Eye of Horus | Makeup Review.

'Eye of Horus' Cosmetics very recently made it's way to Irish shores (and bloggers' mail boxes), and this was my first time hearing about the Australian cosmetics brand.

Their tagline is 'Awaken the Goddess within' and the entire line is inspired by the beauty of the Ancient Egyptians whom they credit as "the originators of beauty and mystique".

There is an extensive list of global retailers available on the site here but in Ireland the only retailer is the online store Cloud10 Beauty.  They are most heavily stocked in Australia and New Zealand but are also available in the US, UK, Hong Kong, Sweden and Iceland. I'll also get the price point out of the way, this is not a 'drugstore' or inexpensive brand, in Ireland anyhow it has about the same price point as Smashbox and Urban Decay. (Slightly more expensive than MAC)

EoH is a cruelty free brand who do not test ingredients or final products on animals and have a section on their website about that if you're interested in reading more.

I was sent a selection of their eye products to try out... oh and I should also mention that these guys only deal in eye makeup (and brows) so you won't find any face/base or lip products in their makeup arsenal. 

The first thing to strike me was the presentation; the packaging is gorgeous, decadent even. The brand uses an Egyptian inspired golden font against a black background, and also use the actual Eye of Horus symbol on the products. Black and gold is always a winner for me!

There is nothing cheap feeling about any of the items that I was sent, even the cardboard eyeshadow trio palette has an elegance about it thanks to the clever and lovely design. 

Getting on to the items I was sent and have been trying out, I'll start with the mascara...

The Goddess Mascara (€25.00) is again supposed to be formulated "in the style of the ancient Egyptians" where they used plant based ingredients, waxes and the fancy sounding 'Organic Moringa Oil' (Oil of the Pharaohs according to the website) to create a creamy formula that lengthens and curls the lashes while conditioning and strengthening the hairs. This is a pretty looking bottle again thanks to the black and gold colour scheme, a uniquely shaped, gently curved tube and a stepped lid. I really enjoy the type of brush head this mascara has, the bristles are very short and rigid, very similar to my beloved Max Factor Masterpiece mascara.  This comes in two shades, black and brown. The black is the shade I have and I can happily report that it is a very blackest black. It separates the lashes nicely and does indeed hold a good curl. All-in-all it is a lovely decent mascara, which does make the slightly hefty price a little more palatable. 

Next up is the Sekhmet EyeShadow Palette (€32.00) one of four little eyeshadow trios. These come in a cardboard palette (as mentioned above) with a handy mirror build into the lid. The Sekhmet palette contains one matte neutral and two cool toned shimmers. According to the website these are "Italian baked" though I'm not entirely sure what this means. This trio is designed as the "Ultimate Smokey eye palette" though this is open to discussion. The matte shade 'Elixir Sands' is the least pigmented of the 3 shadows and matches my inner arm skin colour so closely that it is barely visible in the swatch below! It's not quite light enough to use as a brow highlight on myself, rather it matches the skin there pretty accurately, but works great as a transition shade or just to blend out the 2 deeper shimmer shades. The first of those is 'Silver Eclipse', a lightish metallic silver which reads with a hint of pewter on the skin. And the last shade is 'Raven Onyx', a gun metal grey with a satin finish containing extremely fine particles. The two shimmer shades have quite good pay-off and adhere to bare skin a lot better than the matte shade does. This is a nice palette but personally the €32 price point is a tad too steep for my liking essentially putting each of the shadows at just over €10 each.

The palette is a nice small size though that would be perfect for throwing into your makeup bag and does come with a little double ended brush for touch-ups on the go. (I have lost mine on day one and didn't have it to photograph)

The 'Goddess Pencils' (€22.00) are for me the jewels in the crown and are fantastic. There are 12 gorgeous shades available ranging from brilliant white (Selenite White) to the blackest black (Smokey Black) and some lovely rich/brights in-between, including a warm cream shade (Sahara Nude).

These are quite soft and creamy in texture with brilliant colour pay-off and fantastic staying power. I am obviously a huge fan of these babies.

'Bronze Amulet' is a lovely rich warm metallic brown with gold reflect and it really is as lovely on as it sounds! I would confidently compare this to 'Teddy' by MAC but this is a little creamier.  Each of the 12 pencils have a smudge sponge on the other end along with a lid for hygiene. The black shade is super duper black and works a treat on the waterline.

Among the other shades in the line up are 3 intense blue colours, a beautiful emerald green, a rich purple and a dark olive. Of all the bits I was sent by the brand, these are definitely my favourite!!

These are waterproof and smudge-proof.

The 'Eye Define' (€22.00) pen eyeliner is one of the better ones out there from what I can tell from the few times I've given this a go. I've said a million times before that I'm just not a big fan of this type of felt tip marker as eyeliner in general, but I have definitely used a lot worse than the EoH offering.

It has a medium size tip which is actually a good thing despite being a little big to get as delicate a line as I'd like; the reason being that the pens with the smaller nibs lose their rigidity too easily and quickly and tend to dry up at the tip as a result. This doesn't seem to be happening with this one. 

This is also waterproof and long-wearing and definitely needs an oil-based eye makeup remover to cleanly remove all traces. These felt-tip pens are a good option for beginners or anyone who doesn't have the steadiest hand when it comes to eyeliner.

I can't stress enough how important it is to store these pens correctly; they must always be stored lid-end down and make sure the lid always clicks in place when closing. 

And finally.... the 'Dynasty Dual Brow Perfect' (€21.00), another gem in the range.

This is a 2-in-1 brow perfecter with a triangle shaped mechanical pencil on one end and a clear brow mascara on the other end. This is the exact same as the Smashbox 'Brow tech to go' pencils, but less expensive! Woo :D 

This is another favourite of mine, for sure. The 'triangle' shaped pencil has a narrow ridge for more delicate work and drawing in the 'tail' of the brow, and the wider part of the pencil is great for filling in the body of the brows. This comes in 3 shades; blonde, medium brown and dark brown. The one I was sent (in the pictures below) is the medium brown 'Dynasty' and suits my colouring perfectly. It's not warm at all, just a neutral ashy brown. 

If any of you would like to purchase directly from the website (Australia) ...

http://www.eyeofhoruscosmetics.com/collections/all

use the coupon code; "Review" to get 15% off your order! 

(Sorry Irish pals, I only got the code for the direct website)

Visit http://www.cloud10beauty.com/ if shopping from/in Ireland.

I also show and talk a little about the products in my latest Shiv's Stash video and if you'd like to see what the eyeshadows look like on, I am wearing them in this video!

What are your thoughts on the brand??

Let me know in the comments below!

Shiv.

xx