Models Own

Models Own Lip Products: Some Quick Thoughts

July 19th, 2017 by Karen 5 Comments

If I could suggest anything to help you get the most out of your first experience with the Models Own makeup brand, which recently crossed the pond from Britain and is available now at Ulta, it would be to stick to the powder products (like the eyeshadows and highlighters), but to think twice about the creams.

IMO, the cream products — the creamy eye palette, the lipsticks, lip pencil, liquid lipstick and lip sealer — could use a little refinement.

They’re affordable, which is one thing they have going for them. The cream products all range from $6.99 to $8.99 each, which means more money for CATS!!! But for me, the biggest hurdle with some of the lip products has been their flavor and scent. Most of the Models Own lip products I’ve tried have a cloying faux brown sugar/plastic scent that turns my tummy and brings back memories of old-school NYX lippies.

Anyway, I don’t usually get worked up about how products taste and smell, but if something smells like plastic or fake sugar, I just can’t hang (also, the Lip Finale Lip Sealer doesn’t have a flavor or scent, but the liquid lipstick smells like strong peppermint toothpaste to me).

models own jumbo stick matte lipstick titan teaberry — Jumbo Stick Matte Lipstick in Titan Teaberry

Even beyond that, though, all of the cream products I’ve tried have left me wanting more. Like the Jumbo Stick Matte Lipstick in Titan Teaberry ($6.99 and available in five other shades). It’s smooth, pigmented, and I think it’s beautiful in pics, but the formula is SO drying and uncomfortable.

models won lix matte liquid lipstick eucalyptus pink — Lix Matte Liquid Lipstick in Eucalyptus Pink

[Continue reading…]

The Models Own Barely There Eyeshadow Palette Is a Perfect Way to Dip Your Toe Into the World of Neutral Shadows

July 14th, 2017 by Karen 5 Comments

This week in the comments on the Monday Poll, we were talking about advice we’d give to makeup newbies, and Kerrie cleverly mentioned a tip about how when you start your makeup journey, it makes a lot of sense to stock your makeup bag with things that aren’t too expensive. That way, you can afford to take the time to figure what kinds of things you like, and what kinds of products work well for you, without spending a ton of money up front.

So smart, right?

Along those lines, I feel like the $17.99 Barely There Eyeshadow Palette by Models Own is a perfect way to dip your toe into the wide, wild world of neutral shadows.

Models Own is a British brand now (as of recently) available at Ulta. They have a bunch of products for eyes, cheeks, lips and faces all in the Sonia Kashuk price range, so they aren’t as inexpensive as Wet ‘N’ Wild or ELF, but they aren’t as pricey as MAC or Estée Lauder either. Barely There is their take on the nude palette craze.

And guess what? It’s pretty darned good for $17.99! It has 10 powder shadows in it — five mattes and five shimmers — and the mattes, in particular, are the special sauces/keys.

Any time I start with an eyeshadow look that I intend to do with a few colors, I like to begin by deepening my crease with a matte golden brown or taupe-brown, because the cooler/neutral tones sort of simulate the effect of shadows being cast on the face, which I think makes your eyes look like they’re set deeper.

Barely There is perfect for that effect because it comes loaded with workhorse golden shades and taupe-browns, which makes it a rarity these days among the sea of nude palettes that skew warm with their orange browns and reddish browns.

models own barely there eyeshadow palette swatches — Gimme all the browns!

[Continue reading…]

Models Own Sculpt & Glow Can Highlight My Cheekbones Any Time

July 13th, 2017 by Karen 4 Comments

I wonder what Models Own was aiming for when they designed these Sculpt & Glow Highlighting Powder pans…because sometimes when I look at them I see the cross section of a tree trunk’s rings. Or a bullseye. Or a nipple (says the woman who just KonMari’d her nursing bras to Goodwill!!!).

British makeup brand Models Own is available in the U.S. now at Ulta. They’re kind of a trendy line and have quite a few product types that are popular in makeup land right now, like a neutrals palette, matte liquid lipsticks and, yes, highlighters.

models own golden sand swatches — Take it from the top! That’s Models Own Sculpt & Glow Highlighter Powder in Golden Sand 02, Scultp & Glow Highlighter Powder in Peach Pearl 02, Sculpt & Glow Highlighter Stick in Moonlight 02 and Sculpt & Glow Highlighter Stick in Incandescent 03

The Sculpt & Glow Highlighter Powder (looks like nipples in a pan) is available in two $11.99 shades, and theSculpt & Glow Highlighter Sticks are also available in two shades for $11.99 each.

I can totally get behind the Sculpt & Glow Highlighter Powders, which are like drugstore versions of the BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfectors. They’re aren’t exact dupes, though. The Models Own powders aren’t anywhere near as creamy as the BECCA Skin Perfectors. I remember reading somewhere that BECCA’s highlighters contain a lot of water, which is why they’re so soft, buttery (and fragile). The Models Own Sculpt & Glow Highlighter Powders definitely don’t feel as creamy, but they do feel as soft. They also have a similar opalescent finish that you can dial up or down, depending on your mood for pearl. I like them, love the price, and I’m sure they’d be great starter highlighters.

models own sculpt glow highlighter powder golden sand — I’m wearing the powder highlighter in Golden Sand on my cheeks and the cream highlighter in Moonlight down the bridge of my nose and along my brow bones.

[Continue reading…]

Dear Models Own Colour Chrome Eyeshadow Palette, Where Did Ya Go?

July 12th, 2017 by Karen 8 Comments

models own colour chrome swatches — The British are coming! That’s Models Own Colour Chrome Eyeshadow Palette ($19.99 and available exclusively at Ulta)

Clearly, “someone,” a.k.a. yours truly :), needs to do some deep breathing in child’s pose, because “someone” spent the last five minutes obsessing over the name of this British makeup brand: Models Own.

Models Own. Hmm…

What does it mean?? What does it stand for?? Do models own the company?? Is it a metaphorical reference to models figuratively owning the runway? Does it mean that you have to be a professional model to rock the brand’s products?? GOOD GRIEF, KAREN, CHILL.

Models Own hails from the UK but recently touched down on U.S. shores. They’re available exclusively at Ulta stores and online, with eye, face and lip products.

They’ve got some eye-catching colorful things, like the Colour Chrome Eyeshadow Palette (which we’ll get to in a sec), and some neutral items, that range from $7.99-$19.99 each, placing them in the higher-end drugstore price echelon, up there with Sonia Kashuk and Pixi.

The Models and I… Well, we’re off to a rocky start.

My makeup-loving heart wanted to adore the $19.99 Colour Chrome Eyeshadow Palette, because the cream shadows — oh, gosh — they feel fabulously dense and creamy like the MAC Paint Pots, which I love, but are thinner, which I normally take as a good thing, because it usually implies easy to blend and layer.

I always want to bring my Paint Pots with me wherever I go, but the clunky glass packaging discourages me. I had visions of gleefully scootin’ around town with this palette of 10 cream shadows and basically ruling the land. Since the creams feel similar to MAC’s, I’d hoped they would dry down completely, also like the Paint Pots, but alas… ‘Twas not meant to be. They don’t dry down at all.