I Tried the New Black Honey Mascara, Eye Shadow, and Nail Polish

I was a M.A.C Wicked loyalist in high school, so I’m no stranger to a vampy lip, but I’d yet to try Clinique Black Honey, mostly because I’d largely left dark lips behind in favor of gloss and a general disinterest in sheer formulas. That said, I really loved this. I swiped it on while on FaceTime with my sister, and she immediately responded, “That’s tea,” her highest compliment. The ultrasheer formula gives my lips a little color but isn’t at all overpowering. Instead, they look a little like if you gave my lips a subtle tan, rosier and more blushed. The formula is nice too. It’s very emollient, and instantly my lips felt moisturized and looked more hydrated. I can see myself using this on days when I don’t want to do gloss and liner but still want a little something on my lips.

I usually do a French-tipped pedicure, but I’ve noticed lots of dark toes this summer, so I was excited to swap my usual look for this deep shade during my pedicure appointment. I applied two coats and a clear gel top coat, which gave me plenty of coverage. It looks deep purple in the bottle but showed up as more of a dark brown-burgundy on my skin. This was also the case with the lipstick, but the sheerness obscures the difference between the shade in the tube and how it shows up on my skin. I like it generally, but it’s a little too warm-toned for my taste.

I like the concept of this dark-burgundymascara, but ultimately, it made my lashes sort of disappear. I naturally have dark lashes, so this didn’t make them stand out. Instead, my eyes look kind of bald, especially when paired with the darkest shadow in the eye-shadow quad (more on that below). The formula itself was fine. It didn’t massively lengthen my lashes, separate them, or give them much lift. Things would probably improve with a lash curler, but that’s more effort than I put in with my lashes generally. I won’t be switching over from my all-time favorite mascara — Yves Saint Laurent Lash Clash Extreme Volume Mascara.

When I opened this four-shadow quad, it immediately transported me back to the early 2000s. It’s all warm-toned shimmers, the deepest one most closely mimicking the deep Black Honey hue. I was a bit disappointed by this — I was hoping for a nice, deep matte to create a dramatic smoky eye, but I was impressed with the formula. I swept the darkest shade, a warm brown, over my eyelid with a brush and found that it applied smoothly with lots of pigment. I was able to create a smoky eye without much effort — an early-2000s vibe indeed.

OurPrimeDaybeautybestsellers