Review + Swatches: The Happy Skin Holiday Collection for 2019 (with their new look!)
I was at Happy Skin’s first event: their brand launch six years ago. I remember the invite only had the logo and a few words, so the entire time until the launch I thought that it was about a skincare line! But I was in for a massive surprise: Rissa Mananquil-Trillo and Jacqe Yuengtian-Gutierrez launched makeup that was designed to care for the skin. It was a simple idea but a groundbreaking one at that time. None of us knew it then, but Happy Skin was on a journey to become one of the best beauty brands in the country. It paved the way for the rest of us who only ever had wild dreams of our own breakout brand. For that, I am forever grateful to Happy Skin.
Of course, I’m also thankful that the brand keeps on pushing the envelope when it comes to new products and concepts. When they launched, Happy Skin was quite girly and cute, but this week they introduced a new look that’s making my heart skip a bit. It’s a lot more elegant yet still fun, true to their DNA! Let’s take a look at their Holiday Collection for 2019.
Loving this muted yet colorful vibe!
Happy Skin’s best-selling product, the Shut Up & Kiss Me Lippie (P649), is still in crayon form but with a new design done up in pastel shades and deep muted accents. It’s still the same formula we’ve come to love in the last six years! I have here a Moisturizing Matte Lippie in Friday Mood, which is a lovely pink clay shade that’s perfect for everyday wear. It reminds me a lot of their classic Honeymoon Glow, actually, except this one has a brighter tone to it.
Here’s a photo of me wearing Friday Mood on my lips. It’s not 100% matte when freshly applied, but it becomes more matte as it dries. It’s such a fresh color no? It just brightens up my skin nicely!
The true winner of this show though is the Happy Skin Gloss Vibe Cooling Lip Gloss in Glazed Donut (P599). This made me say “wow” out loud when I applied it; it’s such a beautiful honey nude color! It’s quite pigmented for a gloss and can be used by itself to near opacity. It’s not especially long wearing (I’d say 2 hours and that’s without eating or drinking) but it leaves a light, even stain on the lips. Retouching is a breeze in any case!
I love that the formula never feels drying or overly sticky. It has a balmy feeling mixed with the lightweight gloss feeling - love that! Here’s Glazed Donut on my lips. It’s gorgeous, yes, I know. Just a note that this gloss has a minty feeling that makes the lips tingle a bit but it does claim to be “cooling lip gloss”. I don’t mind it at all.
Next up is the Happy Skin Color Play Multi-Use Mousse (P599). I have the shade in Stardust, which is a beautiful opal color that leaves a fine dewy sheen on the skin - there’s no glitter here! I love it as a highlighter (just ok staying power at 2 hours), but this particular shade did not work well as an eyeshadow color. It creased within the hour, which I found strange because I love the staying power of Happy Skin’s shimmery liquid eyeshadows from the new Kath Bernardo collection. On the lips it will just sort of melt into the lip color.
Perhaps the other three shades will perform better all over the face, so I’d be interested to try those out. I included Happy Skin’s swatches for your reference.
Here’s Stardust as an eyeshadow and highlighter! I also have the mascara on here
Last but not the least, I’ve got the Holy Grail Lengthening Fiber Mascara (P749). This is a washable mascara that promises loads of length. I did get some length and definition, but I’m disappointed that it didn’t hold the curl of my lashes; my lashes fell down again as soon as the mascara dried. This is smudge-resistant but if you get sweat or some drops of water in it it might smear.
For the record, I am super exacting and specific about mascara. For me, it’s volume, length, and waterproof-ness or bust. This isn’t Holy Grail material for me in that context but you might like it if you’re looking for something easy to remove and for lengthening on your already curly lashes.
Happy Skin also released a Wonder Brow Eyebrow Pencil + Mascara (P749) and a Flick Kit Liquid + Gel Eyeliner (P749). I’m super curious about it because I love HS’s eyeliners and eyebrow stuff! I might purchase these because I’m looking for new products for eye definition.
Overall, I am really digging Happy Skin’s new vibe here! I highly, highly recommend the Gloss Vibe in Glazed Donut (RUN DON’T WALK) and the Shut Up & Kiss Me Lippie in Friday Mood because these are outstanding in both formula and color design. I’m suspending my decision on the Multi-Use Mousse until I swatch the other shades, but the mascara is a skip for me. Stay tuned for my Wonder Brow and Flick Kit review soon!
Thoughts?
