Pixi Lid Last Shadow Pen Duo and Clinique Black Honey Almost Lipstick

During my trip to London, the Boots at Leicester Square was clearing out its Pixi stock at 50% off. I picked up the Lid Last Shadow Pen Duo for just £6. This limited edition set was released just a couple of months ago as part of the holiday collection.

It includes Shell Sheen, a champagne glow highlighter, and Brun Beam, a cool brown liner and definer. They are described as being waterproof, budgeproof and line smoothing thanks to the inclusion of soothing Vitamin E. Made in Germany, they are free of preservatives, fragrance, parabens, triclosan, sulfates and pthalates and have a shelf-life of 36 months.

I found both shades to have a creamy texture that does not drag on the lids. They are also easy to blend out with a fingertip. Shell Sheen is quite subtle and does not leave a frosty sheen. It's less glowy than Pixi's Endless Silky Eye Pen in Oyster Glow, which remains my favourite. Brun Beam is a muddy olive brown, not the most exciting of shades but one that can be easily worn for the day. These are truly budgeproof. I tried wiping off the swatches with tissue and completely failed. These did not smear at all but they do come off easily with my L'Oreal eye makeup remover.

For this look, I applied Shell Sheen over the browbone area and along the lower lashline and inner corners. I used Brun Beam along the upper lashline and blended Unhinged and Muse from the Urban Decay Vice palette in the centre of the lid.


On the lips, I'm wearing Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey from the Taste of Honey lip quad released for the holidays. It's a veritable classic that looks scarily dark in the tube, but on the lips, it gives a flattering hint of color. My lips have been feeling very dry but this went on like a balm without any patchiness.

Also included in the set are Luscious Honey, Shy Honey and Flirty Honey. This is made in Belgium.

Other products used for this look: Addiction Tinted Moisturiser No. 1 and Eyeliner Pencil 101 Sleepless Nights, Becca Ultimate Mascara, Lunasol Under Eyes Base, K-Palette Lasting 2Way Eyebrow 02 and the peachy brown blush from the RMK Christmas 2012 palette.

The face pics were taken with my new Nikon D3200, which I finally invested in after months of deliberating. It's much better than my Canon PowerShot SX210 for taking portrait shots, but I haven't figured out how to get it to take better shots of product and swatch close-ups. While researching, I found Live Snap Love to be an excellent resource for DSLR beginners.