Brand Review: Nekoyanin Cosmetics

These days, I’m not much of a makeup wearer. I’m usually at home and when I go out, it’s usually to the store. I don’t go to any place where it’s needed, but when I do wear it: I either keep it simple or go all out. I used to have a lot of makeup, but I’ve thrown a lot since it was either really old or hardly any left. 

While scrolling through TikTok, I came across this brand Nekoyanin by Yinnypooh (her name on Instagram) and I was intrigued. The packaging is so cute and I’m a huge fan of anime. I checked out her website and said, “I want all of it.” I waited a few months before actually buying anything and would see her TikTok videos pop up on my feed. I started following her on the app and continued watching them whenever they would pop up. 

All the products I bought. Very cute and amazing packaging.

I admit, I was a little scared of buying from here because I was afraid of it being a scam, but I took a chance. If you’re wondering if Nekoyanin is legit and not a scam? I can say with confidence it’s safe to purchase items from it. Yinnypooh not only sells makeup, but she also has a makeup bag, wireless charging station and LED mousepad hybrid, a regular mousepad, makeup brushes, and lashes. She’s come out with more makeup items since I’ve purchased from her and I can’t wait to place another order because I saw she came out with an eyeshadow primer and I want to try out another color of her liquid liner.

I’M NOT SPONSORED BY THIS BRAND AND ALL ITEMS WERE PURCHASED BY ME WITH MY OWN MONEY. I’M JUST A FAN OF MAKEUP AND ANIME. 

I placed an order on the October 31, 2021 and the bought the following: 

• 1 Nezuko Cherry Blossom Lipgloss
• 1 Shinigami Palette
• 1 Arcade Baby Water Activated Eyeliner
• 1 Gamer Boy Palette
• 1 Level Up Matte Liquid Lipstick
• 1 Noface Eyeliner in Black
• 1 Paradis Palette

Link to the website: Nekoyanin
Link to Nekoyanin TikTok: Nekoyanin
Link to Nekoyanin Instagram: Nekoyanin
Link to Yinnypooh’s Instagram: Yinnypooh

It was shipped out on November 6 and was delivered on November 12. Pretty fast if you ask me. BUT! I didn’t have anything that was marked as “Pre-order”. If you pre-order an item, Yinnypooh puts a note to let buyers know it’ll take a month before it’s shipped out. So please keep this in mind if you order from her. 

ONTO THE PRODUCT REVIEWS!

NOTE: ALL PHOTOS ARE TAKEN BY ME. SORRY FOR THE POOR QUALITY.

Nezuko Cherry Blossom Lipgloss

Very cute packaging. Frosted plastic container.

Inspired by the fan-favorite character of the popular anime Demon Slayer. The packaging for this gloss is very cute and pretty. The gloss itself is described as a “Soft baby pink color” and I agree with that. It’s a very soft pink that looks a little pale, but it’s not super pigmented. It gives a nice soft pink tint to the lips and can be worn alone or as a topper. Surprisingly, it’s not sticky or goopy. It’s very moisturizing on the lips and I don’t experience any peeling when wearing it.

Sorry, I didn’t feel shaving and I have a little friend at the top left (right from your POV) of my lips.

I personally like wearing this alone when I go out to do errands. The only downside I’ve found, is that the tint it gives doesn’t last a long time, maybe 1-2 hours tops for me. One thing I also noticed, I have to exfoliate my lips before putting this on by itself because it will show dead skin patches. But the moisturizing effect lasted a very long time and lasted me through a very greasy meal (Carl’s Jr burger and fries). For $12, I consider this gloss worth it.

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (I wish the color lasted a little longer)

Link to it: Nezuko Cherry Blossom Lipgloss

Shinigami Palette

Really beautiful colors. I just wish I had more use for the glitters.

Inspired by the popular anime Death Note. This palette mostly has blue and purple eyeshadows, but also provides some warm colors. It comes with three glitter colors that are  rose gold, midnight blue, and silver. Personally, I’m not a fan of glitter, but I decided to add a little of the rose gold one to my eyeshadow look one time and it was nice. I was very surprised that it wasn’t scratchy and was very smooth to the touch (I used a clean and sanitized finger to put it on). The rest of the colors are pigmented so there wasn’t any struggle to try and make one appear. 

If put on with a heavy hand, the colors will show up pretty strong. But they can also be buildable if put on with a light hand. The matte colors are my favorite, but the shimmer ones are also really nice and not too loud. I like that she added the tan brown matte eyeshadow in this palette because it provides a nice warmth when used with other colors. 

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 (I’m not a fan of glitter eyeshadows and won’t really have any use for them)

Link to it: Shinigami Palette

Arcade Baby Water Activated Eyeliner

Yes, I’ve used it. That’s why it look like this.

I got this palette mostly out of curiosity because I’ve never heard of such a thing. I was intrigued on how it works. Sure enough, it works as advertised. Wet the brush you want to use and these colors will show up. The colors are quite loud and pigmented, no need to worry about them not showing up! Admittedly, I’m not a fan of most of the colors, mostly because I don’t wear them. 

However, I can see myself using them on my lower lash line to add a fun pop of color. I’ve never been a fan of bright eyeshadows or eyeliners like these, but overall it’s a good palette. The colors go on smoothly and last long (with primer). Personally, I wish there was a black, dark purple, and/or dark brown shade, but I can stick to using my eyeshadows. 

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5. (only because I personally am not a fan of most of the colors but the formula is pretty good and they last)

Link to it: Arcade Baby Water Activated Eyeliner

Gamer Boy Palette

A palette I didn’t know I would fall in love with.

I admit…I got this palette because I loved the packaging and the cover boy looks like he belongs on my list of anime crushes. The colors are a little out there for me personally, but what I love about this palette is that she has equal matte and shimmer shades. There’s no glitter in this one, which I love (mostly because I feel bad that I’m not going to use them) and holy crap, the colors are nice! I admit I haven’t used this one too much, but the few times I have, I love it.

All the colors in this palette are POTENT! Like you don’t have to worry about these colors not showing up. I recommend going in with a light hand when using it because holy moly these colors are strong. If you’re looking for a colorful palette with the perfect blend of matte and shimmer eyeshadows, look no further than this!

Overall Rating: 5 out 5 (colors show up, not powdery, easy to blend, they last, and perfect blend of matte and shimmer)

Link to it: Gamer Boy Palette

Level Up Matte Liquid Lipstick

Even in this picture, the color looks pretty subtle.

Okay! Just to be clear, my lips chap up after a good 2-3 hrs no matter how hydrated I am. I can be well-hydrated and my lips will have dead skin on the corners and my bottom lip is Dead Skin City. There’s no escaping it! And yes, I do prep with lip balm and even used lip primer before…the balm works better than the primer. Please keep this in mind when reading my review for this lipstick.

Onto the review! This lipstick caught my attention because the color looks so pretty and looks like a muted rosy color, but holy crap, this color is quite bright. It’s more of a bright rose color and is quite loud. I don’t wear bright colors on my lips because the redness on my cheeks just seems so bright and out there in a bad way, but I still find myself using this lip color when doing a gradient lip. I usually pair this up with some neutral lip liners and put a little bit on the middle of my lips to add a small pop of color. Formula is pretty good and it stays on for a long time. 

NOTE: this is with flash on. Either way, the color is quite bright.

My lips were okay at the 2 hour mark and at the 3 hour mark, a little crusty on the corners (probably from the liner since this color was only on the center). Overall, I’m impressed by this lipstick and I hope she makes more shades. I did wear this by itself a few times just to test it out on it and it’s the same for me, 3 hour some crusties formed at the corners of my lips, but the color was still on and going strong. 

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 (formula is pretty good. Color is a little bright, but workable)

Link to it: Level Up Matte Liquid Lipstick

Noface Eyeliner in Black

This liner is not going anywhere once on!

Looking for bulletproof eyeliner? Well, this isn’t technically bulletproof, but you won’t have to worry about this eyeliner going anywhere! I’m a fan of liquid eyeliners and I have been using the Em Cosmetics Felt Tip Illustrative Eyeliner for a while, but I wanted to try something new. So I decided to order this one and I have to say I’m quite impressed! It’s not a matte eyeliner and has kind of a vinyl finish. There’s definitely a sheen there, but it’s not in-your-face shiny. I mean I can always put a little black eyeshadow over it to make it matte so it’s no big deal for me.

The tip is a little stiff, but overall it’s pretty easy to use. There are other colors such as blue, brown, and surprisingly white, which I haven’t really seen as a liquid eyeliner color. I’m interested in the brown color. As for wear, this eyeliner isn’t going anywhere! I put it on around noon one day and it was still good around 10 at night. When I went to take off my makeup, I used a cleansing balm first and this eyeliner took a minute to get off. So if you’re looking for a long-lasting liquid liner, this is worth trying out!
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 (It lasts for a long time, it’s easy to use, and I personally don’t mind the vinyl finish)

Link to it: Noface Eyeliner

Paradis Palette

I just love this palette. Nothing more needs to be said.

If there is one thing I love: it’s a eyeshadow palette with neutral colors. After throwing out almost all of my old makeup, I had one eyeshadow left and a few single and duo eyeshadows. So I was on the lookout for a good palette with neutral colors. The market is absolutely SATURATED with neutral-colored eyeshadow palettes. I didn’t want anything expensive (looking at you Urban Decay Naked palette), but palettes from brands like ELF and NYX didn’t really catch my eye. When I saw the Paradis Palette on Nekoyanin’s site, I was FLOORED! It has 10, yes TEN, matte eyeshadows and three shimmers. It was like I found my dream neutral eyeshadow palette!

Admittedly, I was a little scared because sometimes matte colors can be too powdery and not pigmented, especially the lighter colors. But I couldn’t help myself and bought the palette. To say it’s my favorite is an understatement. The colors show up, even the lighter ones. The formula is pretty good and I don’t find it powdery, which is good. The shimmers show up and are really nice colors, not powdery either. I honestly just love this palette because of its simplicity and I use it just about every time I wear makeup. 

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 (might look basic to some, but colors are nice, formula is good, eyeshadows blend beautifully, and it stays on)

Link to it: Paradis Palette

Final Thoughts

I was very surprised at the quality of these items and impressed. I’ll be very honest, I wasn’t expecting it to be so good because most smaller and independent brands I’ve come across just didn’t have the best quality. Not terrible, but I have run into more misses than hits. This brand has pretty good quality makeup and I can’t wait to place another order. I have my beady little eyes on some things, but will need to wait and save up. 

What are your thoughts on this brand? Tried it out yet? If not, will you? Let me know what you think!

-simplesarah1629

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Clear Mascara: is it even worth buying?

I’ve been going make-up free for about a year and a half after almost 7-8 years of working in the beauty and spa industry. After years of wearing it, and some inspiration from my favorite YouTuber of all time, Michelle Phan, I decided to try and go au naturel.

Admittedly, it has been…. mildly successful. While I feel great and love that my morning routine is a LOT shorter, I still require some maintenance. Eyelashes need to be curled, eyebrows need to be brushed and set, and lips need to be hydrated. Unfortunately, my under eye circles are here to stay no matter how much sleep I get.

Since going au naturel, I decided to try out clear mascara out of curiosity. I heard it would be a great way to define my lashes without having to worry about the mess traditional mascara can cause. So I decided that I’ll go looking for this magical item and test it out for myself.

My natural lashes before mascara (WARNING: forgive my wild brows)

As you can see, my eyelashes are not the fullest, but they aren’t really sparse. They go straight down naturally, so I usually need to curl them up to make myself look more awake and so less people comment that I look tired. They could some help being separated from each other and that’s another reason why I wanted to try out clear mascara. So I went out and bought two clear mascaras from the drugstore and see if they’re any good. I will give my review on Covergirl Professional Natural Lash and the Maybelline Great Lash Mascara in Natural.

Covergirl Professional Natural Lash

Thoughts on Covergirl Pro Lash: this mascara had a nice curved brush that made it easy to apply. However, as you can see, there is some drooping action going on and my lashes did not stay perked up. It did separate my lashes pretty nice, but it wasn’t the best. This mascara doesn’t claim to curl the lashes, but to create feather-light lashes and tame brows, so it’s a multi-use product. The curve shape of the brush does make it a bit awkward to use on the brows, but it is manageable. All in all, I think this product is okay, and if your lashes are naturally curly and don’t feel like wearing mascara, but feel like you need, then this product would be great for you! As for a brow gel, it does keep the hairs in place, but that’s about it.

Ranking: 5 out of 10 stars

Maybelline Great Lash in Clear

Okay…right off the bat: not a fan. Too be honest, I’ve never been a fan of the Maybelline Great Lash Mascara. Either way, I wanted to give this mascara a chance, but I was not happy at all with it. I felt like this mascara made my eyelashes look almost spidery and didn’t separate them much. I know in the pictures they don’t look much different, but in person, they look different! Much like the CoverGirl clear mascara, there is some drooping action going on, but I feel like my lashes had no chance of staying up. As soon as I was done applying, my lashes had already gone south and I hadn’t even closed the tube yet! So this mascara is definitely not my favorite. As for a brow grooming gel, it’s okay, but the brush for me is not fluffy enough to get them groomed in a few sweeps. I felt like it made some of my brow hairs spidery like my lashes. Honestly, I’d avoid this mascara and spend the money on the CoverGirl Natural Lash.

Ranking: 2 out of 10 stars

So, is clear mascara worth buying? That depends on you want and need. If you’re looking for something to wear, but don’t want to have to put on actual mascara then I would say try these out. They’re not claiming to curl, lengthen, or add volume so you know to not expect that. However, I personally wasn’t a fan of the Maybelline Great Lash and probably won’t buy it again after I’m done with it. It just didn’t do anything for me, but if you’re a fan of it, I’d probably give it a try.

Do you think clear mascara is worth trying? Leave a comment and tell me your thoughts!

-simplesarah