MAC Eyeshadow Refill - Sable

Hello lovelies!

Pinch punch first of the month!

I wrote a post last week about my amazing new Illamasqua lipstick which was bought for me by a lovely person that you might have heard of (yes you guessed it thank you M!)

The other half of my present was an amazing addition to my MAC eyeshadow palette. I've been saying for ages how I needed more to add to it, I've got quite a few random colours that have been bought for me over the years and I'm in desperate need of some additional colours to blend my palette together better. This has filled the perfect gap!

As I have a palette M has bought me the refill which is perfect, I can slot it straight into one of the gaps and apply my eye make up as I wish. She knows me too well!

This shade is called Sable and its a 'gold plum with a bronze pearl' according to MAC's website.

The photo below shows the shadow taken with a flash and the one below that without a flash:

As you can see, my palette below has some pretty random shades, some very light, some very dark and a few brights. I've bought the large palette and an eyeshadow insert so that I can fill it up and keep my collection together. I'd definitely buy another insert, ideally I'd have a neutral side and then a darks and brights side as it is double sided and I'd love to make the most of it.

Sable clearly fits in perfectly with my small collection of nudes. I have Shroom, a limited edition shadow I cannot remember the name of and All That Glitters so I definitely needed a darker shade to create the perfect nude toned eye for day to day.

Sable is the perfect colour to blend into your crease for a wearable day to day eye for work, lunch, dates and can help to create a beautiful smokey eye with a gold bronze tinge to it. You can see swatches on my hand below:

With flash you can see how the light really catches it and makes it shimmer, it's so pretty I've been swatching it for days! 

Here it is on the eye, applied to the outer corners and blended across the lid of my eye. This is a light application and you can definitely apply it more heavily for a stronger and darker eye look. This is the look I go for on a normal work day with a bit of liner.

It's enough of a shimmer and shapes my eye enough to make sure its not boring and flat.

What do you think of Sable? Do you have a palette you're adding to? What shades would you recommend to complete my palette?

L xxx

Review: Maybelline Color Tattoo 24Hr

Good morning!

I have had these in my possession for quite some time, and although they were bought on a whim I have found myself liking them quite a lot and they're so easy to use.

The Maybelline Color Tattoo 24Hr Creams have been quite a big hit with the blogging world so I was intrigued to see why!

I picked up On and On Bronze and Pink Gold as they were on offer at the time and the other colours that were left weren't my first choices. On and On Bronze was my first choice as I'd heard and seen so much about it I couldn't leave it behind, Pink Gold wouldn't have been one that i would have picked up but because of the availability and the offer I chose it too.

I'm sure there are multiple ways of applying the eye creams, with brushes, sponge applicators or fingers. for these pots I've been using my fingers initially as it was much easier to put it onto my eye lids and then blend outwards.

I would think that as the pot gets lower I would have to change this tactic as otherwise I'm going to get my nails full of product!

You can see the eye shadows in the photos above without and with flash and they're both really subtle but with enough shimmer to show up. The On and On Bronze is definitely my favourite and its wearable for work and play, the Pink Gold is such a pretty colour but I don't think it suits me as much.

I absolutely love the colour of the bronze eye shadow, it was so easy to apply and looks great for every occasion.

The pink is shown below:

I just don't think this looks as good on my skin tone and colouring as the bronze, but I'm hoping to use it as a blush/highlighter as its a gorgeous pink colour that hopefully can be use in multiple ways!

If I could pick up some more of these I'd definitely try Everlasting Navy and Eternal Gold. I think they'd be great colours for summer and Turquoise Forever looks gorgeous for summer nights!

Have you tried the Maybelline Color Tattoo? Which colour is your favourite?

L xxx

Urban Decay Oz Palette: Glinda

Goooooooooooooooood morning!

I previously wrote about the Urban Decay Theodora palette from their 'Oz the Great and Powerful' range with Disney. You could read how much I loved it here, and therefore my need for their 'Glinda' palette was quickly solved by purchasing it with my birthday money.

I've no need to tell you really how much I love UD, they're a fantastic brand with amazingly pigmented eyeshadows and produce some of the most well known and sought after palettes on the planet.

On top of this I am a rather large fan of limited edition products particularly with a Disney/Fairytale/Bond theme, hence my obsession with these palettes, OPI Bond polishes and also their Oz collection.

So let's get to talking about Glinda. Clearly this is a photo heavy post so please be warned!

There are 6 separate eyeshadows in this palette, 2 of which are duos so you get even more for your money!

They are all completely brand new and very pretty, delicate shades.

The palette also contains a 24/7 eye liner in Rockstar and a Super Saturated Lip Colour appropriately named Glinda, as well as a 'Get the Look' card detailing how you can recreate the same look as Michelle Williams in the feature film.

So here are the beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeautiful shades that the palette contains:

Clockwise they are called:

Tornado - a shimmery deep aubergine colour
Aura - one of the duo shades containing a shimmery white and a shimmery pale icy blue
Magic - a beautiful pinky lilac colour
Illusion - peachy shimmery nude
Oz - the second duo eyeshadow contains a shimmery gold and silver
South - a shimmery dirty pewter colour

The photo is the same below but taken in natural light.

The 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil is in 'Rockstar' is described as darkest eggplant, more commonly known as aubergine to us Brits!

This is a super soft pencil that doesn't drag on the skin but leaves a beautiful clean line with great pigmentation.



Here is a look I created with the palette:



I covered by eye area using Illusion, lightened the inner corner using the white shade from Aura, applied South to the outer corner for definition in the crease area and Tornado to the lash line.



This was a really simple quick look that I applied before work one day as the colours blend easily enough for day wear and the purple adds the definition to make my eyes stand out more.



The Super Saturated High Gloss Lip Color is really natural looking but super glossy.

It's a great colour for work (when in comparison to the Theodora lip color!) and would suit so many skin tones.

As you can see its so natural but really pretty and feels so hydrating on the lips.

I LOVE these palettes for the range of colours that I wouldn't try otherwise, the GREAT pigmentation of the shadows, and the fact they come with lip pencils and eye pencils.

I love trying new products and with Urban Decay you know that they will be good value for money so I will continue for a loooooooooooooooong time to buy their new products!

What are your favorite UD products? Have you tried Glinda too?

L xxx

Review: Smashbox Smoke Box Eyeshadow Palette

Who doesn't love a smokey eye??
I think they're a staple look for any girl wanting to have a more dramatic look.
You can do a nude smokey eye for those times when subtlety is needed, go dark and mysterious with greys and blacks, pop with a flash of colour and sparkle the night away with metallics and glitters.

It's probably the most versatile look in the make up book!

Smashbox have brought out the absolutely wonderful Smoke Box which when I saw in CCO in Swindon's McArthur Glen I just had to snap it up.

Firstly the outer packaging looks really simple and I love that they show an image of the contents, it's always good to get a peek of what you're paying for.

I also love the 'colour wheel' type strip along the side showing the colours inside the palette and these are pretty true to form, aside from the metallic ones which don't have their metallic bits on!

The palette itself is as sleek and simple as you've probably come to expect from Smashbox. Similar to Mac they tend to leave their products do the talking and most people would agree that they 're both pretty awesome, so simplicity is key!

It may seem gimmicky to some, but I think keeping up to date with technology and putting a QR code on the back for a Get The Look video is pretty good. YouTube is booming with make up tutorials and its another way for publicity and getting products across to new people.

So inside the palette.

Above you can see there's a mirror that fills the entire size of the case, this I love!

Can always use a mirror like this when you're on the go which is perfect with this palette for day to night looks after work etc.

It also comes with a mini brush which I always ignore. I ignore them mostly out of habit as they're never big enough for holding product to get the look that you know you can achieve with bigger and better brushes but I keep it there for emergencies.

You can see the names of each colour above, I love Alabaster for a base as it's just slightly lighter than my skin colour so blends in perfectly and creates an even base.

Roast, Thunder and Seafoam are the metallic offerings in this palette with Roast being more glittery than the others. Blackout is a perfect matte black for blending and lining the eyes and blackcurrant is absolutely gorgeous.

The colour are swatched below on my arm.

L-R: Alabaster (almost disappears on my skin!), Thunder, Blackout, Roast, Blackcurrant, Seafoam.

Some colours are sheer like Seafoam and for some reason Blackout doesn't show up at all on my arm but when applied it does show up really dark but not as pigmented as Mac Carbon.

Here are some looks I created with the palette:

Using Alabaster as the base, I then applied Thunder over the main lid and Blackout to the crease, before applying Seafoam to the centre of the lid for shimmer.

This is a great easy smokey eye sticking to greys and silvers. The colours are really easy to blend and applied smoothly.

Below shows a second look:

Excuse my unruly brows here! 

This look uses Alabaster as a base again, Thunder on the inside lid, Blackcurrant on the outer corner and Roast applied to the centre for some shimmer.

This look can be worn for day time too and I love wearing it as its not a common colour but does look really nice and I get lots of compliments on it.

I do sometimes get some fall out from the product but luckily it doesn't stick to my face and brushes off easily but this can be annoying.

I feel like these pictures don't do the colours any justice though, Blackcurrant is a beautiful colour, as is Roast, Seafoam and Thunder.

Blackout could be more pigmented but when applied to the eye properly it does come out quite black.

Alabaster is a beautiful colour particularly on paler skin as it is a perfect base and blends in perfectly!

Have you tried any other Smashbox eye palettes?

Which is your favourite?

L xxx

Review: Sleek iDivine Ultra Matte V2 Darks Palette

A little bit late to the band wagon with this one but even so, it's my first ever Sleek palette and I felt it deserved a post!

This palette is the i-Divine Ultra Matte V2 which is the the Darks palette.

I have to say I quite like the packaging, the crushed eyeshadow pictures on the simple box and the sturdy black plastic packaging is something I quite like.

I normally leave the applicators that come with the palettes as they're never normally that good and I prefer brushes but I used this one for a little while and it did pick up the colour quite easily and the longer handle made it easier to use.

I will still probably use my brushes but if I needed to touch it up when I was out then this may actually do the job!

You can see from these photos the different colours in this palette and the names of them all below:

I feel like they are a good set of colours, different enough that none of them are samey but will also work really well together.

They are also the exact kind of colours that I will use!

Here's just a few more snaps as I got a bit camera happy with my first ever palette!

Now onto the important stuff....

Here are swatches from the top colours, and then the bottom colours follow after it:

I feel that the colours are really pigmented and show up really well considering I just brushed the top of each colour.

The only colour I was a bit disappointed with was Dune, it is a very light colour and doesn't same to be very pigmented and therefore doesn't seem to match the palette like the others do.

I'm sure you've seen these pictures before by another blogger but I needed to share my excitement at my very first Sleek eye palette.

I particularly love how the navy has come out, as well as the bottle green colour.

I've brought this palette with me to America and have so far been using it for all manner of occasions but I especially love it because I can use the black to line my eyes for every day wear and the brown to fill in my brows as it's the perfect colour for my almost black eyebrows!

What do you think of this palette? Do you prefer this one or V1 Brights?

I'm really impressed with my very first Sleek buy!

L xxx