New week, new Catrice limited edition to check out! Fortunately, this will be the last one for a while, so I can take a breather.
As the light grows dim, welcome the Catrice Midnight Sun limited edition!
I cannot help myself, hearing the name 'Midnight Sun' makes me think of Marvel's Midnight Sons (or the video game Midnight Suns). Being an avid watcher of Marvel films and TV series will do that to you, I suppose! And even though this LE has nothing to do with that comic book team, the colours are quite evocative of them, hmm.
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| These guys! Check out all the |
Yes, yes, another summer LE and it is - checks calendar - yup, it's not even summer calendar-wise. I am seriously starting to wonder how many more limited editions we will get. And I am so early with this LE that it isn't even up on Catrice's website or their Instagram; the only reason I found out this LE exists in the first place is because I checked Boozyshop. So I guess this LE will arrive sometime in early July "officially".
And the theming is on-point for a peak of summer LE! 'Midnight Sun' brings to mind hot, humid summer evenings, when the sky is burnt orange in colour and the shadows are dramatic. The sweltering heat makes for the perfect occasion to make a glowy, golden makeup look that is as radiant as the setting sun. I may be waxing poetic here for what amounts to a quite typically summer-like LE; if you look at the packaging, it is nowhere near as creative as what was featured in the Underwater Secrets LE.
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| What a nice background, don't you think so? :) It's from The Sims 4 but I will leave out which world it is from for fun & games ;) |
So, what's in this LE, you might ask? Not a whole lot and a lot at the same time. Let me explain: while there's 4 'groups' of products, one of them features products that are just different enough but still are made to be like a set. There's 2 products for the lips: a duo lip mask, and a plumping lip gloss (in 2 shades); and 5 products for the face: a jelly glow stick (in two shades), and bronzing/blush/glow drops. This is the 'set' I was talking about. Notice anything missing? Yeah, AGAIN nothing for the eyes. This is becoming really, really annoying. Not even an eyeshadow... smh. This is not a good trend, I hope future limited editions correct this mistake. Also note that the face products are way too dark for pale skin... I am tired of this. Really freaking tired. But hey, my debit card is happy at least!
Let's start with the face, as there really are only two categories in this LE anyways. Here, we have a jelly glow stick, bronzing drops, blush drops, and glowy drops. I do question why have a highlighter stick if you already have highlighter drops but whatever. I don't decide these things.
The first item I want to check out is the jelly glow stick. The packaging is aggressively basic, which is going to be a recurring theme in this LE, you'll see. I don't know how good it is, but the packaging is not making me feel confident about its quality at all. This highlighter stick comes in two colours, a rose gold shade, and a bronze shade. Awesome for tan skin! Not so awesome for light - or lighter - skin. Why not include a champagne shade, huh? It's the same problem the Underwater Secrets highlighters had.
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| Both sticks, see how glittery they are? |
Even if this was available in a shade suitable for my skintone, I would still pass. It just doesn't look high quality, sorry.
Next, the first of a trio of products meant to be used together: bronzing drops. Available in just one shade, which is a very orange, coppery kind of warm brown... what the hell is this colour? Bronzers are supposed to add a flush of warmth to the face, but I thought we were past the time when that meant orange skin. Yikes! Maybe the photo online has the vibrancy cranked up to 11, but as it stands, it looks very orange.
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| The three drops and the colour of each of them |
Again with a basic rectangular bottle devoid of any details. It looks cheap. It is also luminous, which, I hope, doesn't mean that there's a ton of shimmer inside it. They promise a natural glowy finish etc, etc, but who knows what it really looks like. Of course, I cannot try it out because if I do, I will look like a certain politician that is very fond of his orange spray-tan. To be honest, I don't use bronzers often anyways, so I wouldn't buy this anyways. Not with it being so orange. Not with it being a liquid bronzer which is almost guaranteed to look blotchy on my skin. Hard pass.
The second part of the trio: blush drops. Only one shade, what seems to be a bright coral orange/red kind of colour. Of course, the vibrancy and saturation are way up, so perhaps Catrice's description of this being a bright pink colour is more appropriate. This is why it is important to have pictures where the colour is clearly visible in neutral lighting; how am I supposed to judge what kind of colour this is is you put it under bright orange light and turn the saturation & vibrancy up to the max?
I just want to note the name of this shade: Pocketful of Sunshine. "I got a pocketful, got a pocketful of sunshine. I got a love and know that it's all mine, oh, oh-oh. Do what you want, but you're never gonna break me. Sticks and stones are never gonna shake me, oh, oh-oh"... man, that song is still a banger in 2025! I still remember the first time I heard it on a The Sims 2 Freetime trailer... ah, memories!
The same kind of cheap bottle as what the bronzing drops had, though the gradient is much more sunset vibes, so it fits the theme better. Catrice's claims: ultra-light, silky smooth, easily blendable and glowy. Sounds nice, a bit of glow on the upper part of the chjeekbones using a blush is always a good way to give your skin a healthy glow to it. But, again, the colour looks like it is too dark for pale skin. And it is a liquid blush, which, as I already mentioned, my skin tends to hate this kind of formulas. Every time I've tried them, they ended up separating from my skin, pulling the foundation and concealer along with it. Would that happen with this one? Can't say because I don't want intensely coral cheeks, it would look awful on pale skin, I bet.
And the final piece of the trio: glowy drops. A.k.a, highlighter drops. In one colour: vibrant gold. Perfect for tanned skin. Awful for pale skin. So not at all usable for me. Yay. Yes, there is a cream highlighter stick and a liquid highlighter in this limited edition. Why? I don't know; it sure is nice to have that blinding light on the high points of your face but I am pretty sure this liquid highlighter would be intense enough on its own.
Cheap bottle strikes again; it only makes sense for all 3 to have the same cheap bottle, that way, you know it is a set. I do like the gradient here, going from a soft rose into a light yellow, it is calming. Lightweight, silky, blendable... blah, blah. Of course they wouldn't it's bad if it is; I will try to swatch it if I ever find it in shops here, but I can already tell this would look greasy and oily on my skin. Possibly even patchy. I don't know why my skin is like this but it is, so I avoid liquid highlighters like the plague - unless I really like the name and/or colour.
Which... ehh, I really do lie the name, but there's no point in me trying this out - I can already tell it's not gonna work for me. And it's just going to look muddy because it is too dark.
And now, the other half of the limited edition, focusing on the lips. There are two products to check out here, a duo lip mask and a plumping lip gloss in two shades. Both useful! And the colours of the lip glosses are so summery!
I really, really appreciate the inclusion of an applicator because dipping your fingers into the pots will quickly become unhygienic. This is a simple and elegant solution! This packaging actually looks kinda luxe, ngl!
Unfortunately, the ingredients list leaves something to be desired. The daytime and nighttime mask both have meadowfoam seed oil, vitamin E and hyaluronic acid, which is okay, but it's not particularly extremely hydrating nor nourishing. No shea butter or jojoba oil for the night? If you have more problematic lips, I fear that this might not be able to help all that much. Shame, because this had so much potential.
This is why it is always a good idea to check the ingredients list before purchasing anything 'plumping', because there are multiple ways to achieve such an effect (menthol, peptides, chili extract and even bee venom).
Ahhh but I really want the coral shade - the name is like a siren call to my Swiftie heart! C01/Meet Me At Midnight... I just wanna stay in that lavender haze! If only I could try it and see what that metal applicator is like! But I mustn't mistreat my lips like that again. So I will sadly not be staying ion that lavender coral haze...
Oh my, look at the time! The sun has already set and here we are at the end of this limited edition. Now, to collect my thoughts...
What do I think? What do I think? Well, first and foremost, I am pissed that this LE, a) isn't suitable at all for pale skin, and b) is missing any eye products. It just feels haphazardly thrown together, like they rushed it or something. I get the theme, and it definitely is fitting for summer, but the execution... leaves something to be desired. Not only is there nothing for the eyes, it is baffling why they included both a stick and a liquid highlighter. It's especially odd given that the liquid highlighter already is part of a set... like, why? Highlighting is good, but it, too has its limits - even in summer.
Having a set of liquid bronzer, blush and highlighter is actually pretty clever - assuming they all work together the right way. If they do, you have yourself a neat set that is guaranteed to work well in terms of colours. And the lip mask and lip glosses? Also pretty clever: first, the plumping lip gloss potentially makes your lips chapped (like menthol always does to mine), then you slather some mask on them to fix the damage. The colours - albeit not suitable for me grrrr - are pretty beautiful. All inspired by sunsets, which is, arguably, one of - if not, the - most beautiful times of the day. So it's just such a shame that most of this LE feels phoned in.
So yeahhh... another one I will be forced to skip, though I sure do want that Midnights-coded lip gloss... but this a meh LE overall. Nothing too special to go "WOW" over.
And now I can catch my breath - phew! Finally a reprieve from the constant onslaught of Cosnova limited editions. Soon, there will be more but for now, farewell! While I go search for something to take my mind off things because cycles man... that is legit one of the most complicated, frustrating aspects to being a woman. Deep breaths...
See you soon!
Maja
Maja
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