Worth The Splurge

We all fall prey to hype and new shiny products, but sometimes they can fall a bit flat of what we expect. I like to read every written review and watch every video about a product before I buy it, just to make sure I know the negatives as well as the positives. I've therefore been pretty lucky when it comes to buying higher end products.

I had to think long and hard about the products I wanted to feature in this post. I wanted to include products that, when I was first starting to get into beauty, really wanted to know the truth about. 

MAC Eye shadows

When you first start to get into the world of beauty and cosmetics, the first brand you hear about is MAC. MAC isn't as expensive as most higher end cosmetics companies, but they still cost more than a £7.99 eye shadow quad from Boots. The fact of the matter is that MAC eye shadows are simply the best of the best. The pigmentation is amazing, they come both in pots and as pans for empty palettes, which is extremely handy, and they are long wearing. At £12.50 for the potted shadows and £10 for the pans, they are definitely worth paying a little bit extra for.

Urban Decay Naked Palette

One of the most hyped up products in the beauty world. With the new Naked 3 palette recently released, I think it's important to point out that these palettes are 100% worth the splurge. The pigmentation is amazing and all the shades can be worked together, giving you endless amounts of options. I've featured the original Naked palette because it is the one that I prefer for my skin tone. This is the warmer toned palette, but if you find cool tones suit you better, then the Naked 2 is for you.

MAC 217 Blending Brush

If you don't like to spend an exuberant amount on your brushes, you may be forgiven for avoiding MAC brushes. I myself don't own a great deal of them, but the 217 is a brush that belongs in every brush collection. Its super soft natural hair is the perfect brush for blending out your eye shadow, it makes blending feel effortless and gives amazing results every time. 

YSL Rouge Volupte Shine Lipstick

Despite it being the most gorgeous packaging ever created, the actual product is a dry lipped girls dream. These lipsticks are so creamy and the most comfortable lipstick to wear. The pigmentation is amazing and makes you feel like your living in the lap of luxury. Yes, they are extremely pricey for what they are, but if you are like me and find lipsticks usually uncomfortable to wear, then these are perfect. 

Clarins Blush Prodige Illuminating Cheek Colour

I'm not a big lover of blush; my blush collection is probably the smallest out of all my products. So when it comes to splashing out on blush I usually hold back, I've found such amazing blushes in the drugstore that I didn't feel I needed to spend more. But then I found this blush, the packaging drew me in at first but then I fell in love with the finish. This isn't powdery at all and goes on so smoothly and evenly, with uneven and freckled skin, I find that blushes can look very patchy on me. This can also be used in a multitude of different ways due to its mosaic design. 

So what products in your collection do you feel are worth splashing that bit of extra cash for?

October Lust List

1. Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation

I'm running out of my Revlon Colorstay foundation, which is my current full coverage foundation. I have terrible skin at the moment and prefer a more full coverage foundation to hide the army of blemishes. I've heard such good things about Double Wear and I'm eager to give it a test. 

2. NARS At First Sight Eye & Cheek Palette

NARS seriously need to stop coming out with such gorgeous palettes, every time I get an email from them telling me about all the beautiful products now available, my bank balance cry's a little. This palette looks so gorgeous for Autumn and looks like a good all rounder!

3. Hugo Boss Deep Red EDP

One of my all time favourite fragrances, I like to stray away and try different perfumes but I always go back to this. It is currently missing from my collection and I desperately need to give a bottle a home.

4. Dreamcatcher

My new student digs is looking pretty empty and boring and with my current obsession with anything Dreamcatcher, I am lusting after this one I found on good old Ebay. It would definitely add a bit of character to my boring walls.

5&6. Sleek Romance Collection: Blush in Antique and iDivine Vintage Romance Palette

I love the new Sleek Romance collection! The palette looks so beautiful and is full of shades perfect for Autumn. Sleek are my all time favourite drugstore brand, they have amazing quality products and I need to get my hands on these!

7. Watercolour Feather Tattoo

I've been debating getting a tattoo since I was 18 and have just never had the cahoonies to do it. I'm a bit of a wimp and I could never make up my mind what I wanted! I've been looking at the new watercolour style tattoo's that seem to be growing in popularity and they looks so beautiful! I'd love to be brave enough to get this little watercolour feather on my hip. 

What are you lusting after this October? 

Urban Decay Glinda Palette

I've had my eye on this special edition create your own palette by Urban Decay for months! This is 1 of 2 special edition Urban Decay palettes released for the film Oz: The Great And Powerful. I did want to get the Theodora palette originally (I'm more drawn to the darker toned shadows) but by the time I got the money to buy one they had all but disappeared from the shelves. 

The Glinda palette comes with a saturated lip color in Glinda and a super soft 24/7 eye pencil in Rockstar. Both I love, the lip colour is a really sheer rose pink and is so comfy to wear, it's also a lovely day colour. The liner is a dark purple,I've never tried any UD eyeliners and was really impressed with the staying power of this. Once it's on, it ain't coming off!

The Glinda has a lighter more airy feel then the Theadora palette, obviously it has to represent her 'Good Witch' status. I have to say though that as much as I love the shadows, I would have got more use out of the warmer Theodora palette. For example the shade Oz is pretty hard to wear, I'm not sure when I would ever wear a rich silver or gold shade. The shadows are however as creamy and pigmented as all UD shadows, Aura is a beautiful blue and pink iridescent, perfect for highlighting.

The palette also comes with a face chart complete with instructions, on how to create a Glinda inspired look. It uses all the shadows in the palette along with the liner and the lip colour. It's not a chart to create the look from the film like I thought it would be, but it definitely tells you how to use the palette to it's full potential. 

The main reason I bought this was because I loved that you can use the palette for any UD shadows. It's easy to pop them out and put your favourite UD eyeshadows in there. The tin is gorgeous and a perfect addition to my palette collection, where it will stay forever and ever!

RRP: £36.00

What do you think of the Glinda palette?  

 

July Lust List

I've been reading sooo many blogs lately that I have developed a rather long list of items I really really want to try. I thought I'd share some of the products that have really tickled my fancy. I am determined to own all of these by the end of the month! Money or no money (no money being the most likely). 

1. Gucci Premiere EDP - £45 30ml 

One of my all time favourite perfumes that I can never afford! I absolutely love the smell of this and often go into department stores just to take a sniff. Unfortunately it is extremely expensive, with the 30ml bottle costing a whopping £45! A girl can dream hey.

2. MAC Lipstick in Coral Bliss - £15

This is a MAC Lipstick that I've had my eye on for a while but just never seem to buy. With the prices of MAC lipsticks ever rising, it is getting harder and harder for me to be able to afford these luscious lippys. I am determined that I will own this, and soon. 

3. Moroccanoil Light Oil Treatment - £12.85 25ml

After trying the Organix version, I'm intrigued to see how it compares to the lord of all hair oil. Someone pointed out to me that the main ingredient of the Organix Moroccan Argan Oil was silicone, bad Organix! I want to see if the real stuff makes THAT much more of a difference. 

4. Dr. Jart+ Regenerating BB Cream - £21

Every beauty blogger and her dog has been praising this BB cream and I want to see why! There's 3 to choose from and the regenerating version is apparently the one that suits my sensitive skin the best. My skins been clearing up a lot lately and I want something that I can slap on when nipping out, this might just be the answer.

5. REN F10 Smooth & Renew Peel Mask - £20

I have Little Red to thank for this. After reading her review I was immediately hooked. I find it hard to find masks that agree with my sensitive skin, this one is apparently fine and dandy! I'm always after something to give me smooth radiant skin and this looks rather tempting. I have seen this in the REN Sensitive Skin Starter Set for £19, so I may buy that so that I can test out a few REN products at the same time. 

6. Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Mask - £23.95 250ml 

Another product I've seen featured on many blogs. I haven't tried any Macadamia products as of yet and I love a good hair mask. With growing my hair out, I'm constantly on the lookout for products to keep my hair healthy during the growing out process. This looks a good a place as any to start testing out Macadamia products.

7. Urban Decay Glinda Palette - £36

I very nearly bought this instead of the Naked 2 palette, I've wanted to get my mitts on this since the day it came out! I think the main appeal of this for me is the idea of a reusable palette. The packaging is so beautiful and would be a great addition to my collection that I could use again and again. Plus you get a pencil liner and a lip crayon! 

Have you tried and tested any of these products? Would you recommend them?

Urban Decay Naked Palette Vs Naked 2!

I uploaded a video to my YouTube channel yesterday, talking a bit about the both the Urban Decay Naked and Naked 2 eye shadow palettes. I recently bought the Naked 2 and have been wanting to do a sort of comparison review for ages!

I will link the video down below; I talk about both palettes in a lot more detail in the video.

So first up is the Naked Palette. I got this a few months ago for my birthday and it is much loved. I’m really not a fan of the packaging for practicality reasons. The dark velvet lends it self to get very messy very quickly and it also feels a bit flimsy as its basically just cardboard with a magnet to hold down the lid.

The shadows in this palette however are my favourite out of the two. I know everyone love love loooves the Naked 2, but for me and my colouring I find the warmer shades of the Naked a lot more flattering.

Moving swiftly on to the Naked 2 palette. I love the packaging of this palette; it upsets me that the Naked palette isn’t in the same sturdy tin that this is in. It has clips on either side of the lid to make sure the palette stays firmly shut, so no accidents in your suitcase.

The shadows in this palette are all lovely, but there are one or two that really look awful on me. For example Foxy is a slightly yellow toned neutral shadow, one of the two matte shadows in the palette. However it does not look nice with my skin tone, it’s far too yellow. Like every palette there are ones I love and ones I hate, so let me end with a positive. The one shadows that I have found I lean more towards are Blackout and Snakebite. Snakebite is a gold toned brown and makes blue eyes really pop. Blackout is the perfect, rich matte black every girl needs. It is perfect for smoking out the lash line.

The actual quality of these shadows are pretty good. The pigmentation is fantastic and all of them give excellent colour pay off. My only found flaw with these shadows, in both palettes, is that they do have a problem with fall down. If you make sure you really tap off the excess that is on your brush before applying, you shouldn't have too much of a problem.

As to whether you should own both of these wonderful palettes or just one, that really depends on a few things. Do you have a warm skin tone or a cool skin tone, and do you prefer you shadows to contrast with your skin tone or blend. 

The Naked is the cool toned palette and looks better on cool toned skin, but there are some shadows that work with warmer skin tones. The same goes for the Naked palette only it is a warmer toned palette. I prefer the Naked palette purely because it has more shadows in it that make my blue eyes pop! 

I would recommend getting both purely to have options. As a pair they cover all bases but it really depends on if you feel you would get good use out of both, as they’re not cheap.

RRP of £36 each ($50USD, $60AUD, €42.30EUR)

P.S. Don't forget to vote for me in the Best In Beauty Competition! Just go to this video http://youtu.be/OymQzZOW_9c and type my name in the comments section! <3 *competition closed

My MAC Neutral Palette!

Before I dived into the world of MAC makeup, I did a lot of research into what eye shadow shades other bloggers have in their neutral palettes.

If you’re a complete MAC newbie like I was, getting an empty palette and creating your first ever MAC neutral palate, is a great way to get your foot in the high-end makeup door. There are soooooo many MAC shadows it can be a bit daunting as to which ones to buy first. I’ve found a mixture of other blogger recommendations and having a good swatching sesh at a MAC counter, to be the best way to decide which shades to get.

Hopefully this will be helpful to someone, so here we go! I have a 15x palette, which is home to the majority of my MAC neutrals. I also have a little quad that I change up and keep in my everyday makeup bag; you’ve probably seen this little guy in my videos. 

 
So lets start with my lighter shades and move onto the darks.

From left to right: Crystal Avalanche, Gesso, Vanilla, Brule, Omega, Naked Lunch

From left to right: All That Glitters, Sable, Jest, Swiss Chocolate, Woodwinked, Satin   Taupe

                                  From left to right: Mulch, Handwritten, Brun

I also have two shadows that don’t fit into my main palette so are currently living in my quad.

 From left to right: Grain, Cork

I hope this was helpful, I know I found it helpful to look at similar posts when building my neutral palette. Over time you will get more familiar with MAC shades and will probably be able to decide which shades to get without any hesitation. Good luck on building your palette!