Makeup Forever Aqua Essentials Kit: Keeping me Weather Proof!

As promised, I'm going to try to get a lot of my Sephora haulage from the Friends and Family sale last month done. I've photographed and tried the majority of them. All that's left is finding the time to write a full article on everything! I have to leave out some things I'm returning however, because I feel like it's not even worth mentioning (AHEM NARS' Turkish Delight).

I had been wanting the Makeup Forever Aqua Essentials Kit ($69) for well, forever (Well, that's a lie, maybe for about two months). It's a Sephora Beauty in a Box exclusive that combines a lot of top selling "waterproof" products into one handy kit. I finally pulled the trigger during the sale because the price was brought down to $55. I felt like it was a really good deal because you get these full sized products:
Aqua creams in 13 Warm Beige and 15 Taupe
Aqua Eyes eyeliners in Mat Black 0L and Dark Grey 21L
Aqua Smoky Lash in Extra Black
Aqua Lip lipliner in Nude Beige 1C

Tell em what else they get!!
...And a little bitty bottle of Sens Eyes eye makeup remover. Yay...

I had been wanting to dry MUFE's Smoky Lash for awhile, so I felt it was a good idea to go with waterproof since I'm always walking in the rain.

If you open the box flap, All Sephora In A Box sets come with instructions for different looks. Useless.

And the makeup remover was so dinky I forgot to picture it alone, but here's a picture I took of it earlier:

First up is the mascara. The wand is a typical wand, nothing special to ooh and aah about here. I don't really know what to say but that I was very disappointed. I had read such lovely reviews on this "amazing" product, but I didn't get it. It does make my lashes nice and dark, but It also made them tragically clumpy. (Is that what the reviews meant by volumizing?). I can only suffice using it for about a coat and a half, the second coat is clumpy. The thing with the layering, is I love to layer. I tried it a few times with this mascara but it was just so unattractive and my lashes lookes heavy and had virtually no separation. I'm thinking about trying the regular formula since it's a cult fave.

 

 Taupe and Warm Beige

I was really excited to try out the Aqua creams because I've been a bit obsessed with cream shadows lately. It's also a deal sweetener that they're neutrals. I like the idea of just slapping some cream shadow all over the lid and calling it a day. Taupe is a nice golden brown, and warm beige is a shimmery highlighting-esque color. They look pretty nice swatched, but that's about it. I was very disappointed with these creams. The Taupe applied very unevenly. It looked splotchy on my lids and the pigmentation wasn't as good as I would have liked. I had to slap some eyeshadow on top of it to make it wearable. As for the Warm Beige, it wasn't very unique, just the typical shimmery highlighter. The consistency was oily. As for wear time, they were faded by the end of the day. The Taupe made my lids look messy, and the Warm Beige was barely visible. All in all, I won't be buying any more of these. 

 Nude Beige Lipliner

Dark Grey and Mat Black Eyeliners

Nude Beige lipliner, Dark Grey and Mat Black eyeliners

I don't find buying new lipliners very important. I use the same lipliner everyday (Sephora's Nano Lipliner in Native Nude), and I always rebuy it as well. I gave this MUFE one a try since, well, it was included. The color is a little darker than what I normally go for. I usually look for lipliners that will lighten the color of my lips, and this one is just about the color of my lips. It's smooth and nice for when I'm not doing nude lips. I also "overline" my lips to make them appear more full. This color makes my lips look very natural, but I don't think it's very long lasting. Nice nonetheless

As for the eyeliners, both glide on very smoothly. I've been using the Mat Black pretty often. It's a simple pure black that's long lasting. I don't think it's by any means "waterproof", but I didn't expect a miracle. I actually don't like the Dark Grey. It swatches nicely, but it doesn't show on my eyes very well. It's not as smooth as the Mat Black and I can barely see it when I line my eyes. 

I think the consensus for the SensEyes makeup remover is that it's pretty bad. Especially when it's paired with the mascara. But to give it credit, a good amount of my eye makeup removers had to work EXTRA hard to remove the Smoky Lash. 

Overall, I don't think the set is worth it. Even though the price is amazing for full price products, I was disappointed with 5 out of 7 products. I did like the eyeliner, but my Urban Decay Zero or Korres Black work just as well. I was considering returning this kit, but I'm lazy and feel a little guilty since I've tried all the products =(. Hopefully I'll find some good uses for them.

Do you own any of these products? What do you think?