Catrice Papagena Collection Preview for June & July 2011

FAO budget beauties - the next seasonal collection lands from Catrice in June and will be on stands for that month and into July. Papagena - did Lady GaGa give them a hand, do you reckon? - is the name, and the press blurb made me laugh out loud. I really, really enjoy a creative press pitch.

So firstly, girls, say Catrice, you'll be whisked away to a wild and exotic world. Right so. Grand, that sounds fine, especially for €2.99 a pop. Now it's all getting a bit Technicolour Avatar: "Confident Amazon warriors prowl along the urban jungle and underline their feminine strength with breathtaking make-up based on rich green and khaki shades interrupted by bright accents in pink, orange and mustard yellow."

JAYSIS.

There you go now. Eat your heart out Chanel, wha?

So, if you fancy tapping into your inner fiesty warrior princess - go on, admit it, we've all got one - above is the Absolute Eye Colour Quattro, €5.49.  Two variants of these will land, C01 Rumble in the Jungle (above) and C02 Birds of a Feather.

Two nail shades now: Ultimate Nail Lacquer costs the princely sum of €2.79 a go and will come in four colours. C01 Enter the Undergrowth, C02 Welcome to the Jungle (right), C03 Amazonian Gold and C04 Bird of Paradise (left).

Strikes me that Catrice may have taken a wee bit of inspiration from Clarins for this collection - and you'll see a little more why in a minute. Ok, I know other brands have done these bronzing nuggets before but Clarins did them recently for their Barocco collection. These Gold Nuggets are considerably cheaper at €4.49, however.

Next up?  For fans of liquid liner, we've got three Eyeliner Pens, €3.49, in this collection. An "ultra-fine tip and highly pigmented texture," is promised and shades are C01 White Eyes, C02 Papa-Greener (above) and C03 Welcome to the Jungle.

Here's the other Clarins-alike product that struck me when I saw the shots. The Crystal Clear Gloss Stick, €4.49, is a dead-ringer for the Instant Smooth Crystal Lip Balm - except, of course, at another fraction of the price. And we love to hear about fractions of prices, eh? Catrice's gel-gloss comes in two shades:  C01 Tigerlily and C02 Bird of Paradise (above left). There's no real colour payoff with these, but they're very slightly tinted and lightly hydrating - a sort of summer lipbalm.

The last product I have a pic for is the Blush Stick, €3.79. Could this be your budget way to channel the Cha Cha Tint longing? Well, even if it isn't, you'll have change from a fiver. Another duo of shades will be available for this product:  C01 Tigerlily (above right) and C02 Bird of Paradise.

There's one other product in the lineup and that's a set of feather lashes for €4.49. I've no pic of  these but look forward to getting a goo once the collection hits stands.

So - there you go, another lot of bargaintastic goodies incoming from Catrice. Like the look of anything in particular?