Four New Additions

At the start of the year I found myself in one of those moods where I just wanted to have a massive clear out in terms of my dressing table. I admit I was hoarding an unrealistic amount of skincare that I knew I wouldn't use anymore, and a lot of eye shadow palettes that were sitting away being unloved and unused.

Instead of getting rid of the palettes I don't use anymore, I decided to pass these to people who I knew would use them and love them. Which means I have found room for some of the palettes I'd been keeping my eye on, without feeling guilty for having a ridiculous amount of palettes not being used enough.
The first one I've added to my collection is one that has actually been in the beauty industry for a long time now and it is the Jeffree Star Blood Sugar palette. This is a palette where I just didn't know whether to take the plunge or not, it has a lot of extremely good reviews but I just didn't know if it was worth the price point. Then Christmas rolled around and I thought I would ask for it as a present and now I am the proud owner of a cult classic palette from Jeffree Star Cosmetics.

Another palette that follows a similar colour scheme is the Urban Decay Naked Cherry, and I am a huge fan of Urban Decay shadows anyway and own almost all of the palettes so I felt like this was something that I would eventually pick up even if it wasn't right now. But I love the colours in this palette and until this and Blood Sugar palette entered my collection, I didn't have a huge variety of pink toned palettes that were a formula I liked to use. 
One that I have owned for a couple of months now but haven't had too much of a chance to experiment with is the Morphe James Charles palette, which just caught my eye. I told myself I didn't need it and I wasn't going to buy it but I just couldn't help myself seeing it in person, this palette has everything and I can't wait to start playing around with this and using all the different colours.

The last palette and the newest to the collection is the Sosu x Keilidh Cashell palette which is the perfect palette for a natural eye look, but also has pops of colour for those who want to add this into their looks. The size of the palette is great as well, and I'm excited to start using this and see what I can come up as I have seen so many different looks being created with just this one palette.

A couple of these palettes I have used a few times, a couple of them I have yet to test out but I'm sure I will letting you all know how I get on with them once I've given them a fair test run. Have any of you tried these palettes? Love, hate, gimme your thoughts in the comments!

Most Used Palettes

I'm always so used to writing about all my favourite products as a collective, and so I thought that I would break it down and just write about my favourite palettes. So here's a mix of eyeshadow, contour and highlight palettes that I love and use all the time!
The first palette I love using is one of the newest ones in my collection I think, and it's the Urban Decay Naked Heat which I must say might just be my favourite out of the Urban Decay palettes! As someone who wears a lot of warm brown and orange tones on my eyes, this palette has everything that I love! And as all the other Urban Decay palettes, the pigmentation is amazing but it's still so easy to use and blend no matter how advanced you are with eyeshadow!

A brand that I continue to love is Anastasia Beverly Hills, and I have a few palettes that I continuously use from them! The first one is their Pro Series Contour Kit and I have mine in the shade light/medium which does work well for super fair skin although they could bring out a few fairer shades I think! I don't tend to use the banana shade in this because it just doesn't work for my skin, but the middle contour shade is the perfect colour for me, and the highlight is so subtle and pretty! If you haven't tried this palette, I would highly recommend to anyone who is into contouring and highlighting.

Another palette from this brand is a cult classic, and I feel like it would be wrong to not include it, as I can't imagine not having this and of course its the Modern Renaissance palette! This is the original eye shadow palette that everyone has and loves and if you don't own it yet, you need it! Filled with warm tones (which we all love) but you have the  lovely pops of colour that can spice up your eyeshadow look! This is a palette I could definitely take travelling and not need anything else!

The last palette from Anastasia Beverly Hills is the newest to my collection, and this is the Sugar Glow Kit and as someone with super fair skin, highlights for my skin are difficult to find! And I bought this one mainly for the paler white and pink shades but I've found that the other two shades also work so nicely on my skin and can be doubled up as eyeshadows so I do get my wear out of all these shades! But they all have a lovely buildable formula and so I find that I can this for day time wear or night time wear, and they all blend in to the skin so nicely!
The last two palettes I have to talk about are both from Morphe which is the brand that just blew up on social media and everyone seems to love them! The first palette is another cult classic and this is the Morphe 35O which everyone and their dog owns! And if you don't own this, you probably should, because it's something that can work for everyone, it's filled with all the warm tones you could want from a palette! All the Morphe shadows I've tried have been incredible for the pigment whether its the matte or shimmer shades, and all the shadows are so easy to blend and this palette is no exception, and there's definitely a reason that this palette is always sold out!

And the last palette I have to talk about, is possibly my favourite out of all of them, and this is the Morphe x Jaclyn Hill which was unbelievably difficult to get hold of and still is! But it's the one palette I take everywhere with me because it's got all the warm brown tones that I love, but its also filled with an array of colours to brighten up any look, and the shimmers in this palette really pack a punch so I don't feel like you can go wrong with this one! I also love the first two pale shades in the palette as they make such an incredible for on the face as well as the eye!

Do any of you own any of these palettes and love them just as much as me? Or do you have any palettes you would recommend me picking up, I'd love to know in the comments!

Drugstore Beauty Wishlist

As someone who loves to wander round beauty aisles, I thought why don't I share what things I currently have on my beauty wish list for the drugstore?! Because who doesn't love a bargain when it comes to beauty, and I feel like the drugstore brands have really stepped their games up recently and so here's some things I've been eyeing up recently!
To begin, I need to mention the concealer that everyone has been raving about and this is the Makeup Revolution Conceal and Define Concealer and this has been duped for the Tarte Shape Tape which I do love but if you can get the same thing for more than half the price, who wouldn't give it a go? This has been so high in demand though and so I have been struggling to find it in stock anywhere in my shade, but as soon as I find it, it will be the newest addition to my collection and I'll let you know how I find it!

Keeping with the brand Makeup Revolution, for a long time now I've really wanted to pick up the Makeup Revolution X Soph Eyeshadow Palette but it wasn't stocked in the store closet to me! But as someone who is a lover of the warmer tones, this is the perfect drugstore palette because you do get all the nice warm tone browns (which everyone loves) but you do also get some pops of colour in there! And this is something that I'm really trying to incorporate into my makeup and so for £10 I really do need to pick this palette up!
Next is a brand that constantly seem to out do themselves and there is a few things I'm really wanting to try out from them, and this brand is L'Oreal! The first product is one that I seem to be struggling to find anywhere and this is the L'Oreal Crushed Foil Highlighter which is has been raved about by anyone who has it! And I mean, I'm always looking out for new highlighters and when you can get them for a reasonable price from the drugstore, it would be silly not to try them!

Another product from this brand is one that has been around for a very long time now and I just never ever pick it up but always think about it, and this is L'Oreal True Match Foundation. Now I feel like everyone has tried this and I'm yet to find someone that doesn't like it, but for me I just thought it was maybe too hyped to begin with but I'm starting to feel like I should give it a go. Plus I'm always on the lookout for a new foundation, this could be a new favourite!
The last thing from L'Oreal is a skincare item and I feel like I'm constantly trying out new skincare because of having such problematic skin. However the L'Oreal Smooth Sugars Clear Scrub sounds like something that could work really well for me as it would help to clear my skin of impurities but it also exfoliates the skin and as someone with combination skin, I feel like I am exfoliating regularly and so this would be an all rounder product for me! And it can be used a lip scrub as well as on the face which is always a bonus!

The next product I have really wanted to try for a long time now is the Physician's Formula Butter Bronzer and the only reason I haven't tried it is because of the brand not being in the UK. However, I have found a few places that stock it and so I think this might something I'll be ordering soon! This is a bronzer I've seen so many people rave about and I think it's supposed to be light enough for all us fair girls out there! Plus it smells divine as well from what I've heard!
The next two products are both from NYX and this is a brand that I always want to try out but isn't stocked in stores near me so I never want to just order things online without testing them out! The first product is the NYX Eyeshadow Pigments as I've been really enjoying cut creases lately and I just feel like pigments give such a good colour payoff in comparison to regular shadows. There's also a really large colour range so I feel like I could just go a bit crazy!
The final product on my wishlist is the NYX Highlight and Contour Pro Palette which is another product that has been around for a while now. But already owning the Anastasia Beverly Hills one, I just couldn't justify this as well, but I've seen how well it works for so many people and if I can find a cheaper alternative with more colours, it would be crazy not to try it, right?
What have you all got sat in your wishlists at the moment? Or do you own any of the products I've mentioned in this post? I'd love to know in the comments!

Zoeva En Taupe Palette

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a sucker for the Zoeva palettes, but every time a new one is released I know that I'll eventually buy it. And the latest addition to the family is the En Taupe palette which is built up of ten shades based around the autumnal browns and taupes, leaving us with a very versatile palette.
Like all of there other palettes, each shadow has a lot of product and I honestly think that these palettes can't be beaten especially when it comes to the price point. It also has a mixture of shimmers and mattes, and so I find that I can create natural day time looks with this as well as more dramatic night time looks because this palette has some beautiful glittery and shimmery shades in it! I do find that because this is a more taupe based palette, I don't use it as often as I would like purely because I'm not used to seeing some of the colour with my complexion. 

On the top row of the palette there is a shade perfect for highlighting which is called Stitch by Stitch, and this is just an off white matte shade and I always prefer to have a matte highlight as I'm someone who will go for shimmery shades on the lid and this always helps to balance it all out. There is also two amazing crease shades on the top row, the first being Hour by Hour which is has a peach tone to it and I love this because it reminds me of Makeup Geek's Peach Smoothie  shadow which I use as a transition shade for so many different looks and so whenever I use this palette, that is always my transitional colour. There is also the shade Gallery which is a lot more brown toned and so I find that this works well in the crease and it's a brown that will go with all the other shades in this palette! One of my favourite shades from this palette has to be Old Master and up until recently I was someone who would stay away from glittery eyeshadows but since trying some out, I feel like they look really flattering for special occasions and this is a shade that has a lot of purple to it and then it has fine gold shimmer running through it, and so it looks beautiful with any purple or taupe based looks. 

Then we have the bottom row, which holds more of the shimmery shades, and I think that the shade Outline is my favourite from all the shimmers because it is a lot more brown based and I just tend to find that browns suit more a lot better due to having blue eyes but all the shimmery shades in this palette are so buttery and soft as well as being so easy to work with and the bonus is that there is minimal fallout! But the best shade on this row, I would have to say is the only matte shade called Exquisite which is a straight up taupe purple shade which looks amazing in the crease and outer corner of the eye when using this palette to do an eye look, although I do have to admit that this shade is a lot harder to work with and I feel like you really have to build up colour especially if you're someone who doesn't use a primer for their eyeshadow.

Overall, I would have to say that this a lovely palette and for taupe lovers it is a must have but I do tend to find myself reaching for other Zoeva palettes over this one, plus the pigmentation is a few of these shadows could have been better. However I definitely do have my eye on the new palettes from the spectrum collection that recently launched!
Have any of you tried this palette, if so what are your thoughts? Are there any other Zoeva palettes that you would recommend?

Z Palette

After having my Makeup Geek eyeshadows for so long now, I eventually ordered myself a Z Palette to house them all, and I'm now questioning why this took me so long because oh my it is so much easier having them all in one place where I can see them! It also means I can now order more shadows as I was putting this off until I had a place for them all.

I do own 15 eyeshadows from Makeup Geek already and I would honestly recommend these to everyone over the MAC eyeshadows because the quality of most are on par if not better, and I love that Makeup Geek have different types of eyeshadow, so there are so many to choose from (too many if you're an eyeshadow junkie!)
My palette is no where near final or finished, as I still have two rows to fill, but I am happy with the eyeshadows that are already in my palette and so I thought I would share them with you all. The top row consists of Beaches and Cream, Peach Smoothie, Creme Brulee, Glamorous, Desert Sands, Frappe, Cocoa Bear. The second row houses Roulette, Bitten, Burlesque, Showtime, Steampunk, Mocha, Ritzy and lastly on it's own row is Poppy.

I originally purchased most of these shadows from the Makeup Geek website but if you live in the UK and want to get your hands on these, then there is good news because you can now purchase them from here without the shipping and handling charges! And these shadows start at just £4.95 which I think is a bargain for the quality and shade range.
How many of you have invested or want to try the Makeup Geek shadows? What are your favourite shades?

All the Berries

You know it's Autumn when its acceptable to rock that dark lip or smokey eye without being in a club and as we go into the colder months, I find myself wearing far too many berry shades, not just beauty products but some fashion items as well and so I thought why not share with you all the berry items I have been loving!
Just recently I have found myself wanting to wear a lot more purple and berry tones on my eyes which is a little different from my usual neutrals that I find to be a safe place as far as eye makeup is concerned. But what is a change in season without a change in makeup? And so I've been reaching for my Morphe Jaclyn Hill Favourites palette and to be specific, the bottom two rows have been what I've been using more than anything. This palette was limited edition but the shadows can all be bought separately from Morphe, and a few shades I would recommend are 24, 74, 11, 48, 68 and 71 but I love these shadows because they are so pigmented and easy to blend out! But I feel like with palettes that contain such a wide variety of shadows, can you really go far wrong?
Another palette I have been using is the MAC Burgundy x9, which as the name suggests contains nine shadows all based around the burgundy colour. I love these palettes because they are so small but you do get nine shadows which makes them perfect for travelling or on the go because you can create so many different looks and it won't take up a lot of space. However I must admit I do find that these shadows aren't as pigmented and easy to blend as the regular size shadows but it's only a little bit of extra effort which I really don't mind! The shade range in this palette is also a positive and I found that a lot of the shades were ones I was thinking about purchasing anyway and so it was a cheaper alternative to buying the individual shadows.

Staying with the theme of eyeshadow, I have been using the Kiko Long Lasting Shadow Stick in shade 37 as a base for some of the berry toned looks I've been wearing.I love this shadow stick because it is a true burgundy colour but I find that it doesn't crease at all during the day and it's one of those products that you can just chuck on blend out and wear alone if you wanted to! And for a shadow that looks shimmery in the stick, I have to say that when it's on the lid, it isn't chunky glitter, it is shimmery more than anything and if layered up and made completely opaque, it looks almost like a foiled shadow! But I find that shadow sticks are always handy for throwing in your makeup bag as well, and since trying this one from Kiko I feel the need to own more!
The last eyeshadow I have been wearing a lot is from Makeup Geek and its the shade Bitten which is a matte deep purple with red undertones to it, and I like to use this mostly in my crease and outer v to really deepen up the eyes, but this is a shade that could be worn on the lid if you wanted a really dark purple look! I also find that when I'm doing a more smoked out look, this is a shadow that can be used on the bottom lash line but is also a shadow that is so easy to blend out without it looking too much! But I would highly recommend all Makeup Geek shadows because they are crazy good quality for the small price tag!
If you're not into the whole berry toned look for the eyelids, then I also have a lot of things that you could use for the lips to make yourself look autumnal! Personally I find that when working with darker or bold lipsticks, that I always want to use a lipliner, and so I have two different ones that I tend to use for most of the lipsticks that I'm going to mention. The first one is a MAC Lipliner in the shade Nightmoth, which is pretty intense and dark lipliner for the deeper berry shades, however I do find that this lipliner all over the lips with the Rimmel 107 lipstick on top looks really nice because you have the deep purple mixed with the more red toned purple on top!

Another lipliner I like to use which also isn't as pricey, is the Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipliner in the shade Midnight Plum which is a lot more berry toned and lighter in colour, and I find that this lipliner looks good on it's own as well as under lipsticks! I like to pair this lipstick with the Gerard Cosmetics lipstick in the shade Berry Smoothie which as the name suggests is a berry toned lipstick that is very wearable, and this is one that I would recommend to anyone who wants to start wearing darker or bolder lipsticks because it's easy to wear and isn't too in your face if you're not too used to wearing purple toned lipsticks!
A new lipstick that I have recently added to my collection is the Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in the shade Black Cherry, and this is a dark lipstick so I would only recommend this is if you are someone who is used to wearing dark purples otherwise this could be too much! I have seen this been compared to the Charlotte Tilbury Glastonberry lipstick and if you are looking for a cheaper alternative, I would recommend picking this up! The only downside to this lipstick is that you do have to keep it topped up uring the day as it does have a tendency to wear off quicker than a higher end lipstick would but this is only to be expected by a drugstore lipstick!
The final lipstick that I have to talk about is the Maybelline Colour Drama Lipstick in the shade Berry Mulch, and I love these lipsticks, I think I now have four shades and they are lipsticks that are so easy to use because of the pencil shape that they are in. I find that I can use this lipsticks to line my lips as well as fill them in and even the darker shades wear pretty well for the price they are! Berry Mulch is a beautiful shade, and it is a true berry which isn't too dark and I also find that these lipsticks are so hydrating even after wearing them for a full day!

The MAC Eyeshadow Quad for Beginners

As a self confessed eyeshadow junkie, it's probably only right that I let you know what I consider to be my top eyeshadows from MAC, for the neutral lovers and beginners at least!

All these shadows have been picked so that they can be put into a quad and all used for make up looks, whether it's very natural for everyday or smoked out for a night time look. There is a shadow that can be used all over the lid, one on the crease, one to smoke it out (lightly or heavily) and one for a brow bone highlight!

To begin with I picked Naked Lunch, which is beautiful shimmery pink shade, but don't be put off by it being a pink shade because its more of a minimal pink that when blended with other shades, really doesn't look pink at all! But its a shade that can be used in a complex look or can just be used on its own, which is something that I do quite regularly just because the shimmer makes the shade seem a lot more on the lid, than just the one shade! 

A colour that is coveted by many and is pretty much a staple for your MAC collection is the shade Charcoal Brown which is for some reason the perfect brown, its cool toned, almost muted and just seems to work perfectly in the crease for pretty much any neutral eyeshadow look! And as a crease sahde should be, this is a matte shade and as a matte lover, I can't get enough of this shade!

We then have the shade Vanilla which I use as a highlight shade in the inner corner and on the brow bone, and this is simply because the shade is a very light peachy come ivory shade which holds a lot of reflect which when used a highlight looks very flattering as it tends to catch the light and reflect - as it should! But I also find that when I use a highlighting shade I want something that isn't overly shimmery or glittery especially for everyday use and this shade certainly isn't!

And finally the shade that I use for lightly or heavily smoking out the look is Bronze which is a golden brown, that holds a gold bronze shimmer and again isn't an overly shimmery shade so you can pack it onto the outer part of the lid and add it into the crease without it looking like too much! It's also a nice shade that can be added in with shades like Amber Lights if you feel like branching out from the neutral shades!

Since writing this post, I have fallen in love with the shade Sable, which was mentioned in the previous post, and this shade has been sat in palette for quite a while, and is one that I have been wearing all over the lid because it comes across as more than one colour on the lid! A shade that I'd highly recommend!

Do you have any favourite shades from MAC, or any shades that you've tried and didn't really like? If you own a quad, what shades do you have housed in there?

A Neutral Love

To celebrate the new year, I made a new beauty purchase because whilst many were out spending the last night of the year surrounded by music and alcohol, I spent mine surrounded with fast food aka at work! So why not make an online purchase? I decided that after weeks of having the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette sat in my basket, I would finally take the plunge and buy it, and along with this I also decided to try out a palette by Zoeva, and decided on the Naturally Yours palette which is another neutral palette.. Can you see a trend?

Too Faced is a brand that I have become a lot more aware about during 2014 and I think that this is because it is a brand that blew up in the bloggersphere for whatever reasons but I am so glad I finally took the plunge and made a purchase because I will definitely be buying more from this brand! After reading a lot of reviews about the Chocolate Bar palette, and having it sat in an online basket for ages, I thought the ‘why not?’ This is such a beautiful palette and for those of you who don't know already, yes it smells like chocolate so what more could want?! What I like about this palette is that much like the Naked palettes there's a mix of shimmer and matte shades but due to this palette housing three more shades there is two larger shades for highlighting and also a pop of colour in the palette in terms of the pink, blue and cranberry shades! 

Zoeva is a brand that also made a grand appearance last year in terms of their brushes and I must admit, for the eyes, their brushes are all I seem to use now! But I really wanted to branch into the makeup side of this brand and thought I would do so with a palette.. No surprises over here! But on serious note, if you haven't tried anything from the brand, do so right now because you're missing out! The first thing to note about this palette is that there is a matte white and a matte black which in my opinion is great because I'm someone who prefers matte shades but a white and black always come in handy! And then there are eight neutral shades, some shimmer and some matte and the size of these eyeshadows is larger than the average and so for £15 you really are getting your money's worth with this!

The one major difference with these palettes is their packaging and this is because the Zoeva palette is housed by cardboard with a beautiful pattern on and it and although it is cardboard there is a magnetic closing with this so its not the worst packaging in the world but you can tell that the Too Faced have spent more on theirs! The Chocolate Bar palette is a metal case also with a magnetic closing but this palette is in the shape of a chocolate bar and just feels more expensive and more sturdy in comparison to the Zoeva one.

Both of these palettes have great qualities about them and I would recommend both however the Zoeva palette is a lot more affordable than the Too Faced one so it just depends on what kind of palette you are looking for! I feel that both of these hold a high pigmentation, with Too Faced perhaps being slightly better and more buttery in texture so these are easily blended but the Zoeva eyeshadows are far from difficult to blend and I have been using both of these palettes since they first arrived!

Have any of you tried anything from either of these brands, or wanting to try products from them?

Eye Spy

Something I've been spending (too much) money on lately is eyeshadow and for some reason it was always a product that I never really paid too much attention to before. After trying a range of products, I'm now questioning this!

Having possibly one of the worst skin combinations ever, I wasn't too sure whether these types of products would sit on my eyelids without creasing throughout the day or just disappearing altogether. But I bit the bullet and decided that I'd try it out and see what worked and what didn't! I started out by buying a Sleek palette in Au Naturel Nude and I have to admit I was impressed with the quality of the product considering it's a drug store product. The palette contains twelve different shadows that are highly pigmented, and I have found that these eyeshadows do last throughout the day even without the use of a primer. Before indulging in more eyeshadows/palettes, this was my go to palette every day because the colours work with everything, I would highly recommend this to people who don't want to spend too much on their eyeshadows or make up in general but want a variety of colour that still holds quality.

After trying a powder eyeshadow, I thought I would try out a more creamy based eyeshadow that I could use as a base colour to build up on, or just on it's on (if I'm feeling lazy). So I found the Maybelline Colour Tattoo when I was in Boots and bought two different colours, and rather quickly, I have built up a collection of these little pots. I went for colours that I could easily blend and were more natural and so I have Eternal Gold, On and On Bronze, Permanent Taupe, Pink Gold, and Metallic Pomegranate. I have yet to try these without using a primer first because I feel the creamy texture would crease easily on my lids, but I use Pink Gold a lot and build it up with other eyeshadows.

So, leaving the drug stores behind, I went out in the search of a decent eye primer and ended up in the Urban Decay section of House of Fraser... Ooops! Not only did I come out with a primer, but I also left with the Naked palette which I love dearly and I would recommend this product to everyone! I can use these eyeshadows with or without the primer, but I find that they stay on for a lot longer if I'm using the primer and I also find that the colour is a lot bolder if I have used the primer beforehand. This palette has colours that can be used for everyday wear or for night time wear and I must admit, I use this palette almost every day even if it's only for one colour. The pigmentation in the shadows is amazing and they shadows are so easy to blend, I can honestly say this palette is worth the money and I wouldn't hesitate in repurchasing it. 

The biggest splurge as far as eyeshadows go is MAC. Now, I decided that I would start my own palette, and so far I have six eyeshadows that I have kept in the neutrals zone and I will slowly build this up. But with the colours that I bought, I have to say that with the use of a primer, they will stay on all day and the pigmentation of these eyeshadows is unbelievable no matter what finish the eyeshadow is. I also found that with these eyeshadows they are so easy to build up and blend with each other to create a daytime or evening look and you can create what looks like a complex look with only a few of the eyeshadows. My go to look with the colours I have at the moment is Naked Lunch, Satin Taupe and Sable which make a really nice autumnal look. I also bought one of the pigment pots in Vanilla and I use this to highlight the inner corners of my eyes and also on the brow bone, and I love this product because it can just be put on with any eyeshadow colour and it accentuates the eyes that little bit more. 

As well as all these eyeshadows, I have recenetly purchased the Benefit they're real! mascara which I have decided I will use for evenings rather than a daytime look, because it does what it says and really lengthens the lashes and makes them seem thicker depending on the number of coats you apply. I recently stopped wearing eyeliner on my lash line as well so I thought why not start again and bought the Maybelline gel liner in Black Chrome and I haven't used this product in this colour but is a normal black with a slight shimmer to it which caught my eye, and I also bought a Rimmel Exaggerate eye liner which is liquid based and I now use this on a daily basis.