Launching November: AVON Arctic Goddess Collection

Aside from my boyfriend's mom's catalogue and my SuperShock eyeliner, I'd never really come in contact with Avon, so I was quite intrigued when I was invited to the launch of their winter collection:

Arctic Goddess (Limited Edition)

Given the blue hues, this isn't a collection I would have set a finger on normally, but as I got the chance to play around with it - it's actually not as hands-offish as I thought it'd be! There are some gems that I quite enjoyed :) The collection consists of an eyeshadow palette, three nailpolishes and a lipgloss.

1. True Colour Eyeshadow Quad in Arctic Goddess

This quad - for me - feels like it was made to fit into the collection, not necessarily to be a staple or very useable. They're gorgeous, don't get me wrong, but they're not exactly friendly. You've got a blue-based pastel purple sheen, a sheer shimmering aqua, a matte sky blue and a very gorgeous and very dark dusty navy. The look on Alesha Dixon on the promotional pictures are gorgeous - but I think it's a catwalk look rather than an 'everyone'-look.

The aqua is super sheer with tiny glitters - given the bright hue, it doesn't look great sheer in my opinion.

The navy is deep, dusty and with a tinge of green - gorgeous and is what I wished NARS's Dogon would be. It would look gorgeous to deepen a golden look, and the application is smooth.

The sky blue is a lot duller than in the pan, and is a bit hard to blend. It's the most pronounced shade on Alesha - pretty, but again, pretty catwalk-y.

The pastel purple may look like dangerous waters as it could easily be used a la chav, but it's actually relatively sheer and slightly duochrome blue. It's very smooth, applies evenly and has a very pretty sheen - it kind of reminds me of Digit from MAC.

Sadly to me, I can't imagine any of these shades going very well together, but I can see 2 being used really nicely on their own!

The winners in this palette are the navy and the pastel purple, in both use and formula!

Some other eyeshadow palettes from Avon - Arctic Goddess is the second from the right in the middle row :)

2. Nailwear Pro+ in Arctic Waters, Chilling Teal and Green Goddess (L to R)

These were what caught my eye the most! My least favourite was Arctic Waters, which is a paint bottle sky blue with slight shimmers - something I imagine most would use for nail art rather than on its own. Chilling Teal is a very very glittery sheeny mint - absolutely stunning, and I can feel a bit of a shiver go down my spine as it really does scream "arctic"! It would be great as a gradient on clear or white nails. My other favourite is Green Goddess, a metallic forrest green with gold shimmer and sheen. The duochrome-like sheen on this is fantastic, and really makes for an interesting dark green. Very showy though with its yellow and green elements, but a great mix of fun without being too bright, and would look great with a very plain outfit.

The brush is flat and super easy to use, but the formula does require a bit of patience when you're waiting for it to dry, which is why I won't be rushing to try other shades from this line. That being said, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one if the shade catches my eye. The packaging is standard and nice but don't expect anything luxurious - the glue between the lid and brush on my Green Goddess seems a bit loose, but given the price, it's nothing I can't work around :)

3. Ultra Colour Rich Brilliance Lip Gloss in Pink Icicle

If you click the link above, you'll find that the brush is the defining part of this lipgloss - it's dinky! But this give you lots of control as well as precision that you can't get from typical applicators (granted it takes a bit longer to apply). Pink Icicle is a watermelon pink with the tiniest blue and pink glitters. When swatched, it's pretty much clear with hardly a tint of pink, with the gloss and tiny glitters taking most of the attention. But this again is hardly noticeable on the lips, and just comes up as a generic pink and blue tinge on your lips. For me, it turns my lips quite berry-like. In terms of the formula, it's very smooth, glossy and lovely - I can't fault the formula and it's something I could recommend to people who don't need quite as much pigment as I do!

 Me being a fan girl of Alesha Dixon and the Pixiwoo sisters, Nic and Sam!

Overall, the collection is fun and different - but some items might require more imagination than most. The winners for me are the mint and green nail polish shades and the gloss's formula. The eyeshadow palette seems to be a hit and miss, and I'm tempted to get a different, more useable one to see what formulas on other palettes are like, because there's obviously some great formulas under Avon's sleeves!

The collection launches in November - you can find the stockists at www.avonshop.co.uk for the UK and www.avon.ie for Ireland! Products start at an affordable £6 :)

What are your thoughts on the collection?

What are your favourite Avon products?

<3yu

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*PR event, items received for consideration.