Pixie by Petra: Hits and Misses.

Dec 16, 2014

Jenny A.

I got a pretty big Pixie haul a while back and have been using it for a while. Here are some thoughts.
Hits
H20 Skintint: a tinted moisturizer gel foundation. I’d never heard of a gel foundation before, but I looked it up and it is a formulation used by a lot of higher end brands. This stuff comes out of the pump, sort of like a mousse, and goes on like a hot mess. Just horrible blotchy, streaky, like two different products that don’t play well together have been blended. A few seconds work with a flat top stippling brush will blend this into a perfect, dewy, lightly covering dream. It blurs pores, it covers all my redness (on an average rosacea day for me) and if powdered with a light hand, doesn’t look cakey and lasts all day. This is remarkable because I’m very used to having my makeup gone by lunch. My skin seems to just drink foundation and it’s a rare day that I drive home at night and don’t see redness in the looking back at me in the rear view. Target sells this stuff for $24 and you don’t get a vast amount in comparison to my last tinted moisturizer, from Aveda, which was a bigger tube and few dollars cheaper. But this stuff is so much better, I will definitely be dumping the Aveda and paying a few bucks more.

Endless Silky Eye Pen: I got two of these as free gifts, one full size and one half size. They are really silky, don’t tug at my crepey eye skin, and they are last all day without falling out. They are on sale at Target now for $9-11 dollars, when they normally go for $15. I would say these are comparable to Urban Decay 24/7 liners and come in a nice array of colors. I would prefer a roll up eye pencil to one you have to sharpen, but that is maybe the only thing I don’t like about this stuff.

Tinted lipbalms: I got two of these, one is a crayon shape and other a flat top. Neither is perfect (the crayon one is a nice shape that goes on well, but the packaging isn’t as cute and it has mint in it which I don’t like, the flat one is super flat and harder to put on, but I like the formulation better since it’s scented with vanilla) and at $8 for a lip balm they should be perfect. The formulation is nice though, and the pigments are sheer but buildable, the colors quite universally flattering, unlike a lot of tinted lip balms. If you can find a deal or a coupon or need a cheaper item to put you over a dollar amount for shipping or something, these are pretty good.

Eye Brightening Primer: I went in search of an eye primer that didn’t irritate my dry, sore eyelids (an allergic reaction to the elf primer) and found this. This formula is nice and smooth, goes on easily and actually works to keep my shadows on all day. It’s not super drying like the elf formula, but I haven’t been wearing it as much as I’d like because I’m trying to get my lids to recover. I like the brightening quality because, if you put it down in the tear duct, it doubles as a concealer. I can see this being a go-to for those “no make-up” days when you still want to cover some darkness under the eye. I’m not in love with the applicator, since it’s a sponge tip that you roll up. I have a tendency to roll too much and get too much product up, since there is a bit of a lag. This is one of the free products being offered at Target right now with a pixie purchase.

Misses:
Lid last jumbo shadow pencils: I wanted to love this so much, I really did, but it’s just too dry and grabs painfully at my lids when applying. You don’t get much time at all to blend before they are set. They don’t come off though, which is quite miraculous on me, since my eye functions as a shadow removal system, but I won’t be repurchasing. MUFE Aquamatic appears to be my ultimate product in this category and at $21 is only a few bucks more than the Pixie. If anyone knows of a long-lasting shadow pencil with a roll up applicator at a better price point, please let me know.

Flawless and Poreless Primer: Meh. I’ve yet to find a foundation that works with this primer. It made my MAC foundation ball up. It does nothing under my pixie foundation, that can’t be achieved with powdering with a light hand. It doesn’t make my foundation last longer. I will keep it for using under my concealer in my under eye area, because it’s quite moisturizing, but at $22 for a full sized tube, it’s nothing special really.

Fairy Lights Solo Shadow: I’ve saved the worst for the last. This is honestly some of the worst eyeshadow I’ve ever used. The earlier Pixie eye shadows were chalky and not very pigmented. This one is dark enough, but it looks nothing like it does in the pan (my sample was a beautiful olive shade with gold flecks that went on like matte gray on me) and is blotchy in the application. The fallout was horrendous, even with a primer. I had the worst raccoon eyes ever when I wore this stuff. Yuck. And at $15 for a single shadow, only a dollar less than a mac shadow this is a disgrace. Mac shadows go onto the brush with the lightest of taps, stay on and blend well. This was the opposite, like the $4 Milani eye shadows I bought last week work better. I was given it as a free gift, but I will be regifting if for sure.  Terrible.

Dec 16, 2014

Roz X.

Wowza! Thank you so much for all the detailed info! I'm going to look into the H20 Skintint. :)

Dec 16, 2014

Jenny A.

I'm so impressed with the skintint. It does everything my Aveda tinted moisturizer did, but better and it lasts longer. Sorry to write a book, but I just have a lot of feelings about Pixie by Petra...

Dec 16, 2014

Shelley W.

Now this is the type of posts I love!! Thank you for sharing your thoughts about these goodies. I love super detailed reviews. ;)

Dec 16, 2014

Jenny A.

You're welcome, Shelley. Glad it was helpful.

Dec 16, 2014

Alma M.

Jenny these types of post are awesome and informative great job! Thanks for the product info much appreciated.:-)

Dec 16, 2014

Raylene I.

Thanks soo much, I've been eyeing up pixie for awhile now when I'm in the city, but couldn't justify the prices for something I've never used. So now I have an idea as to what to buy.. Thanks!

Dec 16, 2014

Maggie M.

Thanks for this post!! I might try the skintint myself ☺️

Dec 16, 2014

Lara C.

Ouhhh that skintint looks nice, must tryyyh.

Dec 16, 2014

Lara C.

I really liked your post! Thanks.

Dec 16, 2014

Jenny A.

You're welcome Raylene. I always was seduced by their packaging/marketing but it wasn't until they had a bunch of free gifts with pixie purchase at dermstore that I took the plunge and got some.

Dec 17, 2014

Angela J.

Oh my gosh Jenny do not get me started on those pixi shadows! I bought a huge palette full of them. They are truly horrible.

Dec 17, 2014

Zoe E.

What kind of skin do you have, that worked with the h20 skintint? :)

Dec 17, 2014

Traci P.

Jenny and Angela I feel your pain as I also bought a giant palette of Pixie shadows and absolutely hate them. Super patchy application and major fallout. Thanks for the in depth reviews and saving others from making bad beauty buys!

Dec 17, 2014

Raylene I.

Oh Angela! I'm
Soo sorry about that pallet! How much was it? That is usually the type of luck I have with everything. I'm so glad I didn't cave and buy anything yet of pixie. This whole post has been a blessing!

Dec 17, 2014

Jenny A.

The pixie pallets were more reasonably priced than the solo shadows, but still! There was a review of the big Holiday palette on youtube where the woman swatch the colors and then just wiped them all off with one swoosh of her hand. It was hilarious. The colors looks so damn pretty and I love the way the palettes are laid out and packaged. It's such a tragedy that they suck.

Dec 18, 2014

Janette B.

Agreed jenny! I bought a small palette w/ 6 colors on clearance @ target a while back, but absolutely hated it! it's been collecting dust since :-( poor pigmentation!

Dec 18, 2014

Jenny A.

Oh that's a bummer Janette. It's annoying because the products have so much potential to be great. When you look at what other drugstore brands are doing at a lower price point, it's kind of sad.