Playing with Colour Theory Cosmetics

Makeup is an expression of ourselves whether we use it to subtly enhance our natural features or theatrically transform our looks. But most of all, it's meant to be fun.

Now makeup can range from being relatively cheap where a couple of dollar will be buy you a lip gloss or eye shadow to the eye-watering prices from prestige brands that would set you back a small fortune. Obviously marketing and packaging is a factor in the price differential but as the old adage goes, you get what you pay for and quality is definitely a big reason why there is such a price difference.

However, the quality difference between high-end and what drugstore/chemist brandz is closing in today's competitive beauty market. One such brand that have recently launched in the Australian drugstore market last month is Colour Theory.

Colour Theory is a new chemist-exclusive line of cosmestics that consists of lip, face, eye and nail products including lipsticks, glosses, liquid and pencil eye liners, eye shadows, concealer, primers and nail polishes in an array of current wearable colours. The highlight of this line is it's four simple price point of $4, $6, $8 and $10 - meaning that you can get more with you

I've had the opportunity to play around with a few of the offering to see first hand what they are like.

Eyeshadow Palette - $10 in four colour matched palettes

The quint eyeshadow palette looks amazing, the colours in the "All Eye Need" is a well matched neutral brown family with 4 metallic shades ranging from pale champagne, silvery lavender, brown copper, cool brown to matte dark brown housed in a sturdy clear plastic case.

Using the sponge applicators provided, I had no problem picking up the colour to swatch or use on my eyes but for some reason, it was hard to pack the product onto makeup brushes during application and many rounds of picking up the colour was required to achieved the desired level of colour payoff. The texture of these shadows are also a bit chalky but was easy to blend and you do achieve the colour on the pan after some persistent application. There was hardly any colour payoff from the matte dark brown shade (It was very hard to pick up by finger, sponge or brush) so would be suitable for use to do crease work only and not to line eyes. I'm not sure whether the other palettes have similar problems or it's this particular shade that cause the formula to be harder to work with.

Surprisingly, these shadow have incredible lasting powers on my oily eye lids, staying in place for more than 4 hours with very minimal fading or smudging. Perhaps its budge-proofness during application meant that it also didn't budge on skin afterwards, fairing better than a lot of its pricier competitors.

Brow Liner and Liquid Eye Liner - $6 each 
I've never used a liquid brow pencil before so found this light colours pen very easily to use to fill sparse brows and give it shape and definition. The fine felt tip means more precise lines can be drawn to create the perfect brow. My only wish is that they made a darker shade that would suit my black brows more.

The black liquid eyeliner is smooth to apply with its fine tip to give neat lines, and once set was able to last 4 hours before starting to fade to give a very sultry line. My only disappointment is that the colour is not jet black enough but rather a dark grey shade.

From T-B: liquid eye liner, liquid brow liner, brown eye pencil 

Eye Pencil - $4 in six shades
Once set, was budge proof on my arm but on watery eyes, do get a bit of smudging - something that all pencil eye liners are prone to but is great for creating a smokey eye look.

I've created a neutral smokey eye look using the products from Colour Theory and thinks the results look amazingly pretty. I would use the eye products, even the difficult-to-apply shadow palette when I have a bit more time to do my eye makeup (perhaps it's a sign I need to invest in a pack of sponge eye applicators)!

Colour Theory eyes products as above. Base: Laura Mercia secret concealer #3 and La Roche Posay melt-in BB cream #2. Lips: Rimmel Long lasting lipstick by Kate #16

Nail Polish -$4 in twenty-two shades

By far my favourite product is the nail polish - it goes on evenly and provides high glossy coverage that is easy to apply and non streaky, the shade Mochachino is the perfect beige colour on warm skin tones that makes nails looks sophisticated and chic.

Colour Theory cosmetics offers so many different products and universally flattering colour at such good prices, it's hard to go past them without giving them a try. They are great for those starting out with makeup and want to experiment with different colours as well as for a little pick me up when you don't want to spend a lot of buy something for yourself.

Colour Theory is available now at all Amcal, Amcal Max and Guardian Pharmacies across Australia.

Have you tried Colour Theory? What are your thoughts on this new range?