Depotting Illamasqua Eyeshadows into a Z Palette

I love my Illamasqua eyeshadows, Like really love.  I rarely use just a quad for a look though, I like to mix and match between the quads and monos and it can all get a bit cumbersome and finnickity and so I find I don't use them as much as I would like to.  Enter the Z Palatte (and all others like it of course).  It's a magnetic palette with a clear top which you can store your eyeshadows in.  You can buy pans at MAC, Inglot, Makeup Geek etc but for other shadows it's a case of digging out of the packaging, or 'depotting'.  I had read and watched many tutorials on how to do this but was still daunted.  I tried it a few months ago with not the best success but last night felt determined to try again.  Armed with slightly different tools, it was a breeze...almost.

Read on for how I did it and what my final Z Palette looks like.

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

Benefit Vs Maybelline Gel Liner Pens

Maybelline Gel Liner pen

 I was intrigued when I saw the Benefit They're Real Push Up Liner which is gel liner in a flexible nib.  It's quite expensive at £18.50 and I was pretty sure it was just a gimmick so wasn't willing to splurge.  Enter the Maybelline dupe, the Lasting Drama Black Shock Gel Liner (why all the long names?) which at £8.99 I was willing to try.  

Benefit Cheeky Sweet Spot blush set

So good my cat just demanded to be included.

The trouble I had getting this set! Okay, I exaggerate, it was only about half an hour of hurriedly walking around but at the time it seems like beauty life or death.  All the effort was for this, Benefit Cheeky Sweet Spot which contains 6 of their powder blushes and 1 cream highlight.  As soon as I saw the first images of this online I was excited as I've only tried one of their blushes before.  I went to to get it as soon as it came out, at the end of September but it was already sold out in our Boots and Debenhams but I struck gold in House of Fraser. 

Enough babble, see how good it is for yourself.

OCC Loose Colours swatches and look

OCC Loose Colours in Twirl, Obscure, Oberon and Wasabi

About two months ago I bought some OCC Loose Colours, mainly inspired by reviews by people who had bought some of them at IMATS this year.  I am completely obsessed with all things duo-chrome at the moment so three of my four picks have that quality.
I bought Twirl, Obscure, Oberon and Wasabi,  Read on to see close-ups,  swatches and a look using most of them.