Beauty Thought Leader: Elise Marquam-Jahns
Catrice Cosmetics began with a group of fearless females on a mission to prove that it was possible to create an innovative brand of luxury-inspired makeup at excellent prices.
That’s exactly what led to the birth of Catrice Cosmetics. So in today’s video I’m going to try—almost—a full face of Catrice products so you can see how they perform on my mature skin and determine if some of them might be your cup of tea as well.
Some of these products are long time loves of mine, some are brand new discoveries and some I’m trying for the first time. And what’s even better is that a number of them are on sale.
“In 2015, Catrice made its way to the US.”
Catrice Cosmetics:
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Catrice, it was founded by Christina Oster-Daum and first opened its doors in Germany in 2004. Since then, their ever-expanding global presence has proved what they knew to be true: makeup wearers everywhere crave high quality makeup at prices that make sense.
In 2015, Catrice made its way to the US. They are headquartered in Europe which means that all of their products adhere to the high quality standards set forth by the EU Cosmetics Regulation which restricts over 1,500 ingredients from being used in beauty products. (The U.S. restricts just 11). They’ve banned an additional 60+ ingredients that they deem unacceptable.
Multi-Use Palette:
Now let’s dive in and start with eyeshadow. When I saw Catrice’s Limited Edition Festive Treasures Multi Use Palette I immediately fell head over heels due to the color story and the beautiful combination of shimmer and matte eyeshadows–as well as the lovely cream blush and cream highlight.
And it didn’t hurt that it was also marked down from $10.00 to $8.00. Since I film videos several weeks in advance, I’m not sure if this limited edition Multi Use Palette and the 2 accompanying Limited Edition Festive Treasures Lipsticks—which we’ll be checking out later—will still be available, but I do hope so.
In the video I’ll first swatch all 6 of the eyeshadow colors for you. It is nice that there’s a protective plastic that is attached on both sides so you can easily cover up the product when you’re done. This will at least help a little to keep the powder eyeshadows from mixing with the cream blush shades.
I’ll combine the two midtone matte colors and apply them in the crease and the deepest burgundy brown shade will go on the outer corner of the lid and eye. Since this is a festive holiday palette, I’ll also apply the lightest shimmer color in the middle of my eyelid and the deeper burgundy shimmer on the outer part of the lid and crease.
Hydrating Foundation:
Up next is foundation. The Catrice True Skin Hydrating Foundation has been a favorite of mine for quite some time. It’s described as an ultra-lightweight foundation texture that melts into skin for a “real skin” finish.
It’s formulated with hydrating Hyaluronic acid and watermelon seed oil, provides medium to high coverage and is long wearing. But unfortunately the shade I have—which is 018 Cool Rose—is a little too warm for my skintone.
When I purchased this foundation, Catrice didn’t have a shade finder component on their website, but since they do now, it will be much easier to find a close shade match. To find your best Catrice shade, you can either put in a shade that’s a perfect match from another brand or you can take a shade matching quiz.
Even though this Cool Rose foundation shade isn’t the best match for me, I can make it work by adding some of L’Oreal’s Age Perfect Radiant Serum Foundation on the shade Rose Ivory to the Catrice Foundation. The Catrice Foundation is a long wearing, vegan foundation that has a solid medium to high buildable coverage that gives the skin a natural “real skin” finish.
But when I add in the L’Oreal Age Perfect Radiant Serum Foundation, the result is a cooler shade and a satin soft glow finish which I really love. In the video I’ll swatch both of these foundations so you can see the difference
” In the video I’ll swatch both of these foundations so you can see the difference.”
Eye Brightener:
I recently tried for the first time Catrice’s Under Eye Brightener in the shade “Light Rose” for my under eye dark circles. After I apply it I’ll go ahead and top it with my Kosas concealer since Catrice’s True Skin Concealer in the lightest cool tone shade “Cool Cashmere” is a little too dark for my under eye area. However, it’s a really good concealer for the rest of my face.
The concealer is described as lightweight, is made with Hyaluronic acid to moisturize the skin and melts into the skin without settling into fine lines and it’s waterproof. And it definitely has the high coverage that it’s described as having. As a test, in the video I’ll demonstrate how well it covers the blue vein on the underside of my wrist.
Cream And Powder Palette:
Since the blush in the Festive Treasures multi-use palette is a coral color—which is definitely not my best color, I have two other Catrice blush options to try. The first option is the Catrice Blush Affair Cream & Powder Palette which I first tried a few weeks ago.
The cream or powder formula can be worn alone for a natural look or they can be layered for a bolder more multidimensional effect. They’re very similar to the far more expensive Patrick Ta Blush Duos and in fact, the shade I’m using today—which is “Pleasing Pink” is a very close dupe to the “She’s a Doll” shades in the Patrick Ta palette
These Catrice cream and powder blushes are highly pigmented and come in three other shades: “Stunning Strawberry,” “Absolute Apricot” and “Peach Passion.” First I’ll apply the powder and then I’ll apply the cream over the powder.
I’m going to do this on just one side of my face since we have two Catrice liquid blushes to try on the other side. Since these are described as highly pigmented, it’s especially important that they blend in easily. So to be on the safe side, I’m going to apply them on the back of my hand first and then pick them up with a brush to apply them. .
Liquid Blushes:
Now let’s check out the Blush Affair Liquid Blushes. These give a highly pigmented flush of matte color that’s infused with hydrating marshmallow root extract. They can be used on both the lips and cheeks.
These are described as being buildable, blendable, and long lasting and come in a squeeze tube applicator. I have the shades “Pink Feelings” and “Plum-tastic” but they also come in three other shades: Orange Fizz; Ready Red Go, and Velvet Rose. It’s very important to shake these well before applying.
I was probably most excited to try the Festive Treasures Multi Use Palette with the gorgeous eyeshadows and highlighter, but I was also pretty darn over the moon about applying the gorgeous lip products. I have the two Limited Edition Festive Treasures Hydrating Shine Lipsticks which come in a rose shade and a deeper red shade.
In addition to loving these colors, I’m also excited about the formula since it’s described as being a dazzling shimmer with a soft, hydrating texture that keeps the lips smooth and supple.
Matte Lipsticks:
And although I’m not normally moved one way or the other by packaging, I do have to confess that my heart skipped a beat when I saw this velvet packaging with golden accents. And I was also irresistibly drawn to one of Catrice’s matte lipsticks as well: the shade “Casually Overdressed.”
I do feel a bit like a kid in a candy shop with all these gorgeous lip colors! After applying my lip liner, I’ll first apply the lightest Festive Treasures rose shade, then the darker shade over it and then the matte shade on its own
Just for a tiny bit more shimmer, I’ll tap a very small amount of the cream highlighter shade onto the center of my lips as well as to the top of my cheekbones.
Impression:
Catrice is a brand that I always look forward to trying and I was impressed with all the products I tried today. However, even though I loved the color and the formula of the liquid blushes, I’d much prefer a far easier to use doe foot applicator rather than a squeeze tube.
If you have any Catrice products that you especially love, I hope you’ll share them with us in the comment section below. And if there are any products I tried today that especially sparked your interest, please let us know that as well.
If you—like me—are a real fan of great drugstore products, here’s a video you might also want to check out.
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About the Author:
Elise Marquam-Jahns is a professional, working makeup-artist who is passionate about helping women 45+ get their glow back. In addition to her work as a makeup artist for a major cosmetics line, she founded Boomer and Beyond Beauty. Be sure to check out Elise’s YouTube channel which specifically focuses on makeup tips, techniques, and product reviews for those of us 45+.
Don’t forget to subscribe! Elise is also an author and speaker and hosts Normandale Community College’s monthly Learning Well Edge Talk Radio show where she interviews experts in the field of health and wellness. And, if you’d like to receive more inspiration each week, check out my weekly newsletter. To get your copy, just drop me an email at bo*******************@gm***.com to let me know you’d like to receive it.
