Fashion

This Is Your New Favorite Budget Beauty Brand

by Kelly Dougher

Nonie Creme is known for being the former Founding Creative Director of the popular beauty brand butterLONDON, and now she's back in the beauty industry as the head of her new line Nonie Creme Colour Prevails. Unlike butterLONDON (of which I am a huge fan of course), Colour Prevails is sold in drugstores — at drugstore prices. Praise the makeup gods.

Colour Prevails is a makeup line consisting of about 150 products, including everything from nail polish to foundation. Every product in the line has gorgeous packaging, vibrant pigments, and a variety of shades to choose from. The best part is everything in the line is under $20 and available at Walgreens. Nonie Creme is a regular backstage at Fashion Weeks, so making products that are easy to master (and use quickly) was a must when creating the new line. The most exciting launch is probably the ergonomic nail polish, with a patent-pending handle that makes managing the brush a whole lot easier.

I tried a couple of nail polishes, a shimmery eye shadow, an eye shadow/liner duo, and an ombre mascara from the line. Read on for photos and my review of each product!

Nonie Creme Colour Prevails Basecoat in Mannequin

Nonie Creme Colour Prevails in Mannequin, $8, Walgreens

I've definitely heard of CC creams for the face but this is the first time I've heard of a CC cream for nails. Well, whatever this stuff is, I love it. It's meant as a base coat, and while it does a great job of improving and extending my manicures, I've actually been wearing it on its own most days. It provides the perfect wash of soft pink for a "my nails but better" look.

Nonie Creme Colour Prevails Nail Lacquer in Glamazon

Nonie Creme Colour Prevails Nail Lacqure in Glamazon, $8, Walgreens

I really liked this nail polish too. Glamazon is the perfect metallic gold shade for going out (but without any of those chunky glitter bits that are always so hard to remove) and you only need one coat.

With the use of a top coat (I use Sally Hansen Insta-Dri), both polishes lasted almost a week without chipping. Two well-manicured thumbs up from me.

Nonie Creme Colour Prevails Eye Shimmer Powder in Teddy Bear

Nonie Creme Colour Prevails Eye Shimmer Powder in Teddy Bear, $10, Walgreens

This eye shadow (available in 12 shades) comes in a bottle that looks exactly like the nail polish bottles--Teddy Bear is even the same shade as Glamazon. Just worth noting, since you don't want to find yourself accidentally applying nail polish to your eyelids.

That said, although I had my doubts about the packaging (there's a small sponge-tipped applicator inside the bottle; I prefer to use a brush) I ended up really liking it. The small size makes it easy to bring in a bag for touch-ups, and the applicator did a surprisingly good job at applying the shadow.

I loved this dark gold shade, and I think it would look great with any eye color. Add some mascara and a dark berry lip, and you've got a great going-out look.

My eyes are naturally very creased, but this shadow resisted settling into creases. I would suggest layering it over your favorite eye primer for the best result though.

Nonie Creme Colour Prevails Eye Design Shadow/Liner Duo in Grey and Lavender

Nonie Creme Colour Prevails Eye Design Shadow/Liner Duo in Grey and Lavender , $12, Walgreens

I didn't like this shadow as much as Teddy Bear. It was a little too pale for my tastes and didn't last long. However, I do like the convenience of having a complimentary eye liner and eye shadow in one slim stick. There are eleven shade combinations.

Here's a closeup of the liner in Grey and shadow in Lavender:

Nonie Creme Colour Prevails Lash Ombre Mascara, $13,

Nonie Creme Colour Prevails Lash Ombre Mascara, $13, Walgreens

This ombre mascara (available in six shades) was an interesting idea, but I don't think I would reach for it very often. The ombre effect is sort of hard to achieve. If you want to try it, just know that it's definitely an attention-getting look, and you will definitely have a hard time getting bright blue mascara off your face at night.

I do have to admit the color looked cool, even if the ombre effect wasn't very pronounced. Here's a closeup:

Out of the five products I tried, I would most highly recommend the Eye Shimmer Powder and the nail polishes. Nonie Creme definitely knows her stuff when it comes to nail polish.

Other items in the line include liquid foundation, a CC Cream, a Contour & Highlight Duo, a Blush & Bronzer duo, several lip products, and three gorgeous wet/dry eye shadow palettes (the priciest product in the line at $19, each palette comes with a brush and eight shades). The whole Colour Prevails line is available to purchase at Walgreens.

I probably would have bought a couple of items just for the pretty packaging if I simply happened to see them at Walgreens, but now that I know how great the quality and pigments are I feel compelled to try out the rest of the line. Good thing it's so affordable.

Images: Joshua Kirby