Capsule Reviews: The Happy Skin Festival of Colors Collection
Happy Skin just dropped a new collection called Festival of Colors last week, and here's your first look into how some of the products perform! I don't have the Lip Kits, Glisten Up! Kit, and Air Touch Sponge, but I've tested everything else. Here's what I think of these colorful additions to the beloved homegrown brand after rigorously trying them out for a few days.
Y'all know that I have no time or patience for substandard eyeliner. I am pleased to report that the basic Eye Am Here To Stay 24H Gel Pencil Eyeliner (P599 for .5 grams) of Happy Skin is super good! The mini ones they released in the past are nice, but only as an occasional addition to my look. I can see that the Perfect Black (opaque matte black) and Chic Brown (shimmery brown) liners will be mainstays in my routine as they're pigmented, fairly creamy with minimal drag, and sweat-resistant.
Perfect Black is mostly matte, but it has this strange smattering of fine sparkle when drawn on. It's not obvious at all, but you will see them if you look closely. I love how ridic black it is that even I was surprised when I took my first selfie with it! It's solid in one or two layers for me. Chic Brown is pigmented, and is more of a bronzy brown to me. I like wearing it a bit below my iris or all over my waterline to add some shadow to my eyes. By itself, it creates a natural line on the upper lid.
A single swipe the Bye Bye, Blues Concealer in Medium, Perfect Black, and Chic Brown
Staying power is really good. The Gel Pencil smudges a teensy bit when worn for over five hours, but it retains its integrity for much for the day. I wore it during an intense tennis session to see how sweat-resistant it is and as you can see in the photo, it did not fall apart after an hour! There was some smearing on the bottom lid and it has faded on the upper waterline, but it still looks decent.
Left: Before tennis | Right: An hour after tennis and buckets of sweat
I love that these pencils are automatic; there's no need to sharpen. It does come with a detachable plastic sharpener on the butt part but I don't have a good experience with these gizmos so I won't recommend it. You might end up breaking the tip of the eyeliner.
Overall, I highly recommend the Eye Am Here To Stay 24H Gel Pencil Eyeliner to anybody who needs reliable liners. These should do well even on oily lids, when applied properly.
The Happy skin Bye Bye, Blues Brightening Concealer (P899 for 7.5ml) is an entirely new product. It comes in two shades, Light Beige and Medium Beige. I have here the latter and it's a great match for my NC35 skin! It's yellow with a strong peachy undertone to it - perfect for eye bags.
This concealer has heavier coverage and thicker texture compared to the Happy Skin Eye Need A Miracle Corrector which I reviewed previously. As promised, it brightens the under eyes without looking like a caked-up mess even with the good coverage. Here is it + the Perfect Black eyeliner in action.
It fades minimally during the day when set properly with a thin layer of powder. It creases after about 3-4 hours, but i just pat it back down with a clean finger and it's like nothing happened. Do I like this new concealer more than Eye Need A Miracle? I think I need more time to see, but so far so good! I'd say Bye Bye, Blues lasts better but Eye Need A Miracle is more light-reflecting and thus more brightening.
Finally, I've got the Tickled Pink Skin Perfecting Super Absorbent Charcoal Blotting Sheets (P149 for 50 sheets). I've tried A LOT of oil blotting sheets but I'd say this one is the best so far! It's thicker and bigger than your average oil blotting paper, which means that you only need one sheet to remove all traces of oil. I've always found it counterintuitive that we have to use at least two sheets for the oil-blotters to do the job. Maybe we boys and girls are just oilier here in the Philippines? In any case, I'm happy that a local brand found the perfect solution to a very greasy problem.
I love the thickness of the paper here as the oil doesn't get into my hands when I press into it. I love that it has some bamboo charcoal and kaolin incorporated in the paper that boosts its matifying power. Overall, a great find! I understand it's more expensive than the ones you can buy in drugstores but for 50 uses, P149 is not too bad for me.
Hope you enjoyed reading through my review! Let me know if you're looking forward to trying out anything from Happy Skin's Festival of Colors collection. Currently, you may pre-purchase them only online at happyskincosmetics.com. Starting February 8, you can get these at Happy Skin's retail locations.
