Lush recently invited us to the preview of Emotional Brilliance, their highly anticipated debut cosmetics line, at their newly renovated Robson Street store.
The collection officially launches on July 21 and consists of 13 lip colours ($22.95), 11 liquid liners ($22.95), 6 cream eyeshadows ($22.95), a mascara ($18.95), a bronzer ($18.95), a highlighter ($18.95) and a finishing powder ($18.95). All of the products in the collection are vegan, not tested on animals, and come in packaging that is 100% recyclable.
Newly renovated Lush @ Robson Street.
I brought along my new 40mm pancake lens for its first field trip. I actually like it a lot more than my nifty fifty! It's significantly sharper, faster and quieter than the fifty.
Emotional Brilliance swatches:
Eyes Right Mascara, Charisma Skin Tint, Feeling Younger Skin Tint, and Emotional Brilliance Translucent Powder:
I haven't been in Lush for a while (I've had to resort to ordering their bath products online as the shop's smells sometimes sets off my allergies), so I had no idea that they had added a perfume range!! I absolutely adored how Lust smelt! I have a soft spot for anything Jasmine scented and Lust was pure Jasmine in a bottle. I totally need to pick up a bottle sometime.
Meet Anthony and Dan, these two gentleman were in charge of mixing up batches of Ayesha fresh face masks for everyone to take home. We had a good chuckle about the effects of asparagus in your body. Apparently I have not yet matured beyond toilet humour.
The concept behind the Emotional Brilliance line is rather simple, it's essentially "mood ring makeup". Instead of following the latest colour trends, it's makeup that resonates with your mood and emotions. You spin the colour wheel and once it stops, you pick the first three colours on the wheel that appeal to you.
I ended up with Drive (purple), Lifted (yellow), and Motivation (turquoise). At my colour reading, I was told that Drive is my strength and what people immediately notice from me, I subconsciously seek to be Lifted (yes, especially from the 32,000 documents that need to be reviewed on my desk), and Motivation is what allow me to attain what I subconsciously need (procrastinate much?).
As all the names are rather innocuous and banal, Emily and I wondered what happens on days when we wake up feeling like ass. We suggested they to add colours called "Crap", "Annoyed", and "Cynical" to the line in the future.
Swatches:
So far I have tested the liquid liner, the lipstick and the mascara. The liquid liner suffered some slight smudging in the inner corners, but other than that it lasted through a whole work day plus 2hrs of cardio. I don't find the lipstick moisturising per se, but it's not too drying either, the formula has quite a bit of slip and lasted around 3-4hours on me but did leave a stain. I really hope they will redesign the mascara packaging, the applicator is just too short and I feel like I'm going to poke my eyes out every time I use it. The formula is mediocre at best, it won't clump but it also won't add any length, volume or hold a curl.
Overall I find Emotional Brilliance to be a very nice collection and I hope they'll eventually expand the collection to include things like foundation and blusher. There is a good range of colours to appeal to everyone, pigmentation is most excellent, and the colour wheel game adds a bit of frivolous fun. At first I felt like the price point was a bit too high but you really do get a lot of product for the price - the glass bottles contain a whopping 9g of product. My vegan friends will also appreciate the addition of a new makeup range they can use.
Make sure to check out this collection and your local Lush store!
