FrontCover Cosmetics Pencils + Polish set swatches + review!

I was super excited when I saw this kit on the Sephora site - FrontCover is a brand I've never heard or come across before, and suprisingly they are a British brand. I immediately fell in love with it - a teal and chartreuse? Can't resist. This set consists of four pencils and four co-ordinating polishes. The pencils and polishes have the same name.

Pic heavy...post after the jump!



I tend to steer clear of products like this - I have oily lids which pretty much means anything creamy will last two seconds before making a lovely creasy mess. The only hope I had for these pencils was that they were as vibrant as they are in the visuals. Two of the pencils, Acacia (chartreuse) and Kumquat (orange) are quite dry - they tug and pull the lid a fair amount, nothing too painful but there's definite dragging. Dusky Turquoise (teal) is more creamier and doesn't drag as much, and Passion Flower (purple) is the creamiest. In all the (slightly terrible) eye pics, my left eye is bare, no primer, and my right eye has MAC Painterly as a base, which is my go-to primer. I wore these for as long as it took for them to crease. So...

Acacia is a lime-chartreuse. Love this colour SO much. As said, it is dry and does pull at the lid a little. It seems to "ball up" over Painterly - it's not as smooth so goes a little uneven. It's patchy without a primer too, but seems more prominant with. I managed an hour and a half before I decided the creasing was too much. As for the polish - It's quite uneven and streaky. I ended up using four coats to get things even.

Initial application, primer

Initial application, no primer

After an hour and a half, primer.

After an hour and a half, no primer.

Kumquat is a yellow toned orange. Gotta be careful with this one, it's definitely that kind of orange that can make you look ill. It does exactly that on me, which I personally don't care about as I do love the colour, but would be best suited on someone with strong yellow undertones. I actually managed two and a half hours with this, with minor creasing. Definitely the best performing one of the lot. Texture is very dry which is probably why it lasted so long. I love this on a bare lid, it looks like a tint. Think of sheer nail polishes - This is exactly what it does. It "balls up" (need to think of a better way to describe that) over Painterly and ends up a little patchy. The polish is actually quite nice. Using one coat it makes a great sheer polish, it takes three coats for full opacity.

Initial application, no primer

Initial application, primer

After two and a half hours. no primer

After two and a half hours, primer

Passion Flower is a midtone purple. This looks awesome on the front of the box. This was the creamiest of the four pencils, literally just gliding on. I'd love to say the final pics were after about 5374593 hours, but actually, the last two pics were after 20 minutes. Yup, just 20 minutes. I'm properly gutted about this one. I mean maybe sandwiched between primer and powder it'd work, though I doubt that. Might have to try it though! The polish slightly more muted than the pencil colour. This was opaque in two and actually had a really great formula. No issues with sheerness or streaking.

Initial application, no primer

Initial application, primer

After 20 minutes, no primer

After 20 minutes, primer

Dusky Turquoise is a blue teal. It just about makes teal for me, it's still gorgeous though. This one isn't as creamy as the purple, but not as dry as the orange, sort of half way. The last two pics were taken at 1 1/2 hours after application. I did get a bit of staining on my lids from this one, even over Painterly, though it was faint. The polish is almost a one coater - I could still see my tips so went for two.

Initial application, no primer

Initial application, primer

After 1 and a half hours, no primer

After 1 and a half hours, primer

So, after all of that, do I still love this product? Yes. Aside from the purple, I love the pencils. I mean, to me, a little creasing isn't that bad. I reapply lipstick throughout the day so I'm prepared to smooth a finger over my lids every hour or so to even things out. And yes, I totally intend on wearing that orange shade that looks so wrong on me, I could care less what joe public think (even more so when alot of joe public walk around town on a Saturday with their eyeliner smudgy and their brows filled in black...). These pencils would also make great shadow bases. The polishes are so-so, not the nicest I have by far but pretty little additions!

Would I recommend this to someone else? Probably not. If someone asked me for some fun pops of colour and they weren't too bothered about creasing or longevity, who wanted to experiment and was willing to work with these, then I'd recommend them. If someone wanted something long-wearing that does not budge, then no. Still, I really do love this kit. It costs £16 from FrontCover or round-about there from Sephora. That's £2 a product. Complaining? Heck no.


PS - sorry for the really long post!!!