On trend, In style

Hi guys! As you guys may have seen through numerous blog posts and instagram photos, November's issue of InStyle magazine contains three full size Napoleon Perdis products! The magazine retails for $12.95, and the products are valued at $82, so that's a pretty darn good deal in my opinion! I hardly ever buy magazines, I'd rather read about beauty on blogs who often, in my opinion, seem more educated on the subject... Nevertheless, I couldn't pass up a deal like this!

The gift includes a cream blush, lipgloss and a mascara that don't have any shade names (aside from the mascara). Like Cherie mentioned, these products aren't available in the permanent Napoleon Perdis range and they seem to have mass produced these particular products for giveaway. This seems to lower the value of them in my opinion as you can't actually purchase them. However, three full size products for $12.95 is often better than you can find at the drugstore, and it doesn't hurt that they have the Napoleon Perdis branding. 

The cream blush is probably the main reason I decided to pick it up. My cream blush collection is very limited (excluding my lipstick-come-blush concoction, the only true cream blush I have is from Model's Prefer) and I really wanted to expand it. The packaging is pretty consistent with other Napoleon Perdis products (see below in a comparison to a palette from them). It is in a plastic/acrylic square compact. I can't decide whether the overall plastic packaging is tacky or chic...It seems, however, very cheaply made. The plastic creaks and doesn't feel very luxe at all. There is no clasp on the compact which thoroughly annoys me - it stays closed on the stiffness of the hinge, which over wear I expect will loosen. There's nothing stopping this from popping open and making a mess! It has the Napoleon medallion on the top and a pretty tiny, useless mirror on the inside.

The colour is a really lovely, wearable and natural dusky, tawny type rose-pink. It would pretty much complement any look and I think would go well with most skin tones medium and lighter. The texture is very thin and slippy, almost greasy feeling. It doesn't look greasy on though, giving more of a healthy glow to the cheeks. It isn't a cream to powder and is therefore also wearable on the lips, albeit a little drying and line accentuating. It isn't too pigmented and I feel that it is very easy to blend away entirely, but it is easy to build. I like to apply it with my Real Techniques Stippling Brush. Due to its sheerer nature and thin texture, I find it very short wearing. I wish it lasted longer but it wouldn't be hard to touch up, but the packaging is pretty inconvenient for that.

The lip gloss is actually really nice, and I like it more than I expected I would. The packaging is also not that great on this...It's aesthetically pleasing in a hexagonally shaped tube and a gold lid, but very badly made. My tube was fine but the suction thing that cleans the wand as you pull it out dislodged into the cap therefore causing the wand to come out LOADED with product. It's pretty ridiculous. I'm not the only one to have this problem either. Sometimes when I open the tube it will be fine but others not so much... The lip gloss itself is nicely pigmented, with a thick, slightly sticky texture - I would say to the same extent as the MAC Creamsheen glasses and therefore decently wearing. It has a sweet scent, sort of similar to the Maybelline Baby Lips in Antioxidant Berry (if my memory serves me well). The shade is a light nude-peach with a very fine, hardly detectable golden shimmer. It isn't too light for me and makes my lips look really nice actually. Again, a wearable shade that I think would suit most people and makeup looks. 

Lipgloss, Cream blush

The set also came with the Lashes to Lashes mascara but I'm yet to open it as I have others waiting in the wings, and a couple open already. From my understanding it seems like a pretty standard mascara, with a standard brush. Nothing fancy.

I'm happy with the set and will get use out of the products but I'm not a fan of the sucky packaging and seeing as these are coming from a premium brand, I expected better quality packaging. In my opinion, there's definitely a decline in the quality (of the packaging). The products themselves are nice, but nothing I would pay full price for. I would still recommend picking the issue up if you remotely like what you see. You can find out more about the products on InStyle's website.

Did you pick up the mag? If so, did you have similar issues with the packaging?