Urban Decay Naked Palette

Every beauty enthusiast and her mother knows about or owns the Naked Palette. I bought a whole bunch of Urban Decay products not too long ago and it's about time that I share my thoughts on this palette after having a bit of a play with it.

The packaging on the product is really unique but I personally don't like the velvety feel on the case because it is hard to clean if you spill your other makeup on it. I don't think that the packaging is practical enough with just magnets on the flap lid but that doesn't bug me too much because I know that I won't travel with this palette.

Inside is a really clear mirror on the lid which is really practical and it also comes with a Good Karma Eyeshadow Brush which made me really happy because I would have been disappointed if this gorgeous palette came with those silly little applicators that no one likes. The brush itself is really dense and feels like good quality and I think it picks up quite a bit of product from the pan unless the shadow itself is less pigmented than other shades. I use this brush to pat my eyeshadows on before blending it all out and I think it can even be used as a concealer brush.

The palette consists of 12 "bronze-hued"shades that can be paired in any combination ranging from a natural to sultry look. There are more shimmery type shades than matte shades in this palette which is a little disappointing but other products such as the Urban Decay Basics Palette is FULL of mattes which I love, makes up for that. The shimmer shades are super pigmented and I fount that when I was swatching, some of the mattes weren't as pigmented and creamy as I would have liked them to be.

I didn't experience that much fall out, but I would just recommend using a primer underneath. Which is lucky because the Naked Palette comes with a sample size Urban Decay Primer Potion which is fantastic for those who want to try out this product but don't want to spend too much moolah. If you use the shadows with a primer the colour stands out more and the mattes have more colour pay-off.

All photos were taken with natural light and no photo editing has been done. For each swatch I swiped once up and down in the pan and swiped once on my arm that had no primer or foundation. I think that this way you can see it's "true" colour.

During the day I like to wear "Virgin" on the inner corner of the lid and on the brow bone as a highlight, "Naked"on the lid and "Buck" in the crease and sometimes "Hustle" in the outer V to define my lid. The only issue I have is that I don't use all the colours. I rarely use dark, smokey colours on my eyes and I find that I don't really have a use for "Creep" and "Gunmetal". I might in the future.. but for now, not so much.

I do think that the Naked Palette is well worth the hype. The texture and pigmentation on these shadows are such good quality and it shows through how they apply and last. You can really create so many different looks due to the range of light to dark shadows. I do love this palette and I have high expectations for the other Naked Palettes by Urban Decay.

What is your favourite combination from the Naked Palette?

xx

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MAC Stroke of Midnight Eye Bag: Nude

I purchased a Stroke of Midnight set from MAC not too long ago and I can't believe I have waited so long to talk about it. Unfortunately it is limited edition so I'm not entirely sure if they are still stocking this set. MAC had a whole range of different sets to choose from and I decided on getting the Stroke of Midnight Eye Bag in the colour Nude.

The bag is black with a white geometric pattern finished off with gold piping and I absolutely LOVE it because it looks so sleek and classy. It's the perfect size for my bag and I could even use it as a purse for when I go out [HAAAAAAH}.

In the bag I got a Pro Longwear Paint pot in "Utterly Becoming" which is creamy pinky-beige and I have been using this every time I do my makeup because its such a natural colour that I use it under shadows as a primer to make the colours stand out more or I use it on the lid on its own. I like to think of it as a matte version of "Naked Lunch" WHICH IS MY FAVOURITE!!

I also got a Fluidline in "Past Twilight" and MAC describes it as a blacked plum and in the pot it looks brown toned with a hint of purple. I always use black eyeliner and I recently dipped my toe into using other colours {ahem, okay it was just brown but still..}. I think this Fluidline offers a more softer look than a harsh black gel liner.

To apply both of these products, there is a Double-Ended 209 Eyeliner/ 239SE Eye Shader Brush which is handy. I haven't used it too much because I found that it was easier to apply the Paint Pot on my lids with my fingers. The 209 Eyeliner part of the brush is a thin tip rather than some eyeliner brushes I have at home which have a rounder shape.

There is also the Extreme Dimension Mascara which I have not opened yet because I have WAY too many mascaras that are open at the moment - I would rather use all of them up before opening a new one. From reviews I read, the brush is very prickly and is supposed to create both volume and length.

Did any of you manage to pick up any of the MAC Stroke of Midnight Sets?

xx

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A little NYX haul

Powder Blush {Dusty Rose}

After nearly every Australian beauty blogger going crazy about NYX being sold in Target, I thought I would jump on the bandwagon - better late than never right? I went to the city and decided to check out the NYX display and I was pretty excited. I didn't know what to look at first and I didn't have any idea about which products that I wanted to buy. So after spending about 20 minutes looking and swatching everything, I finally decided on some things that I'm rather happy with.

Super Skinny Eye Marker: I was in desperate need of a new black liquid eyeliner and I tend to lean more towards the marker type so I picked up the Super Skinny Eye Marker in black. As the name suggests, it has a thin marker which makes it easy to create thin lines.

Jumbo Eye Pencil {Milk}:  I also picked up a cult favourite, the Jumbo eye pencil in the shade milk. Everyone loves and raves about this product so I thought I would try it out.

Powder Blush {Dusty Rose}: I am pretty bad at picking blushes because they all look the same to me. I had my mum with me that day so she picked it out for me because I didn't know which shade looks the best on my face. It's a pretty natural looking blush and it gives my face the little extra colour its looking for.

Mega Shine Lip Gloss {Nude Peach}: I was deciding between this and the butter glosses but there were too many shades of the butter glosses to choose from and so I just ended up picking up the Mega Shine Lip Gloss in a similar colour that I have at home and love.

What would you recommend from NYX?

xx

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Essie: Bachelorette Bash

Essie's "Bachelorette Bash" is a bright creamy fuchsia/magenta colour and is apart of the 25th Anniversary Collection. It applies like a dream and the end finish is very glossy and I would say it lasts a pretty long time {I can't give exact dates because I always manage to chip my nails within 24 hours D: }. Essie nail polishes have really nice colour pay off and this particular colour wasn't streaky at all. Two coats makes it opaque but I always apply three just for safety.

I bought this not long ago and I think it's a lovely colour for summer because it's so bright and it makes my hands look extremely tanned which is nice. The colour in the bottle doesn't give the shade justice because it's absolutely gorgeous on. I bought it just thinking it was another shade of pink, NONO I was wrong. It has become my ultimate favourite nail polish colour {aside from mermaid blue}.

What do you think of this colour?

xx

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NARS Limited Edition Blush: Final Cut

Whilst in Melbourne I took a not so quick visit to Mecca Maxima and was on the hunt for another NARS blush. I had no idea where to start because I'm terrible at picking shades so I asked one of the ladies to help me out. She took me over to a display which had some new products from NARS called the Final Cut Collection which had some beautiful shades of pink in both blushes and lip crayons.

I picked up the blush called "Final Cut" and it's a matte peachy-coral colour which is something that I don't really lean towards when choosing a blush, I'm more of a pink gal but hey I wanted to try something new and not get something similar to what I already own. At first I wasn't sure about the colour but then the lady at Mecca Maxima tried a little on my face and I instantly loved it. It's very sheer compared to other NARS blushes which I love because it gives a flushed look to the face and it is very build-able. I've never owned a matte blush and I like it so far because I find it more natural looking than blushes that have shimmer in it.

I really like the colour of this blush and I tend to wear it more with a red lip because they compliment each other so well. The Final Cut Blush Collection has four beautiful shades and they are available online at Mecca Cosmetica.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the Final Cut Collection
xx

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Benefit It's a Love Fest

In December my mum and I went shopping and we walked past a benefit counter in Myers and decided to stop and check out what they had. I had my eye on the "It's a Love Fest" holiday gift and my mum spontaneously bought it for me which was so lovely of her to do and I'm so grateful. As I mentioned this tin was apart of Benefit's holiday collection so I'm not sure if they are still selling them but I just wanted to share this with you.

First of all, I just want to say how cute is the tin?! It has a pop art print on it and I actually love that art style and the whole design of benefit being vintage chic! The tin contains 1 sample size and 3 full size products. I have seen other reviews on this gift pack and a lot of people got different product to what I did so I'm a little confused about that but hey I'm still happy with the products that were in my tin. 

The sample size product is a They're Real! mascara which I am happy with because I really like this product. I already had a full size mascara at home which I used a couple of times and I gave it to my mum so it just wasn't sitting neglected in my drawer. 

One full size products is the Dandelion Ultra Plus lipgloss. It's a soft pink colour and I have yet to try this lip product out and I hope it's not sticky like most lipglosses in tubes are.

A full size product that I was most excited about was the Watts Up highlighter. I have never owned a highlighter before and I love this one because it's a gold toned highlighter instead of a pearly white shade. On one end is the highlighter crayon and I believe the other end is a blending sponge which is handy but I would rather use a clean finger.

The last product I received in the tin was a Dandelion Blush which compliments the matching lipgloss {cute touch benefit, very cute touch}. It goes on very sheer and you need to build the colour up but it's great for a subtle flushed look. I don't have a ballerina pink blush so I was pretty excited about this shade.

If the Benefit Holiday gift packs are similar this year, I definitely will buying them as gifts.

xx

 

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Tony Moly Perfect Eyes Long Kinny Gel Pen Liner

In October I went to Sydney with my family and we managed to fit in a bit of shopping into our schedule. We wondered around the city for a little while and then we discovered this small shop called Morning Glory which sold a whole range of cute stationary and makeup by Tony Moly.

After spending an hour in the shop looking at every cute thing in there, I finally decided on getting some pens with foxes on the lids {they were so cute and they were a $1AUD each so I couldn't resist} and the Perfect Eyes Long Kinny Gel Pen Liner by Tony Moly and I can't remember how much it was because I bought it so long ago. I didn't realise that the colour I got was brown until I got home and I was super disappointed because I always stick with black eyeliner because it looks so classic, nonetheless I still tried it out and surprisingly I actually like the brown liner on my eyes. I think it's more natural looking so I think I could continue to do my wing/cat eyes for everyday looks that don't look too over the top.

The packaging is super slick looking with the black and silver thing going on, I don't know if it's just me but I like all my products to have the same colour scheme is that weird? okay moving on. The felt tip of the pen is very thin which I found absolutely wonderful because I always fail at drawing a thin lines on my eyes and I had no troubles with this eyeliner {I didn't have to re-do my eye or fix it with a cotton tip}. However if you do make a mistake, you need to work fast because it doesn't budge once it's dry.

I'm still iffy about the pigmentation, you need to build it up a tiny bit to fill in the bits that you drew lightly on and the brown kind of looks like a black in some lights but that doesn't stop me from liking this product. It didn't smudge during the day and then it took literally forever to take it off at night which is a good sign that it's long lasting.

Overall, I really like this eyeliner. It checks all my boxes when I look for a liquid eyeliner - a thin felt tip, long lasting, doesn't smudge. However, I don't think I would repurchase this eyeliner as I have others that do the job just as well and are way cheaper. I have no idea which online stores sells this products but I know that the Morning Glory in Sydney had a whole bunch of Tony Moly products.

Have you tried any Tony Moly products before?

What are your thoughts?

xx

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HUGE Urban Decay Haul

Following the beauty world for quite some time now I have always wanted products from Urban Decay but I didn't want to pay a fortune to get it shipped over to Australia. So I decided to bite the bullet and place a HUGE order at Tarazz towards the end of last year and it was delivered just before I went away. I didn't want to go too crazy and get lipsticks and eyeliners as well, I just wanted Urban Decays most popular products {with the exception of the Naked 3 Palette because it wasn't available at the time}.

I was originally going to get just the Naked 2 palette because the shadows are more natural looking but then I thought about making the price of the shipping worth it so I got the original Naked palette as well because they differ in colours. Plus a lot of people have some great tutorials on Youtube with the original Naked palette which I have always wanted to try. The original Naked palette came with a sample size Eyeshadow Primer Potion which I forgot about when placing my order which was silly of me because I bought the full size Eyeshadow Primer Potion to try out. The Naked 2 palette came with a little sample size Lip Junkie lipgloss which I thought was a cute touch.

But no I couldn't stop at just the Naked 1 and 2 palettes, I had to get the Naked Basics which has 6 neutral matte eyeshadows that a perfect for everyday and travelling. And then I decided to also buy the Naked Flushed which is a bronzer, blush and highlighter all in one cute compact case.

I'm very happy with what I bought and I definitely will be doing some reviews in the future so keep an eye out for them on my blog.

What's your favourite product from Urban Decay?

xx

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Real Techniques Duo-Fiber Collection Brushes

I walked into pricline and saw these babies sitting on the shelf and I instantly threw them into my basket without checking the price. When I got to the counter and the brushes scanned at $49.95AUD, my heart dropped a little because I didn't expect them to cost that much. Not happy with the price but really wanting the brushes, I bought them anyway because I had no brushes like them in my collection. Then to my horror I went online and looked at a online store called iHerb and the darn brushes were available for $22.31AUD {uugGGHHHHHH}. I couldn't return the ones I bought from priceline because I had already opened the box and start playing with the brushes. So if you live in Australia - make sure to do your research so you can get the products you want a little cheaper.

Aside from that traumatic experience, the brushes themselves are pretty good at their job. They come in a set of 3 and you get a face brush, contour brush and eye brush. They are really light and have a white handle making them noticeably different from the other Real Techniques brushes. They are "Duo Fibre" brushes which means they have two different synthetic fibres which create thin layers giving a more softer look.

I've used all these brushes for a while now and the one that find a little hard to use is the eye brush. I found it to be a little hard to blend eyeshadows in the crease, especially when trying to blend cream eyeshadows because they drag and are a bit scratchy on my eyelids. However, I do still use it to deepen the crease, you just need to be gentle and build up colour. I don't use the contour brush that often but when I do, it is prefect for giving subtle colour to the cheeks because the application is so light. And I use the face brush every day with a compact powder to set my foundation and it just provides that little extra coverage. On my skin I wouldn't say that it gives an "airbrushed" finish but it does smooth my foundation out a little bit.

I do love all the Real Techniques Brushes because not only are they good quality they are hand cut, 100% cruelty-free and affordable. Even with how much they cost, I'm still glad that I got these brushes because now I have more variety with which brush I apply my makeup with.

Have you tried the Real Techniques Duo-Fiber Collection Brushes?

What are your thoughts on them?

xx

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Some simple goals

Being the beginning of the year and it fresh on my mind, I thought I would set myself some simple goals. It's nothing too serious just a few things that I want to take control of and something to keep my brain from turning into mush.

Post more on my blog: I do love my blog but at the moment I feel like I'm not posting as much as I would like to. I just dilly-dally around and never get anything done. I have so many things to show you guys and this year I'm going to post as much as I can and give it my absolute all because I have so much fun taking photos and writing up posts.

Read more: I have loved reading ever since I was little but I stopped when I was in high school because I had to read the books for english which made reading less enjoyable for me. So now that I've been off school for a while, I slowly got back into reading and this year I want to read at least 5 books!

Be more adventurous: I don't know what it is but I don't like to try anything new or go somewhere that I've never been before. I like to stick to what I know but this year I want to explore my city more, go out more often and dine at new restaurants and cafes with my friends.

Save my pennies: A simple goal that's easier said than done because I like to buy things too often. This year I want to save as much money as I can and really think about the things I think I need and want in my life.

Lead a healthier lifestyle: I think everyone's in the same boat as me with this one but I want to start eating healthier and exercising more. I even bought some snazzy new workout clothes and shoes that I'm so excited about.

What are your simple goals for 2014?

xx

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December Favourites 2013

Since I did a post on my favourite beauty products of the whole of 2013, I didn't get to show you the beauty products that I have been loving in the month of December.

Nars Blush {Orgasm}

It's no secret that nearly every beauty blogger has or wants this shimmery peachy-pink blush. I finally got myself a Nars blush last month and I have been wearing every day since I bought it and love it. 

Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush

This brush is alright for blending shadows in the crease of your eye but because the bristles are so dense I use it more to blend in concealers and they do a pretty good job at concealing under eye circles and blemishes.

Benefit's Erase Paste

I have serious panda eyes and I heard Zoella mention this product in one of her videos and it seemed to work on her so I thought I would use this and I love it. Its a creamy texture and you only need the slightest amount. I use this under my eyes but it can also be used for blemishes that are pretty difficult to hide.

Maybelline Total Clean Eye & Lip Makeup Remover

I used to use makeup wipes to take off my eye makeup and it used to hurt and tug at my eyes and my eyelashes kept falling out. Then I saw this makeup remover and decided to try it out. It's cheap and it works pretty good so it checks all the boxes.

Carmex Moisture Plus {Pink}

This lip balm is SO GOOD! Its a tinted lip balm and I'm pretty sure there are some other colours to choose from and they do a great job at keeping my lips moisturised whilst giving them a nice colour that lasts.

And these are the beauty products that I have been giving extra love to this month!

What have you been loving in the month of December?

xx

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Best of Beauty 2013

Happy New Year you beautiful little buttercups! Wishing you all the best for 2014! 

I thought I would share all the beauty products that I have discovered and loved in 2013. All of these are products that I use regularly

Face:

At the end of 2012 and during 2013 my skin was out of control. I had really severe acne and it was really difficult to cover up because it was very noticeable. Then I decided to ditch all the drugstore foundations and concealers and invested in something that actually cover them up. I decided to try Clinique's Anti-Blemish Solutions Concealer and their Liquid Foundation. omg, best decision I've ever made because the concealer was full coverage and covered up all the dark spots from my acne and the foundation evened out my skin tone and added more coverage. Towards the end of 2013, my skin has cleared up however I still have dark scars on my face which I need to cover up so I found the L'oreal True Match Concealer which covers them all pretty well and I use the Bourjois Flower Perfection Foundation on top to even out my face. I use this foundation every time I go to work because it's very light and then I top it off with the Boujois Healthy Balance Unifying powder. I only work at a supermarket so I don't have to worry to much about covering up everything.

Eyes:

The Revlon Grow Luscious Mascara is my absolute favourite mascara and was discovered in my mum's makeup bag. It's the only mascara that gives me both volume and length as well as being waterproof and not hurting my eyeballs when I've had it on all day. Also in 2013 I got my first MAC eyeshadow and it was "Naked Lunch" and I couldn't have picked out a better colour to start out with .I wear it every time I go out during the day because it's such a subtle pink and looks so natural. 

Lips and Nails:

My lips have gone through the worst in 2013. They have been extremely dry and gross so I've had to put my lipsticks back on the shelf and invest in some lustrous lip balms, glosses and lip butters. I found the Maybelline Color Whipsers {colour shown is "pink possiblilities"} and I love the whole collection. It's perfect for when I go out because they moisturise my lips whilst giving some colour. The same thing applies to the Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm {"pink blossom"}, it gives a more natural look compared to the Color Whispers. 2013 has been the year where I have always had my nails painted and the colour that I have been wearing the most is "Misty Jade" from the I Love Lasting Finish by Rimmel which is a bright tiffany blue sort of colour.

What have been your favourite products of 2013?

xx

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