Introducing Saint Cosmetics: FOTD, swatches, review and photos

Beauty Squared was invited to the launch of a brand new Canadian makeup line recently. Saint Cosmetics is a luxurious, all natural makeup line made in Ontario. That's right, all natural and glamourous and sophisticated, not bohemian or crunchy-granola. No offense to those cosmetic lines or anyone who likes them, but it's just not my style. I like sleek packaging and brands that are fun, edgy, sophisticated and exciting. Why can't a line that uses natural ingredients be those things? It's like my argument for frozen yogurt - it's healthier than ice cream, but why are so many fruit-flavoured? What's wrong with chocolate frozen yogurt and butterscotch frozen yogurt? You can be consider your health and be a little indulgent at the same time, y'know? 

Now I want frozen yogurt. 

OK, back to Saint Cosmetics. From their website:

Our entire range of products is free from dyes, artificial perfumes, and harsh chemicals, leaving you with natural healthy-looking skin. We have spent the last two years developing an antioxidant cosmetic line that produces high-impact results while using a blend of high quality natural and organic ingredients.

All of Saint Cosmetics products are created from naturally occurring and derived ingredients from nature, which are free from parabens, sulfates, silicone, PEGs, phthalate, SLS, mineral oil, triclosan, and petrolatum or anything with suspected potential human health risks. Our natural line of products is produced from the best natural component of plants that do not result in skin irritation unlike other chemical based cosmetics.

I admittedly don't know a great deal about natural cosmetics and what to look for and what to avoid. I'm also naturally skeptical so I'm curious to see what other people have to say about Saint Cosmetics. 

Anyway, here are some photos of the launch event, held at Andrew Richmond Designs in Toronto. It was a beautiful space, and the food and cocktails were delicious. 

The makeup station, where a makeup artist was doing touch-ups using the Saint Cosmetics products, and we could do some swatching!

There are 144 products in total, including a primer, foundations, concealers, powders, blushes, bronzers, lipsticks, lip glosses, lip pencils, eyeshadows, eye pencils, a liquid eyeliner, eye brow pencils, a mascara, brushes and a fragrance. A very complete line!

Here are swatches of (from top down) two lipsticks, including the boldest-looking shade (Eternally Yours, Fuchsia) and a lipgloss, as well as that small black line near my thumb, the liquid liner. 

Textures of the products I swatched were impressive (I also tried a lip pencil and eye pencil, concealer and foundation). I didn't swatch any of the blushes, eyeshadows or bronzers because there were no Q-tips provided to do so. 

Colour-wise, there are 41 shades of eyeshadow, which by appearance strike me as mostly easy-to-wear, subtle shades, the majority of the shades being browns in varying tones. 

There are 14 shades of foundation, 14 powders and 12 shades of concealers, with most shades falling in the mid-tone range. 

There are 18 shades of lipstick and 8 lip glosses, mainly in mid-tone shades.

Lip products and eyeshadows tend to be more trendy, of course, so these are areas where lines typically will add new shades per season. 

There are also 15 Saint Cosmetics brushes, all with names like Fury, Lust and Bliss. 

The product names are pretty playful, OTT, sexy and modern. Some of my favourites are: Dirty Lil Secrets, Kiss of Death, Juicy Peaches, Sinsational Silver, and Rock Off. 

Prices are as follows:

Lipsticks $18
Lip glosses $20
Lip pencils $18
Eyeshadows $19
Eyeliner pencil $18
Liquid eyeliner $15
Mascara $21
Eyebrow pencil $18
Liquid Foundation $35
Concealers $23
Primer $34
Powders $30
Bronzers $30
Blushes $25
Brushes $12-$43

Everyone who attended the launch got a smartphone stand (not pictured), a Saint Cosmetics t-shirt and a Saint Cosmetics makeup bag. Mine contained an eyeshadow, a lipstick and a lipgloss.

The Saint Cosmetics packaging is white, and sophisticated. The boxes the products come in have flame streaking across them. 

First up, let's take a look at the lip gloss. The shade I got is Sex Kitten, a medium rose shade with gold shimmer. ($20 for 6 g/0.21 oz)

Ingredients: organic castor oil, caprylic/capric triglyceride, heliantus annus (sunflower) seed oil (organic), copernica cefifera (carnauba) wax (organic), ricinus communis (castor seed oil), hydrogenated castor oil, cera alba, euphoria cerifera (candelilla) wax, butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), glycerl caprylate, olea europaea (olive fruit oil), hydrgenated olive oil, europaea (olive) oil unsaponifiables, vanillin, tocopherol, gamma decalactone, gamma octalactone, ethyl butyrate, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf extract. 

* may contain (+/-) iron oxide, red 7 lake, red 27 lake, red 6 lake, blue 1 lake, yellow 5 lake, mica and titanium dioxide.

The lip gloss wands are rectangular and white with gold accents. One minor complaint is that you can't tell what the shade is because the packaging isn't translucent. If you had three or four of these, you'd have to rely on the name on the bottom or open each tube up to see the colour.

Sex Kitten is a soft rosy pink with a bit of gold shimmer. For me this is a MLBB (My Lips But Better) shade.

Swatched on NW15 skintone. 

Here's the lipstick, Paint the Town, a sister shade to Sex Kitten (midtone rose with slight shimmer). ($18 for 3.5 g/0.13 oz)

Ingredients: organic castor oil, caprylic/capric triglyceride, heliantus annus (sunflower) seed oil (organic), euphoria cerifera (candelilla) wax, copernica cefifera (carnauba) wax (organic), cera alba (organic), cetyl alcohol, ricinus communis (castor) seed oil, hydrogenated castor oil, olea europaea (olive fruit oil), hydrogenated olive oil, eurpaea (olive) oil unsaponifiables, vanillin, tocopherol, gamma decalactone, gamma octalactone, ethyl butyrate. *may contain (+/-) iron oxide CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499, red 7 lake CI 15850, red 27 lake CI 45410, red 6 lake CI 15850, blue 1 lake CI 42090, yellow 5 lake CI 19140, mica CI 77019 and titanium dioxide CI 77891.

The lipstick case is also rectangular and white with gold accents and the tube is smaller than a MAC lipstick, though you get slightly more product in a Saint lipstick. 

Swatched on NW15 skintone, next to Saint Cosmetics Sex Kitten Lip Gloss.

The eyeshadow I was given is Hell Have No Fury, which is black. Very, very black. ($18 for 3.5 g/0.13 oz)

Ingredients: talc, caprylic/capric triglyceride, octyldodecyl strearoyl stearate, silica, jojoba esters, glyceryl caprylate, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf extract. *may contain iron oxides CI 77492, CI 77491, CI 77499, ultramarines CI 77007, mica CI 77019, titanium dioxide CI 77492, chromium oxide greens CI 772492. 

The eyeshadow packaging is square and white with gold accents.

When you flip open the lid, there is a mirror on the underside of it. I have to mention too, the case closes very satisfyingly. It slows as it connects and slips satisfyingly into place. I believe there's a magnet involved. 

Hell Have No Fury swatches on my finger very black. When I rubbed my finger across the back of my hand, it did not swatch as deeply. Using a brush, it applies somewhere between the two. 

Swatched on NW15 skintone.

The texture is soft and silky, without a lot of powder or fall-out. It's a matte shade, so it goes slightly sheer and dry, but it can be built up for more impact. 

Since these three products would work really well together in one look, I decided to wear them the next day to work. This is a subtle day look, perfect for work, both flattering and wearable. 

I used Hell Have No Fury along my upper lashline, and wore Paint the Town on my lips. (I applied Sex Kitten over it for a latter photo). 

I am also wearing Lorac Pro Palette shadows on my eyelid (Mauve), brow bone (Lt. Bronze) and lower lash line (Lt. Bronze). 

As you can see, Hell Have No Fury smudges easily and is a good, if slightly sheer, black. It wore pretty well all day, with minimal fading. 

On my lips is Sex Kitten. Sex Kitten goes on smoothly, and looks quite natural, both in colour and in texture. It's got slight shimmer to it. I found that it wore on my lips for about two hours before I needed to reapply, and it didn't feel dry on my lips. 

Here I am with the same look, just with Sex Kitten lip gloss applied on top of Paint the Town on my lips. 

Sex Kitten is slicker than Paint the Town, since it's a gloss and has more shine. It's very easy to wear, both in terms of the colour, and in texture. It's not sticky at all, which is comfortable to wear, but gives it a shorter wear-time. I'd say it stayed intact for an hour, and started fading after two. It's quite pigmented, so enough colour is left behind as it fades to make it easily worn during the day with minimal application. 

Saint Cosmetics is currently only available online at www.saintcosmetics.ca but stay tuned for announcements about increased availability in the future, I'm told. 

I'm excited to see if this all natural cosmetic line will take off. I was impressed with the products I've been able to try and would love to check out their primer, foundation, concealer, blushes and pencils. Hopefully they'll be available in stores where they can be swatched and applied.

C.