Makeup by numbers with Avon

Hands up if you like makeup?! Yep - that's what I thought, far too many to count and for the avoidance of doubt, I put both of my hands up... Somehow I've stumbled my way through doing my makeup for years and even though I usually wear neutral shades most days, I love to experiment with different colors and looks and it's not unusual that I buy eye shadows, lipsticks and nail polish thinking that I'd wear them all together for a certain look. So I may be a beauty junkie, but I'm far from a skilful makeup artist. I'm definitely what you might call a happy amateur, a very happy one in fact - but still an amateur. That's why I'm a big fan of palettes with ready made combinations of shades, and little instructions on what to do with them - basically make up by numbers, and with the Avon True Colour Eyeshadow Quad (£9) available in 9 different color combinations, you just can't get it wrong.

The packaging is the standard basic black plastic that most of the Avon makeup comes in, so it's nothing fancy but it does have a great sized mirror in the lid and a generous amount of product too. Each of the shades are numbered from 1 to 4, and when you turn the packaging around there are instructions on where you should apply which shade; 1 is a highlighter for the brow bone and inner corner of the eye, 2 is a base shade for the entire lid, 3 is to emphasize the outer corner of the eye and the crease, while 4 is an eyeliner to add some depth to the root of the lashes - but obviously you can be as creative as you want with the colors.

I'd been wanting to try this quad for a long time but I couldn't decide which shade to get, so in the end I ended up going for something completely different from all the other colors that I have in my collection. This palette is called Jeans and it has four slightly shimmery shades in blue hues - all of them (even the more pastel looking shades 1 and 2) are very well pigmented, they are easy to work with, buildable, they don't crumble and they last really well throughout the day. I was quite impressed with the quality of this formula and would definitely try it in other colors too. Blue isn't always an easy color to wear and I can't say that I have many blue eye shadows, but as we're moving into Spring these blue shades might prove more useful and less outlandish than I initially thought and I can see myself using especially shades 2 and 3.

I've always thought that Avon do great lip products and this latest addition - the Avon Perfect Kiss Lipstick (£5) in Racy Raspberry is no exception. Unlike the very basic eye shadow quad it comes in a lovely, sleek and modern looking metallic packaging and I hope that Avon extends this shiny new look to their other makeup packaging, that frankly needs a bit of va-va-vooming. It's a gorgeous creamy and moisturising formula that contains essential oils and that gives super coverage with a plump satin finish. The finish lasts for hrs and fades evenly without any dry patches. Racy Raspberry is a wonderful French rose pink shade with a definite blue undertone, very soft feminine and versatile. 

Shades 1 to 4 as in the eye shadow palette Jeans + Racy Raspberry

The nail polish is the Avon Color Trend Color Me Pretty Wet-Look Shine Nail Enamel (£3) in Violet Freeze, and this is actually the second time that I've bought this color. As you can see in the photo, in the catalogue it looks like a fabulous cool and frosty Alice blue shade and in my mind it would look perfect with the blue and pink tones of the makeup, but when it arrived it was more of a lilac shimmery multi tonal color almost like the shade called Blue Morph. Never mind I thought and ordered it again, to find exactly the same thing! I can accept that there's always a certain subtle difference between the print of a swatch and reality, but the shade Violet Freeze is nothing like what is shown in the catalogue - I'm sorry Avon but you should fix this since clearly it wasn't a one off!

Moving on from this issuette, it's actually a really lovely nail polish. The formula has just the right consistency, it's quick drying and the standard width brush doesn't leave any streaks or marks in the finish. You easily get an even coverage although it is a fairly sheer polish, which personally I don't think works at all with just one coat, so I would recommend that you apply at least two coats and in the photo I'm actually wearing three coats. The shade Violet Freeze in reality is a sheer blue mauve with a pearlescent look, and despite not being at all what I was after I really do like the shade and think it has an interesting dimension to it. The formula lasts about 3-4 days before it starts to chip and it's very easy to remove. 

 

In the end I pretty much achieved the look that I was going for - frosty cool shades on the eye with a contrasting soft but intense lip color, and despite some minor bumps in the road getting there: all's well that ends well. And on the journey I not only discovered an interesting new nail polish shade but I was also positively surprised by the quality of the eye shadows and I definitely recommend this painting by numbers palette.