NYX natural palette...

So far, everything I've tried from NYX I've fallen in love with, most of the products making their way into my everyday makeup routine. This palette kept popping up on Pinterest (come follow me if you don't already!) and I'd never tried any of their shadows before so thought, for such great value for money I'd give it a go. My initial thoughts were, what a great range of shades! I thought this would be perfect to create light, shimmery day looks, and then the darker shades in the crease smoked out for a more dramatic night look. It's got two matte shades so great for subtle highlights, and the rest all have varying amounts of shimmer throughout them. 

My first thought on these was they were really hard to blend. I used the glitter champagne shade (second in from left) all over the lid, with the taupe satin shadow through the crease, and they just kid of sat there. I also really didn't think much to the consistency of them. Very powdery and chalky...when I wiped a clean finger over my lid the shadow just came away. Slightly better with a lid primer but still nothing to write home about. 

Pigmentation was pretty poor, the swatches above were done without a primer which, as I said, did help matters along a bit but they were no Urban Decay! The last thing was the glitter....the champaign shade was so glittery it took me back to my 15 year old self when I was glitter obsessed!

All in all, not great from NYX in my opinion; there are definitely better budget eyeshadow brands on the market (Rimmel and L'Oreal etc). I still love NYX for their cheek, base and lip products but I don't think I'll be reaching for the eye section any time soon!

Am I on my own with this?

Loves

xxx

Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Barely Branded...

I'll admit it, I'm lazy. I love the ease of sweeping a cream eyeshadow across my lid and generously applying a few coats of mascara before flying out of the door. That's where the likes of my Mac Paint Pots and Benefit cream shadows come in, but if there was ever a chance for a cheaper alternative, I'll take it! 

My first experience with the Maybelline Colour Tattoo's was the taupe shade and, well, I hated it. It was a horrible consistency, didn't blend well, and creased like a bitch. I gave them another chance and picked up Bad To The Bronze which is now my go-to everyday eye colour of choice, so when I saw yet another "me" shade sitting on the shelves, and in a shade conspicuously like my trusty Mac Bare Study, who was I to say no??

Barely There is a pinky gold champagne shade that I'd say is more on the golden shade of Bare Study. It does look great on the lid alone, but I've been in love with wearing it underneath a really shimmery pink shadow with a mid tone matte brown through the crease. All in all, a great easy to wear product, and a much cheaper alternative for Mac Bare Study paint pot if you're in the market for something similar.

What other shades do I need to pick up from this range?

Loves

xxx

Rimmel Scandaleyes eye shadow stick....

This thing is an absolute beauty. I'm a black kohl liner girl through and through, and I love applying it to my upper and lower lash line then smudging out for a grungy undone eye. I find some liners do this better than others, and with a standard kohl pencil it can take some work to achieve the look I'm going for. I bought this hoping for smokey, grungy, messy results with minimal effort and it delivers all that and more. First, the colour...

left - solid colour, right - smudged out

Dark black with an iridescent shimmer under light (although not that noticeable on the eye) it glides on super easy, smudges controllably, then stays put once set. I've heard that these things can crease on the lid but I don't have the problem using them the way I do as it's just a quick line on the upper and lower lash line. I then smudge with a pencil brush, neaten up the edges with a cotton bud where needed then go. Instant rock chick, grunge, super model on a night out, eyes. 

Has anyone else used any other colour in these pencils?

Loves

xxx

Sax Eye Delight eyeshadow palette review...

Browsing in a pharmacy before I came back from Australia I spotted a brand called Sax....sleek packaging, great colours, strong pigmentation and a reasonable price. I had to pick a few bits up to try them out, and as I was short of eyeshadows while overseas, I thought their palette was a good start.

The packaging is very much like Nars, with a slight rubbery finish that gets dirty very quickly, but does give it more of a high end feel. 

Six great neutral shades, all with a slight shimmer and a variety of highlight, lid, crease and outer corner colours. It've found it a very easy palette to create a subtle smokey eye, an evening look, or even to use the lighter colours for a solid wash of colour across the lid. 

Sax is an Australian company, stocked in both Aus and NZ but if you want to check them out head to the website and click on Stockist where there's a contact email for anybody overseas looking to find out more about the brand. The palette retails at 19.95 Australian dollars, great value for that price!

Loves

xxx

Face of the day....

Not normally one for eyeshadow, I donned my (limited collection) of Mac shadows and tried out a bit of a golden/purple smokey eye for mine and my Ty's 6 month anniversary meal (altogether now....ahhhhhh).

Dress - Jay Jays (Australian)

Foundation - Revlon photo ready

Concealer - Benefit erase paste

Brows - Rimmel eyebrow pencil

Eyes - Mac shadows Retrospeck, Sketch and Cognac, L'Oreal HIP colour truth cream eyeliner

Lashes - Cover Girl Clump Crusher

Blush - Mac Well drressed

Highlighter - Essence Circus Circus in It's Magic

Lips - Chi Chi in Shake that booty and Revlon gloss in Glitz and Glam

 

I'd love to start a Mac palette one day, any suggestions of some first basic colours to get me started would be much appreciated...

Loves

xxx