little white truths

We received one of these Glazel Visage eyeshadows in our March 2016 Lust Have It Women's Boxes (reviewed here).

I was really pleased with the colour I received because it's a matte neutral that can be worn with any look, and the pan is big enough that you could use the product elsewhere on the face - eg as a contour colour, which you can with this particular shade because it's the right kind of ashy brown.

The only information I have on this product comes from the Lust Have It description card that came with the box. 

Apparently these are silk-textured, highly pigmented colours and they retail at $15 AUD for 3g. That seems like a lot to me - but then, everything's expensive in AUD ; ) - so I'd be interested to see what they retail for in Poland.

I did find one online retailer (Studio Cosmetics, see here) that sells these single matte eyeshadows for 8.90 Euro, although the packaging is different so it may be that we received our items in discontinued packaging - which wouldn't be the first time.

There I am below wearing a light coating across both eyes (I've dusted it across the entire lid and brought it up to around a centimetre below the browbone: you should be able to see the line fade out):

There's a close-up, natural light (I've concentrated the colour in the outer v and dispersed it evenly across the red of the lid):

Verdict

This is a nice eyeshadow and I'm really enjoying it. In particular I'm stoked with the colour I received, which not only serves me well as a matte shade to help retract my hooded upper eye area, but also works as a contour powder for the face. 

I can see myself getting a lot of use from the product, particularly when I eventually de-pot a few of my single/duo eyeshadows and put them in a palette so they're all together, since I have nothing else like this and it will be great for travel because it's multi-purpose.

As for the product, it's a beautifully soft and creamy shadow that has a high-end feel, although the packaging looks/feels cheap so I wasn't expecting the product itself to be any good. Happily looks were deceiving in this case, and the shadow is silky and pigmented: indeed, it's probably the best and most useful eyeshadow that I've ever received from a subscription box (granted, I've received so many unwearable/glitter-fest pinks and blues that there's not much competition on that front).

It applies well and blends with very little effort, which makes a time-poor lass happy. The texture is a little soft and powdery, so be careful not to dig your brush into the pan or you'll wind up dislodging flecks of product and you may also get some fall-out, but if you're careful you shouldn't have those issues.

Do note that this is one of those shadows that can diffuse into almost nothing if you over-blend it, which doesn't bother me because I prefer a softer eye-look, but it might be a problem for those who prefer a stronger, more defined eye.

The shadow wears well throughout the day, but note that I've only ever tried it with a primer because I apply one daily, no matter what shadow I'm reaching for.

All in all, this is a great little shadow and I'm loving it. Not sure I'd fork out $15 for something like this, but I'm certainly happy I received it and it's one of those shadows that I can see myself using until it's dead.

Lovely.

I received this product ages ago from Violet Box, and while I remember loving the scent and the packaging, I automatically passed it on to my husband because I didn't use soap at the time and he did.

These days, however, I'm more likely to try soaps because I keep receiving nice ones in sub boxes and can't bear to give them away. Luckily Mex found this recently when he was cleaning his room (he loved the packaging too and hadn't wanted to open it), so we decided to pop it in the communal bathroom and give it a crack together.

While it is a nice product, I think you can find better-value ones from Villainess and I'd be much more likely to buy one of their body scrubs over their soaps, but more on all that below.

Villainess claims/product details:

• Colour: caramel cookie dough flecked with cinnamon
• Contains incendiary ginger root throughout to warm and exfoliate
• Characteristic scent: a slightly psychotic blend of sweet cinnamon, rich cardamom, spicy ginger, and a faint touch of innocent vanilla
• RRP $8.50 AUD for 90g, but do shop around

This is a nice product and I'm enjoying using it for the scent alone, but I do think it's over-priced for the amount of soap you get and the quality isn't as good as it is for other fancy soaps I've used lately.

It's a thin, flat soap that's caramel in colour and it indeed smells like ginger snapped biscuits. I absolutely love the smell but if you want a Villainess-scented product (who wouldn't?!), I reckon you're better off going for something else in the range (eg one of the Smooch! Body Scrubs, reviewed here, which are sensational and much better value than this soap, in my opinion).

The formula of this product is ok but it's not amazing. It lathers reasonably well but not super well, and I feel the same about its cleaning prowess: it's ok but not a stand-out. Same goes for its exfoliating claims: there might be a small amount of exfoliating action going on but it's not something I notice when I use the product.

One thing I will say about Villainess is that I think it markets itself incredibly well in terms of brand name and the look/feel of the website and packaging, and how these things relate to the products it produces. I don't normally notice when brands do such things really well, so the fact that I've noticed it here says something. 

That's not a comment on the soap obviously, but more of a comment on Villainess overall - although it's worth mentioning because if you need a gift for someone who's hard to buy for, I think you could do a lot worse than picking up a few things from these guys, particularly if you're buying for someone younger.

All in all, this is a beautifully scented product and I'm enjoying using it for the smell alone, but the formula isn't a stand-out and it's not a product I would buy. If you're after something in the bath & body category from these guys, I definitely recommend trying the body scrubs over the soaps.

Have you tried anything from Villainess? Let me know if so : )