Hardy Candy Spring/Summer 2017 New Products Review

I always get very excited when I get to try out a brand for the first time! I can’t believe after all these years of blogging, this is my first review of Hard Candy. Today, I’ll be sharing my thoughts and swatches of all the new releases for Spring and Summer 2017. You can find Hard Candy products at Walmart in Canada.

My first impression was that the packaging was very fun and geared towards a younger generation. There’s lots of color in the packaging the products are very on trend. I really enjoyed a few of the products but there were also a few flops. I’m sharing an overall rating out of 5 for each product and also swatches if applicable.

Lip Artiste Lip Contouring Wand

$7.98

Pink to Mauve (5 shades available)

For the lips, Hard Candy came up out with this duo ended lip product which is meant to contour and highlight the lips. The colors are designed to modify the appearance of lip shape and size. I have pretty small lips but I don’t necessarily like the look of over lining so I used this within my natural lip lines.

The matte lip contour pencil had a really nice formula and I actually loved using this on its own by filling my entire lips with the lip pencil side. The highlighter shade is very reflective so be careful on only using a small amount. I just do a tiny dab in the middle of my upper and lower lips and blend with my fingers. It actually gives a very nice enlargement effect! This is probably my favorite product from the whole collection! 5/5

Wet Ever Bold Hold Lip Lacquer

$7.98

7 shades available

The next lip product is a hybrid of lipgloss and lipstick by combining the shine and color. I love that this product came in a metal tin, it’s such unique packaging! Both the tin and the actual lip gloss had a 3D dripping paint decoration. But unfortunately, the shade is just not for me. The shade Selfish is a classic pink. These types of colors just don’t look good against my skin tone and makes me look washed out.

The applicator is a sponge tip doe foot with a curve in so it hugs the contours of your lips. I found it pretty easy to use except trying to get to the exact corners of my lips.

The formula is pretty opaque and you get decent color pay off similar to a liquid lipstick. It also feels pretty creamy on the lips and I didn’t experience any dry out. The not so good part is that it is pretty sticky! It starts off feeling pretty slick as advertised, but as you wear it for a while, the formula becomes more sticky. I think this could have be decent though if I had a different color, but it’s not the best formula I’ve tried for the lips. 3/5

Stroke of Gorgeous Kajal Supreme Eyeliner Duo

$7.98

Here is another duo ended product from Hard Candy and one that I could see how two ends is better than one. I love using liquid eyeliners for my top lash line but I prefer pencil liners for my bottom lash line. This is perfect as one end is a soft kajal eyeliner and the other side is a liquid eyeliner!

The tip of the liquid eyeliner is quite firm and it feels more like a sharpie pen. The formula stays all day but sometimes has trouble with streaking if you are going over the same areas. I really like the kajal side, it is very pigmented and super smooth. Overall this is a great idea as now I have one product which can line both the upper and lower lash lines. 4/5

Look Pro! Metal Eyes

$8.98

To achieve a metallic eye look, Hard Candy has an eyeshadow set which contains 4 eyeshadows, 1 eyeliner, 1 duo sided brush, a liquid, and a mixing well. The brush had a flat tip side and an eyeliner style side. The quality was okay but nothing too exciting. When swatched, the four eyeshadows were a bit dry and lacked the pigmentation I was expecting. However, when applied on the eyes, these were actually really nice!

I had quite a bit of trouble mixing it with the liquid as I find the color ends up streaking when the brush is wet. There was still decent color pay off using it dry but I think it’s not what you expect if the product is called “Metal Eyes”. In the picture above, I’m wearing the top left shade and the bottom right shade dry. 4/5

Sheer Envy Prismatic Highlighter Rainbow Pearl Powder
$7.98

I’m a bit confused with the purpose of this powder. I was hoping it would be a very reflective highlighter but unfortunately I found the formula to be more glittery than illuminating. The powder is also a bit dry so the glitter ends of scattering on the skin. The packaging is very pretty though and gives a prismatic feel. 2/5

Prismatic Highlighter, Loose Powder

Sheer Envy Bake, Brighten & Set Loose Finishing Powder
$6.98

Baking has been pretty popular in the last few years and it’s a trend makeup artists use to set concealers. I don’t think the bright under eye look is that flattering for an every day look especially if it’s off-camera. I gave it a try with baking but I’m not sure if I noticed any difference.

With that said though, the formula is really great and comparable to high end brands. The shade has a yellow undertone so it’s very similar to banana powder. It was very smooth and finely milled, so if you are into baking, this would be a fantastic drugstore alternative. 4/5

Sheer Envy Color Correct Cushion Wonder
$6.98
3 Shades (Yellow, Green, Peach)

Lastly, there is a set of color correcting serums for various skin discolorations. The idea is that you can blend the color correction into the skin using the cushion tip. However, it’s pretty easy to squeeze out more product than you need, and you would just keep smearing more product on if you used the cushion tip to blend out. I found using my fingers to be a better option.

I got mine in yellow and the shade was unfortunately too light for me. I gave it a try on the undereye. The cushion tip is very nice and the product flows through nicely. The coverage is pretty light though and a concealer would work better for undereyes. I think the idea is very trendy (ex. Urban Decay’s color correcting concealers), but the practicalities of it are limited. 2/5

Overall, I really liked that the brand is on top of the beauty trends and offers products at an affordable price. However a couple of the items are a bit gimmicky and didn’t perform as well as the claims. I do think the packaging is very fun and is well suited for the younger crowd! I’m looking forward to trying out more from the brands and finding a couple more hits!

What are your favorite items from Hard Candy?