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Photo Credit: Christina Choi Cosmetics - Used With Permission
By Skye McKiernan
Makeup makes us happy. Makeup that goes beyond the ordinary makes us ecstatic and we are ecstatic about Christina Choi Cosmetics. The products showcased in this brand are not just shadows or glosses, they are those important daily staples done in a superior way.
Who is Christina Choi?
In a time when it seems anyone can toss some pigments together and make themselves a makeup line, it takes someone or something special to have a line stand out from the crowd. Christina Choi is that special someone who stands out. She has more than 15 years of experience in the cosmetics industry, working for the pioneering and best-selling mineral makeup brand as one of their most esteemed artists. Her work graces countless ad campaigns and her skills are showcased in print, video, and even corporate tutorials shared with consumers.
The Christina Choi Makeup Line
Christina broke out on her own and created her cosmetic line, starting with things she knows exceptionally well; lip gloss, eyeshadow and the eye makeup brushes. Each of these products was created thoughtfully because they are stand out products when compared to others in the same genre. Even better yet, they are all fragrance and cruelty free. My reviews of the ones I have had the chance to play with are below the product descriptions.
Luxury Gloss from Christina Choi Cosmetics is one that is more than just a gloss. Luxury Lip Gloss is not sticky, instead it is creamy and feels good on your lips; it is not sheer, but full colored and deeply pigmented; the applicator is larger than average making it less likely you will have to dip back into the product to collect more gloss to apply. Luxury means quality, extravagance, and having extra benefits other products do not. Based on those things, this gloss was named impeccably because it delivers luxury in a simple package. And speaking of packaging, the short, wide based tube of gloss looks small at first glance, but when you take the time to examine the actual quantity of product contained, it is at least 50 percent, and in some cases over 100 percent more product than similar high-end brand-name products.
Eyeshadows are not always great for those women with dry skin or fine lines and wrinkles around the eye area because the powder form can accentuate those things. Christina Choi Cosmetics Eyeshadows combat these things, though, because they have the added benefit of vitamins E and C to hydrate the eye area. This makes them blend well, look smooth and not chalky on the skin and wear well, too. The other thing you may find with some eyeshadows is that if pigment levels are not high enough, you can only manage to wear them as dry powders. Higher quality products with good pigment levels can double as wet shadows with more color intensity and precision application, however. These shadows in the Christina Choi Cosmetics line can all be used both dry and wet, doubling your color options when it comes time to select the shades you want to wear.
Brushes are as crucial to shadow application as the eyelid itself. Without a palette, or a brush you cannot create a masterpiece of color and blending. The brushes in the line are some of the hidden stars because they provide versatility and highlight the beauty of the cosmetics. Those visiting the line’s website will notice that there are instructions for how and where to use each brush, depending on if you have a natural crease or have no crease to speak of, or alternate uses depending on your own personal features. Women who have heard about the magical “crease” for years, but do not actually have one of their own have a true friend in Choi, because she addresses these intrinsic differences in our facial geography.
Personal Reviews
I am that funny girl that will get oddly excited when I find something special in the makeup world that is hard to find elsewhere. That is what happened when I found the Luxury Gloss in Girls’ Night Out. This shade appealed to me as a neutral-to-cool undertone (meaning I look better in colors with a cool undertone like pink, versus colors with a warm undertone like orange) because it is hard to find a gloss that is that magical mostly red shade that has only cool undertones. Putting a warm undertone lip gloss on a girl like me is equivalent to a makeup train wreck. Putting on Girls’ Night Out was like coming home to my perfect bright, bold shade that didn’t overpower my face. I wear the gloss; the gloss does not wear me. The other thing I loved about this product is that if I just put a few dots on and blend with my ring finger, as directed on the product website, it creates a sheer wash of color. This means I have two very different looks in one product without having to blot or fiddle with anything other than the lip gloss wand. The applicator is a somewhat traditional lip gloss applicator “doe foot”, but this one is elongated and slanted to make it easier to apply your gloss in one or two quick swipes instead of dipping the wand into the product over and over again.
As for eyeshadow, I will admit that I am a bit of a shadow snob. I know what works best and I stick to those products. If something new comes out, I will test it out the best way I know, by wearing it without any shadow primer underneath. I have oily eyelids that do not tend to keep shadow on more than two hours on their own, even expensive brand-name shadows. Christina Choi Cosmetics’ eyeshadows provide superb wear for me and my oily lids. With no eye primer on underneath I had the shadow on six hours before I saw any sort of fading or creasing. That is tied for my personal no-primer record. With primer on underneath the shadows, I had all day wear. After about 11 hours of wear, I chose to take off my makeup and the shadow looked just as good as it did when I applied it that morning.
The pigments are dense, but not irritating like those in some other brand name makeup artistry lines. My sensitive skin reacted harshly to the coloring in the bright yellow shadows from two other artistry brands, but the bright yellow in Choi’s line called Brilliance went on easily caused no irritation or discomfort. In fact, my lids felt a bit less dry overall while I wore the shadow.
