MAC Cinderella Fluidline Eyeliner Gel: Little Black Bow

Morning!

A few weeks ago my amazing friends got me some lovely gifts for my birthday - MAC is always a lush present to receive right??
They got me both of the items below, the limited edition Cinderella Fluidline Eyeliner and the Toledo Ombre Blush. I will come to the blush in a separate post so this one is for the Cinderella liner.

If I'm honest I can't say the packaging excited me that much. I loved the look of the eyeshadow palette but that's maybe because it has Cinderella plastered across the front!
I just didn't feel like it was as magical as it could have been - though it is a pretty blue and matches the dress that she wears in the film. It needed a little more sparkle in my opinion!





The MAC Fluidline Eye-Liner Gel is called 'Little Black Bow', and is classed as a grey liner with silver pearl.

It's quite a dark grey liner gel with silver glitter particles, though it isn't gritty. It's one of those shades that can be used as intended as an eyeliner, but also as a cream eyeshadow. The texture is very smooth and has a sheen finish, it's a thin gel so applies really easily regardless of your application.

So for application as a eyeliner gel, how does it look?

I applied this using the Real Techniques liner brush, it was super easy to get a perfect flick considering I haven't worn eyeliner for a good few months recently. It may need a few layers to get a decent uniform effect but I didn't find it was too much of an problem.
I normally love liner but it's too fiddly for work and I haven't had any occasions for anything different.

I liked this in the pot but I wasn't sure I'd get much wear out of it. Having used it a few times now I can say that I surprisingly love it and it's a beautiful alternative to a black. I could in theory wear this grey to work as its a great subtle alternative to black (though maybe the glitter wouldn't be ideal....)



I was also impressed with how well the liner lasted too, it didn't smudge or budge all day and I think that wearing it alone as I have above or with a subtle or full blown smokey eye would be a really nice alternative to a black, especially for summer nights out when minimal make up is the best option.

What do you think of Little Black Bow?

I love receiving limited edition products but they can be hard to write about especially as they sell out so fast! Allegedly this has been brought out before under a different collection but a dark grey liner is generally a good addition to any make up collection.

Do you wear dark grey instead of black liquid liner? Do you buy from MAC limited edition collections?

I normally lust after them as they sell out!

L xxx

Urban Decay Pulp Fiction Palette

There's not a lot to say in this post because to be perfectly honest, just look at these bad boys.

LOOK AT THEM

The packaging itself is amazing as it is and when I randomly went to buy something from the Urban Decay counter and was shown these I promptly put my name down for them when they were allowed to sell them.
How on earth had this amazing collaboration escaped my notice??

I'm a huge Tarantino fan, its something that me and my brother actually agree on and having bought him the box set many years ago i still steal them now. 

The orange and red writing stands out on the black box and it all looks so striking I'm surprised I didn't snap up the entire collection. But having put my name down for the palette, the only product they were allowed to reserve and the others being sold on a first come first serve basis I legged it into Cardiff on the morning and snapped up the lipstick and liner to match. Oops!

Here's a sneak peek of what's to come, I do love it when they show a swatch of the colours inside and give their names. Names always make things better don't they??

Here's a close up of the text:

Inside is the card I always look forward to reading when purchasing a limited edition palette from UD. The tips and tricks are always good to follow and give you an idea what they colours were there for; if only for you to totally break the rules and do your own thing anyway/

Be Cool Honey Bunny.

The attention to detail, as always, with these collaboration products always astounds me but this time I've been completely blown away.
My brother loves the quote below and even he was slightly impressed with how cool it all was (and as a mixed martial arts fan make up REALLY isn't his thing).

I really did just marvel at it for a while before even opening it, the packaging was just too special. I'm not sure I could have designed it better myself, although the paper packaging does worry me for long term usage but only time will tell what that will be like.

I always love the inclusion of a mirror with these products, it's a lovely touch and means it's a lot easier to use them on the go and travel with them.

Here are the four shades with accompanying names and brush. I'm not sure what I think about the brush to be honest, the quality was better than i thought it would be from first glance but I still find them too small to be of any use. I'm sure I'll be grateful for it when using the palette on the go though and for touch ups it should come in handy.

Righteous was the main reason for me buying this palette. As a firm Theodora palette fan ( I use it EVERY DAY without fail) which was also limited edition I was beginning to get worried after hitting pan on the lightest colour called Broken. It's the perfect colour for me and after telling the lovely Haddie on the counter in the Cardiff store she showed me these.

It's not a perfect match but it will certainly fill the gap in the 'limited edition' section of my collection. Or something like that.

Righteous can be described as a light cream colour and is matte.

In fact all of these colours are quite similar to the Theodora palette and so that was how I justified it to myself really, as I know that I should use all of the colours in it almost every day.

Tyranny is a lovely warm brown and is very pigmented and also matte. I didn't think I'd like this one on me but again I was surprised and it blends with so much so easily.

Vengeance is a colour I love, described by Temptalia as a deep taupe brown matte satin, which is quite a mouthful really. The colour is amazing and similar to Theodora's Bewitch, though you need so little I'd be surprised if this ever runs out!

Furious and Anger is the only duo colour. Furious is similar to Venus from the Naked Basics palette and Anger is similar to Crave but has a slight shimmer added as they are both satin shades. 

I've been using Furious on the inner corner of my eye and Anger to line the outer corners and they've both worked really well.

Here are swatches:

You can see Righteous is a little less pigmented than the others, this was a little disappointing as it was the colour I was most excited about but nevertheless I'll just have to use more!

Furious can be seen below, a lovely white satin colour:

Swatched on the back of my hand you can see the colours a little better, But how does it look on the eye itself??

Below shows Righteous and Tyranny on the eye (left) and Vengeance in the right picture.

Above shows Furious and Anger applied also. Its extremely wearable for a limited edition palette and this surprises me as well as lots of other reviews I've read online.


I can see me wearing this a lot and I've already been wearing it to many outings; see below for a recent picture with the Mia Wallace liner and lipstick on also:

The longevity of the lipstick is phenomenal, but that's for another post.

What do you think of limited edition collaborations? Are you a Pulp Fiction fan?

Would you snap up the eyeshadow palette or another product in the range?

L xxx

Benefit: Groovy Kind-a Love Make Up Kit

Hello!

I'm sure you've all seen the fantastic Christmas sets from Benefit this year, if not here's a link for you to browse at your leisure!

I have already purchased one of the tins (Love me B.right) which I will be reviewing very soon, but I couldn't resist but snap up this palette as well...

Groovy Kind-a Love is a beautiful palette containing an assortment of products. The back of the box shows the products, colours and names as below:

What excited me most was the dual blusher and the 4 eyeshadow colours, I don't own any eyeshadows from Benefit so I was really looking forward to trying them out.

It also contains the ever amazing Porefessional, Benetint and They're Real which I am a huge fan of.

The tin itself is small and beautifully formed, the pattern and outside images are really pretty and this would be great as a gift.
The inside is also displayed very well and would be a handy weekend kit or gift for someone who has never tried Benefit products before; or even for yourself as a payday treat like mine was. I'm such a bad saver!

Here's a closer look of the palette.

I love the arrangement and that the eyeshadows are in colour order, it would annoy me intensely if they weren't!
I also love that it comes with brushes making it a great kit for on the go or taking away with you.
Plus multi purpose products such as Benetint for lips and cheeks are great value too.

After applying my base as usual I then used the Dandelion and Gimme Fever blushers to give my face some colour and definition:

It's a beautiful colour and the shimmer is just enough to look like my skin has a glow but isn't glittery.
It's a gorgeous colour and I wish you could buy Gimme Fever separately!




I applied the eyeshadows in colour order, with Tickle My Ivory on the inner corner and Gilt-y Pleasure over the rest of the lid:



Shimmer Down was then applied to the crease and Kiss Me I'm Tipsy along the upper lashline:





These are such beautiful colours that can be worn day or night. They're perfect neutral colours for any outfit and occasion and I can see them getting a lot of use from me!

With They're Real applied the look is complete:






I do love how my lashes look with They're Real. They're lengthened, volumised and curled so I really cannot complain! I'd purchase this all the time if I could afford it but for the mean time the miniature versions are keeping me going as I've had a few different sets.



With Benetint applied as well this is a look I can see myself wearing regularly as it's pretty but chic.
I love the eyshadow colours a lot!

Do you like the palette from Benefit? It costs £29.50 and you can get it from Boots and Debenhams.

It's a great present for someone if you're stuck for something to buy and I would have loved to have received it if I hadn't have snapped it up myself already...

I've got my eye on Gimme Some Lovin' with Hoola and They're Real in, and also It's a Love Fest with Porefessional and Sun Beam (both £39.50)

Fingers crossed my mum will listen to my hints! Which would you put on your Christmas list??

L xxx