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Collection is a brand I really like for pairing an affordable price point and accessibility with beautiful, quality products. They're sold exclusively at Countdown supermarkets here in NZ, making it easy to pick up a wee treat or a replacement of a much-loved product. My favourite products are the Lasting Colour lipsticks, Does It All mascara and Extreme 24H Felt Tip Liner, all of which I've repeatedly purchased myself in the past but on this occasion, Collection were kind enough to send me a selection of goodies to play with. Let's dig in and see how they fare!
Packaged in sleek and simple glossy black packaging, the Highlight & Sculpt Contour Kit (RRP $21.99NZD) contains two generously sized pans of highlighting and contouring powders (5g each) and should be suitable for fair to medium skin tones. There's a small diagram on the back of the palette to indicate colour placement and a slim mirror inside the compact. Personally, I would have preferred to see a larger mirror swapped out for the clear window in the lid as the small strip of mirror isn't all that functional.
These powders have a finely milled and highly blendable texture with great colour payoff. I found both shades incredibly easy to work with - nothing worse than desperately trying to blend out a harsh stripe of contour, right?! The highlight, in particular, was glowier than I was expecting from looking at it in the pan or even in the arm swatch. It catches the light beautifully on cheeks and doesn't emphasise pores or texture. When I tested for wear I found that both colours lasted around ten hours without any obvious fading.
I've used the Highlight & Sculpt Contour Kit with the Blush Block on cheeks here.
If you've been looking for a cheap and cheerful palette of warm neutrals in NZ shops, I reckon the Collection Eyes Uncovered Nude Bronze Palette is one of your best bets. At $22.99NZD it comes in cheaper than many other options available locally and doesn't compromise on colour payoff and texture. It's not perfect - the lack of matte shades to anchor a look or provide depth lets it down a little and the magnetised cardboard packaging, while not super flimsy, doesn't feel sturdy enough to survive a trip in your handbag. There's also no mirror, which you may or may not care about - it's not a big deal to me, but I know it's a factor for others.
I wound up using the contouring shade from the Highlight & Sculpt Contour Kit on the crease in the look below to add a bit of depth and was really happy with how that turned out. The eyeshadows were very easy to blend, too.
Collection Lasting Colour lipsticks (RRP $16.50NZD) come in a mixture of matte and glossy shades, with eleven options in the range in total. The difference between the matte and glossy finishes aren't stated on the packaging anywhere, which seems like a bit of an oversight - instead, the glossy finishes come in glossy packaging and the mattes in matte packaging. It makes sense when you look at them side by side, but when grabbing for one amongst many black tubes of lipstick in a drawer or makeup bag, the difference is easier to miss.
The Lasting Colour formula is generally pretty excellent (I had quite a lot of the now discontinued colours before the shade range was overhauled a while back), they are very pigmented and for the most part, apply smoothly. I found some of the older shades drying at times but haven't had this issue with the two reviewed today.
Pretty in Peach is a medium coral with fine pearlescent shimmer running throughout it. The shimmer causes it to catch on any uneven lip texture in an unflattering way if they're not in the best shape but it applies smoothly otherwise. It's fully opaque and even in its coverage, with a four hour wear time on me.
Red Carpet is a classic true red with a matte finish. I've found Collection's matte lipsticks to be on the silica-y side before (overly slippery or grainy, which makes them easier to apply than old-school mattes but can feel odd on the lips) but Red Carpet is the best of both worlds. It applies very smoothly with rich, even colour payoff and no dragging or tugging during application. On me, it lasted for six hours, wasn't drying and didn't migrate or feather.
I'm not sure whether the Work the Colour nail polishese (RRP $8NZD) are actually still available as I couldn't see them on either the Collection or Countdown websites, but I've swatched them so here they are anyway 😁 These are petite 8ml bottles with a brush that's easy enough to work with. When I first tried these a year or so ago I found that the brush was quite stiff and caused drag marks in the nail polish during application but this wasn't a problem this time around so I guess they've changed it!
Collection - After Dinner Mint, 3 coats
After Dinner Mint is more of a dusty turquoise than a mint, though no less pretty for it. The formula is nice and smooth and built up to perfect opacity in three coats.
Collection - Sonic Blue, 3 coats
Sonic Blue is a bright royal blue jelly with a delightfully squishy, shiny look. Great opacity for a jelly too - I always wanted to like classic blue jellies like Revlon Royal but couldn't get past the visible nail line. Sonic Blue builds up beautifully in three coats.
Collection - Blue Belle, 3 coats
Blue Belle is a medium denim blue with a foil finish. It's mostly opaque after three coats but I did find it a bit sheerer than most foil finish nail polishes (which are often one coaters) and you can see on my index nail that it's not quite even.
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Lani
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