culture. Folkloristic and colourful with bold influences of the next generation. The diversity of patterns is the central element. Tribal, Zulu and animal prints are all the rage in this summer’s collections and great designers are using them in flowing, elegant caftans as well as for feminine business looks. With an opulent palette of colours ranging from papaya to cinnabar to the iridescent blue of the ocean, the Limited Edition “L’Afrique, c’est chic” by CATRICE will be making a great impression this August and September 2013.

This included four Liquid Metal eyeshadows, a new formula that has been added to Catrice's permanent range. However, these felt a tad dry and lack the molten velvety texture of the Estee Lauder Gelée Powder Eyeshadows.





The shades in this collection did not really appeal to me so I only picked up the blush brush, more for the novelty factor. This is made in China and feels pretty soft for a drugstore brand.

Catrice Matchpoint, Candy Shock and Hip Trip collection displays

Came across three Catrice collections yesterday in various stores here in Switzerland. Matchpoint is the sport-themed summer collection for June-July that includes some baked eyeshadows, lip balm tints (similar to Clinique Chubby Sticks) and blush sticks.


I would have liked to get the Blush Sticks in C01 ChamPINKon and C02 Rockby but unfortunately all the pieces left had been tested. See the collection details and video here.

Candy Shock is the pastel themed collection for April-May inspired by ballerina couture with lots of baked eyeshadows, blushes and a multi-color highlighter. This is the collection currently available at Guardian Pharmacy stores in Singapore that carry Catrice. See the collection details and video here.


Hip Trip is the music festival-themed collection for May-June. Aside from the usual oversized bronzer, nail polishes, eyeshadow palette and lipsticks, it also includes a pink passport cover. However, this felt quite cheaply made without any unique design details.


See the collection details and video here.

I found all three collections to be underwhelming. They had interesting ad visuals but in terms of the products, there wasn't anything that really stood out. The Glamazona collection for Jun-Jul looks interesting but I haven't seen it anywhere. The stores here do not always stock every collection, so it's always pretty random in terms of what I am able to find.

Sightings around the web

Shu Uemura will release this Eye-conic collection on 1 June to commemorate the 30th anniversary of its flagship boutique in Omotesando in Tokyo. More details and pics here, plus an interview with International Artistic Director Uchiide Kakuyasu in the Philippines.

See swatches of the Paul & Joe Beach Baby summer collection on Iswii.net. The collection is now available on ASOS.com which offers free international shipping. ASOS also has the limited edition leopard print Pressed Powder UV that is not available in the US. If you are in the US, B Glowing and Beauty Habit both stock the collection.


See swatches of the RMK Summer 2013 collection on Iswii.


Cutie Fishball has the scoop on Suqqu's Fall 2013 collection. See swatches of the Suqqu Blend Color Eyeshadow EX14 Ruridama (LE) and new Bright Up Lip lipsticks here that will be released for this summer.

So Lonely in Gorgeous has great pics of the six new Addiction eyeshadow quads plus swatches. There are also some more swatches in the reviews on Cosme.net. Of the six, only Soda Lunch and Black or White are limited edition. The other four quads are permanent but for the launch, they will be available in a limited edition case featuring artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat. The quads contain 3.4g of product, versus 1.2g for the eyeshadow singles. See the full collection here.

Catrice is now available in select Guardian Pharmacy stores in Singapore, and they've brought in the Cucuba collection from last autumn. Read more on Faces by Sarah.

Catrice Neo Geisha

Came across the Catrice Neo Geisha collection for spring at my supermarket today. It's a bold modern take with an unusually vibrant color scheme. The looks are a bit too avante-garde to be wearable but the collection does feature some interesting pieces.

In the centre of the display are the Patch Eye Liners, which are self-adhesive reusable eyeliners in 4 designs (total of 8 pairs). Dior released a similar product last year, if I recall correctly.


There are four Absolute Eye Colors embossed with a floral motif.

As pretty as these looked, they were totally unimpressive when swatched as they were super sheer. The swatches below are 4-5 layers each.

The Lip & Cheek Color C03 Madame Butterfly (red) and C02 Picked Cherry Blossoms (pink) were far superior in terms of color payoff. C01 Discreet Artist (beige) was much less intense than the other two shades.



I came home with the Lip Brush (CHF4.75) and Kohl Kajal 01 Ultra Black (CHF3.50). The elongated kohl pencil can double up as a traditional hairpin, according to Catrice.

The brush is made in China and feels super lightweight. Nevertheless, the bristles have a nice firm shape. The novelty factor of the wrapped handle (similar to NARS' Yachiyo brush) alone made it irresistible.

Essence Hugs & Kisses and New Catrice Eyeshadows

For Valentine's Day, Essence has released this Hugs & Kisses collection. Essence seems to be very fond of bright lime in its recent collections.

"Love at first sight? Guaranteed! With the new trend edition “Hugs & Kisses”, all the girls are sure to fall in love with the cool and colorful beauty products by Essence in January and February 2013. The colors in this trend edition are super fun and will definitely put you in the mood for Valentine’s Day: bright lemon and pink combined with intensive red and purple are guaranteed to impress! Love struck or not, these unique products will make your heart go boom: an eyeshadow palette and a blush in a great l.o.v.e. design, lashes, stylish lip products and an awesome eau de toilette – the it-pieces in the “hugs & kisses” collection are sure to make the hearts of all trendsetters beat a little bit faster. xoxo essence!"

It's quite a varied collection that includes a fragrance, an eyeshadow quad, four nail polishes and four glitter top coats, nail stickers, false lashes, lip scrub, two lip tint and a blush with a 'LOVE' print.

I also found the Vintage District collection on display, but sadly it was missing the Multi-Color Blush 01 It's Popul-art, which was the only piece that I was interested in.


Also new on the shelves is New In Town, which includes new eyeshadows, nail polishes in purple and fluorescent green, plus an All-in-one BB Cream in two shades, and Stays No Matter What 24h Volume Mascara.

Came home with these lovelies.

Glitter Topper polishes in 01 More Than Words (left) and 02 Dreams For Sale (right).


Glitter Eyeliners in 01 With X's and o's (purple and silver holographic) and 02 Love's Out To Get You (white holographic).


Duo Lipstick & Gloss in 01 Vintage Peach.


Both Essence and its more grown-up sister brand, Catrice have just refreshed their line-ups with a massive slew of new products - see details on Essence here and Catrice here. From Catrice, I picked up the new Absolute Nude Eyeshadow Palette, and two Absolute Eye Color Mono in 640 Don't Touch My Mosserati and 650 Petrol Shop Boys. Like Essence, Catrice comes up with the most amusing shade names!

Absolute Nude contains 6g and is made in China.

The eyeshadows come in a clear lucite packaging, very similar to Shu Uemura's previous eyeshadow singles. Don't Touch My Mosserati is a rich metallic mossy green with gold reflects.

Petrol Shop Boys, which is made in Poland, is a satin muted turquoise with sparse silver reflects. This feels dryer and less velvety to touch than Don't Touch My Mosserati, which is made in Germany. These hold 2g of product, which is generous compared to MAC's 1.5g.