Urban Decay Vice 2 Palette

Hi all!

I've got a palette review today which you've probably seen before on plenty of other blogs but lets be honest; Urban Decay do such beautiful palettes I needed to photograph its beauty and share with you my thoughts on another limited edition sold out blogger 'must have'.

Urban Decay Vice 2 is the most beautiful palette I've ever seen, and I know I say this often about UD palettes but it is gorgeous. It's also unlike any other palette that I own so I don't feel that it was too much of an unruly purchase....

The box itself is gorgeous, I do like swirly mystical patterns and this is no exception. It was handy as well to see all of the colours on the back with matching names...lush.

The outside of the palette is unique to each individual one; the technique used to create the swirling pattern enables them to ensure that no two will be the same...nice touch!

The button to open the case (shown above) is also inlaid with Urban Decay text, as if you'd ever forget the brand!
This then opens the palette lid slowly to reveal the most beautiful collection of pigmented shadows in existence.

I've taken the following photos both with and without flash so that you can see them in both lights. Unfortunately some have blurred slightly but you can still see the colours and names for each one.

There is a fabulous selection of both metallic, glitter and matte shadows and basically in any colour you could ever need. There are neutrals for day time, blues, greens, blacks and purples all for any kind of occasion you can imagine.

I have swatched the shadows on my fingertips below, they follow the palette in a downwards motion except the last picture which is the last column on the right (hopefully that makes sense!)

It also comes with one of their infamous double ended brushes. Their brushes are always made of very good quality bristles and in the future i hope to buy more of them, especially the face make up brush as I've heard so much about it!

I have so far created two separate looks with this palette, both at 6am before work so it was a little hard to take photos in such bad light.

However I took them anyway!

The above photos show me wearing Derailed, Poison and Smokeout, and the below photo shows the nudes; Dope, Ambush and Derailed.



The shadows are very pigmented and easy to use and the colours are very much true to the colour they appear. The only colour i found wasn't true was Dope which appeared to be a beautiful light shimmery beige colour (very much like MAC's Shroom) but turned out pink toned on my skin and didn't look good on me at all!

I'm not quite sure why this is but at least it's only one shadow that i will be unlikely to use out of the entire palette. My only other problem with it is that because this colour comes out darker and pinker than you first thought, there is no light shade to create a base. This is rather annoying at 6am when you're trying to apply your face before work and can't find a base colour! I obviously have others to use and this means I have to get another palette out....time I don't usually have in the mornings.

Aside from that I love the other colours and I'm sure I'll be using them a lot over the coming months/years.

As my first purchase from Beauty Bay in their Christmas sale I was impressed with the price (it was £33 instead of £42). However after it being dispatched on one day and supposedly being on their 2 days Tracked service I was VERY disappointed that this came 7 days later. After emailing to ask the whereabouts of my order as my tracking number didn't even work, I was pretty much fobbed off each time and after tweeting them they weren't much help either.

Can't say I'll be in a rush to order from them next time, or if I do I won't be expecting my 'tracked 2 day' postage to be turning up on time which in this day and age is pretty pathetic.


Have you ordered anything from Beauty Bay before?

What do you think of the Vice 2 palette? Should I have ordered Naked 3 instead or are you a colour fan?

L xxx

Latest in Beauty Glamour Beauty Edit

A few weeks ago I suggested that you snap up the Latest in Beauty Glamour Beauty Edit box before it sold out.

I thought I'd just do a quick run down of the products after using them for the past couple of weeks so you can purchase them yourself if you were interested in them. The box isn't available any more but all of the products can be purchased separately.

I'm a sucker for simple monochrome and gold is my metallic of choice so the box design was my absolute favourite of all of the boxes I've ever received before.
It also came with a 'menu' of the products inside which is pretty standard in beauty boxes but nonetheless informative.

The above tissue paper is the prettiest I'v ever seen; I've actually kept it safe. Weirdo!

Here's the products in the box in all their glory:

Philip Kingsley One More Day (dry shampoo)
Balance Me Radiance Face Oil
Toni & Guy Glamour Firm Hold Hairspray
Eyeko Lash Curler
Benefit They're Real mascara (deluxe sample size)
Maybelline Baby Lips
HD Brows Brow Palette in Foxy

The HD Brows Eye and Brow Palette came in the colour Foxy which was chosen as the best colour palette for the majority of people. I'd say this was correct as the colours can be chosen and mixed as required for your brows and the rest can be used to create a nude eye look for day time.

With my eye brows being almost black in colour, but my skin tone being rather on the pale side it's a hard compromise between looking like Madonna with massively black eye brows or non existent ones (which is quite laughable really).

This brow palette was worth £25 on its own and was the main reason I snapped up the box in the first place. I wasn't disappointed and although my brows are almost black; I actually end up using the bottom right colour (the darker brown) instead of the black/brown as it defines my brows without making me look like I've sharpied them onto my face.

Lots of thumbs up for this product, you barely need anything on the end of the brush, it stays on my face all day including through the gym and after a fair few weeks of usage I can honestly say it still looks the same as in the photos above. Worth the money!

I have to say, as far as eye lash curlers go I am not a fan of them. I am blessed in the lash department with long and thick lashes....but not blessed with lashes that can be curled.

However hard I try, my lashes do not budge. Any curl that is created lasts a few mere minutes and so I give up on using them. These would probably work really well for someone with normal eyelashes but mine seem to be industrially straightened!

The design is nice though and the fact it comes with extra pads is great, its very sturdy too and i can tell its good quality, but it's just not for me.

Balance Me Facial Oil - This is a great product, it's had many rave reviews and from my experience it smells amazing, rolls onto the skin evenly and sinks in like a dream. I've really loved using this and would consider purchasing it again.

Benefit's They're Real mascara - I've written about this before and still love it. I have quite a few minis in my collection now from magazines and the like so need to start using them more!

Philip Kingsley - As my first ever PK product I was excited to try it out as I've heard plenty about the brand. This is effectively dry shampoo and it had a great fresh smell (I hate strong smells). This worked really well to degrease my day old hair and does exactly what it says on the can - One more Day. I'm not sure I'd repurchase this as at £10.80 plus it is double the price of Batiste and they do just the same job.

Toni & Guy Glamour Firm Hold Hairspray - This was perfect to take away with my when i needed to create an up do for the Murder Mystery party we went to. As testament to its holding abilities I woke up with my hair still in a bun ring the next day after a few hours partying.....amazing.

Maybelline Baby Lips - Having already reviewed these i didn't have much excitement for another as I didn't feel like the first one did a lot for me. However this totally plain lip balm has become a staple in my lab coat pocket and has been great for hydrating my lips with all of the air con at the lab.

I have to say, paying £15 for this box was 100% worth it. I've got some favourite products (Benefit), some that I've wanted to try for a long time (HD Brows and Balance Me) and of course some nice surprises (PK and Babylips).

Did you snap up the box afterwards? Glamour have definitely got some of the favourites right don't you think?

L xxx

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer

Morning all!

I've been wanting to try Nars for ages. The blushes and bronzers are talked about a lot as is Sheer Glow Foundation. On a browse around John Lewis and a swatching session I tried the creamy concealer on my hand and was instantly hooked! It was so thick but blended out perfectly and knew it was only a matter of time before I caved.

I told myself I'd wait until Space NK did their next great offer but after accidentally ending up in there on a trip to London before Christmas I couldn't leave without it. Mine does already look dirty! I had to road test it before blogging and in the excitement of getting my hands on it i made it mucky!

The packaging does get dirty and stay dirty but to be honest it doesn't bother me. Make up is there to be used not look clean. I love that the concealers and foundations are all coloured the same way so it's easy to match foundation and concealer. The concealer comes with the doe foot applicator which I like for concealer. It makes it easy to apply enough under the eyes, doesn't waste product and makes it easy to scrap the last bits out of the tube.

I have the shade vanilla and it's the perfect match for me. It's thick but blends flawlessly out. Even though it's creamy I don't find it creases on me and lasts much better than others I've tried! I use it under my eyes and to conceal spots and it works equally well. 

You can see in the above photos my dark circles are easily concealed. In the first photo it's been on for 4 hours and is still holding well crease free!

I'm totally addicted to it already. I now need Sin blush. This will definitely be a repurchase for me, it really is worth the money!

Love M

xxx

Book Review: Rona Jaffe, The Best of Everything

As part of my 101 things list (you can find mine and L's lists on the right hand side) I've been wanting to read more and add more variety to my reading. I used to just read James Patterson and not a lot else. On a recent post EssJay from Mission Me Blog suggested doing some book reviews. It's something I've considered but wasn't sure if people would want to read.

When you're stuck in one genre of book I think it's hard to branch out to new types. I hate buying a book I struggle to get into. Lately I've been making myself finish all books I start which can make them more of a chore than reading for enjoyment.

In the summer I won a Benefit competition and this was part of the prize. I was intrigued and wasn't sure I'd enjoy this as it was written in the 1950s. I put it on my shelf for a while and when I moved fished it out to read. Apologies for the tattered appearance, I'm a page folder and spine bender when it comes to books!

I need to try and explain this without giving too much away. I'm usually really bad at keeping secrets. Firstly I love this book to read, the pages are thin and the font is the perfect size for me. Anything with tiny tiny font puts me off straight away. The book had me hooked easily though where the follows different peoples stories it is a little jumpy and does require attention at first to understand how all the characters link up.

Once I got into it I couldn't put it down. Think a classy sex and the city! I couldn't wait to finish it when I started and find out where the stories led. The book is about a group of girls who live and work in New York. It's set in the early 1950s and was really interesting to read how things were then.

I really enjoyed reading it and would definitely recommend it. It was a great easy read that once you get past the first few chapters you can easily pick it up and continue where you left off. I've enjoyed reading it tucked up in a blanket with a cup of tea but it would equally be a great holiday read.

I really want to read more by Rona Jaffe now. She has a great writing style that was easy to follow.

Hope you've enjoyed my first book review.

Love M

xxx

Review: Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic

Morning all!

We have a joint review for you today as we've both purchased Liz Earle's Instant Boost Skin Tonic.

We are both big fans of the Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser and couldn't resist picking up the skin tonic when it was on offer with the cleanser.

The Skin Tonic is a non drying toner that refreshes, soothes and brightens your skin all in one swipe.
It is alcohol free and extremely gentle on the skin. This surprised me as it is floral scented which often means that I won't like it and it will cause my skin to break out but it didn't.

You can buy this skin tonic in the 200ml bottle like we both have or in a spritz bottle so that you can spray it onto your face throughout the day as and when you need it.

The tonic contains multiple components to soothe the skin including aloe vera, chamomile, calendula and cucumber. It also contains essential oils such as geranium, lavender and sweet orange to restore and revive your spirits.

The instructions state to use the skin tonic morning and evening after cleansing and before moisturising as is with most toners.

As someone who isn't the biggest fan of toner it was a surprise to me that i enjoyed using it. As i have oily skin i was worried that it may react but it didn't, although I now save it for my evening routine as I prefer to use another in the morning.

I can't say that it has dramatically improved my skin but it smells gorgeous and is an extra step in ensuring my make up and any traces of cleanser are removed which is always welcome.

This costs £13.25 for the 200ml bottle but you can get the spritzer version for £13.50.

Have you tried the Skin Tonic? What is your favourite Liz Earle product?

I can't help but comment on the design of the bottle....the twisting up of the lid to get the product out looks far too much like a nipple! Whatever happened to having a flip top lid and pouring out the amount of product necessary?!

L xxx

I'm the opposite of L and absolutely love a toner. I'm totally addicted to Lush A Breath of Fresh air and have now got my brother hooked on it too. As I love cleanse and polish I was excited to try a more high end toner.

I love toner and the always use it. It makes my skin feel better and for me I find I break out of I don't use a toner. After loving cleanse and polish so much I did expect really good things from this toner. For me though I found it was just ok. I don't find it does anything better than my Lush one does. I do prefer the scent of this one and it does make my skin feel slightly better.

I think I'd prefer to have picked up the spritz bottle as the lazy person in me can't always be bothered to get cotton wool when I'm in bed. It does have a refreshing scent and doesn't leave skin feeling tight which is always a good thing.

I probably wouldn't pick it up again but that's purely because I'm addicted to my Lush one and have been for 3 years now,

Love M

xxxx

Beauty Rehab

Morning!

Hope you have a load of good plans for the weekend, when this goes live I will unfortunately be at work....boo hiss! But at least it's only for the morning and then my plan is to go hiking with my dad and dog up a local mountain, weather depending.

I've written quite a number of Beauty Rehab posts the past few years and I still enjoy writing them; essentially they're empties posts in order to try and encourage me to use up more of my products in  my stash.

Here's my first clear out for 2014, starting the year with a clean slate and hopefully a big increase on using up products from last year.

Cutex Polish Remover: I picked this up for my peeling nails hoping it wouldn't make them worse with all my nail painting; it was pretty good and they haven't got worse.
Coconut Creme Shower Gel: This was good, i like the smell of coconut but this was very sweet....it was like coconut sugar. Lasted forever though!
Origins Perfect World Cleanser: Just wrote a post on this last week, easy to use, no reactions at all and cleanses make up off, not very good at eye make up removal.
Aussie 3 min miracle: Another variety of the deep conditioning treatment, I will always love it for the effects and the price

Label M Shampoo: Smells sweet but lathered up easy and cleansed my hair without drying it.
Soap and Glory Pulp Friction: Amazing foaming scrub; love it especially on 3 for 2
Batiste: The best dry shampoo for price and quality, so many sizes and smells!



Avon polish: Supposed to help peeling but I don't think it worked so i used it as a top coat
Origins Starting Over Eye cream: Very moisturising and absorbs easily, thumbs up
Botanics Cleansing Balm: Loved this and would consider buying again...haven't used it in a while though and last time I looked it was mouldy!
Origins Brighter By Nature: Ready loaded cotton pads with enzymes on to remove dead skin like an exfoliating scrub would. Not sure how well they worked but they felt really nice to use, unfortunately they dried so quickly I couldn't even use them all.



Lavera Hand Cream: Organic and smells amazing, non greasy too
Clarins HydraQuench Cream: Love this, very hydrating but not too heavy
Nivea Hand Cream: Another hand bag essential, mini tubes are always helpful
Clarins Lotus Oil: Loved this too, would buy again in future. Smells like spa products



EOS Sphere: These are awesome and i used this until it went concave and I had to scrape it out...lush. Have quite a few left in my stash to use still from America!
Bourjois Volumizer mascara: Really liked the double wand idea, was good to have the option of one thin coat and maximising the volume in one mascara
Rimmel Stay Matte powder: Another fave, why pay more for pressed powder when this one is amazing for under a fiver!

Hope you enjoyed my quick run down, have you done your own empties post to start the year off fresh?

I've recently started another spending ban as I'm sure most bloggers will have after the Christmas sales. I cannot spend another penny on products and I'm aiming for my birthday at the end of March...but we will see how that goes!

L xxx

Origins: Perfect World Cleanser

Hello all!

Another skincare review for you today, I've been powering through my latest purchases and this beauty has been used for so long that I've actually almost finished it now, oops!

Origins have many ranges but Perfect World is one of their most popular.
We've previously used their moisturiser which were big fans of, particularly as its a great one for winter with its hydrating properties and also contains SPF 25 which as we all know is vital for anti-aging and skin protection.

Origins say:

This Origins perfect foaming face wash is formulated with nature's antioxidant White Tea. In a pre-emptive sweep, dirt-grabbing minerals combined with the gentle, skin-compatible cleansing action reach deep to help detoxify and free skin of harmful impurities. 

A Perfect World Antioxidant cleanser leaves the skin perfectly clean, smoothed and refreshed. 

Having used it for the past couple of months I can say that this smells beautiful, just like the moisturiser which I really enjoyed using. It is a calming smell and in the morning although I do like citrus and minty smells to wake me up this has been a lovely change.

This doesn't seem to foam quite as much as Checks and Balances, which I cannot help but compare it to as it was the first cleanser I used from Origins and therefore my first love.

This doesn't seem to be a problem however as my face did feel just as cleansed as with the other, but I did find myself using more of it to get the lather that I was used to.

I loved the way my skin didn't have any adverse reactions to this product whatsoever which is probably down the the palm, coconut and oat amino acid as they're 'skin compatible'.

I can't say that this has been anti-aging on me because I'm 25 and am yet to see measurable effects of a cleanser on my skin but I think the whole range combined will definitely help face the world and defy wrinkles for a while longer as it's very hydrating and fights the dreaded free radicals.

Packaging wise the only problem is remember to keep it upright so product will come out!

I've really enjoyed using this cleanser and think in future it would be great for when my skin gets more dehydrated, but currently I need Checks and Balances to combat my temperamental face with its dry and oily patches, which I picked up last week!

Which is your favourite cleanser? Do you have a favourite Origins product?

L xxx