Topshop Smoke Stick Kit

I’m not sure yet if I’m doing a London haul (what do you guys think?), but here I am with the first product review of one of the products I bought during my trip. I’ve become a massive sucker for eyeshadow sticks lately because sometimes I really don’t have time in the morning to blend out eyeshadow for 15 minutes. Eyeshadow sticks make the makeup game so much easier! I wasn’t exactly planning on picking this Topshop Smoke Stick Kit up (I had to stick to my wish list yo), but the festive Holiday packaging kind of persuaded me and oh would you look at these colours! Love!

Topshop Smoke Sticks

These are the main reason I indulged in this kit. I had noticed the individual Topshop Smoke Sticks while browsing the Topshop store on Oxford Street, but I quickly found  I would enjoy the colours in this kit so much more. And yes, they’re full sized. The colours that come in the Topshop Smoke Stick Kit are Dark Horse, Deviant and Conspire. I haven’t seen these being sold individually in the stores or online, so I guess these are limited to the kit. They’re wood pencils, so you will have to sharpen them and their thickness is somewhere in the middle, so you’ll have to make sure you get yourself the proper sharpener. The ends are in plastic and give a very good indication of what the actual colour looks like, which is definitely a plus in my book.

The eyeshadow sticks swatched and blended like a dream on my hand, which is why I picked this kit up without even looking at the price. (I know! ) They’re incredibly creamy & pigmented, and the neutral colours are just perfect for everyday wear. They work both on their own as well as together with eyeshadows, whatever you prefer. I can wear these for about 7 hours before they start to crease a little, but given my oily lids, that’s quite the achievement. Scroll down to see the swatches.

Magic Liner

Honestly I didn’t really care for the Topshop Magic Liner when I picked up the kit. I had just bought a truckload of liners during my trip to Japan, so I really felt like I needed one. However, surprise surprise, this actually turned out to be my favourite item out of everything in the Smoke Stick Kit. Not only do I like the playful yet simple design, the liner itself is just really great. Intense black pigment, a precise felt tip, easy to use and lasts all day. My other liners (not from Japan) haven’t been seeing much of me lately since I got this. Truly a great drugstore priced liner.

Now let’s talk some swatches! I thought it would be fun to show them directly onto the lids for once instead of just on my hand, although I wouldn’t wear them like this (except for Deviant, which I just love together with the liner).

Dark Horse is a deep, cool-toned chocolate brown with light shimmer. I’m not used to have smoky panda eyes, but I can imagine a lot of people would look great with this all over the eye. I prefer it as a liner to be used together with the lighter smoke sticks or in the crease to add a little more depth when using powder eyeshadows. Deviant is a pale champaign shimmery shade (and also my most used one so far) and Conspire is a peachy orange shade. The last one doesn’t suit my pale neutral-cool skin tone very well, but I only intend to use it on the inner corners of my eyes to make them light up.

The products come in a sturdy white cardboard giftbox with Topshop embossed on it which reflects like a rainbow. It’s presented open with bright glittery purple plastic holder and a transparant sleeve around it for you to see the content. You can throw the holder out when you’re tired of it and keep the box as storage for jewelry (tip).

The pricing of the kit is a little weird, unfair even, when you consider the different currencies. The kit costs £ 20 (= roughly € 26 at the moment) and the individual products cost £ 6,50, which gives you an advantage of £ 6. However, if you were to buy the same kit in a country with the € as a currency, you’d have to cough up € 36, while the individual products cost € 8, so you’re better off buying them individually. Lastly in the US you have to pay $ 26 (= roughly € 24) for the kit and $ 10 per stick + $ 12 for the liner = $ 42, which makes the kit an absolute steal. Mind you that the products are actually made in Germany and Topshop is a British company, I find this kind of pricing a bit dubious.

What do you think of the Topshop Smoke Sticks & Magic Liner?
Have you tried any beauty products from Topshop?

Topshop Smoke Stick Kit – € 36 / £ 20 / $ 26

Disclaimer: The products mentioned in this post were purchased.