Tag Archives: Eyeshadow

Review | Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look in a Palette and Legendary Lashes

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I was so excited when I heard that Charlotte Tilbury would be releasing a look in a palette. I love all of her products so having something more travel friendly that I could take away with me is perfect. I went straight on the website and pre-ordered the palette straight away. If you pre-ordered the palette you also received a mini size of the new Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Lashes Mascara, so I will do a quick review of this before we get into the palette. Sorry about the lighting in the picture, I found it difficult to get a good shot of the gold packaging.

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I already enjoy using the Charlotte Tilbury Full Fat Lashes Mascara so I was looking forward to trying out her new formula. Legendary Lashes promises to extend lashes with its elastic formula whilst also separating lashes for a red carpet ready fluttery voluminous look. As with the Full Fat Lashes Mascara the Legendary Lashes Mascara has a bristle style wand which is definitely my preference when it comes to mascara wands. The size of the brush is also my preference, it’s not to fat and not to thin. I find using mascaras with fat wands really difficult as I do not have a lot of eye space so end up with it all over my lid and mascara wands that are too thin do not seem to give enough volume. I have only tested the formula on my top lashes as I always use a water-resistant mascara on my bottom lashes so it does not smear. Two coats of mascara gives my lashes the perfect amount of volume and really does make them look fluttery. If I am honest, I have not noticed much of a difference between the two mascaras except the wands are different shapes. They both provide good volume and separation and both wear similarly throughout the day. Overall I prefer the Legendary Lashes Mascara as the wand shape if better suited to my eye shape so I will be purchasing this when I run out. The Legendary Lashes will retail for £25 and will be released on 6th May.

Now onto the Instant Look in a Palette.

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I will start with the packaging. It feels sturdy enough to stop the products from breaking whilst it is in your makeup bag but it is also sleek and light weight – definitely a contender for my new favourite travel palette. The Instant Look in a Palette contains the famous Bronze and Glow shades which, for me, are the perfect colours to add shape and dimension to my face. I feel the highlight shade is actually more finely milled in this palette so it looks even more natural on the skin. Also for the face there are two shades of blush, a more natural shade to be applied over the apples and swept back to along the cheekbones and a brighter shade for a pop of colour on the apples. The final three products in the palette are for the eyes; a very pale matte pink, a champagne shimmer and a mid-tone neutral matte brown. All three shades are beautifully pigmented and when applied to the lids they last all day. The Instant Look in a Palette provides a natural, yet well put together and polished look. It is perfect for everyday, first dates or I even think this would be a great palette for brides who want a simple elegant look on their special day.

Overall I am really pleased I purchased this palette and have been enjoying using it most days. The Instant Look in a Palette retails for £49 and is available here.

Review | Make Up Gallery Colour Story Eyeshadow in Cappuccino

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I had never really looked at the makeup in Poundland until one of the ladies in a beauty group I am a member of mentioned that one of their eyeshadows is perfect for contouring for people with a fairer complexion. That eyeshadow is the Make Up Gallery Colour Story Eyeshadow in Cappuccino. As someone with fair skin it can be difficult to find reasonably priced contour products that do not come off too dark when applied to the skin. So, the next time I was in Poundland I had a look for this eyeshadow and found the last one in my local branch! I was excited to get it home as soon as possible to try it out.

I was nervous when I first opened it as I thought it looked too cool for me. Even though I have fair skin I am warm toned (yellow based) as opposed to cool toned (pink), so I have to be careful when contouring not to use a product that has too much of a cool grey colour to it as it looks awful. I was pleasantly surprised when I swatched Cappuccino to find that there was a reasonable amount of pigment to the eyeshadow and the colour looked to be pretty good. I applied the product under my cheek bones, on my temples and under my chin and was very pleased with how it looked. Cappuccino is a great colour for me and I believe it would suit those with fair to light complexions with either cool or warm undertones. The product is buildable so you can either achieve a lightly contoured look, or go a bit heavier if that is your preference. Cappuccino sits well over the top of liquid or powder foundation and blends nicely with other products on the face. It has good staying powder, though it does fade ever so slightly, and is still visible at the end of the day.

Overall I am so pleased I have found an affordable contour product and would highly recommend you purchasing this if you are in the market for this type of product – and you can’t go wrong for £1.

The Make Up Gallery Colour Story Eyeshadow in Cappuccino retails for £1 and is available in Poundland stores.

Review and Swatches | Marc Jacobs Beauty “The Lolita” Style Eye-Con No.7 Plush Eyeshadow

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Something exciting has happened, Marc Jacobs Beauty is now available in the UK online at Harrods – waves hands in the air and shout woohoo. I will have a review coming soon of my most recent Marc Jacobs Beauty purchase. However, todays post is about the very first Marc Jacobs Beauty product I ever purchased, the Style Eye-Con No.7 Plush Eyeshadow in “The Lolita”.

As with “The Dreamer” (see my review here), the quality of the eyeshadows is fantastic, both the shimmers and mattes are pigmented, smooth and they all blend together beautifully.

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I feel that this is a good basic eyeshadow palette as it is not too warm and it is not too cool. It has everything you need to create a more natural day time look or a smokey evening look. The dark brown works well as a more subtle eyeliner  and I just love the effect you get from applying the fifth shade all over the lid or in the inner corner, it has almost a duo chrome finish to it – the photo really does not do it justice. 

As I said before, these palettes are not cheap but they are well worth the money. The Style Eye-Con No.7 Plush Eyeshadow palettes retail for £45 and are available here.

Review and Swatches | Marc Jacobs Beauty “The Dreamer” Style Eye-Con No.7 Plush Shadow

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“The Dreamer” was the second eyeshadow palette I purchased from the Marc Jacobs Beauty line, “The Lolita” was the first (review coming soon). I am a huge lover of warm toned eyeshadows, as they really bring out the blue in my eyes, so this is why I decided to purchase this palette.

The quality of Marc Jacobs eyeshadows is outstanding, even the matte shades, which are sometimes a problem in other palettes. The shadows are highly pigmented and blend together seamlessly, making it easy to create a beautiful look.

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My favourite colour in the palette has to be the very last colour on the right. It’s a gorgeous intense gold that leans slightly more orange than yellow. It looks lovely packed all over the lid with the edges blended out and swept under the lash line with tons of mascara for a simple yet put together look. That’s the kind of look I like to wear a lot in the summer as it is simple but gives of that bronzed goddess vibe when paired with bronzed skin.

I am glad they included a dark matte brown in the palette. This shade works well to deepen the outer corner, smoke out the lash line or placed thinly along the lash line as a more subtle eyeliner. I love that this palette is so versatile. You can create lighter day time looks or add in the darker gold and dark brown for a more smokey evening look.

The Marc Jacobs Beauty Plush Shadow palettes are not cheap, but I believe they are really worth the money. The packaging looks classy and the palette is perfect for travelling as it is sleek and sturdy. Each palette retails for $59 and they are available here.

Top 15 | MAC Neutral Eyeshadows

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MAC eyeshadows were the first product I started really collecting once I became interested in makeup – obsessed is more like it. I loved the idea that you could build your own palette with colours that you had chosen. Over the years I have built up quite a collection of them but there are some that I use over and over again so I decided I would write a post about them. Out of the ones pictured above there is only one limited edition shade, the rest are from MAC’s permanent collection.

I will start with the colours that are in the palette:

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R-L: Brule, Naked Lunch, All The Glitters, Patina, Woodwinked, Satin Taupe, Mulch, Swiss Chocolate, Show Stopper (LE), Star Violet, Antiqued, Sketch

Brule is a creamy beige shade with a satin finish that I use every day to set my eyelid primer and subtly highlight my brow bone. As you can see it pretty much blends into my skin tone.

Naked Lunch is a light pinky champagne with shimmer and a frost finish.

All That Glitters is a medium beige with gold pearl and a veluxe pearl finish.

Patina is a antiqued gold brown with golden pearl and a frost finish. As you can see I love this colour. It looks beautiful blended all over the lid for a simple eye look.

Woodwinked is a warm antiqued gold with a veluxe pearl finish. This shade looks gorgeous blended all over the lid and into the crease. It looks like you are wearing two different eyeshadows because of the way it blends out.

Satin Taupe is a taupe with silver shimmer and a frost finish.

Mulch is a warm brown with red undertones and bronze pearl with a velvet finish.

Swiss Chocolate is a warm red brown and a matte finish. I love paring this with Woodwinked, black liner and lashings of mascara for a really warm golden eye look.

Show Stopper is the only limited edition shade out of the bunch. It is a cool toned dark brown with a matte finish.

Star Violet is a plummy brown with a slight pink tone to it and a veluxe pearl finish. I know that it’s not strictly a neutral but I love using this with All That Glitters on the lid for a slight pop of colour.

Antiqued is a warm brown bronze with a veluxe pearl finish.

Sketch is another one that isn’t strictly neutral but I like using it in neutral looks for a pop of colour. It is a burgundy with red shimmer and a velvet finish.

Now onto the three colours that are separate from the palette:

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Carefree is a pale white gold with a frost finish. I like to use this to highlight my face, as an inner corner colour or as a regular eyeshadow.

Always Sunny is a pale yellow brown with a semi-matte finish.

Omega is a matte beige taupe. It is perfect for blondes to use as an eyebrow shade, great for contouring if you have fair skin, and is great as a crease colour. It is a real multi-tasker.

I find MAC eyeshadows generally to be great quality. I have found some duds but most of them are lovely and easy to blend. They have such a wide range of colours and finishes that it is easy to find some you like.

MAC Eyeshadow Pans retail for £10 and are available here.

MAC Eyeshadows retail for £13 and are available here.

MAC Pro Longwear Eyeshadows retail for £17 and are available here.