Yes, this is volume 1! I thought I'd finally get round to swatching and reviewing the Book of Shadows palettes I had in anticipation of the third one being released! I've just had the shipping notification on my order, I'm excited! I didn't buy the Alice Book of Shadows as none of those were new shades, so I've only got the previous two palettes.
Volume 1 was released in 2008 and quite quickly sold out all over the place. I think I got mine in Lincoln at Debenhams. Actually, I'm sure of it as House of Fraser had them locked away in a drawer and a grumpy SA who didn't want to find the keys.
I think this has been the prettiest Book Of Shadows so far, even compared to Volume 3. The lid hides pop-up butterflies and makeup. Although, to be honest, I only looked at it once when I bought it and again to take photos. It's pretty, but useless. The mirror is a good size but the lid won't stay open unless you're holding it.
There are 16 shadows in a pull out tray. This palette came with a mini Primer Potion (which has long since been used up) and two completely useless brushes. They come with mini 24/7 liners now which is much, much better.
Some of the shades were exclusive to the palette, but I can't remember which as some have since appeared in other palettes. The pans are a really good size. You're getting plenty of product here!
-Perversion - nearly matte black, I'm sure it's more satin than totally matte
-Last Call - shimmery metallic wine/plum
-Grifter - shimmery lilac with silver micro glitter
-Mayhem - shimmery bright blue toned purple
-Baked - metallic gold with a copper hint
-Smog - metallic dirty bronze
-Sidecar - silvery brown shimmer with silver micro glitter
-Gridlock - metallic brown with a silver hint. Same colour family as Sidecar but deeper in tone
-Shakedown - metallic grey with green tones
-Roach - shimmery plum/brown
-Scandal - golden pinky peach
-Midnight Cowboy - shimmery beige with chunky silver glitter
-Goddess - deep blackened blue with a slight blue shimmer and blue sparkle (not glitter)
-Shattered - shimmery light green/blue
-Absinthe - glowing yellow green with a golden highlight
-Protest - shimmery deep olive green
Midnight Cowboy is just a mess of glitter. Shame really as the beige is really pretty. You might be able to see remaining glitter in the last set of swatches. I have no idea why Urban Decay keep including that (and Midnight Cowboy Rides Again) in virtually every palette they do. Most of the shadows are richly pigmented, only Goddess was on the sheer side. The metallic shadows all feel very smooth and creamy.
Worth picking up if you can find it. But I suspect that's only going to be with eBay's inflated prices.
I hope all my fellow Brits are enjoying their Bank Holiday Monday. Even if the weather's a little chilly for August.
I used:
-Laura Geller Banish & Brighten "Fair/Light"
-Sassy Minerals Foundation "Cool Light"
-The Body Shop Blush Duo "Petal"
-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Sassy Minerals Shadow "Taste The Rain" - over lid
-Sassy Minerals Shadow "Crown Jewels" - in crease & lower liner
-MAC Fluidline "Blacktrack" - top liner
*-Boots No7 Exceptional Definition Mascara "Black"
-Sleek MakeUp Lip Gloss "Champagne"
Every time I use a Sassy shadow sample, I want to order the full sized jar. They're all just gorgeous!
Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review/tutorial purposes.
I was pleasantly surprised by this polish. I bought it from Nottingham (about my closest H&M) and hadn't actually worn it yet. I was expecting it to be watery and need 20 coats to apply. But this is one coat! It went on so smoothly and easily that it felt like it should have cost at least £10 a bottle, not about a fiver.
The holo is quite smooth and subtle, it's not as bright as others I've seen but it's just enough for the colour of the polish. It also didn't have basecoat issues and doesn't show up every ridge that I never knew my nails had.
Here's a better pic of the holo. We haven't actually got any sunlight here today, which is a shame as this would look fantastic in bright sunlight.
I'm building something of a love affair with Too Faced. It's always been nestled with Urban Decay at Boots, but I've always ignored it in favour of the more familiar brand. Back in February, while shopping in Nottingham, I picked up a few bits from Too Faced. It was on offer at 3 for 2 and nothing was grabbing my attention from Urban Decay.
The Too Faced Glamour To Go palette doesn't seem to be a current product, but I'm sure it pops up on discount make up websites every now and then. Also, check eBay.
I initially bought this to use as a travel palette as I fancied a change from the MAC palette I usually took with me. This palette is around the size of a credit card (but much thicker, obviously!) and managed to cram in 8 shadows, 4 lip colours, a blusher and a good sized mirror.
It comes in two layers. The shadows are on the top and the lip colours and blush are in a pull out tray. You don't get any applicators with it, but that's not an issue for me as I wouldn't have used them anyway. The pans are a good size, the weight is listed as 0.82g which is just over half the size of something like a MAC shadow. The blusher is 3.01g which is plenty. I'm sure I've got full sized blushers in my stash that are smaller than that.
The palette is made of plastic. It doesn't feel too flimsy, but I'm not sure how well it'd stand up to frequent travelling. I always seem to break something when I take make up away with me.
There's a really good mix of eye colours in the palette. You can certainly create a few different looks from something toned down for daytime or something really smokey for the evening. I especially love the taupe.
However, the shadows are really sheer! This was a surprise as the other Too Faced shadows I'd tried from other palettes were very richly pigmented. Even over primer they were quite sheer. They work best over Pixie Epoxy which does wonders to grab on to every little bit of pigment available (yes, the review is coming soon!).
I was disappointed in the green, I was hoping for a bright apple green. The taupe is lovely with some purple undertones but it really does need to go over Pixie Epoxy for the best effect.
The black is actually the most pigmented of the shadows and works brilliantly to smoke out an eye look. The purple looked lovely and bright in the pan but just greyed on me.
The lip colours aren't too bad. They're nicely pigmented and glossy, just a little drying. I loved the blusher, it gave a lovely flush of colour and it's packed full of pigment.
Overall, it is quite a disappointing palette. I was hoping for more after using other Too Faced palettes.
We planned to go to a local charity music festival, but the weather wasn't looking too promising. We made it during a break in the rain so I slapped on some make up!
I used:
-ELF Mineral Face Primer
-Laura Geller Banish & Brighten "Fair/Light"
-Laura Geller Balance & Brighten "Fair"
-Golden Rose Terracotta Stardust "102"
-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-MAC Shadow "Tilt" - over lid
-MAC Shadow "Nocturnelle" - in crease & lower liner
-MAC Shadow "Naked Lunch" - highlight
-Bobbi Brown Gel Liner "Black Plum Ink" - top liner
-Shu Uemura Drawing Pencil "ME Purple" - lower liner
*-Boots No7 Exceptional Definition Mascara "Black"
-MAC Lipglass "Nymphette"
I know this was limited edition from a while back and isn't in Superdrug these days, but I want to get all my Sleek MakeUp palettes reviewed. This still pops up from time to time on eBay and blog sales.
Sleek MakeUp eye shadow palettes are available from selected Superdrug stores or the Sleek MakeUp website for £5.99. This one isn't available from Superdrug or the website now as it was limited edition from 2009.
There's certainly an interesting mix of colours in this palette. It seems to be split into two. The left hand seems to work together with all the blues & turquoise, highlighted with the yellow. Then the right is purples, greys & black. I've worn this palette a few times and I haven't really mixed the sides. The purples work really well together and the blues/turquoises work really well together.
All the shades in this palette have some level of shimmer. Some are metallic, some are more satin with a bit of sparkle. They're quite well pigmented, but the yellow is on the more sheer side.
This doesn't seem quite as crumbly as the Original palette, with exception of the olive on the top row. I'm not sure how well it would stand up for travelling, but I've used this a few times and the shadows aren't crumbling in the same way as the Original palette.
I've swatched all the shades in order. They're all over primer.
As you can see, the yellow is more sheer compared to the other shades. That plum in particular is quite delicious!
I really love the champagne shade on the bottom row. It has a gorgeous metallic sheen.
Not as versatile as the Original palette, but there are some fun shades in here.
I'm pretty sure this was a PR sample, can't remember. If it was then it had no influence on my review.
This is the result of a few different orders from Aromaleigh. Unfortunately, international shipping was closed before I could put some orders in. Fortunately, the awesome supplier of cake (LiAnn of Sparklecrack Central) offered to add my goodies to her order which I am eternally grateful for. We were getting a little worried that this parcel had ended up in the murky depths of some random post depot, but it turned up safe and sound yesterday.
-Full sized jars: Wonderland, Angel Bouquet, Window Shopping, Heartleaf, Trillium, Alyssum, Trixy, Elodie, Bellflower, Plush Romantic, Luster.
-Sample set: Lost in Faerie
There are just so many gorgeous Aromaleigh shadows that I could have spent an absolute fortune! I just wish I'd begun ordering previously, rather than just before she closed. Sorry about the lack of swatches, it's getting dark way too early now.
This is for everyone who clicked the "I like cake" option in my poll recently.
Red Velvet cake, kindly sent over for my birthday by LiAnn (whose blog you need to go and check out). I had planned on taking a picture of the cake itself with a cut slice, all lovely contrast between the white frosting and the deep red cake. Then the word got out there was cake in the house.
It was delicious!
For some reason, L'Oreal has completely ignored the fact that the HiP line would be a massive hit in the UK. I was fortunate that I was able to swap for some items earlier in the year and I thought it was time I finally got some reviews up. The HiP stands for High Intensity Pigment.
I can't offer price information or locations, as I simply don't know. All I know is Ida bought these during the 75% off sale at CVS.
Drugstore gel/cream liners are pretty much lacking from the UK drugstore scene. We've got some from Sleek MakeUp and ELF, but I think that's pretty much it. I don't think these are that much cheaper than MAC's Fluidlines in the US, maybe a few $$.
I have two. One is called "Black", the other is "Brown". Imaginative, considering the rest of the line actually does have interesting names!
The cream liners have an interesting texture. They actually feel very solid, especially when compared to something like Bobbi Brown Inks or the MAC Fluidlines. This can be a little weird if you are used to softer liners. I thought that my cream liner had dried up before I got to use it. How wrong I was! You barely have to touch the brush to the liner to pick up enough to line your eyes.
This is a little touch to the liner. The Black is insanely pigmented. Insane. This is by far the blackest, deepest liner I have ever come across. The Brown is also very pigmented and a very neutral brown. There are no obvious undertones to the brown at all. I was initially worried about it leaning to the red as brown liners quite often do, but this is perfectly neutral.
These aren't waterproof but they stay put on my eyes all day long after setting quite quickly. The Brown removed very easily with eye makeup remover, the Black needed something oil based (or a little more rubbing).
I want all the colours available now! That Teal is looking mighty fine. How much is a flight to New York (no, not the one in Lincolnshire)?
I haven't painted my nails in ages. Just haven't felt like it. But while I was digging through some make up stuff this evening I found this and decided it had to be on my nails.
Model's Own "Grey Day" is a grey cream. It covers well, this is only two coats. The brush is a little stiff, but nothing I couldn't work with.
I've got no idea how long this will last on my nails, I tend to chip all nail polish at work very quickly.
Sometimes, it just needs to be obnoxiously blue. I don't give UD "Peace" enough love, so I dug it out today.
I used:
-Avon Magix Face Perfector
-Laura Geller Banish & Brighten "Fair/Light"
-Laura Geller Balance & Brighten "Fair"
-Laura Geller Blush & Brighten "Sateen Subtle Berry"
-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Urban Decay Deluxe Shadow "Peace" - on lid & lower liner
-Sweetscents Pigment "Metallic Copper" - in crease & all over my laptop
-Gosh Liner "Majestic Sea" - lower liner
*-Bee Luscious Gel Liner "Scuba Dive" - top liner
-Boots No7 Extreme Length Mascara
-MAC Lipglass "Nymphette"
Items marked with a star (*) were provided free for review/tutorial purposes.
Judging from my inbox, I know quite a few of you have been waiting for this review! It's the same whenever anything new shows up on Coastal Scents. I wanted to test this for a little while, which is why it's taken some time for me to get round to the review.
The Coastal Scents Shadow Worx Primer is available from Coastal Scents for $14.95 (£9.62). It seems quite a steep price, especially since Urban Decay Primer Potion is only £11.50 (retails for $18.00 in the US). But, you are getting twice as much in the Shadow Worx. Urban Decay Primer Potion comes in at 10g, CS Shadow Worx comes in at 20g.
The CS Shadow Worx comes in far better packaging than UDPP. It comes in a squeezy tube, which is far superior to the packaging that UDPP offers. With the squeezy tube, you're going to get all the primer out of the tube rather than having to hack apart a plastic tube to get the last bit out.
To apply, I squeeze a little tiny dot onto the back of my hand and use a synthetic concealer brush to apply a very thin layer to my lids. I first tried applying directly with my ring finger, but I applied far too much!
This is a fairly heavy application, but you can see the lovely champagne shimmer of this primer. I haven't taken photos to compare it to UDPP in "Sin", but you can see a comparison in my review video here.
You only need a very thin layer of this primer as it will crease if you apply too much. It doesn't last as well on my eyes as the original UDPP, but it lasts about the same length of time as the UDPP in "Sin".
As this is a champagne shimmer, I've found that I have been quite limited as to which shades I can wear with this. It doesn't work quite so well with blue, purples and greens. It just seems to effect the colour slightly, it's not as vibrant. It works best under browns, champagnes, pinks, taupes, silvers, golds, that sort of colour range. Apparently, you can use this to make matte shades slightly shimmery. I don't really wear any mattes (other than a highlight) so I haven't tested that out.
Overall, I'll use this just as I'd use UDPP in "Sin".
This product was provided free for review/tutorial purposes. It has no effect on the review I give.
I've got to admit, I've saved the best item from the collection to the end! The mascara that was released at the same time as this autumn collection is not limited edition so I'll give that another week or so before getting the review done.
This is a new product in the Boots No7 range, and it's pretty unique in the make up world. I've seen powdered kohls but I've never seen it done quite like this. I don't think this is kohl, just powdered black eye liner.
It's available for £9.50 from Boots stores and the website. It's only available in black, which is just wrong! We need more shades of this! It needs to be a permanent item in the Boots No7 line. We need rich shades like sapphire, emerald, aubergine, khaki.
The liner is a black powder held in the bottom of the packaging. The wand is interesting. It's a soft, thin spongy thing. It's this wand that creates the smoky look. The powder is pretty deeply black, but it pulls very slightly towards brown when swatched on the back of my hand. It's very pigmented and so, so easy to apply. I just ran the sponge tip over my upper and lower lash line, smudged out a little with my ring finger and created a smoky look in about 2 minutes.
It blends very easily to create the smoke, but it doesn't blend away very easily. Plenty of the black liner remained where I put it after I had blended it. I didn't notice any fall out either, which was very impressive! I'm also wearing Benefit Creaseless Cream shadow "Skinny Jeans" on my lid.
If you only pick up one item from the collection, make it this one! It's definitely the stand out product for me.
This product was provided free for review/tutorial purposes. This has no effect on the review I give.
I wasn't sure about including this lipstick, but decided to for the sake of completion. I did, after all, promise you a write up on the full collection. So this write up (these aren't really reviews!) will focus more on the texture and such of the lipstick, rather than the colour.
The Boots No7 Autumn collection saw the release of a new lipstick to the range. Two colours are available. The one shown in the photo is "Plum Rebel", the other is called "Nude Rebel". They are available for a limited time for £9.75 from Boots stores or the website.
The case goes well with the eye shadow palette that was also released in this collection. It's the same black plastic and the lipstick also has the snakeskin sticker at the top of the tube.
This is quite a rich, red toned plum. It's somewhat translucent on first swipe. Quite an interesting finish, it's definitely pigmented but it's not completely opaque. The colour intensity builds very easily after another swipe or two. The lipstick feels very smooth on application and my lips didn't feel dry at all.
The colour lasted well, a couple of hours. I just didn't like the colour. Too deeply red/plum for me. If you like a vampy lip shade then this would be great for you, I just prefer less colour on my lips.
The product was provided free for review/tutorial purposes. This has no effect on the review I give.
Woohoo! Another day in and I'm getting a post done that I promised you. Today, I had to show you the matte topcoat that came out with the collection. Matte nails were all over the blogs last summer with many brands releasing matte collections. It's taken a little while but matte polishes and top coats are starting to appear at the drugstore.
The No7 Stay Perfect Matte Top Coat is part of the Autumn Collection and will be available in store and on the website for a limited time. It is available for £6.75. The No7 polish range is pretty solid. There are plenty of shades and they are releasing more and more "on-trend" shades in limited edition collections. The core range could do with a few greens though!
As I've said many times, my job destroys my nails and cuticles. This is my best nail. In keeping with the No7 theme, this polish is No7 "Salsa" which is still available. Two coats, I think. This is one of my favourite red polishes, it reminds me a lot of OPI's "Not Really A Waitress".
And with the top coat added. It dries down to a matte finish very quickly. I love the way it has absolutely no shine but you can still see the shimmer of the polish. It's a very interesting effect.
Matte top coats won't extend the life of your manicure and while the top coat dries very quickly, it doesn't dry the layers of polish underneath. I have a couple of other matte top coats in my nail stash. To wear, I do a full manicure with a fast dry top coat. When that's all dried, I add the matte top coat to the top. That way everything is dry when I've added the top coat. I have noticed that it only really stays matte for the first day of wear. Matte top coats seem to absorb any oils that come into contact with your fingers which gets rid of the matte finish.
If you've wanted to try the matte nail effect, then this is a great way of doing it. Just to note, you can use this top coat with any brand of polish. I just used a No7 polish as an example.
This product was provided free for tutorial/review purposes. This has no effect on the review I give.
As promised, here's my FOTD with the Boots No7 palette I showed you yesterday. I really like the green.
I used:
-Avon Magix Face Perfector
-Laura Geller Banish & Brighten "Fair/Light"
-Laura Geller Balance & Brighten "Fair"
-Benefit Coralista
-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
*-Boots No7 Colour Rebellion Palette - green on lid, copper/red in crease, blue lower liner
*-Coastal Scents Hot Pot "M09" - highlight
-L'Oreal HiP Color Truth Cream Liner "Black" - oops, meant to pick up Brown!
-NYC City Curls Mascara "Black"
-Urban Decay Gloss "Naked"
Warning! The full face picture is after a *very* bad night's sleep.
First of all, congratulations to Sa who won the Sleek Circus palette! I hope you are enjoying it!
So, I couldn't resist having a play with my new Laura Geller stuff this morning. I was very boring and applied it as suggested in the instruction booklet. It was too early in the morning to get creative! I did apply the shadow over Pixie Epoxy which really intensified it. I will be reviewing the kit before long, just give me time to play a bit first!
I used:
*-Bee Luscious Pore Perfecting Primer
-Laura Geller Banish & Brighten "Fair/Light"
-Laura Geller Balance & Brighten "Fair"
-Laura Geller Blush & Brighten "Sateen Subtle Berry" (darker side of duo)
-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Laura Geller Baked Sateen Eyeshadow "Fresco Pink" (pink side) - over lid
-Laura Geller Eye Rimz "Mystic Sea" (dark blue side) - wet as liner
-I-Care Eye Pencil "Bone" - waterline
*-Clinique Lash Doubling Mascara "Black"
*-Sleek MakeUp Pout Polish "Perfect Plum"
Even though this is a very toned down look for me (let's face it, even my neutrals aren't exactly toned down), I am loving it! The pink shadow was a surprise. I thought it'd be the one product out of the kit I wouldn't use (the blue side would get plenty of use, of course!) but it's lovely! The Pixie Epoxy has bought out a very subtle blue shimmer which I can't see in the pan. I wasn't expecting the Balance & Brighten to be such a good match but it's pretty perfect. I'm not too fussed over the Banish & Brighten but the metal tip feels lovely over the eyes in the morning.
Once I've used everything a bit more then I'll do a review. I might record a tutorial showing how to get the suggested look if you're interested.
