38 out of 38 people found this review helpful.
Clam up and put on your make up with this novel cosmetic kit.
Date of Review: Jul 17, 2008
The Bottom Line: A innovative clamshell compact chock full of cosmetics. Cute and good for on the go. Average quality products.
I generally don't buy big cosmetic kits but I received the Fantasea Carry All Cosmetic Kit as a gift and had to try it, obviously.
This cute clamshell shaped compact has a ton of different cosmetics nestled into it with many little slide out trays. The quality of the cosmetics isn't great but it's also not bad. The kit is great for travel when space is of the essence.
What's in the Kit
Cosmetic kit contains: 26 Eye shadows, 2 Cream eye shadow pots, 3 Pressed powders, 6 Blushes, 6 Lip glosses, 2 Lipsticks, 2 Mascaras, 1 Lip pencil, 1 Eye pencil, 1 Blusher brush, 1 Lipstick brush, 2 Double sided applicators, 1 Single sided applicator, 1 Eye lash/ brow comb.
Manufacturer's Info
My Experience
When I unwrapped this gift, it was in a box which showed the opened compact. I was stunned to see how big the compact was on the box because it was only about the size of my hand when closed. The black plastic compact is shaped like a clamshell and is fairly heavy.
You push in a little button to open it where a mirror is revealed on the top of the shell. There are several tiers that open with tons of shades of eyes shadows and other cosmetics.
The top tier contains the cream shadow pots and several stick type cosmetics like the two mascaras. You slide out a tray under that to unveil the pressed powders, lip glosses, and longer brushes. Off to the size, more slide out trays contain the eye shadows (13 on each side) and the powder blushes (three on each side). Everything is quite accessible and easily identifiable.
As far as quality, the mascara is toss away bad. I actually replaced the mascara in this kit with two sample sized mascaras of my own. The lipsticks are deep and I don't use them. They also are very dry.
The standout feature of this kit, in my opinion, are the 26 eye shadows. I like variety and there is plenty in this kit. The shades range from nudes to pastels to earthy tones and some deeper shades. They are generally shimmery but some are matte. The applicators included suffice but I use my own when I can for better application.
The blushes range from pinks to peaches and nudes. They are mostly matte and good in a pinch although I am very picky about my blush and prefer to use my higher end stains. Still, when I go away for casual weekends or up to the mountains, I toss this kit into my suitcase, throw in my own foundation and concealer, and I'm good to go. I don't need much else.
As far as overall quality of the cosmetics, it average. It is like drugstore stuff, not terrible by any means but nothing truly stands out as being superior. As I said, the mascaras are awful, the lipsticks aren't very good, and the applicators are the cheap type that come with many cosmetic compacts. They will do but, if you have your own, application is better.
I like that this kit folds down to such a small clutch type shell of a compact. It takes up very little room in a bag or suitcase and it doesn't unlock and open even when jostled around. The mirror is actually useful and you could sit down and apply all the cosmetics using the mirror if you had no other mirror with you.
I took this kit with me when we went on a mountain weekend and, even though I rarely wear a lot of makeup on that type of trip, we did end up deciding to go to town to have dinner. I managed to make up my whole face with the contents of this kit. I used a lip gloss shade as a cream blush which actually worked well and the only thing of my own I used was concealer. The applicators in this kit are not great but they suffice in a pinch.
If you buy this kit, I suggest adding your own mascara and swapping brushes for minis of your own. The blusher brush included sheds quite a bit and leaves little "hairs" on my face.
In all, the Fantasea Carry All Cosmetic Kit is a very compact way to carry a load of cosmetics. It makes a cute gift and it's also so affordable that you can keep one on hand in a suitcase or bag and take it on the go. You won't get top of the line quality but most of the products are quite passable. Although there isn't a lot of each product, my kit has lasted for ages because I am not an everyday user and only use a little of each product when I do pull the kit out and apply some of the shades. The shadows will last forever! 26 shades is a huge amount and you will always have at least one that matches anything you own or any look you want to achieve.
Buying Info
This kit is available all over the net where cosmetics are sold. It ranges in price from about $20.00 to about $26.00. I have no idea where you can find the kit offline or even if you can. Fantasea makes a number of cosmetic kits, mostly in the shape of shells. This is one of the larger ones. They have a smaller shell kit that has about half of the number of products and is about palm size before opened. That's a cute one too for around $12.00.
Conclusion
The Fantasea Carry All Cosmetic Kit is a compact cosmetic kit chock full of all kinds of fun shades and textures. The multi tier, swing out and forward shelves are novel and manage to pack a lot of cosmetics in a small shell of a kit. The quality is average and passable if you are on a trip and space is of the essence or if you just want a lot of variety. The best part of the kit for me are the eye shadows. The blushes are nice as well. Some things, like the mascaras, lipsticks, and brushes really aren't up to par and I immediately replaced those with similar sizes of my own products.
In all, this kit is average. I do recommend it for the reasons I stated above though. The price is certainly right and the cute clamshell design keeps everything in its place until you're ready to open the compact and spread out all the tiers. Cute! 3 stars.
