Tuesday 15 March 2011

Avon Supershock Mascara and Gel Eyeliner Review

Evening all,

I mentioned the Avon Supershock mascara and gel eyeliner in my Feb Faves, but thought I would review in them in (slightly) more detail here, now that I've had a couple of weeks to use them and incorporate them into my daily make-up routine.

First up, the Supershock Mascara.
Surprisingly, the Avon website says very little about this product, stating only that it is a Thickening base coat and plumping colour in one for volumised lashes. Now, going by that statement alone would have made me pass over this mascara completely, but I am an avid follower of the the model Ruth Crilly (find her blog here) and she had highly recommended it along with the eyeliner, hence the purchase from this Ebay seller (for a grand total of £2.20 compared to the RRP of £8.50!)

So for your money you get 10ml of product, and you have a choice of either Black or Brown Black (mine being the latter). The "brush" itself is not actually a brush as such but a plastic "wand", similar to that of the Max Factor Great Lash, if somewhat longer and slimmer with more plastic bristles (see below for comparison: Supershock on the left, False Lash Effect on the right).
I did have concerns the length of the brush might make me smudge mascara all over my eyelid, but this didn't happen and the multitude of silicon-plastic bristles helped grab and hold onto my lashes, giving a really nice effect when the mascara was worked into my lash roots then brushed up the lash (does that make sense?!)
I don't tend to do many coats for daytime (however see the pic below which shows how thick/dark it makes my lashes look when my eyes are closed!), but it still gives a natural, "fluttery" effect to your lashes.

Thanks also to those fine little bristles the mascara is less likely to clump, and compared to my previous mascara, L'Oreal Voluminous, it hardly flakes or smudges. It's also easy to remove, and, in terms of price, is a good mid-range priced mascara (and bear in mind you can always get it cheaper from the likes of Ebay!). I've not yet tried it with eyelash curlers therefore I can't comment on how good it is on holding curl, but if you're looking for a mascara which provides buildable length and volume, then this is the one for you!

Now onto the Supershock Gel eyeliner. I purchased this (again from Ebay, this time from this seller, for £2.99) with the intention of using it on my waterline, as I tend to prefer pencil here and gel/liquid liner on my eyelid which tends to get a more precise result. Avon says it is a smooth-glide eyeliner for bold,intense colour that lasts for hours, and many bloggers/YouTubers are hailing it as the cheaper (RRP £6.00) alternative to the cult-classic Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencil.

                                      
                                      This was the eyeliner applied at 8am on my waterline.


Picture at 5pm. As you can see, the eyeliner is still on my waterline, albeit slightly faded, and it has disappeared from the inner corner of my eye.
When swatched on the hand the black colour is INTENSE, and, like the 24/7 pencils, after a few seconds the pencil has set, making it quite difficult to budge, although still easy to remove with make-up remover. It's very creamy, making it easy to apply on the top lid without drag (even for someone like me!) - indeed similar in that sense to a gel eyeliner- and before it sets it can be blended/smudged for that smokey look.
One problem with the gel formula however is that it can be hard/messy to sharpen, but to get round this simply pop the liner in the fridge for a couple of minutes before sharpening and you'll produce a lovely pointy tip!
Currently the colour range for these pencils is very limited - only black and silver are available on the UK Avon website at the moment, and I think (from looking at other blogs etc) gold might be available abroad - but I can only presume that Avon will expand the range in the near future.
If like me you can't quite stretch to paying £11.50 for the Urban Decay 24/7 pencil, I'd say this was an excellent alternative at £6 (and even better when you can get it for £2.99 off Ebay!)

Have you found any good highstreet dupes/alternatives lately?

Melanie x

2 comments:

  1. I've never used a gel eyeliner like that in pencil form, I'm intrigued! Your lashes are lush too! x

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  2. Thanks :) Think they must run in the family - my little sister has massive lashes that really are like falsies! x

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