Catrice - new LE Glamazona collection

Summer collections tend to favour either golds and bronzes, or ice-cream pastel shades (here or here) or strong hot bold definite colours - this collection on the other hand is the latter, a riot of colours, inspired by a mix of Amazonian animal & flower prints and tropical colours of exotic blossoms.  Considering we have actually got a summer in Ireland (it may only last the rest of the week, but by god are we all out there enjoying it!), this collection is a welcome one, pastel shades are great and all, but for strong strong sunlight you can't beat strong strong colours :-)

The key notes from the collection are Bright with Metallics making a appearance and an option of a flash of Golds if required...

There are four eyeshadows in the collection, all LE.  Two lip colour pens.  A liquid gold topper (which I will most certainly be purchasing, magpie that I am!)  Two shades of blusher, four shades of nail lacquer and one nail topper (a crocodile cracked finish).

Absolute Eye Colour €3.29

Four shades (all LE, as with the rest of the collection); two matte, two metallic, feature in this collection.

L -> R: 01, 02, 03, 04

• C01 I Got The Flower! - vibrant purple (matte)
• C02 Lime Heart Is Beating Like A Jungle Drum - pale canary yellow (matte)
• C03 Jungle Treasure - beige taupe (metallic)
• C04 cARMOURflage - khaki-olive green (metallic)

I always recommend Catrice eyeshadow - for the price, the payoff is always brilliant.

Lip Colour Pen €4.99

L -> R: 02, 01

These two colour-intensive and glossy finish Colour Pens are easy to handle and have a soft, retractable applicator for glossy results without drying out.  There are two LE shades:

• C01 I’m A Survivor - vibrant pink
• C02 I Got The Flower! - orange-based red

Liquid Gold Topper €4.49

This will be mine!  This is a liquid gold topper, true to name, and if you love gold looks as I do, this one should definitely make its way into your arsenal.  The quick-drying liquid can be applied on top of eyeshadow or worn on its own, as a face and body shimmer as a high-drama metallic highlighter, or a tiny bit mixed with moisturiser or foundation to give a slightly more subtle over-all shimmer to the skin (it's water-based so it will mix with water and silicon based products).

• C01 Jungle Treasure - liquid metallic wet-look gold

Defining Blush €4.49

L -> R: 01, 02

Two shades of a powder blush make their way into the collection.  Although I'm not a fan of powder products in the summer, the colours are definitely summery:

• C01 I’m A Survivor - orange-poppy red
• C02 I Got The Flower! - blue-based mid pink

Ultimate Nail Lacquer €2.99

L -> R: 01, 02, 03, 04

The collection continues with strong shades of nail varnish in a long-lasting formula:

• C01 Dirty Liana - muted emerald greeen
• C02 I Got The Flower! - violet pink-based purple
• C03 I’m A Survivor - orange-based red
• C04 Lime Heart Is Beating Like A Jungle Drum - yellow-based lime

Crocodile Cracker €3.49

Although I have to say I'm starting to feel weary of the cracked-finish look on nails, there's no doubt but that there's still a huge market and they do provide instant interest to nails, especially in the summer when it's nice not to bother with too much makeup, and concentrate on fun finger- and toe- nails instead (the only time of the year I'll really bother making time for nail art is in the summer, possibly because I'm not wearing anything much on my face and have the time for it, and possibly because toes are finally on view!)  This topper is special-effect polish which cracks open as it dries to leave behind a crocodile skin appearance in metallic gold.  As with all of these cracked toppers, it needs to be applied on top of a coloured nail polish.  On the other hand, if you don't want to bother with the Crocodile Cracker top, you can always look here for a YouTube video on how to do some essence Glamazona-inspired nails.

• C01 cARMOURflage - metallic gold

The Glamazona collection will be available in stores the end of July '13.  Although this is a LE collection, you can look here for more info (while it's available).