Maychiri's Thoughts: June 2025

Catrice Underwater Secrets Limited Edition Overview

June 14, 2025

Hi again!

As promised in the last Essence LE overview, we will be moving away from the beach and into the water with this Catrice limited edition.

Let's take dive into the deep abyss and uncover the Underwater Secrets this LE hides.

Another summer limited edition from Catrice, huh? It's not even summer, calendar-wise! How many more will we have by September? However many there are, I will be here for every single one. Also, this LE isn't even up on Catrice's website at the time of this writing, I'm that early!

Obviously inspired by the sea sand and corals that you would find under the sea. This is a nice callback to the beach-inspired Aloha, Babes! limited edition from Essence, but this one is more muted than that one. While taking inspiration from the sea for the summer isn't particularly innovative, there's something creative here. Oh, also, the background of the picture above is from the video game ABZÛ - if you want a relaxing game for the summer, do try ABZÛ!

Source: Instagram / @catrice.cosmetics

But what does this limited edition contain? This is a mini limited edition, containing only 4 items. One of them is ehhh, kinda filler, but it isn't as horrible filler as what the previous LEs had. There's 3 makeup products and one fragrance. That's interesting! 2 items for the face: a duo highlighter (in two shades), and a pH reacting gel blush (hnghhh); and one lip product: a lipgloss (in two shades). Again, nothing for the eyes, just like with Aloha, Babes! I know it's hot and sweaty in the summer but what's with all the skipping of eye makeup? And guess what? One of these items is, again, not suitable for pale skin. Guess we don't need makeup in the summer... sigh.

Since there's so few items here, let's start with the main portion of the LE: the face. There's a duo highlighter and a pH reacting blush.

I want to start with the duo highlighter because my god, that case is stunning! The rippled glass lid is so awesome! And it's 3D rippled as well, it's not just a print. I was lucky to find this LE at Müller and had to feel this case in my hand. The plastic is so smooth and feels luxurious. Since I am so fangirling about this, you might think that I added both to my shopping basket - but no! Oh no. Because both of the shades are way too dark for my pale skin. Damn it. I really, really wanted this.

This duo highlighter combines a powder highlighter and a cream highlighter. I am actually unsure which of the two pans is which, tbh. But the bottom pan looks gritty like the seafloor, so maybe that one is the cream one? The top one is so wondrously swirled, like when a fish disturbs the sea sand and makes these swirls - or a cappuccino. So gorgeous! The two colours can be used together or individually; I can see that using both would give such a nice summery glow to the cheeks. I didn't swatch it, but it does seem like it could be very pigmented and smooth. Like, it wouldn't look too much like a bunch of powder on top of the high points of the face, but that it would blend with the skin.

But alas, pale skin won't get the chance to see what it's like, and that makes me sad. Because I feel like this would be gorgeous for the summer.

Annnd now the second product, which I already completely dismissed. I am SO over pH reacting makeup; I used a couple of different products and the results were never that good, tbh. They would always give me the exact same fuchsia colour and it would always look meh at best. So I have no faith that this blush would be any different. Especially because it's a gel blush, and my skin famously hates blushes that aren't powdery or, at the very least, cream-to-powder. Also, it is glowy? They describe it as having a "glass-skin" effect, for a juicy, dewy kind of look... no thanks. My skin is "dewy" enough as-is, thanks to all the sebum.

Not to mention, it just looks disgusting. I want to say it looks like Vaseline... but it looks much closer to something else entirely. Yeahhhh... maybe I should get my head out of the gutter, haha. Maybe one day.

Yeah, no, I don't want this blush at all. Like at all, at all. It's just a gimmick and I doubt it would be long-lasting in the summer heat, also, I am convinced it would apply patchily to my skin so no thanks. Although, the 3D wavy lid is cool I guess.

Now, the other makeup portion, before the extra item: the lips. This is going to be pretty straight-forward, as there is just one lip gloss here, in two shades, a bright hot pink, and an orange coral-ish colour. Both are appropriate for the underwater theme because corals come in these colours (and others as well).

C01/Rolling in The Deep (what a banger song, wow, I haven't heard that in ages) is the weird orange gloss. They say it is coral-coloured but to me this looks orange, idk. I guess this colour is meant for tan skin, because it would sure look odd to have such orangeish lips as a pale person. It would give jaundice. But I guess it would look cute on sun-tanned skin, very warm and summery. Idk, I am just not feeling this one...

But boy am I feeling C02/Got A Secret, Can You Keep It? (and the award for the longest name goes to...)! This hot pink is just my vibe! I love to wear bright fuchsias and hot pinks in summer, it just feels appropriate. And they pop so well on pale skin, as would this lip gloss, I am sure! Such a Barbie colour, I just adore it! But you'll see in a moment why I have decided to skip these lip glosses.

See, these have barely anything in them to actually hydrate or nourish lips. Sure, there's hyaluronic acid, but that's it. And when the sun is so scorching hot, I need more TLC for my lips, to prevent them from drying out excessively (which happens regardless, but eh, that's neither here nor there). These are also not very pigmented, it seems. The focus seems to be on the shine, which is okay, but I do wish that hot pink one was more pigmented. I do love the sound of them having "sultry shine", though... hmm, might rethink skipping them. I do love me some sultriness...

Now, to finish off this collection, the lone non-makeup item: a body & hair fragrance mist. Thanks for allowing me to spray this on my hair as well as my body! Sarcasm aside, this is useful, if a bit filler-like.

The bottle is quite beautiful, though. The light aqua tones, the curved shape, the cap that swooshes like the ocean waves... all so fitting for this theme. There's something so feminine about the appearance of this body spray, so elegant and sophisticated. It definitely doesn't look like a throwaway item used to fill out an LE. And the box! The water ripples on it are so *chef's kiss*!

However, do you know what isn't feminine and elegant? The scent. Because there barely is any scent whatsoever. I tested it out at Müller on a perfume paper strip and I legit couldn't smell anything. My nose wasn't malfunctioning (and I don't have Covid), as I was able to clearly smell the Replay Source of Life EdP* I was also testing out. What little I could smell, smelled... like the sea? Like, it was kinda salty but it also had a hint of tropical fruits to it. I thought that this made perfect sense for an underwater LE, but it quickly disappeared, so it looks like it has abysmal longevity. Like, you would have to continuously spray yourself with this spray throughout the day just to have any noticeable scent. Hard pass. I'll rather get an EdP at the same price that actually lasts at least 4 hours. But props for trying, I guess?

Time to go back to the surface because we have reached the end of this LE! So, thoughts...

Well, I like the theming. Every item was on-theme, so I find no faults there. It doesn't look like it was a rush-job, though the slim number of products contained within is indicative of that. It seems like the new normal is having more LEs but with fewer products in each one? I have to say that I preferred the old way, at the risk of sounding all "back in my day!!!" like an old geezer. This is just... much. Too much to keep up with. It's just piling on in the shops as well; when I saw this LE at Müller, the display for it was mixed with Desert Dune items because those had nowhere else to go (not to mention that some drugstores skipped some LEs altogether, apparently from a similar lack of space). And I think that's a sign to maybe pump the breaks just a liiiitle.

Don't get me wrong, this LE is quite inspired. I love how everything draws inspiration from either the sea sand, waves or corals - all of which are "underwater" features, so to speak. The packaging is immaculate, especially on the duo highlighters - that wavy glass-like lid is just stunning! And even the lip glosses have a wavy bottle. But this LE does feel a bit unfinished because there is - yet again - a glaring lack of any eye products. It's becoming a recurring issue for both Essence and Catrice, and I don't like it. It makes making any full look with these LEs look unfinished because the eyes are just too bare. And don't get me started on how it's a running theme that the LEs are just not meant at all for fair/pale skin! This one is a bit better because at least the blush and lip gloss can be used on any skintone, but it's still something deeply problematic because not everyone wants to - or can - get tanned skin in the summer. I cherish my pale, porcelain-like skin, so it sucks that I have to miss out on LE after LE. /rant over/

Although, I have to say, the names of shades are 🔥 this LE! I love all the song references and the sea puns! But the LE was a pretty nice one overall, just a shame it isn't very inclusive in terms of colours.

PS: is it just me or have the prices gone up recently? It feels to me like Catrice LEs used to be slightly more affordable; now, even just lip glosses cost more than they should. Idk, I just noticed the higher prices and it doesn't look like it is going in the right direction, with the rising prices of gas, food, bills etc. I know makeup isn't a necessity, but still. Or maybe I am just imagining things and it isn't much more expensive than before!

That would be all for now! I've got to go chillax now, I'm feeling the good vibes! 😎

See you soon!

Maja

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Aloha Babes

Essence Aloha, Babes! Limited Edition Overview

June 12, 2025

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Blue

Catrice Pastel Please Nail Polish [020 - Cloud Nine] Review

June 09, 2025

The only review for today but I promise this is going to be interesting! This is the Catrice Pastel Please Nail Polish, in the shade 020/Cloud Nine!

Okay, who thought that I would buy a cornflower blue nail polish? Raise hands... yeah, me neither. Anyways, this nail polish was released as part of the Spring/Summer 2024 refresh, but I just never got around to buying it. I wanted it... but there was always something else on my mind so it kind of fell by the wayside. But then, I just say “screw it” and finally bought it. So, the Pastel Please range consisted of, you guessed it, pastel colours. For spring. Yeah, I know, positively shocking – pastels for spring?? No-one ever thought of that! Jokes aside, these colours really are gorgeous. Out of the 4 available, which were baby pink, cornflower blue, pale yellow and seafoamish green, I only really liked one. This cornflower blue, which is absolutely an odd choice for me. I originally wanted the baby pink but come on – I already have so many different light pinks. And they often wash me out. But you know what I don’t have plenty of? Blue nail polishes! I just never really felt that really any shade of blue suits me that much, at least in terms of nail polish. But here I am, with this lovely gentle spring shade! Hopefully, I will be on Cloud Nine by the end of this review – Catrice nail polishes have only become better recently so... fingers crossed! Now, let’s see what this interesting blue nail polish is like!

Packaging: ah, back to the old type of bottle that the ICONAILS had! This feels like home! So, this is a rectangular glass bottle that is actually pretty heavy. It’s light on details, having only the Pastel Please logo in the front, though I do love this pastel yellow colour they used, it is very cheerful! Fun fact: the pastel yellow shade has the name in this shade of cornflower blue! And the pink & green shades both have the others’ colour as the Pastel Please text! Very fun detail! And cohesive when the nail polishes are stood side-by-side. Yellow and blue are always a striking colour combo, but the pastel yellow might be a bit too bright for this shade of blue. The information sticker is in the back.

Seeing as this bottle is the same one used in ICONAILS, it features one detail that the newer polishes (e.g., the Gel Affair range) don’t have: a double cap system! What this means is that there is an outer decorative cap and an inner cap that actually closes the bottle. So don’t be worried if you pull and only the larger cap comes off – this is intentional! I was fooled by this as well at first. But now I kinda love this concept! I feel like it keeps the nail polish even more airtight, so it should last much longer. Anyways, both caps are white, with the outer cap being glossy white and the inner one ribbed white. It being ribbed helps immensely with grip. The outer cap can be a bit loose sometimes, but the inner cap makes up for this – and then some. Sometimes, it closes so tightly that I struggle to open it! I love the overall design; it looks modern and chic and the white of the cap is the perfect colour to use with this cornflower blue! It’s just such a shame they retired this design, this was it!

Source: www.catrice.eu

Ingredients: nothing nourishing; 3-free (DBP, formaldehyde, toluene). The scent is like any other nail polish, though it might be a tad more vinegary. The expiration date is 24 months after opening.

Colour: oh am I glad I picked this colour specifically! I originally wanted the light pink, but that one would have for sure washed me out. This one, though? This one looks so vibrant on my pale skin! I am still not a 100% used to seeing blue on my nails, but this isn’t pure blue. This is a light blue with a good amount of purple pigments in it that soften it. It is still a shade of blue (or more accurately, azure), though, like, it is visibly blue. I’d say that it’s a bit too vibrant to be called pastel, but it is definitely a very soft, muted shade of blue, perfect for spring. This colour is literally cornflower blue, just, more muted and pastel. And I sure do love cornflower blue! It’s just such a pretty, not too intense kind of blue. It is also pretty similar to Jordy blue. It may be close to that than to cornflower blue, now that I think about it.

But in any case, this is a vibrant – yet pastel, at the same time – shade of a calming light blue. It looks amazing on pale skin! I think this colour specifically looks best on pale skin such as mine, here, it really pops! This is not a subtle colour by any means, it is just soothing! So gorgeous! And everyone in my family commented on how pretty they think this nail polish is, and they rarely comment on that. Yeah, I love it! It’s so springy! And so gentle! Although it does wash me out a tiny bit, I simply don’t think that any kind of light blue is a good choice for my colour season, which to me, seems to be autumn? So these kinds of soft, pastel blues always take time to get used to how they look on me.

Ah, whatever, I will wear whatever colours I like – and I quite like this one! No, love! At first, I thought this would be a plain pastel blue nail polish, but it is actually shimmery – and quite shimmery at that! The shimmer is mostly white, with some golden shimmer sprinkled in for variety. I love this white shimmer, I feel like this is what makes this nail polish so pastel as it softens the blue ever so much so that it is gentle. Plus, if you look closely, it looks like tiny fairy dust inside the polish! Just beautiful! Wow!

Brush: typically for Catrice, this is one freaking amazing brush! This is a flat brush with curved ends, but it is really bendy and looks and feels very high quality. There are no stray hairs or any other signs of bad quality. Although I would prefer if it were just a smidge larger, as it is slightly on the smaller side as-is. Still, it is phenomenally precise, allowing you to paint your nails without making a huge mess on the sides. I love how evenly it spreads the polish; I usually need like 3 swipes and that’s it! I am used to this level of awesomeness with Catrice, but I always feel happy when a new nail polish continues this age-old trend. Just a note: this brush picks up a huge amount of nail polish, way more than you’d ever need for one nail so don’t forget to tap off the excess!

Otherwise, things might get messy. Such a great brush! I love it! And I am so happy this stayed, throughout all the years of ICONAILS and now, after them.

Oh, this formula is kinda thick! But it doesn’t feel goopy at all, it just feels smooth and kinda silky. It is not at all runny, either, so it is very easy to use. At some points, it even feels creamy! Wow, this is a big difference compared to how, say, ICONAILS felt. Whereas the older formulas tended to be gelly to varying degrees, it seems that the newer formulas have shifted to being more creamy than gelly. I say this because the new Gel Affair range also has a creamier formula than before, and quite a lot of the newer nail polishes aside from the Gel Affair range also had thick, creamy, silky formulas. I like this! The formula feels more expensive and luxurious this way. And it is so easy to use and ends up even with zero effort! I just wasn’t expecting it to be like this, that’s all.

One coat is not good. It is semi-opaque and looks messy. Why? Because it is unevenly applied – and trust me, I did my best to apply it evenly, but the formula just doesn’t apply too evenly with one coat. One coat gives you way more shimmer than colour, but since it is so messy, I really wouldn’t leave it like this. I know I won’t! So, with two coats, the situation improves massively! Now it looks perfect! Completely opaque and rich and 100% even! Oh yeah, this is how it should be worn. Don’t apply more than 2 coats though, or it may become too goopy. It will also be way too thick; even with two coats, it is starting to feel a bit too thick on a few nails. The colour is vibrant now and the shimmer is not overly too sparkly like before.

The shimmer is tiny but plentiful, giving a kinda grainy appearance to the nail polish. The shimmer is so finely milled that it looks like white dust that is mixed in with the cornflower blue. The texture is quite unique! I only noticed this relatively recently, while looking at product photos of this nail polish range: this nail polish is both shimmery and kinda 3D rough! However, on the nails, it is not 3D. Well, kinda? It has a bit of a bumpy, 3D surface, but it is mostly shimmer. I love this rough finish, it looks so unique and fits so well with this cornflower blue! And although it a bit bumpy, it doesn’t feel rough and coarse to touch. In fact, it is remarkably smooth! I should also mention that it is fairly glossy as well, which only enhances the appearance of the tiny shimmer inside! Huh. This is a really unique nail polish so far!

Oh my god! The longevity is superb! I really did not expect this, I thought that it would start to chip soon after painting my nails, but it only had a few tiny chips before a hair wash. They were so tiny that I barely even noticed them, and even when I opened food or makeup with my nails, it still stayed chip-free! How amazing! That said, one of those chips is my own fault because I ate strawberry yogurt and... well, long story short, don’t try to pry those little black seeds out of your molars with your nails. That’s what toothbrushes are for. Now I know. Besides that, it really is pretty much life-proof! It also tolerates water so well! But one thing it doesn’t tolerate is hair washing.

I noticed pieces falling off my nails while I was washing my hair, and, sure enough, the nail polish was in a bad state afterwards. There was a lot of chipping all over. But hey, if it takes a hair wash to do this, I am happy! As long as it doesn’t randomly chip during the day. And also, it is pretty much immune to getting scratched up! Never at any point did I notice scratches on any of the nails, which is beyond awesome! This helps preserve that beautiful gloss and shimmery finish. But one curious thing that I noticed is that it looks like it has edge fading from day 2... but it doesn’t. Like, there is clearly nail polish on the free edges of my nails but it still has this thin band that kinda looks like there’s no nail polish. Not an issue, just an interesting observation, because this doesn’t lead to chipping on the edges. Very interesting!

Oh phew! I was mentally preparing myself for battle: no way that such a shimmery, bumpy nail polish would come off without a fight. Oh but it does, for the most part. It’s not the easiest nail polish to remove, but it really doesn’t require much effort to fully remove. How incredible! I didn’t have to rub my nails for a long time, which means that they are less dried out and less prone to splitting or breaking. The top layer takes a bit of time to break through, though. And there is no yellowing of the nails post-removal. Awesome, because I had had blue nail polishes stain my nails yellow in the past, but I don’t need to worry about that with this lovely nail polish. It truly is the gift that keeps on giving!

Overall, well, this nail polish far surpassed all of my expectations! It is excellent, truly! There’s so much that’s good in here, like for example, the brush. Catrice almost always have amazing brushes in their nail polished, and this one is no exception. It is wide and quite flexible, which makes it extremely easy to paint the nails properly. In fact, I was able to paint my nails without having a huge mess on the sides! And it spreads the polish so wonderfully evenly, as well as applying it thickly. So just 2-3 swipes later and nails look professionally painted. That said, the formula is uneven with one coat; that is one of the few negative points of this nail polish. It really does not look good with one coat, making it necessary to apply 2 coats. But with two coats, it looks even and the colour is vibrant and so stunning. This is a cornflower blue – how pastel this really is depends; to me, this isn’t exactly pastel but it is still a gorgeous colour! I did not think I would love it quite this much – I actually fell in love with it when I saw it on my nails the morning after! This type of blue is a soothing type, because it has plenty of purple pigments inside that soften it and make it easier on the eyes. It’s a perfect colour for spring, so gentle yet so vibrant at the same time! And the shimmer inside it? Oh man! It only makes the polish that much more beautiful! It was a wise choice to make the glitter mostly white, this adds to that softness I mentioned earlier. This nail polish has an odd texture; it is not quite just shimmery nor 3D. Like, it is bumpy! That’s the best way to describe it, it is bumpy and shimmery, so it looks like some sort of crushed crystal. So gorgeous! And I didn’t know originally that it was both bumpy and shimmery, so when I saw this on my nails I was left speechless. Completely unique and so, so mesmerising! This colour and that unique texture... wow! The formula is thick, yes, but it is so silky and easy to use. And the longevity is great as well! It survived without chipping in any major way for like 3 days, and even then, it was just a couple of tiny little chips, one of which us totally my fault. The second not-so-good thing is that this nail polish doesn’t like hair washes; it was half chipped off after a hair wash, which isn’t too good. But the fact that it survived until then in such a good state is a miracle! I told you there were only a few negatives! Oh, I do love this nail polish – I have been holding out on buying it but I see now that the wait was so, so worth it. Because this is one phenomenal nail polish, much better than even the old ICONAILS! I am so glad I didn’t pick the pink shade, this one is really perfect! So, with all that said, there is only one thing left to do: I give this nail polish my recommendation, I would be insane not to. Ah, I really am on Cloud Nine!

Rating: 8.5/10

Would buy again? YES

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Catrice Underwater Secrets Limited Edition Overview

Essence Aloha, Babes! Limited Edition Overview

Catrice Pastel Please Nail Polish [020 - Cloud Nine] Review

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