A while back Catrice and Essence sent me a bunch of their new goodies and I thought I’d show off a few of the stand outs, starting with Catrice.

First up, their new Chocolate Nudes palette is rather nice.

I remember trying another of their palettes a while back and wasn’t all that impressed as the shade selection wasn’t varied enough – it was literally one dark shade and then a whole bunch of paler ones that all came off looking the same – but this one gets it right. The pigmentation, however, isn’t amah-zing, so make sure you apply this over foundation or primer and then you’ll get a good colour pay off.

Next up we’ve got Catrice’s Even Skin Tone Beautifying foundation. The shade I was given, 020 Beige Rose, is far too light for me to wear in summer but I did try it on an in between self-tans day and while it still wasn’t a one hundred perfect match I liked it enough to feel it’s worth a mention.

It’s got a luxuriously creamy, medium-weight texture that’s super easy to blend and immediately made me think of Shiseido’s Radiant Lifting foundation, but without the radiance bit. I mean don’t get me wrong, Catrice’s finish definitely isn’t matte, but it’s not illuminating either. I’d describe the over all effect as ‘satin’. I liked that it did a lovely job of evening out my complexion but don’t think it would cover anything major, you’d still need concealer for that.

As far as claims go, Catrice reckon there’s something in their foundation that can help minimise the effect of pigmentation over time but don’t specify what that is. Perhaps it’s the teensiest pinch of botanical brightening extracts they’ve thrown in just before the preservatives? Either way, while every little bit helps, don’t give up on your pigmentation-busting serum and SPF combo just yet.

Last, but not least, Catrice’s Sun Glow Mineral bronzing powder is a real goodie.

It gets the balance between matte and shimmer 100-percent right to create a satiny natural-looking hue with ZERO glitter (OMG! How much do we hate glitter-infused bronzers?!) that’s totally tan and not a drop of orange. The lighter shade (010 Golden Light) is a shade I can only pull off when I’m wearing a light facial self-tanner (which is 90% of the time as I’m naturally a bit of a zombie) so I reckon it would suit anyone with a medium skin tone.

If you’re more on the paler side of life, I’d still recommend you look at The Body Shop’s Honey Bronze bronzing powder. That’s still my top pick for fair-skinned girls wanting a matte-bronzer.

The lippie colour I’ve got on is a Catrice one but I can’t remember the name and now I can’t find it. Arrrgh! For the record, Catrice lipsticks, in general, are definitely among the nicer ones you’ll find in the ‘drugstore’.

Love, love

Leigh