Is it just me, or has the integrity of affordable makeup vamoosed at an astonishing speed? Perhaps I’m being naïve – after all, some would say it was never there – but my experiences with Essence and Catrice have taught me never to judge a blusher by its cover.
Still, I get a bit miserable when I come across products like these two from Prestige. My Biggest Lashes Big Lash Effect Mascara and Sunflower Illuminating Bronzing Powder are the gruel of my beauty stash; they’re just a bit depressing. The packaging of both is utterly uninspired – designed by a cousin of Constance Caroll, mayhaps? – and the quality does nothing to redeem either product.
First for the bronzer: I appear to be plagued by a plethora of powders treated with overspray, and this is another. The shimmering gold star effect here is misleading as the bronzer itself is quite matte and dark; it also smells like kids’ Halloween facepaint and the prime ingredient is talc. ’Nuf said, methinks.
Advertised
Being the milk bottle blonde that I am, I tried out the mascara in black/brown. In a pink and black tube, this just bugged me from the get-go. Any mascara that advertises itself as ‘mascara effect’ is just not going to impress me; nor is putting ineffectual (and untrue) French phrases such as ‘cils intenses!’ across the front of the tube. The gigantic brush looked promising, but the formula itself was nothing special. Too subtle for night-time wear, it still gave the night-time look in that it had flaked down my face by mid afternoon.
I’m afraid to say, the only French applicable in this instance is something along the lines of “’Allo, ’allo – er, je suis a bit crap…”
I’m actually getting annoyed even as I write this – oh, Prestige! Know you not how you besmirch the name of budget beauty brands everywhere?!
