You know, despite my grousing about prices of higher-end beauty products, I am a self-confessed snob. My preferences do lie with the finer things in life, and in many ways, I’ve earned it. I’ve earned my stripes, as it were and I feel no guilt enjoying my little luxuries.
But it doesn’t stop me trawling the budget beauty aisles. There is always something special about coming across a budget beauty gem. Few have in recent times. Especially not eyeshadow. My experiences with eyeshadows at the lower end of the price scale have not been encouraging. I’m already pretty critical about the high end ones, so imagine how I feel when I test an eyeshadow and get poor pigment pay off. Feel like smashing it against the wall!
But not this time. This time, I stumbled across a range of budget eyeshadows that are so cheap, yet so impressive, my mind was blown.
These amazing eyeshadows are the Catrice Velvet Matt Eyeshadow singles and if you have not tried them, please do. They are a-may-zing. I kid you not!
I swiped them just once at the counter, while being at a loose end one day, and I just knew I had to bring them home. Better yet, they were on a Buy 1 Free 1 offer! 😀 If they satisfy this brand snob, they’ll satisfy anyone! 😀
Catrice Cosmetics is a very affordable pharmacy (drugstore) brand that locally, is available at Guardian pharmacy (I believe it’s only Guardian pharmacy for now – if you know otherwise, please let me know) They are from Germany, I believe, and a sister brand of the other affordable brand, Essence Cosmetics (which I can’t seem to locate locally any more). I used to see these all over European blogs, and they came very highly raved despite the very small price tags, which piqued my interest. I was gifted with an eyeshadow palette by a friend, who purchased it from Europe a few years ago. So, I’m not unfamiliar with the brand – just unfamiliar with the products.
So one day when I was browsing at Guardian pharmacy, I spotted that these eyeshadows, already very affordably priced at just RM21.90 each, was on a Buy 1 Free 1 offer! What made me a little hesitant to try, was the name – Velvet Matt eyeshadow.
From experience with low-end makeup, eyeshadow is one of the easiest to get wrong. Often, colour selection is poor, or it feels gritty, or the pigmentation is poor, or it’s just meh at best. Make it matte, and I usually just look away. Most high end brands can barely manage producing a decent quality matte eyeshadow, I wasn’t expecting a pharmacy brand to do better.
But, I was not prepared for the creamy, velvety smooth texture of these powder eyeshadows, that seemed to almost glide on the skin like a cream! I was smitten almost immediately! 😀
From what I can tell, there are just 6 shades available, which you can see in this sneaky photo I shot in store. They all have amusing names, which naturally sat well with my rather warped sense of humour:-
- Vanillaty Fair 010 – A pale, cream shade best used for blending
- Pink-Up Girls 020 – A light baby pink
- Al Burgundy 040 – A deep burgundy/wine shade (photo above shows more purple, the other photos have a more accurate representation of colour)
- Welcome to Greysland! 050 – A medium, cool toned grey
- Jump Up and Brown 030 – A cool toned taupe in the pan, that swatches warmer on skin
- Moss Wanted Colour 060 – A pale green
I only really wanted 3 shades but since it was Buy 1 Free 1, I decided to take a chance on Al Burgundy, a colour I usually stay away from when it comes to eyeshadow, but which eventually turned out to be one of my favourites of the 4 I picked! I love how I kept getting surprised over and over! 😀
Each single eyeshadow is housed in a solid, clear lucite case. But there were some inconsistencies in the design and texture that, not surprisingly, bugged me a little.
Of the 4 shades, Jump Up and Brown and Vanillaty Fair both had smooth surfaces on the powder. They both felt like the finest of cream textures, and swatch like a dream with just 1 swipe of the fingers. Jump Up and Brown, in particular, surprised me (yet again!) because the colour, which looks a little pale and unassuming in pan, went on my skin a rich taupe that was a beautiful neutral that I loved so much, I’ve been wearing it almost everyday! Talk about value for money LOL! 😀
On the other hand, Al Burgundy had a patterned surface, and in terms of texture, I could feel that the surface of the powder felt rougher and drier. The colour in pan looks a little flat, but when swatched on my skin, I was (again!) surprised by the depth of colour! This was a rich burgundy/wine shade that was not as red nor as purple as I had initially thought. I pair it often with Jump Up And Brown, as a crease shade, and it adds a lovely depth. I have not yet worn it on its own, but I will eventually.
Welcome to Greysland! puzzled me, because it was the only design with a domed pan. I wasn’t quite sure why this was so. The tester pans were also domed, but worn flat by the numerous fingers swatching it. Yet, all the other pans were flat. The grey looks a little mediocre in pan, but once on skin, takes on a lovely cool tone with a slightly neutral base, that I found flattering and very easy to wear.
To give you an idea, here are the swatches I have of the 4 colours I own.
It might interest you to note that all swatches were made with just 1 swipe of my finger on the pan and straight onto my skin. The colour swatched evenly all the way down and as you can see, look so much more vibrant than in the pan! I’m not even sure why this was so.
I did not pick up Pink Me Up and Moss Wanted Colour, as they were a little too pastel for my tastes. But I can attest to their buttery smoothness of texture as well. What surprised me (again! This is a common theme throughout this post, as I’m sure you can tell) is that the colours aren’t exactly matte.
So, if you are looking for a true matte eyeshadow, then you may be disappointed with these, because I feel that they have a little shine to them, that makes them appear to be more satin in texture than matte. In fact, the only time they look matte, is in the pan. On skin, they have sufficient shine to not look flat, yet not so much shine as to be shimmery. I love it! I love how subtle it is, yet how flattering it looks when worn.
I love how easy they are to blend, without once being patchy on skin. They are a little powdery, when my brush picks up the colour, but it is SO EASY to pick up colour! Depositing it on skin and then blending it out results in NO FALL OUT at all, and it blends like a dream. WHY AM I TYPING IN CAPS? I HAVE NO IDEA! But it just seemed to deserve it. Yes, these Velvet Matt shadows are A DREAM! If this was a high end shadow, I think they’d actually get a lot more raves and rah-rahing than they currently do, but they are worth every single penny you spend on them. And you won’t even spend very many pennies! 😀
I bloody well love them, and I’ve been using nothing but these shadows for the past few weeks because they’re so easy to work with, and so flattering when worn. If ALL pharmacy brand makeup were this impressive, I might actually be a little more forgiving. Unfortunately, this is, I think, an exception rather than the rule. But what an exception it is! 😀
IN A NUTSHELL
The BEST pharmacy/drugstore eyeshadows I’ve come across in a billion years. Creamy, smooth, pigmented, easy to blend, long-lasting, no fading, rich colour… I’m running out of superlatives. Go get one. Or maybe two. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.
PROS: All of the above, and bloody affordable to boot! Even without the Buy 1 Free 1 offer
CONS: Limited colours but nothing else – 5 star product!
WHO WILL LIKE THIS: Anyone who loves a budget bargain, Anyone who loves a high quality eyeshadow
PRICE: RM21.90 | US$4.99 | €4.49 each – Watch out for Buy 1 Free 1 deals
AVAILABILITY: Guardian pharmacy in Malaysia, Ulta (US) and pharmacies in Europe
I thought I’d show you how I’ve been wearing these shadows, just for an idea.
I often wear Jump Up and Brown all over the lid, with Al Burgundy smudged along the upper and lower lash line, and into the outer corner and with Vanillaty Fair on the brow bone, and to blend away the edges. Very simple look. If you want something smokier, pile on more product.
I don’t wear a primer and these last me all day long without fading. Honestly, I have not been so blown away by an eyeshadow product in a very very VERY long time. I think I’ll stop now before you get tired of me gushing on and on 😛
Have you tried the Catrice Velvet Matte Eyeshadows? Anything else from Catrice I should be trying?
I was thinking to try a blush but I thought I’d try these shadows first and see how they fared. Now that I love them so much, I’m keen to try even more from the brand, so if you have tried anything rave-worthy, please rave at me, so I can check them out! 😀 The wallet-friendly prices sure have me by the short and curlies 😀
Paris B
Hey Paris, it’s been a long time since I felt such an excitement from you! I am also a makeup snob and I haven’t tested any of the Catrice makeup. I absolutely LOVE shades like the brown and burgundy you showed here though. The swatches do look amazing. I might have to pay Guardian a visit very soon 🙂
The excitement is contagious!
Truth to tell, there has been little to be so excited about in the makeup scene (for me anyway) so this was refreshing! I hear it’s being discontinued, so it might get harder to find in future. Hope you got to sample it, at least in store just to see if you’d like it 😀 I haven’t tried Catrice myself, but it’s definitely one to keep an eye on!
This product really your mind to far, far away galaxy LOL I think I did see these in the Guardian website but I don’t think they are available at stores in my city.
I like the 040 Al Burgundy and 050 Welcome to Greysland! – both look what I will usually get attracted 😀 I wonder about Pink-Up Girls – is it really that light on skin or darker? And Moss Wanted Color – is it a nice shade of green or will it be too light/dark for my liking?
However, based on your picture while wearing some of the shades, I couldn’t really see the colour – maybe on eyes are different than on forearms, hehe. Maybe because my phone nearly died so the screen is dimmed involuntarily LOL
I would love to see darker pink and purple shades, these are my favourite colours but it’s hard to find the right eyeshadows … like finding Cinderella to fit the shoe, haha.
P/s: You are a Monopoly-ish person based on your nutshell review LOL
Oh I love Monopoly! 😀 Haven’t played it in years though. As for these shadows, I think they’re affordable enough to buy online if you can’t test them out in person. I highly doubt they’d disappoint, especially as the colours can be used on their own, if you aren’t up to blending 😀 Pink Up Girls, from memory, is a fairly light pink and the Moss one is a pastel green. Nothing very inspiring, to be honest! Sorry for not getting the shades to show up on my eyes – I’m not that great at doing eyeshadow, as you can imagine so next time I’ll just stick to hand swatches! LOL!
Oh wow! I barely wear eyeshadow (mata sepet problems) but I will definitely check them out at Guardian. The burgundy one looks really pretty!
Did you manage to check them out on Buy 1 Free 1? 😀 The nice thing is that you can actually wear them on their own, so it’s find even if you have mata sepet 😀
Hi Paris! I suggest you to try:-
http://www.catrice.eu/en/products/eyes/eyeshadow/detail/product/liquid-metal-eyeshadow-020.html
(Collect them all! You won’t regret it especially this color and Satina Van Der Woodsen)
http://www.catrice.eu/en/products/eyes/eyeshadow/detail/product/absolute-eye-colour-mono-780.html
http://www.catrice.eu/en/products/eyes/eyeshadow/detail/product/absolute-eye-colour-mono-910.html
There’s this 2 beautiful colours which I don’t understand why they retired it however I noticed is still available @ some of the Guardians. The colours are called Don’t Touch My Mosserati! (Dark seaweed – emerald green like with tiny specs of gold dust) and Talk Like An Eygptian (Beautiful White Gold.) Check out this blog for swatches:
https://rantsandbeauty.wordpress.com/2014/04/21/catrice-mono-eyeshadow-dont-touch-my-mosserati/
http://tatjanag.blogspot.my/2015/01/my-catrice-absolute-eye-colour.html
http://www.catrice.eu/en/products/eyes/eyeliner-eye-pencils/detail/product/made-to-stay-highlighter-pen-010.html
http://www.catrice.eu/en/products/eyes/eyeliner-eye-pencils/detail/product/kohl-kajal-160.html
(I recommend the dark blue kohl – Cleopetrol & the mint green kohl – Too Cool for Pool.
http://faultierbeauty.com/index.php/tag/eyeliner/
http://evinde.blogspot.my/2014/07/summer-haul-rossmann-dm-june-2014.html
http://www.catrice.eu/en/products/eyes/eyeliner-eye-pencils/detail/product/velvet-matt-smokey-eyes-pencil-040.html
http://www.catrice.eu/en/products/eyes/eyeliner-eye-pencils/detail/product/made-to-stay-inside-eye-highlighter-pen-010.html
I know you hate mascaras but hey, no harm on trying @ the counter:-
http://www.catrice.eu/en/products/eyes/eyeliner-eye-pencils/detail/product/longlasting-eye-pencil-waterproof-100.html
http://www.catrice.eu/en/products/eyes/mascara/detail/product/better-than-false-lashes-volume-mascara-ultra-black-010.html
http://www.catrice.eu/en/products/lips/lipstick/detail/product/tinted-lip-glow-balm.html
(So call dupe for Dior’s Lip Glow)
http://www.catrice.eu/en/products/lips/lipgloss/detail/product/beautifying-lip-smoother-030.html
http://www.catrice.eu/en/products/lips/lipgloss/detail/product/glossy-lip-glow-010.html
So far I realized Catrice is only available @ larger Guardians eg MV, One Utama Old Wing @ JJ, Tropicana Mall, Sunway Pyramid, KLCC, The Curve, Ikano. Here’s their FB https://www.facebook.com/CATRICE.Malaysia/ and here’s Essence’s FB https://www.facebook.com/EssenceMalaysia/
For Essence wise, I suggest to try :
Their best seller cream to powder highlighter for ‘strobing’:
http://www.essence.eu/my/products/face/blush/e/product/soo-glow-cream-to-powder-highlighter-20/
http://www.essence.eu/my/products/face/powder/e/product/all-about-matt-fixing-compact-powder/
http://www.essence.eu/my/products/eyes/eyeshadows/e/product/all-about-roses-eyeshadow-03/
http://www.essence.eu/uk/products/eyes/mascara/e/product/lash-princess-volume-mascara/
http://www.essence.eu/my/products/lips/lipgloss/e/product/xxxl-shine-lipgloss-35/
http://www.catrice.eu/en/products/lips/lipstick/detail/product/pure-shine-colour-lip-balm-080.html
I suggest to get at Watsons Damansara Utama/ Amcorp Mall or Tesco Mutiara Damansara. A plenty of stocks compared to else where!
Happy testing and probably go ‘broke’ but happy!! ;p
Thanks for the comprehensive list Nyna 🙂 The happy thing with Catrice, based on what I’ve seen so far, is that you’re quite unlikely to go broke, which isn’t a bad thing all things considered! 😀
Ahhhh and I missed these?? I checked out the Catrice shelf at Guardian but went directly to the blushes instead *facepalm*. Aiyaaaaa…
Oh no! I only discovered them that day after meeting you – should have dropped you a note! But on the flipside, if you tried their blushes, I can’t wait to hear of what you think so I know whether to pick up a couple 😉
These shadows were my favourites! Especially vanillity fair – one blogger even compared that shade to an hourglass powder and now some people even use it to set/highlight other areas of the face. That being said you should probably stock up on them because they have been discontinued in Germany and I am sure they will bee soon everywhere else too.
Goodness, I didn’t think of trying Vanillaty Fair as a powder, but you could be right – it can be similar to Diffused Light, the one I use! 😀 Thanks for letting me know they’ve been discontinued. It’s such a pity, because they’re such an excellent range of shadows! 🙁
I haven’t really checked out Catrice much (a little of a brand snob myself), but wow! Your swatches may have just convinced me to give them a shot.
It pains this brand snob to say that these super affordable Catrice shadows puts many higher priced brands to shame! Absolutely worth checking out, and I hear their other products are pretty decent too!
These eyeshadows are really good and some satin/ shimmery are beautiful as highlighter.
Thanks for the heads up about using the shimmer ones as highlighter! I see they have other ranges, it might be time to check them out 🙂
After reading yr blog, i popped off to the nearest guardian pharmacy to hv a look at the product. By gosh the eye shadows were as good as u said they were. The buy 1 free 1 deal is still on. I grabbed 4 of the lovely lovely shadow pans. And u r right, the quality is awesome. For good measures, i grabbed the liquid metal shadow as well as they too were part of the buy one free one deal. I love glittery shadow colours. They work well on me. Blends well w the matte colours tht i bought. The glittery shadows may b too sheer for some who prefer a more pigmented eye colour. But it applies smoothly n evenly on yr lids. Looked good even without a primer. Some of the lighter colours would work well as a highlighter to brighten up the eyes a little. I bought 2 pans of the liquid metal shadow- we are the champagnes and mauves like jagger. Thanks paris for the recommendation! This really made a girl happy without breaking her bank account!
Glad you think these are good stuff too, Shannon! And they’re cheap so it’s not like we can complain too much eh? 😀 Thanks for letting me know the Liquid Metal ones are nice too – I must check them out the next time I go out! Now I wish there’s a Guardian nearer to me LOL! 😀
Hi Paris, I used to work with Guardian so I know this. Guardian is the only carrier of Catrice Cosmetics and it is only available in several outlets in the country.
I agree with you that these eyeshadows are really good! I have a few of them myself and also use them in my kit sometimes!
Thanks for the info Evan! 🙂 I think these are such excellent finds – haven’t found anything this impressive in a while, whether high end or low end!
GOSH! Can’t wait to go to GUARDIAN!! Thanks for sharing =_
Hope you got your hands on it! It’s an excellent product 🙂
Hi Paris,
Thanks so much for your awesome blog. I’m from Singapore and I am so glad to find your STUFF.
The fact that you usually use more high end products and look like a ‘Tai Tai’ (i.e. elegant and rich-looking lady) and yet have such high praise for Catrice definitely piqued my interest and curiosity.
I was so excited reading this and so off I ran to the Guardian outlet near my home hoping to grab the Al Burgundy, Jump Up And Brown and Vanillaty Fair. To my dismay (and it always happens when dealing with something hot) Al Burgundy was all snapped up.
Never mind. Even when there was no 1-for-1 promotion, I took Vanillaty Fair and Jump Up And Brown without testing as there wasn’t any tester, consoling myself I could find Al Burgundy in other outlets.
Now something funny and pleasantly surprising happened.
I swatched Jump Up And Brown and was so disappointed. I thought what the heck, It didn’t look one bit like the one in your picture, and, It’s definitely not brown! Then I looked at the back description and saw ‘Princess Mattleine’.
What happened was I mistook this for that at the shop (as JUAB was also all snapped up)
And that’s how I found my holy grail eyeshadow in Princess Matteine! It is the newest shade Catrice added to their Velvet Matt line
Paris, if you haven’t tried this shade, please go get it too. IT IS S T U N N I N G .
It looks deceivingly dull in the pan but so gorgeous on the eye. It is a nude beige with slight pinkish undertone. What so pretty about it is it looks so smooth, subtle and yet complements other eyeshadow as a base color and enhances the overall look like a million dollar.
Ok I’ve finally got my hands on AB and JUAB. AB looks loud and intimidating in the pan, less so swatched on the hand and hasn’t touched my eye yet as I intend to take some time during the weekend coming up with a style to wear it. Maybe do as a eyeliner and smudge it out lightly.
JUAB looks greyish worn at the outer corner, not the brown I was hoping for, and who cares what color because IT LOOKS GOOD and I LIKE IT.
This whole Catrice thing is crazy and I suspect they might soon come up with more shades. Or even a palette? Let’s put our hands together and pray.
Lastly, I’m so curious about the Grey one I haven’t got, and the green one too. I wonder if they’ll spark off a trend. Nobody wears these.
Hi Yvonne, welcome to our beauty madness! LOL 🙂 I actually giggled a little that you think I look like a tai-tai. Thank you! It actually is quite a compliment and a role I aspire to in real life (don’t we all?) 😀 I’m glad you found Catrice near you and that you like it too. The quality is certainly impressive, especially for the price! I didn’t come across a Princess Mattleine, but it sounds pretty! I’ll definitely keep an eye out for it 🙂 I’ve been told that this range has been discontinued in Germany. Horrors! 🙁
Thanks for your review! The eyeshadows were RM10.88 each at Guardian Mid Valley! I got Princess Mattleine and it’s lovely. Also spotted Catrice Travel De Luxe Travel Set at RM27.88, other eyeshadow singles at RM10.88, a YSL Touche Eclat lookalike at RM18.90, eyeshadow trios RM20.88. I am so tempted to buy more Catrice stuff…..
I. Will. Have . Jump Up and Brown and Graysland, at least. Al Burgundy is not out of the question, either.
I prefer a straight-up matte shadow, but I can live with a satin finish. The worst that can happen: I’ll absolutely loathe the formula, and will be out $4.99.
I can face that prospect.
I have not yet tried any of the Catrice eyeshadows, but I fully intend to!
I’m especially interested in Graysland, because I’m always on the prowl for a good grey that won’t go blue on NW15 me. All the mentions of Graysland’s “cool” tones give me slight pause, but in the swatch it looks fairly neutral.
For that little money, I don’t have much to lose.
Jump Up and Brown appeals to me, too.