Catrice

Catrice The Great Christmas Advent Calendar Face Jewels Review

By Maychiri's Thoughts - December 14, 2024

Face jewels... and pretty intense-looking ones, at that. My oh my, how am I going to use this and still look somewhat normal? I’ve never dabbled into these things – not for lack of courage, mind you, as I feel bold enough to wear dark green lipstick outside. It’s just that I fear that it’ll look too costume-y and over-the-top. But perhaps there is a way to actually Bejeweled and look good? Still, I feel nothing, I am just completely meh about this,  it’s a filler item for sure. But let’s check it out anyways, I guess. 
 
 
 
 
Packaging: barely any protection for the stickers, only a plastic sleeve that is quite flimsy. There’s a cardboard card that serves as a sort of base for the jewels; the jewels themselves are housed on a piece of plastic, so that they are easier to peel off. This isn’t really enough protection, but I guess it’s okay. Although, what’s more than okay is the design of that cardboard! Black with gold? Oh yes! Very luxurious! And I love the art deco gilded designs on the corners, it makes these jewels look like some vintage collector’s card or something! Although, the gold doesn’t really go with the clear crystals, guess the intention was to make it like gold and diamonds, I could see that. There’s information about the jewels in the back, including usage instructions.
 
 
 
 
What nice facets on the crystals!
The jewels are a mix of two different styles, broadly speaking. You have white pearls, and then you have clear crystals. I like this, as it adds versatility to what you can do in terms of looks! But, since the jewels aren’t individual crystals, but whole pieces already arranged in certain shapes, this harms creativity and limits what you can actually do with them. Like, the longest ‘strands’ of crystals are obviously meant to go on the forehead. Were they separated, it would be possible to make an eyeliner wing with them, for example. Same with the pearls. Also, do note that the 3-piece strands come in two varieties! One has 2 pearls and a teardrop crystal, while the other has a teardrop crystal, a circular crystal and a pearl. Right, in terms of shapes, there’s two shapes: teardrops and circles. Pearls are exclusively circles, while the crystals come in both varieties. The crystals are completely clear and very nicely faceted, which gives them quite a bit of sparkle – not quite a diamond lustre, but they are still very sparkly and glimmery! They don’t look very plasticy, but they sure do look extra 3D on the skin! Almost like CGI! The pearls are every bit as elegant as the crystals, but in a different sort of way. I think that the sizing is great, you can have more subdued looks, or you can go full ham like I did. The quality seems to be quite high, though I had the glue pad slightly separate on a few of the pieces. That didn’t cause any harm,  though.
 
 
 
 
I have to sit and let myself cook for a while now, try and figure out what kind of look I want with these. Hmm, I am really not sure, maybe I need to sleep it off... maybe my thoughts will be clearer after a day or two. Also, so sorry for this being late a day; I really wasn't feeling energetic enough last night, after spending the whole day in shops... anyways! Let's continue!

 
 
Face jewels can come preglued or without glue. These come preglued, to make them simpler to use, since you won’t need to go scavenging for cosmetic glue. However, this adhesive is very weak. It feels like it’s going to unglue at any moment. Basically, how you use these jewels is, you peel them off the plastic foil, place them wherever you want on the face and then – crucially – you have to press down and hold for some time so that the adhesive can form a bond with the skin. Literally like gluing anything else. I pressed down quite strongly and held for 10+ seconds, but the glue still felt very weak. However, it stayed in place, so I guess it isn’t that weak after all! But it is weak enough that you can nudge the jewels around without taking them off. So this makes it important that you get the placement right the first time. If you try to peel them off and then glue them back, most of the glue will be gone. That means, sadly, that these jewels won’t last more than maybe a few uses, if that. However, nothing’s stopping you from using... say, eyelash glue to stick them on! This will ensure they stay in place! Aside from glue making these jewels a bit tricky to use, the size plays a big part in this, too! These are tiny! I read suggestions to use tweezers to place them precisely, but I just cannot seem to grasp them with tweezers, I have to use my hand. And, since I have slightly longer nails now, it’s incredibly difficult to place the jewels exactly where I want them. I have to kinda go blindly and hope I stuck them where I wanted them. This small size also means that it’s easy to fumble them and lose them... I lost a couple of pieces due to this. I still don’t know where that one piece is. So, quite finicky and tricky to use, not very enjoyable... aside from the mindless fun of sticking crystals to my goddamn forehead hahaha!
 
 

I have to say this here... I feel like I am losing my goddamn mind lmao. I slept poorly last night, and sticking bloody diamonds and pearls (Pokemon???) to my face isn’t helping matters haha! I just feel so silly! Like a kid sticking crap to their face just for the lulz. Very supremely silly! Hahaha! I am feeling so loopy today from these, but at least I am having fun! I am having so much fun! So all’s well... all’s perfectly well. Indeed.
 
 
 
 
So... what exactly can you achieve with these? I... actually am not sure, but intuition tells me that the longest strands of crystals would go on large flat surfaces – like the forehead. Then, the rest can go wherever. You can do like a starburst pattern under the eyes with the 8 provided 3-piece pearl strands, for example. Or you could put the smaller 3-piece crystal/pearl pieces down the nose? I decided early on that I would use as many pieces as possible – all of them, if I could find a way. After searching for some inspo, and a lot of thinking, I decided I would fashion myself a sort of crown out of the largest pieces and smaller ones. I wanted it to be very intricate and in-your-face. That would be the centrepiece of my look. Applying the smaller pieces was easier said than done, I misjudged how much space I had between my brows, so that’s why it’s a bit crowded there. But I managed to make it look mostly symmetrical. Okay, so that’s most of them done... where to put the remaining smaller pieces? I decided to place one right under the crown, to help blend it into the nose a bit better – I think that that whole centrepiece looks incredible now! It’s so elegant and looks almost like an Elven crown (tiara? Idk)! So majestic! And then, as the proverbial cherry on top, I decide that the best course of action would be to make the pearls into sort of frozen tears streaming down my eyes. I was going for an icy queen kind of look, and, ngl, I did feel very much like Elsa by the end! I don’t know if this is the ideal way to arrange all of these jewels, but I am so happy with the end result! The icy silvery smokey eye, the darker red lips, and then the icy crystal crown and the frozen tears... all perfectly arranged! I am so proud of myself for doing this! I just feel so pretty right now! Everyone in my family keeps telling me I look ridiculous, but I feel super pretty! I feel like an Elven princess! And besides, it is December, so these kinds of lavish looks are fitting no matter what anyone says! I really don’t care, I love how I look and I don’t care that literally every 3rd person that walks by me turns around to stare at me! 

 
 
I just don’t know why wearing these jewels is so hard on my self-esteem; like, I can wear dark green lipstick just fine and I can even wear bright freaking pool tile aqua lip products without feeling like a freak. But this took a lot of coercing myself to be able to wear without feeling like I look too strange and alien. Make it make sense! And yes, people were turning around to look what the hell I have on my face, which wasn’t too good on my confidence but I tried to “fake it till you make it” and make it seem like I am confident and proud of this (which I am, truly, but I have never worn something like this). My confidence levels gained a huge boost when two strangers complimented my makeup, saying that it’s, quote, beautiful! I have never had multiple people – strangers – say that to me... I was gushing hard! Aww. So it appears that I did a great job with this? 🥰

 
 
Side note... this look reminds me of something, but I cannot quite place what. Why is Taylor Swift’s Bejeweled suddenly playing in my head as I am reviewing the jewels?? Hmm.. oh. my. god. It just hit me, as I was watching the BTS of the Bejeweled music video... I was – completely subconsciously – using Taylor’s makeup look from when she was with Dita Von Teese as inspo! I promise you, this wasn’t planned! Haha, even subconsciously, my brain is in Swiftie mode... that is actually hilarious! Look, she was serving LOOKS then, so don’t fault me for taking notes from a queen! It also might explain why I got so many compliments... either that, or people are like magpies and just love everything that sparkles and shines. Could be both. This review is seriously becoming loopy, isn’t it? I am feeling loopy with these on lmao! 

 
 
This is where I fully became a face jewel believer; the gorgeous look was one thing, but seeing these bad boys stay in place exactly where I put them literally 7 hours later is quite another thing! I was a total skeptic, especially after seeing how poorly sticky that glue was. I expected these to last maybe an hour and then for them to just fall off at some point. But nope! I didn’t even follow the instructions on how to use them properly, and they still stayed stuck on top of foundation, concealer and powder! That is insane! And with such poor glue??? Excuse me??? This is amazing! Even when I emoted, the jewels stayed put! Though, truth be told, I maintained a frozen expression on my forehead. I noticed that the stickers had started to peel off if I lifted my eyebrows too much, so I forced myself to have a very Botox-like frozen expression the whole time, no matter what happened. This became a bit of an issue when people started complimenting me, saying that my makeup is ‘beautiful’, and I had to stop myself from raising my eyebrows too much. Of course, this isn’t ideal. It’s also a bit uncomfortable, as the muscles become tired from being so frozen in place... thank god for my neuromodulator serum, then! It works kind of like baby Botox, as it does paralyse the muscles to some degree; without that, I am sure I would’ve lost a few pieces along the way. The fact I didn’t lose any under my eyes was the biggest (positive) shock to me! I naturally have larger eye bags, and I tend to emote a lot with my eyes, but the pearls stayed there! But as long as you don’t emote too much, the jewels stay exactly where you placed them – to the millimetre! How wonderful! Yaaay! Oh my god, I think I am actually falling in love with these jewels... 

 
 
Just one note, I was feeling so much anxiety over the jewels falling off! I had never worn something like this before so I didn’t know what to expect. This triggered my brain into constantly (well, more like, every couple of minutes but still) tapping the jewels to check whether they were still there. That became a tiny bit tiring after a while. But I worked hard to make this look and I didn’t want to lose any along the way. However, it’s not just anxiety over the poor glue that made me tap them so much, it’s also the fact that they are incredibly lightweight! Like, I couldn’t even feel them on most of my face! The only place where I, occasionally, felt the stickers, was between my brows, probably because the brow muscles were getting sore from being stuck in the same expression for hours. But even then, one tap, and it was all better! I honestly thought these would be very uncomfortable to wear, but they are, instead, one of the most comfortable things to have on your face – bar the anxiety.

 
 
Another thing to note is that these jewels really prefer to be on dry skin... so, good thing it is December, then! While they stay stuck on dry skin, I have no doubts that the glue won’t be able to hold at all if your skin becomes wet, or even just moist. My skin is naturally oily, but it becomes slightly drier in winter, so, thankfully the sebum did not cause the stickers to fall off. It is absolutely necessary to powder down your face as best as you can – the more setting powder the better! That also means that they won’t be able to be worn in summer, well, not if you stick them on with the glue they cone with, at least. If you want to make absolutely sure these stay on, apply them with eyelash glue, even if you have sensitive skin. Though, the glue seems to tolerate sudden temperature changes super well; it did not seem to be bothered by me exiting a very warm mall and going out into the freezing evening weather. It’s just humidity that bothers it. So try to stay as dry as humanly possible!

 
 
These jewels are extremely easy to remove – too easy, even! See, I accidentally touched the underside of the jewels a few times and that already caused them to start peeling off. So if you want to remove them, just peel them off, it won’t tug at the skin and certainly won’t irritate the skin. Also, I didn’t have a lot of glue on my skin after removing the stickers, so that makes cleaning your face afterwards that much easier. However, of course, if you use eyelash glue to stick these on, you’ll have a much harder time removing them.
 
 
 
All in all, okay, I am a face jewel truther now! You can consider me converted! Now yes, I did feel like I was having some sort of mental breakdown, putting literal gem stickers on my forehead, but the end result is undeniably spectacular! Not tooting my own horn; I got multiple compliments on this look from strangers while I was out shopping! And that almost never happens here! Besides that, I myself, felt unusually pretty and I’ll take anything that boosts my confidence and self-esteem like that these days! Even if it is sticking rhinestones to my face. Are these face jewels absolutely excessive for any kind of everyday look? Oh yes, but sometimes you need that extra fanciness! I found the jewels to be surprisingly easy to apply! They come preglued, so you don’t need to go looking for cosmetic glue. This glue, admittedly, is rather weak, but it held the entire day without moving a millimetre! And that’s on already applied foundation and powder, which is counter to what the instructions say (it should be applied on cleansed and dry skin)! I cannot express how amazed I was at the end of the day when I looked at a mirror and all the jewels were still there, precisely where I first put them! Although, I did tap them every few minutes just to check whether they were still there, I felt very anxious about them falling off. Even the undereye ‘pearl tears’ stayed put, despite my larger eye bags and emoting! Oh yeah, one thing to note, if you apply the stickers to your forehead, is to not emote a lot (lift your eyebrows); like I said, the glue isn’t very strong, and parts of the jewels started coming off while I was applying mascara (I instinctively lift my eyebrows then), so you need to set a fixed neutral expression and keep it as neutral as possible. I called it ‘Botox face’ because my brows were so frozen in place (thank god for the neuromodulator serum I use that paralyses my brow muscles to a degree, otherwise I would lift my eyebrows much more). This takes some conscious effort to maintain, so it’s not the most comfortable thing ever, but the jewels themselves – including the glue – were super lightweight. That’s one reason why I kept tapping them, because I literally couldn’t feel them on my face! One other thing to note is that they can very tricky to apply if you have longer nails. Using tweezers doesn’t help much, I still had to use my fingers to place them where I wanted them, which took some time – and I lost a few pieces, either from the glue becoming way too weak or from literally losing them after they fell. So be careful and patient with them, as they are quite tiny. It’s a massive help the larger pieces are connected, although that does limit creativity a lot. They are also extremely easy to remove, given that the glue is weak, this isn’t a surprise. And you must be very careful how you touch the stickers after you place them or they’ll easily come off. So that’s all kinda annoying, but the beauty and sparkling of the jewels (and the compliments!) make these jewels so worth this trouble! I was thinking about not even using them at first, and, god, would that have been a mistake! I would miss out on, perhaps, one of my best looks to date! So sparkly, so beautiful an enchanting! So Bejeweled! So yeah, this won’t be the last time I use face jewels! I felt giddy like a child using them... I want to experience more of that joy! So yeah, I seriously am in love with the jewels... which comes as a real surprise to hear myself say that. But it happened. It was rare. I was there. I remember it.



Rating: idk, 7/10?
 


[Listening suggestion: Taylor Swift – Bejeweled]
 
 

 
 

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