Last week I was sent a press drop of some of the products from the new Clarins Easy Looks Collection. The collection consists of six eyeshadow quads €43 (01 Fairy Tale Nude, 02, Rosewood, 03 Flame, 04 Brown Sugar, 05 Jade, 06 Midnight), a Brow Duo €24 (01 Blond, 02 Auburn, 03 Cool Brown), a Make-Up Corrector Pen €18 and three new shades of the Joli Rouge Lacquer Lipsticks €24 (754L Deep Red, 758L Sandy Pink, 759L Woodberry).
As you can guess from the name 'Easy Looks', this collection is meant to bring you products that are simple to use. As with most French beauty brands, Clarins usually creates products that give you that chic and effortless "French" make-up look and this collection is no different. The palettes contain four shades in each, a mixture of mattes and metallics. The two shades on the right are supposed to be applied all over the lid to form the basis of the eye look with the third shade bottom left to darken the lash line or outer corner and the fourth more glittery shade top left as an inner corner highlight or in the centre of the eyelid to add dimension. The formula contains bamboo powder which is meant to enhance the wear time of make-up so there isn't a need to apply primer first as the shadows should last 12 hours of wear.
I was sent two of the palettes, Fairy Tale Nude and Brown Sugar. I definitely think there is a discrepancy in the pigmentation of the two palettes. Brown Sugar definitely swatches better without a primer than Fairy Tale Nude and used with a primer they are enhanced even more. Fairy Tale Nude definitely has lighter overall pigmentation. At first I was a bit disappointed, however over the years I've heard various professional makeup artists speak about a preference for less pigmented eyeshadows as they're easier to work with and you can build them up or use a primer if you want to take them further. I actually think these palettes are in line with a lot of other high end French beauty brands like Chanel, YSL Beauty and Dior. The idea behind these palettes is that anyone can use them and create an eye look that enhances the eyes rather than overpowering them. I think the problem is that we are so obsessed with how "pigmented" something is but sometimes less is better. It also makes them quicker and easier to blend and I found myself reaching for them for work over the past week because they're so easy to use and you don't need to spend ages blending them out.
I would say these palettes are ideal for someone who doesn't have a lot of time to apply makeup but still wants to look like they have made an effort or someone who is a makeup novice or perhaps doesn't have the best skills and just wants something easy to use. You can't really go wrong with these palettes, I found the shadows easy to work with and when I wanted more impact I used a flat brush spritzed with Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray (although you could use any setting spray) or if that's too much effort you can apply with your fingers either.
The Brow Duo is an interesting product and something that I haven't come across before. It's a 2-in-1 product, one end has a powder to water formula on a thin applicator to shape and fill your brows and the other end is a tinted mascara to set and intensify the colour. I don't think I can give my full opinion on this as it's not the right shade for me, although I managed to make it work. I was sent Auburn but I probably would have gone for Cool Brown. I actually quite like the idea of this product as you can use both sides together or just the tinted mascara or the powder with a clear gel on top if you don't want such an intense colour. I have used it a few times now and I got the hang of it after a couple of times as I'd never used a product like this before. If you want a lighter application you can tap off the excess powder and remove some of the tinted mascara as I found you get a lot on the brush and I applied too much the first time (you'll see the excess brow mascara in the close up photos of the second eye look). I used to use powder and mascara on my brows years ago and have since tried lots of different brow products and I do think a product like this is very handy and as the collection intended, very easy to use (once you get the hang of it). I'm not sure how it would work on someone with more sparse brows as you wouldn't be able to get the same definition as you would with a crayon or felt tip pen. I think this would work best on someone who already has more full brows.
I was so intrigued by the idea of the Make-Up Corrector Pen when I first saw it online. I've never tried a product like this before and again it fits in perfectly with the idea of an Easy Looks Collection as it allows you to quickly and easily fix any mistakes you make such as messy liner, mascara transfer, lipstick bleeding etc. I won't lie I did think to myself "when am I going to need this?" and literally the next day I ended up making a big mess of my liquid liner and this fixed it in literally 2 seconds. For anyone who struggles with liquid liner this could be your saviour for getting those crisp lines. I also tend to get a lot of mascara transfer on my upper eyelids when I'm getting ready for work in the morning as I'm usually in a hurry so this is perfect for quickly removing any marks I make especially close to the lash line where it's harder to reach. It comes with replacement tips that are meant to keep you going for up to 300 make-up mistakes.
Last but not least my favourite part of any collection- the lipsticks. If you follow me on
Instagram you'll know I'm a huge fan of the Joli Rouge Lacquer Lipsticks. I was sent four of the shades when they launched last year and they're definitely some of my most worn lipsticks of the past year (particularly Soft Berry and Spicy Chili which are swatched below alongside the other shades). I was so excited to see Clarins had brought out three new shades in this formula. I was sent Sandy Pink which is a more warm, brown-toned neutral shade and Woodberry which is a cooler, more pink-toned neutral. Both are beautiful shades and I think would suit a lot of different skin tones. The formula is described as a balm lip treatment with a vinyl lacquer finish and I totally agree. It feels comfortable, lightweight and creamy, it glides on to your lips and keeps them feeling nourished throughout the day. The formula is infused with 70% botanical oils so it really does keep your lips hydrated and smooth as well as being long lasting and incredibly pigmented. They also smell incredible! As you can probably tell I'm a huge fan of these lipsticks and they are hand on heart one of my favourite formulas on the market.
04 Brown Sugar
Without Primer
With Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Amplifying Eye Primer
*Good Molecules Silicone-Free Priming MoisturizerClarins Hydra-Essentiel Moisture Replenishing Lip BalmClarins SOS Primer (00 Universal Light)
Clarins Beauty Flash Balm*Clarins Skin Illusion Foundation (101 Linen)
Uoma Beauty Stay Woke Concealer (White Pearl T1)
*Clarins Glow 2 Go Blush & Highlighter (01 Golden Peach)
Fenty Beauty Match Stix Matte Skinstick (Amber)
*Clarins Brow Duo (02 Auburn)
Kevyn Aucoin Eyelash CurlerFenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Amplifying Eye Primer*Clarins Ombre 4 Couleurs (04 Brown Sugar)
Sephora Retractable Waterproof Eyeliner (08 Brown)
*Clarins Wonder Perfect Mascara 4D WaterproofCharlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter (1 Fair)
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder (1 Fair)
Urban Decay All Nighter Setting SprayPixi Glow Mist*Clarin Joli Rouge Lacquer Lipstick (758L Sandy Pink)
01 Fairy Tale Nude
Clarins SOS Primer (01 Rose)
Clarins Beauty Flash Balm*Clarins Skin Illusion Foundation (101 Linen)
Uoma Beauty Stay Woke Concealer (White Pearl T1)
*Clarins Glow 2 Go Blush & Highlighter (01 Golden Peach)
Fenty Beauty Match Stix Matte Skinstick (Amber)
*Clarins Brow Duo (02 Auburn)
Kevyn Aucoin Eyelash CurlerFenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Amplifying Eye Primer*Clarins Ombre 4 Couleurs (01 Fairy Tale Nude)
Revlon So Fierce! Vinyl Eyeliner (Righteous Rum)
*Clarins Wonder Perfect Mascara 4D Waterproof*Clarins Twist to Glow 2-in-1 Healthy Glow Powder for Eyes & Cheeks (02 Radiant Pink)
Kevyn Aucoin Glass Glow Face (Prism Rose)
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder (1 Fair)
Urban Decay All Nighter Setting SprayPixi Glow MistCharlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat (Pillow Talk)
*Clarin Joli Rouge Lacquer Lipstick (759L Woodberry)
Sandy Pink, Woodberry
Sandy Pink, Woodberry
Woodberry, Sandy Pink, Soft Berry, Pop Pink, Joli Rouge, Spicy Chilli
Sandy Pink
Woodberry
Hopefully I have demonstrated the products well in the photos above. With not being able to use testers at the moment I'm striving to make my blog posts as thorough and helpful as possible as I know how difficult it can be to shop for makeup online or without being able to try the products first. I adore Clarins as a brand and I always look forward to seeing their new collections. The only real negative thing I can say is that I'm not sure how inclusive these products are. Because the eyeshadows are quite light and not as pigmented as other eyeshadows I've tried I don't know how they would look on darker skin tones. The photos on the website don't include models with darker skin so that would be my only gripe. The same could be said about the shades of the brow duo. I think they could have done a fourth darker shade. However as I haven't seen how dark Cool Brown is I don't know if that would work on people with very dark, almost black brows. Overall though I think it's a beautiful collection.
What do you think of this collection? Is there anything that you would buy?
