first impressions: jaclyn cosmetics (bronzer, blush, and lipstick)

When OG Beauty Guru, Jaclyn Hill launched her own makeup line, Jaclyn Cosmetics, a few years back...I was intrigued. Unfortunately, the products were not available at any stores in Canada. (The line can be found in Ulta in the United States.) To be honest, I do not love purchasing beauty items online. Makeup can come broken, packages can be damaged, and there are often high shipping costs. Not to mention the additional duties if the products come from outside the country. It just feels like an expensive gamble a lot of the time. In store shopping is still preferable to me. So, it seemed that Jaclyn Cosmetics would not be added to my makeup collection. Until a few random items appeared at Winners, that is. This discount store tends to have makeup from all over the place. Without a second thought, two Jaclyn Cosmetics products were purchased. Ready to take a closer look at these items? Read a first impressions review? Find out how the Lip Cushion and Bronze & Blushing Duo perform. 

Jaclyn Cosmetics Lip Cushion in Promised. The first Jaclyn Cosmetics item at Winners was the Lip Cushion. There were two very similar shades available, so I chose the slightly darker one. This is the shade Promised. It is described as a "plummy pink" by the brand. The packaging describes the Lip Cushion as a rich, creamy lip colour with an ultra lightweight, blurring finish. In terms of the packaging, this is pretty simple and basic. There is a cardboard box with rose gold and the Jaclyn Cosmetics logo printed on the front. The Lip Cushion tube itself is simple as well. I like that the tube itself is the same colour as the actual product and the logo down the side is nice. All in all, it is functional and basic. The actual lip product has a sweet vanilla kind of scent. It is nicely pigmented, pretty, and lasts well. The product is also fairly comfortable. Honestly? The only thing that I do not like about the product is the fact that it feels dry during the actual application process. It looks great once it is on, but has an unusual sort of formula. As for the colour? I really like Promised. It is warm, fairly neutral, and really easy to wear. I would certainly be wearing different Lip Cushion colours from the brand, but only if it was a little bit more vibrant and unusual. 

Jaclyn Cosmetics Bronze & Blushing Duo. I'll be honest: blush always makes me happy. There is something about a wash of colour on the cheeks that just makes the world seem sunnier. Needless to say, I was excited to try out the Bronze & Blushing Duo. There were two shades available at Winners. One was lighter and one was slightly darker. Despite the fact that I am ultra pale, something inside of me said to choose the slightly darker shade. It is described as fair to light with warm undertones on the website. Well...it is certainly for fair to light skin. I chose the shade Pink Me Up/Oh Honey and wow is it light. Before I get into that part of the review, there is the packaging. This comes in bulky black plastic with a raised J on the bottom right corner. There is a mirror inside, which is great, but this is definitely a larger and heavier palette. Pretty for the vanity but not ideal for travel. Now for the actual blush and bronzer shades. The bronzer barely looks like anything on my skin. I didn't find that it built up all that well, so an extremely subtle wash of colour is all there will be. Same for the blush shade. It doesn't look like a whole lot on the cheeks. This is so unfortunate, because the actual product feels so smooth and buttery soft. The shades are just really off, in my opinion. I am super pale (my friends like to say that I glow in the dark) and even still, these products look really subtle on me. I would need to purchase a product from the line in a much darker colour...which means that the shades intended for deeper skin tones likely would not work for the intended audience. Such a letdown! 

As you can see from the photo above, the bronzer and blush shade did not do a whole lot. I tried to layer on as much as possible, but the colour is really minimal. On the other hand, the Lip Cushion looks nice and the colour is easy to wear. When it comes to my first experience with Jaclyn Cosmetics...my feelings are mixed. The shade selection for the Bronze & Blushing Duo is way off base, which is really too bad, because the actual formula feels really luxe. The Lip Cushion is decent, but there are others on the market that perform better for a comparable price. I am certainly open to testing and trying other products from the Jaclyn Cosmetics line in future, but my choices would be slightly different knowing what I know now.

Have you tried anything from Jaclyn Cosmetics? What did you think of the products?