Off-topic Tuesday - Avon Best and Worst

Hi guys!

Today I'm going to share with you my thoughts on some Avon products. If you're not familiar with the brand then you can order online, but the traditional way to order is through a representative who would bring a brochure to your home or workplace and collect it a few days later with your order and then return with your products a few weeks after that. Years and years ago I was an Avon rep for a while, but I stopped around 8 years ago and all of the products I'm showing you today were purchased with my own money, and I'm not earning commission or anything from this post. Now that's out of the way let's take a look!

Firstly, I have to say my experience with the brand has been hit and miss. Some products I've loved and I use daily, others not so much and have been relegated to the back of the pile. But I guess as you're essentially "buying blind" from a catalogue that's to be expected. Secondly, NEVER pay full price for an Avon product! Seriously, if there isn't some kind of offer on a product you want in the current campaign brochure, the chances are there will be next time! Also, the offers in the brochures aren't always on the website, so find your nearest rep and order through them if you can (you can find a rep through the website.)

Left to right: Advance Techniques Colour Protection Anti-Fade UV Spray and Lock-In Treatment, Soloutions HydraBeyond Eye Gel, Angled eyeliner brush and angled blusher brush, Nail Polishes and stickers, Plump Pout in Nude Pout

I've tried quite a few hair treatments from Avon over the years, and these two are my current favourite. The anti-fade UV spray was a godsend in the summer months with my coloured hair, as the sun can be a huge culprit in colour fading, especially on red hair. Using this I felt like I was adding another step into protecting my colour and it was lightweight and non greasy - hugely important to me as my hair is very fine and gets weighed down by a lot of products. The Lock-In treatment claims to work differently - by preventing colour wash out. I don't know if this is the case but it's a nice leave in conditioner that really helped soften and detangle my hair in the weeks after I'd bleached and coloured it.

I bought the HydraBeyond Eye Gel along with a day cream from the same range, but only the eye gel makes it to my hit list. It is cooling and light, not sticky and doesn't sting when I inevitably get it in my actual eye! At the age of 31 I can see fine lines developing and when I use this my concealer settles into these lines less, so I hope that means something!

The brushes I use daily, and would not hesitate to replace them if I ever needed to. But I can't see that happening unless I lost them as they wash really well and have never lost their shape. The blush brush is perfect for contouring or just slapping a bit of colour on as it is soft yet perfectly shaped. I thought the eyeliner brush would make a good nail clean up brush, but I tried it for gel eyeliner and fell in love. Can't recommend them enough!

The Plump Pout is another tingly lipgloss, and a good one! I have said before that I love a tingly gloss and this one is tingly without being a cinnamon-fest! I reach for it usually when I've done a smokey eye and I want a nude but shiny lip to go with it. It's not too sticky for a gloss, has a lovely shine but doesn't last very long - I need to reapply after the school run.

Naileymabobs! Avon have a few different ranges of nail polish and I've never found one I didn't at least like. The Speed Dry range tend to be a little thick (and therefore bubbly) but they have great colours (Sprightly Mint, above, is a dead on dupe for Essie Absolutely Shore). The Nailwear pro range do have a lasting formula, and have some really pretty shimmers. The Colourtrend range, aimed at teenagers really, are really on trend and have duochromes, jelly-glitters, and these fabulous glitter toppers that I adore (the purple is a dupe for Picture Polish Gene Doll!). They have also just launched a range of nail wraps, and although I haven't  tried them yet, if they're as good as these cute leopard tip stickers I'll look forward to trying them!

Left to right: Advance Techniques Strengthen and Protect Shampo and conditioner, Sleep Therapy Pillow Spray, Various Lip Products, Solutions HydraBeyond Hydrating Day Cream.

Then we have the bad. Some of these products aren't awful, they just don't do what I wanted them to do. The strengthening shampoo and conditioner are nice enough and have a lovely minty smell, but I didn't see a reduction in how much breakage I get with my hair and I found it weighs it down.

The sleep therapy pillow spray is a great idea, but Avon just don't get it quite right. The scent is too peppery and the spray isn't fine enough so you end up with a wet pillow! It is useful however, as a bracelet stand...

Next, is a plethora of lip products! I do love a lippie but generally I'm disappointed when it's from Avon. They quite often have funny smells, or are very drying. The colour quite often turns out very different to the swatch in the brochure too. Saying that I have another one on it's way to me so hopefully I'll like it! I actually really like the Shine Attract lipstick (the silver bullet with the lid off in the picture) - it has a colour core surrounded by a balm and gives a really lovely sweep of colour, but after a few uses I found a sharp piece of something in the balm part! And by found I mean sliced my lip open on it! So it had to go into the misses...

While I like the HydraBeyond eye gel, I don't like the accompanying day cream. First off, it isn't a cream, it's a gel. When I first tried it I found it way too sticky, like it leaves a film on your skin and doesn't soak in. For that reason I don't feel like it's doing anything for my skin. Also, it makes foundation impossible to blend and patchy. I was surprised that a moisturiser marketed for dryer skin would have a sticky finish to it, and whenever I decide to give it another go I regret it all day!

One other thing that has to go into the misses is the brochure itself, or rather the swatches within it. I know it's difficult to tell colours from a print magazine, but they really are awful - too small and not at all colour accurate. Most of the lip products I have bought from the brochure have been different to what I was expecting, and although I'd really like to try the cream to powder foundation I daren't as I have no idea which shade to try!

So, there are my Avon hits and misses. Do you have any recommendations of things I should try, or avoid? Let me know!

Hx

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