Australis "Cray for Colour" Eye Shadow Crayons - Review & Swatches!!
Saturday, February 28, 2015
So a few posts ago I did a haul of Aussie "drugstore" brands and stumbled across the surprisingly awesome Australis "Cray for Colour" Eye Shadow Crayons. Well, I couldn't help myself, I went to the Australis site and lo and behold they had a newsletter subscription bonus offer of 25% off your first order.....so of course I bought all the other shades in the range.
Below are all the available shades are described & swatched for your convenience!
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| Top: Clouding Judgement Bottom: Drawn to Diamonds |
Clouding Judgement - is a metallic steel/storm cloud grey. Not an overly complicated shade but a great staple to have for a mysterious dark smokey or elegant night out eye look.
Drawn to Diamonds - is at first glance shimmery black loaded with silver & gold micro glitter. However when swatched it has a bit more of a metallic emerald green sheen to it in certain light. When I first looked at it I thought it would be a close dupe for Chanel's Mirifique Illusion d’Ombre Long-Wear Luminous Eyeshadow but alas its not quite as complicated with it's sparkle. Still a great choice for darkening any eye look or even as a liner.
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| Top: Irresistibly Plum Middle: Alluring Virtue Bottom: Soiling the Fun |
Irresistibly Plum - one of my favourites, this is a gorgeous warm metallic plummy shade that leans closer to crimson than purple due to the slight red tone colour shift that occurs when viewed at an angle....I can honestly say I don't have anything with the same level of richness and pigmentation in my cream eye product stash. Would look divine in a Valentine's day look!
Alluring Virtue - This was one of the first two shades I bought (click here to see original swatch). I'm a sucker for a great lilac/silver toned shade! This straddles that lavender/silver/pewter line and looks beautiful by itself or with a pastel purple eye shadow layered over the top.
Soiling the Fun - is a metallic beige/nude tone (again originally swatched here) that is an awesome everday shade! I like to use this for work looks if I'm in a rush as I just put it all over the lid and roughly blend the edges through the socket line, add some mascara and tada work-makeup achieved! Also a great base in place of a primer if you want to add a metallic sheen to a nude eye look with out the shimmer/fallout of normal eye shadows.
Fields of Dreams - is a muted teal shade that leans very blue, with a hint of emerald to it.
Chasing Tears - is a bright sky blue shade (apears a little more saturate in the swatch photos than in person) with a silver sheen to it that makes it somewhat metallic.
Beating the Blues - is a really de-saturated silvery blue, more like a metallic powder blue which would look nice as an inner corner highlight or good as a base for any pastel matte blue shades that you want to add a little drama to.
Swatches
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| L-R: Drawn to Diamonds, Clouding Judgement, Irresistibly Plum, Soiling the Fun, Alluring Virtue, Chasing Tears, Beating the Blues and Field of Dreams |
Below I've put together a quick eye look :)
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| quick two shade look with Irresistibly Plum and Soiling the Fun |
These are wind up crayons so you don't have to worry about a sharpener, however the nibs do easily wear down/break to blunt snubs so be careful (you can see here I've already worn down two). This can be frustrating for precision work but I found the product creamy enough to easily pick up on a brush or a finger for application that way.
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| crayon fully wound, up you can see there's a pretty decent amount of product |
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| over excited when applying will cause smooshed nubbins |
All of these performed really well, have great pigmentation, blend easily and actually last once they have set (bout 30secs or so to set, 8hrs with no fading/creasing). The only issues I had were when layering Alluring Virtue over itself direct from the pencil and without letting it set between layers it would actually wipe product away and if you overload the lid with product it can look a little crepe-y once they dry down and set.
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| smudge test - you see the shades barley moved once set |
Use a primer if you have oily lids to help stop any minor fading but even on my oily lids these babies lasted all day with no primer, oh and you can layer these over each other to create a multi-hued effect. I managed a great oyster/black mother of pearl/peacock-esk kind of look as part of my Moon Goddess costume for my fiance's work Christmas party last year - let know if you guys would like a tutorial in the comments below!
You can get them online at Australis's website, Priceline, Kmart and most chemists for $8.95 AUD.
Bambi xox
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