Back in December, I was browsing through the BeautyBay website, and I came across something pretty unusual. At the time, my first thought was: "What the hell is this?"

Basically, I was looking at tubes of paint, the kind you might see in an arts and crafts store, and I started wondering why on earth BeautyBay were selling acrylic paints. You can't put acrylic paints on your face, surely?

Well no, probably best not to try that, but I did read a little more into these peculiar looking paints on the site, and as it happens, they're called 'Cosmetic Emulsions', which definitely sounds more like something you'd find in B&Q as opposed to something you'd put on your face. But, these can be put on your face, and they're also incredibly versatile - they can be used as lipsticks, eyeshadow, as a blusher, on your eyebrows and even as a concealer. They were also on offer, and I was curious, so I added a few to basket, with minimal expectations.

Oh, how wrong I was.

The founders of Depixym have spent years in the beauty industry, with backgrounds in product development, and they dreamt up this unique concept of multi-functional paints. They've deliberately not given the shades names like 'Princess Pink' or whatever, there's no suggestive or leading language, because these products are designed for everyone. They also don't really tell you how to use the products, or what you can do with them, the idea being that you can do whatever you want, wherever you want, however you want.

And maybe this simplistic marketing message is what led me to underestimate these cosmetic emulsions. We've become accustomed to brands telling us that their latest product is the butteriest, the easiest to apply, the shimmeriest, the greatest thing since sliced bread, or that jesus himself would have used their product - but Depixym weren't even telling me what these products were for.

As soon as I received the product though, and started to swatch them, my creative juices started flowing. When you give the tube a little squeeze, a gorgeous creamy pigment comes out, and the swatch is full-on opaque, but also ridiculously blendable. It was like applying actual magic to my arms.

SWATCHES

 

Left to right - #0194, #0899, #0446, #0557.

Left to right - #0004, #1162, #0924, 0982, #0854.

Depending on how thick you lay it on, it can take anywhere between a few seconds to a minute to dry down to a matte finish. Despite being matte, my skin doesn't feel taut, and in fact, it's very comfortable on the skin. And when it is dry, this stuff does not budge. It stays put. Even with my oily eyelids, it doesn't crease. My only worry at this point, was how am I going to get this off?! Fear not though, I used my trusty Banila Co Clean It Zero cleansing balm, and it came off pretty easily, but in truth, any decent cleansing oil or balm will do the trick.

Each tube contains 12ml, which doesn't really sound like a lot, but a little really does go a long way. I've been using the 1192 pink shade obsessively, and the tube barely looks to have a dent in it at all.

The great thing about these paints, is that you can mix them together to create new shades, you can add in black to darken them, or add in white to pastellise them, and to really encourage this.

I've also had a few questions on Instagram lately, asking how I get my liner so smooth with this pigment, including from a major influencer who was actually used in the Depixym campaigns (awks). But if you think back to that godawful 100 layers challenge that was doing the rounds on YouTube a few years ago, you'll remember that the more layers you apply, the more likely it will crack, so bear that in mind when applying.

All in all, I would highly recommend this product to anyone that just wants a multi-functional product. Something you can use literally anywhere on your face. But also, I'd highly, highly recommend these for anyone who's looking to up their creative game. It's my belief that the lack of in-your-face, targeted marketing around these products has kind of given me a freedom to think about how I want to use them, to experiment with them, and create looks that are out of the ordinary. Depixym give you the tools, but they don't tell you what you should be doing with them, and I love that.

In terms of price, each 12ml tube costs £18 on BeautyBay, which does seem pretty expensive for a product that's only supposed to last 6 months after opening (although mine are still going strong after 5). But, every so often BeautyBay do put these on offer, and you can get some pretty decent discounts. Personally, I think they're worth every penny, as they've given me a new lease of life with my makeup looks, and as a result, I'm starting to get even more adventurous.