Joe.

So I am picky when it comes to makeup. I hate trying new things and being disappointed. Makeup is not cheap, you cannot try every brand of eyeliner before deciding. I got spoiled a few years ago at Christmas and received numerous Shoppers Drug Mart gift cards. They went to a brand new makeup collection. I went with smashbox after doing a lot of research and LOVED it! Now however, without the gift cards, the cost is too much and I need pretty much new everything.

I am not one who goes by the every six month rule, I have a tendency of waiting till its gone, I know its bad. Lately my eyes have been itchy when I wear my make up so I figured it was time for new stuff.
I had heard good things about the Joe Fresh line. The marketing was nice and I LOVE the packaging and design. Not to mention the colours are great. So I figured I would give it a try.

I bought what I was in desperate need of, mascara and eye liner. Then I splurged and got some lip stick. I went with the lash define mascara, the gel eye liner and a rose coloured matte lip gloss.

On first try, I loved the mascara, it does exactly as it says, it separates and gets on every lash. The lipstick I am not sure is my colour, and I think due to my lips being dry is a bit flaky, but the colour and matte-ness of it is fantastic. The eye liner is another story. I wanted to get the liquid liner, but as my research told me, it is hard to find in stock, which was the case. Instead I went with what I have come to love in the smashbox version, a gel eyeliner which you then put on with a brush. At first try it went on thick and has some chunks. More attempts are required to see if this changes, if not, it is garbage.

The prices are also great, the lipstick was $6, the eyeliner $6 and the mascara was $8. Then to top it off there was a $3 off coupon when you spend $12 or more. These prices when shopping around were typically $2 less then low end brands like Covergirl and Revlon and about $10 or more less then the brands such as Clinique and Smashbox.

So after a number of uses I have come to some conclusions. I LOVE the mascara and would definitely get it again. It goes on exactly like I wanted and lasts all day in all types of conditions. The eye liner, I will use but an not a huge fan of. You can certainly tell a difference with this compared to the smashbox type I am used to. The lipstick with nice lips is wonderful I have come to wearing it most days.

In addition I bought some Joe Fresh nail polish. It was the exact colour I was searching for, a dark charcoal and again the price was right one for 4$ or 3 for 10$. I am used to using either OPI or Essie, so my standards are relatively high and other then being a fantastic colour and only requiring two coats, the nail polish does not have much going for it in my opinion. The brush is nubby (short and thick), and it chips pretty much the day it goes on. I feel like that could be alleviated with a good top coat, but I don't like to do that.

So overall, I guess it is hit and miss with Joe products, however for the price compared to top of the line options, I do believe that it is worth trying them out.