Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV

Swatches:

Blue Bus, Gunmetal, Cobra, Baked (No Primer)

Bender, Gravity, Lost, Hijack (No Primer)

Midnight Cowgirl, Sin, Midnight Rodeo, Crystal (No Primer)

Bust, Missionary, Skimp, Zephyr (No Primer)

24/7 Waterproof Eyeliner

I bought this from BuyaPowa on Sunday, for the amazing price of £27.50, which is £18.50 off RRP! Such a bargain! I know recently, that loads of people have had doubts about BuyaPowa, due to the whole 'fake' MAC items they've been selling, and I would be a liar if I hadn't been a bit weary of it because of this. But I bought my Naked 2 palette from them, and that's authentic and great, I use it all the time with no problems, so I thought I would be alright with this, and I was right. 

I have two other Urban Decay Book of Shadows, and to be perfectly honest, I rarely get round to using them. But if I'm to have plenty of eyeshadow choice, it has to be Urban Decay hands down. This is the fourth Book of Shadows, and the most recent. Saying that, this has been out for quite some time, and is known for being quite gimmicky. When I say gimmicky, I mean all the little add ons they've tried to force in to it. 

This is the first Book of Shadows, actually I think probably the only make up palette that comes with a speaker. Yes, that's right a speaker. It has two leads, one to plug into your pc/laptop, and another that can go into an mp3 player/iPhone. The idea of this, is to plug into your outlet of choice, and watch the tutorials that Urban Decay have supplied within the box. They come on a piece of card, with a QR scan code that you scan with using your phone. For me, when I tried, it wouldn't focus or pick up the code for some reason. But basically, they've added a little holder for your phone, and you place it inside the lid of the palette, plug in the speaker, watch the tutorials and join in yourself! Obviously I haven't tried this yet, seeing as though I can't get the tutorials up! I tried the speaker with my iPhone, and it's not too bad. It comes with a keyring chain, so you can take it with you if you fancy.

It also comes with a mini eyeshadow primer, as standard. But in the new squeezy tube, which I have yet to try. A mini mascara, and a waterproof eyeliner. Because the eyeliner is so long, I thought it was a pen liner, but unfortunately it's a really thin brush. Which is probably to most peoples liking, but I find you need to have a really steady hand for them. Even though I have mastered applying eyeliner over the years, I still find myself making silly little mistakes, and for this reason prefer using pen liners or a thick brush with my gel liner. But I'll give this a try! When I was swatching it yesterday, I really scrubbed it and found it hard to get it to move, even when I licked my finger and dragged it across it didn't smudge or budge, definately waterproof!

When I finally got the palette and looked at the shadows, I was excited about Blue Bus, Bust and Crystal, but unfortunately these were the 3 lacking pigmentation! I had to swipe them numerous times, but still nothing :( Maybe if I try a primer they will improve, but I'm not getting my hopes up about that. Other than those 3 shades, the others all pack a punch! Check the swatches to see what I mean. It's what Urban Decay is known for, and they don't disappoint (unlike the 3 that do!)

At the end of the day, I will always choose Urban Decays eyeshadows over MAC and other similar brands. They're always so much more pigmented and longer lasting. If you somehow have missed out on trying one of their palettes I urge you to! They've also just released their own 'Build Your Own Palette' to rival brands like MAC and Fashionista, but the price has put me off so far. I do know that they have reformulated their shadows and released shadows that were only available in their palettes, to buy seperately (hello, mushroom!) I think I will cave and end up creating my own, so look out for that!

Do you own any UD Book of Shadows or palettes? Do you think they're better than other brands? Are they worth the money? And have you purchased their new Build Your Own Palette yet? If so, show me! I want ideas for shades to look at! :)

xo

Urban Decay Naked 2

Yes I know, I'm late to the party. But only because I wanted to be! I don't really spend loads of time doing eyeshadow, but when I do, they are usually nudes and from my first Naked palette or from my small collection of MAC shadows. I kept thinking about this palette, and when I get in this sort of mood, I end up NEEDING it. So I saw it was a up and coming co-buy in Buyapowa, I knew I had to keep my eye out for it. Unfortunately, the email was sent saying it was available ten minutes too late and they were all sold out. (Nice one Buyapowa, not the first time either...!) Luckily they listed again and I was bang on it! So I got this baby for just £26, which is £10 less than the RRP. Not too shabby.

The lipgloss that comes with the palette, shade name 'Naked'. It's plumping, which I really do not like. My lips are an alright size, and if I wanted them to sting or tingle I'd go and play with a wasp! The colour is really pretty and neutral, so great for everyone, but I really think they should of just stuck with their eyeshadow primer - can't go wrong, I've got loads of half empty ones from all their palettes, and all the outside of the packaging is scratched and worn away, so a new one would of been good. Seeing as I use MAC Painterly as a base now, I probably won't be buying a full sized primer potion anytime soon.

Foxy, Half Baked, Bootycall, Chopper

These first 4 shades are definately too warm for me. Putting yellow shadow on eyelids, YU CRAZEE! And it's also not very pigmented and chalky. Half Baked and Chopper look almost identical in pan, but as you can see Chopper is a bit more copper. Bootycall is an alright highlighting shade and I'll get use out of this shade. HB and C are very pigmented, even with one swipe. What you usually expect from Urban Decays shadows.

Tease, Snake Bite, Suspect, Pistol

I heard that Tease was chalky and not very pigmented and it definately is :( as it's a matte shadow, it takes a lot of building up. I love this shade, but it's too chalky and more difficult to work with. Snakebite, Suspect and Pistol are three of my absolute favourite shades in this palette, all beautifully metallic and pigmented. You can easily create quick and easy looks with these shades. I used Snakebite and Suspect along with a few others last night (on top of Painterly), as I was in a rush it was nothing spectacular, but they all blended well and looked gorgeous together, so I'm impressed and happy with these shades.

Verve, YDK, Busted, Blackout

Verve is quite silver based, don't get me wrong, it's a gorgeous colour, but looks quite random in the palette. Lovely as a base colour also. YDK is extreeeemely pigmented, and has glitter in also. Busted is a dark brown, but a lot cooler in tone than Snake Bite. Blackout is the matte black in this palette, a colour that most people were looking forward to. In pan, it has glitter in, but when swatched it's not AS noticable. I find it very chalky and not that pigmented, but probably a little more pigmented than MAC Carbon. Still on the look for a matte black that wows me. 

The double ended brush that comes with the palette. I got the applicator brush in the original Naked palette and I do use it, so I will probably use this aswell. Although when trying the crease brush I wasn't too impressed, but I'll have to try it again. 

The case is metal and hard-wearing. I thought it would close magnetically, but it snaps shut and you have to really pull it apart to open it. Has a long large mirror inside, good for touch-ups I suppose, but I won't be using it as I don't carry palettes around with me. I do like the packaging a lot more than I thought I would, when seeing pictures of it I wasn't overly fussed about it, as I do love the velvet and magnetic fastening on the other Naked. 

I would prefer to de-pot all the shadows from both my Naked palettes and put them together in a Z Palette or something similar. That way I can easily mix the shades from each and find more combinations a lot easier. Because I will only usually get one palette out and just use shades from that instead of combining them or using MAC/other shadows aswell. I don't have the stomach to do it though! Even though I know I would prefer it so much more! 

I am glad I purchased this palette, unfortunately I think it's not excited people as much as the original, and Urban Decay have tried to make it different, and the outcome wasn't as expected. A few of the shadows quality aren't up to scratch, which doesn't answer the question "Do I need both?" It's totally your preference. For me I only really use nude shadows now, so I think I'm all set eyeshadow wise, and I have found a few new favourite colours from this palette.

At the moment Debenhams are offering 10% off Beauty & Fragrance until 11th March, and free delivery is also available. So if you're interested in this palette, you can purchase it online from Debenhams for £32.40 right now. Or it's available from pretty much anywhere, including; House of Fraser, John Lewis, HQHair, etc.

Did you give in and buy this palette? Or are you still deciding? Do you think it's worth having both?

x

Soap & Glory - Supercat Eyeliner Pen

I finally got my hands on Soap & Glory's Supercat black eyeliner pen, after hearing a few people rave about it. Firstly, I do love the packaging, I think that's what everyone seems to remember S&G for. I wear black eyeliner every single day, and I've recently been converted to gel liner, but sometimes I need a quicker resort when I'm in a rush (nearly every day..) I've never found my perfect eyeliner pen yet, there's always something that's wrong with it! So when I tried this, I was in love. The nib is thick, but not overly thick - you can produce thin lines aswell as big flicks, whatever you want. It is extremely black like it states on the box, and it stays black. It really is very easy to use. Perfect right? NO!

I have a problem with my eyes watering quite often, and I yawn A LOT. Again, causing my eyes to literally pour. This eyeliner does not handle this well. Ending up with big black smears under my eyes, and caught up on my eyelid and crease is not sexy. Using a primer and Fix+, nothing seemed to hold it without it smearing, after half the day, I had black hood lines on my eyes. I know pandas are totally cute, but I really don't want to resemble one thank you very much! I keep wanting to love this, but for me, any eyeliner that smears that badly is a big thumbs down. I spend so much time on my eyes, and always have more emphasis on them, that to have black and smeary eyes is a waste of time and money, and really doesn't help my attempts to look half attractive! (siiiigh)

Unfortunately, it looks like the quest for the perfect eyeliner pen is still on :(

Can anybody recommend any? I've just ordered Bobbi Browns black gel liner from BuyaPowa, and I think I'll stick with gel liner for the moment! 

Have you tried Soap & Glory's sidestep into cosmetics? What do you think? So far I'm disappointed!

x

MAC Fresco Rose Paint Pot

After finally purchasing MACs Paint Pot in Painterly and loving it, I wanted to try out some other shades. I managed to win this brand new one on eBay for just under £10. I know it's unfair, as this came out with the Tartan Tale collection in 2010, but I did see another on eBay, and these do float around in blog sales aswell! Basically posting this, because I've gained 3 paint pots in a very short time, and am looking to expand my new little collection. 

Fresco Rose is a gorgeous shimmery pink, which leans warm. When I looked at swatches online, it looked cooler and more purpley, so a lot more blue based, so it was a bit of a surprise when I received it and swatched it. I love how creamy paint pots are, I was so surprised at the texture when I first tried them. I'm not sure what I was expecting, as they always looked so hard, I didn't get it! But the first word that definately comes to mind IS creamy. They glide on to eyelids with such ease whether you apply with a brush or your fingers. They can be used on their own as a shadow or as a base, which is what they're more commonly used for. 

You may of heard the names 'Painterly' and 'Bare Study' thrown around everywhere, these are 2 of the most popular shades MAC have to offer, and the other 2 I own. Painterly is a nude colour, and I sometimes use this just on its own with my eyeliner, as I find it just evens out colour and skin tone, or as a shadow primer. Bare Study is a shimmery cream colour, and can also be used on it's own or as a base. The shimmer in Bare Study can intensify a similar coloured eyeshadow placed on top if you want that extra punch with your eyes. I will post swatches and looks with them soon enough, but I can't recommend these two shades enough, as they're very 'safe' colours, and ideal if you are wondering what all the fuss is about!

Back to Fresco Rose, I've only worn it on it's own so far, but it would look so nice with a dusty rose shadow on top. A downside about some paint pots, is that when worn on their own, they tend to crease during the day, due to them being a cream formula, especially if you suffer from oily eyelids, (oy vey! :( ) but I put it up with that because other than that I can't fault them! I have read about them drying up around the 2 year mark, some sooner. As they come in a glass jar, you don't get the most airtight result you would hope for, but there are lots of tips online if you do have problems with this. I've just read that they should be stored upside down, (name label on top), as the moisture reaches the bottom or something, so I'm going to keep them stored like that now!

Excuse the next picture, I couldn't resist playing around with it before photographing!

x

LOOK Beauty - Long-Last Liner

I'm happy to share with you one of my new make-up staples - LOOK Beauty's Long-Last Liner. I actually stupidly forgot to put it in the post of my daily make-up, don't know how I could forget it! I got this a few weeks ago, and I use it every single day. Basically, it's a liner you use along your waterline to help brighten your eyes. Something most girls learn in their teenage years to do with white eyeliner. But I find this is too much, and this is the liner I have been looking for for so long! Great for in a rush and even if you're not even wearing make-up it will make you look more awake straight away.

It's pretty much the same as MACs Chromagraphic pencil in NC15/NW20 which is discontinued. Except it's readily available and so so much cheaper! £6! SIX POUNDS! Sorry, but I feel like I've found my long lost sister or something. I finally have something to make my eyes look much bigger and brighter, and hide the awful redness! Even makes my eyes look whiter, all from one small product and one small line. Uh-maaazing. Think of it as a concealer for your eyes whoooo. Apart from all the UNDER-eye concealers you can buy..Ahem...

The liner comes with a smudge brush at the end, but I don't feel the need to use it, other people might want to, for using in the corner of your eye I guess? But this does come on the other liners available. This doesn't really have a shade name unlike the others, it just says 'Eye Brightener' and 'Shade 6' on the label. I find that this is really creamy and pigmented, it doesn't tug at my waterline, or get stuck in my lashes. It also doesn't irritate my eyes, whether it be along my waterline or in the corner of my eye. And it lives up to its name and lasts a longgg time, all day to be precise!

I can't recommend this product enough, a cheap and cheerful way to make you look bright eyed, what more could you want? This is my second purchase from LOOK Beauty, and so far I've been very impressed. I hope it keeps up when I'm next in Superdrug because I'm heading for you LOOK! 

Have you tried LOOK Beauty products? If so, what ones? 

x

Katy Perry Eylure Lashes - Sweetie Pie

They're finally here! Got my hands on a pair of Katy Perrys lashes by Eylure. I did have my eyes on "Oh, Honey!" But when I picked them up, they looked SO fake and cheap, and were really messy! So I went for the next down, more natural - "Sweetie Pie" I think I was more swayed to the pink packaging to be honest! As I'm a sucker for anything pink, and cute packaging - a deadly combination. They come with the standard lash glue, instruction leaflet, and also a cute little sticker! They could of put in a Katy Perry sticker I suppose, but hey. I haven't tried these on yet, so I will post a picture with them on so you can see how they look. But I have a confession... I haven't actually ever worn false lashes before. I know, shock horror right?! They're always freaked me out a bit, the whole glue thing. I've bought a few pack before, but never gotten round to putting them on. So this time I'm going to actually use these! 

These cost £5.95 from Boots, and are available on the Boots website too. I went into Superdrug and they weren't in there, so I don't know if they're a Boots exclusive or not.

Are you interested in this collection? What do you think about it? This is the post I wrote about the collection information.

x

Katy Perry for Eylure

As you have probably heard by now, Katy Perry has released a range of eyelashes with Eylure. This are hotly anticipated as I personally think Katy's eyes are something worth replicating! Her range with OPI that was out in 2010 was a bit disappointing. I think everybody was expecting a bit more, whereas Nicki Minajs current OPI collection is a bit more fitting for her and a lot more exciting. Either way, looking at the promotion images, this collection looks a lot more promising.

Every time I see a picture of Katy Perry I literally have to hold myself back from buying black hair dye! (It may have been a good idea in school, but I'm not so sure now!) She looks great whatever she does, and she is a style icon to hundreds of thousands of people all over the globe. I love her for her confidence to wear whatever she wants, and to try different things. Her love of fruit and cute things such as kawaii. Also every time I've seen her live, her show, stage and props are amazing, always memorable, and you just want to go and jump around with her haha! Her style is someone I can relate to. I like lots of different trends, from pastels to a more gothic feel full of studs, black and crosses. And I feel Katy is the same, she will do and wear whatever she wants, and I think it is the best way to be! 

“I have worn Eylure lashes all the way through my tour and really loved them. When it came to having a range of my own, I wanted everyone to have a great experience with my lashes. As they have such an amazing history and great quality, Eylure was really the best choice for me to work with.”

Sweetie Pie, £5.95

"This is a great lash for anyone who wants to try false lashes for the first time. It's sweet and subtle, but adds just the right amount of length and volume."

Cool Kitty, £5.95
"One of my favourite lashes! A perfect eveningwear lash with manicured tips. It can add the ideal finishing touch for a smoky look that will make people purr as you pass."

Oh, Honey! £5.95

"I love that vintage flick at the corners that this lash gives me. Full, fun and great for day or evening."

Oh, My! £6.95

"I love Eylure Double Lashes, and I just had to have one for my range of lashes. This style is full of texture, but lightweight and very wearable. The perfect accessory for your eyes."

I love the packaging, especially the polka dots and stripes, gives it that cute, girly, vintage feel. And I like the looks of Sweetie Pie and Cool Kitty. These are now available on the Boots website. I went into my nearest large local Boots store on Saturday night and they weren't in there, but they might be now.

Are you interested in these? Do you wear lashes? Are there any celebrity collaborations you would like to see? I think Jessie J is an obvious choice for nails or lipstick? I think she would be interesting :)

x