A palette a day - week 1

Every day in July I will be using a different eyeshadow palette to do my eyes, with no help from other shadows.  I tried this in January 2014 and it went well except for 4 days in hospital and then a few more in bed.  I'm trying it again, mainly to unearth palettes I've forgotten about.  I have more than 31 palettes (shock! horror!) so to keep it fair I've written them all on paper and pick one out at random each day.

Each Monday (or Tuesday if I'm late like now), I will do a round-up post of the week's looks.  Obviously July didn't start until Wednesday so I have just five looks today.  I'll show you which palettes I used and which shades.

Debu(t)ary: 5 Looks with the Nars Dual Intensity Palette

NARS Dual Intensity Palette

To go with my review of the Nars Dual Intenisty palette here, I thought I would show you some of the looks I've created using it.  All of these are what I would call work-friendly, but maybe most wouldn't.  Anyway, nothing too dramatic.

Debu(t)ary: NARS Dual Intensity Palette

I've been wanting to try Nars' Dual Intensity eye shadows ever since they first released but was holding out at as £21 a shadow is quite a lot of money!  I was super excited to see they were bring out a palette of these shadows as it included a few I'd had my eye on.  At £45 it is still quite an expensive palette but I was lucky enough to have a gift card and so took the plunge.

The draw of these shadows is that they work really well wet or dry (the clue is in the name).  Unlike most shadows, their quality is not impaired when you use them wet, it doesn't form a cakey top layer.  They are shimmery when dry and highly metallic when wet, so if you are only a matte fan then this is probably not the palette for you.

What to get in the Illamasqua SALE

Illamsqua shadows Vapour, Pivot, Burst and Vulgar

Illamasqua is one of my favourite brands and it is so exciting every time they have a sale.  They're a fairly pricey brand but their sale are always excellent, this one starting at 50% off.  I thought I'd round-up what I can recommend from what's on offer at the moment.  I made a few purchases from the sale currently on and there are some things I've bought from them before.  

My Favourite Makeup Geek Shadows

Clockwise from top left: Unexpected, Stealth, Burlesque and Rockstar

I am so in love with Makeup Geek shadows.  I had seen them all over YouTube and Instagram so had a pretty good idea of what colours I wanted.  You order the singles and then arrange them in a palette yourself.  I have mine in a large Z Palette. I made my first order about two months ago so have done lots of playing.  I bought enough colours to made for pretty much unlimited combinations so I haven't been straying from them much.  All of the different textures blend beautifully and there are some really unique colours.  I highly recommend the shadows in general and I can't wait to get more.  I thought a great way to introduce them would be to show off my four current favourites,  I've loved using these colours together as well as with the other shades

5 Looks with the Cargo Vintage Escape Palette

As promised in my review of the Cargo Vintage Escape palette, here are 5 looks I've made using it.  I've put the photo of the palette above so you can see what I used where.

All the looks are of course quite neutral and while I would consider them all suitable for everyday maybe a few of these wouldn't be for you as I'm quite comfortable with more-is-more.

A lot of the shades are perfect as a wash of colour by themselves.

Illamasqua Once Collection

Illamasqua Once Collection

Last Friday Illamasqua released their Autumn collection: Once.  It features a fairly small selection of muted, ethereal shades that I think really enhance natural beauty and combines new products with a few re-promotes. The imagery for the collection is some of their best yet and features a very Marie Antoinette-looking woman wearing a modern twist of pastel blue Converse.

Giorgio Armani Blogger Event

I was kindly invited to a beauty bloggers event at the Giorgio Armani counter in the Cardiff Debenhams this past Thursday.  Having never tried any of their makeup before (I'm usually too scared to even look at the posh-looking counters) I thought it would be an excellent way to to be introduced.

Topshop Chameleon Glow Eyeshadows: Review and Looks

Despite having a few very good make up items from Topshop, I always seem to forget about their range.  Every now and again I wander in and discover something new and amazing.  Like this week.  I am such a fan of finding things that are unlike anything else I have in my collection.  The Chameleon Glows are such a product.  Part of Topshop's Festival collection, they are powders than can be used anywhere to create a "multi-dimensional, iridescent finish".  Basically they are beautiful duo-chrome eyeshadows (I think they're a bit too chunky to be used anywhere else).  Of course I couldn't choose between them and got all three.

Colourful Cut Crease with Sugarpill

On Saturdays I like to be a bit more colourful that usual as I'm not in work, yay. This is a recent look, which I've called a cut crease for lack of anything else to call it.

I wish I had taken step-by-step photos for this look but I was not planning on making a post about it.  I didn't know just how well it would turn out!  I based it on a look I saw on Instagram that I really did not think I would be able to recreate successfully (unfortunately cannot find the original but if I do I will edit this).  I love the look and thought it would be pretty awesome to give a thumbs up to Sugarpill as they'll have a booth at this year's London IMATS, YES!

...It is so annoying when I don't realise there was a mascara smudge until I see the photos!

5 Looks with the Naked 3

I've heard some friends say that they loved the look of Urban Decay's Naked 3 palette but that they weren't sure how to use it.  I have been loving it for a few months now so I have devoted the last week to the palette, coming up with looks for this post.

I think it's an easy palette to use.  Strange is the perfect highlighting colour for under the brow and around the tear duct.  It's hard to go wrong if you stick to the general idea of lighter colour over the lid, darker colour in the outer V and blended out with a mid-tone into the crease.  That's been the base for most of these looks.

For all of these looks I used either Urban Decay Primer Potion, original formula, or MAC's Paints in Sublime Nature.  I used Too Faced's Better Than mascara in most, if not all, of the looks.  My brows throughout are filled with Illamasqua Brow Cake in Thunder.  The double-ended brush that comes with the Naked 3 is quite good but I feel like you need a good blending brush and maybe a little smudger/pencil brush too.

My Favourite Spring Pastels

Illamasqua Tremble, Sleek Sweet Cheeks,  Max Factor Soft Pink

Spring is here, or almost anyway.  Our Bank Holiday was lovely and sunny and I may have ventured on a picnic, shame about the week of rainy showers since.  I'm a bit of a sun-scared weirdo who largely wears the same clothes all year round but when the sun comes out I do tend to change my makeup to suit.  Think floral mermaid unicorn and you should have the right colours in mind. Here are the products I like for cheeks/eyes/lips this time of the year.

Magnificent Copper Review

If you saw my Revolution haul you would have seen their Awesome Metals in Magnificent Copper (£4/5).  Immediately I wondered if it was a bargain dupe for Stila's Magnificent Metals (£33.50), which I am yet to try.  In both cases you have a cream eye shadow that you transform with a liquid primer in the provided tray to make the colour super metallic and shiny.

Budget Brand! Revolution Haul

L-R Acid Brights and Matte Brights

When I heard about Revolution, a new brand being sold by Superdrug with prices comparable to MUA's, I wanted to try their products right away.  There is no counter in my local Superdrug (yet) so I ordered on their website and they delivered to the store in 3 days.

Back in the Day with Urban Decay

For my first proper post I wanted to do something a bit special and close to my heart.
Urban Decay were the cause of my love affair with makeup.  Until I met their products I only ever wore black eyeliner and black eyeshadow that I applied with a foam applicator.  10 years ago all of that changed when I saw their colourful display in Boots.  Ahhhh I fondly remember there frequently being a 3 for 2 offer on their counter.  Those really were the days.
Seeing as their new Electric palette (officially due out tomorrow although I may already have it) is harking back to their vibrant roots I thought it would be fun to look at some of the first items I bought from the brand.