I picked up the Sensai Supreme Illuminator while travelling and something about it just feels special – it’s obviously a high-end product so you expect some fancy packaging but I think it’s the tone of the product itself that lured me in. This highlight seems to fit somewhere between gold and champagne, in a really flattering shade on my skin. So often gold highlighters can be too obvious on fair skin, and pearlescent varieties too blingy on deeper tones. This falls somewhere in the realm of natural, and although containing little gold speckles the texture is velvety and luxe.
I tend to hold it back for special occasions which is doing it a disservice, and as I type I’m making a mental note to bring it to the front of the drawer and give it some more air-time – it deserves it.
The 38oC volumising mascara was a blind purchase after arriving at my destination having left my mascara at home, somewhere amongst the packing lists and ‘no time to iron’ pile of clothes. I simply needed a mascara, and had no time to suss out the new kids on the block or search for a Chantecaille counter for my trusty faux cils. Enter the 38oC wand from Sensai – which as it happens, is the temperature the water must be in order to remove this from your lashes. In other words, warm. No makeup remover necessary, just warm water. I have to say, I find this claim to be a little deceiving. Yes, it will come off with warm water but you have to put in the work. By the time this had flaked off my lashes I felt certain I had lost a few in the process.
I was most excited by the mascara’s curved wand, which looked so sensible I wondered why no-one else had come out with that. Side note: I have been informed that you’re actually supposed to use this the very opposite way that you would imagine, curve facing down, but I just can’t accept this ridiculous logic and have decided to rebel against the experts, which works just fine for me. Long story short, this is a good mascara and it creates black, defined lashes and it really won’t smudge. However I do find it quite drying and my lashes feel a little brittle throughout the day which ends up feeling irritating and uncomfortable on my sensitive eyes. Mix that with the tedious removal process and this mascara has worked itself to the back of the drawer, rarely seeing the light of lashes. You win some, you lose some Sensai.