My Favourite Makeup Geek Products

If you've read only a handful of my blog posts you'll probably have already realised that I'm head over heels for Makeup Geek.  A few months ago I even had Makeup Geek Week on here!
My latest YouTube video is all about my favourite products from Marlena's line, with swatches.

Read on to see some close-up swatches of my very favourite shades.

Shiro Seven Kingdoms collection review

Shiro overload!  So a few months ago...actually probably less than 2 months ago, I ordered 4 of the Seven Kingdoms shadows from Shiro.  Once they arrived and I had a play around I pretty much ordered the rest of the collection immediately.  I'm a big A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones fan so these shadows are cool as each colour is inspired by one of the characters.  While you can get smaller size jars of the shades, full-size was the only conceivable option for me as the full-size feature drawings by Robert Hendrickson of the show's characters.

 I'm so obsessed with these shadows at the moment that I don't really want to use anything else right now and couldn't concentrate on other posts until this one was done.  The collection features mainly neutrals that wouldn't be out of place in the ASoIaF/GoT world but that doesn't mean they are boring.  Quite a few of them are duochromes and, as I've mentioned before, duochromes get me really excited!  

Shiro's shadows are loose ones, so if you aren't used to using them there can be a bit of a learning curve, especially when it comes bringing out the sparkle in them.  As well as doing a '5 Looks with the Seven Kingdoms collection' post soon, I also plan on writing a guide on using loose shadows so hopefully that will help anyone new to the world of loose shadows.

Read on for swatches of all 15 shades in the Seven Kingdoms collection!

Cargo Vintage Escape Palette Swatches & Review

I heard about Cargo from Tati on YouTube and just assumed it was another US brand that we just couldn't get our hands on here in the UK.  One day, making my rounds of my local Debenhams beauty hall, I strayed a little further than usual and lo-and-behold found a small Cargo Cosmetics counter.  To my immense pleasure they stocked the Vintage Escape palette which Tati was raving about last autumn/winter.

The name combined with the colours make me think of my friend's b&b on the edge of Dartmoor where I quite often go this time of the year to get away.  The shades perfectly capture a walk through the countryside, with dying Autumnal leaves and a grumpy looking sky.

My Top Lip Tars

I have been planning to do a Lip Tar post for ages and I thought now was a great time as there will be an OCC booth at London IMATS this coming Saturday.

Lip Tars are a liquid lipstick made by Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics.  Unlike most liquid formulas they do not set and so feel more comfortable on.  They come in three types; Matte, Metallic and Stained Gloss. I mainly own Matte ones and while they have no shimmer, I wouldn't say they're matte as they have some shine to them. They have a slight peppermint smell and tingle.  Lip Tars are great for mixing, the formulas blend together perfectly and you can create a limitless amount of shades.  They are my favourite lip product by far.

It was so hard to pick out just five favourites.  I ended up going for ones that I find easiest to wear and go with a lot of looks. 

Zhora 

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.