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Palette

Make-up

Sleek i-Divine Eyeshadow Palette Au Naturel Review & Swatches

March 11, 2014

Sleek i-divine eye shadow palette in Au Naturel

 

sleek au naturel palette

I’ve been tempted by Au Naturel for the longest time, but couldn’t really justify it when I already have so many neutral palettes. Luckily for me I spotted this in the Superdrug reduced basket for only £3.50 and absolutely jumped on it! The only damage was to a chip of plastic in the upper right corner and the eye-shadow Taupe beneath, and even so there’s plenty left in the pan.

Au Naturel contains twelve colours, eight mattes and four shimmers, all unsurprisingly in neutral tones. There’s some definite similarities to a certain cult Urban Decay palette, but as I don’t own any of the Naked sets I can’t comment on how close other than the theme and shade choices!

All the colours have good pigmentation and a dreamily smooth and creamy texture that blends amazingly. There’s fallout with every shade but not enough to risk contaminating the other colours so it’s not really a bother.

sleek au naturel palette

The shimmers are of course my favourites, but really I can see myself making use of every single shade.  The surprise hit for me though was Noir, the matte black – it is SO heavily pigmented yet blends so easily. Conker and Mineral Earth come very close seconds for favourite, both have a gorgeous rich texture and shimmer but are very wearable.

Taupe and Nougat both make excellent highlights, I really like that they included both a matte and shimmer in suitable colours, it makes the palette so versatile that you really could pop this in your make-up bag and not need anything else in a neutral shade at all.

The packaging is very sturdy and stylish with a matte finish, and I love the huge mirror that fills the whole of the lid. As with most palettes it comes with a dual ended sponge applicator that will do in a pinch (but really if I’m ever caught without my brushes I’d rather use my fingers than those rubbish things!)

Onto the swatches!

au natural swatch 1

Au natural swatch 2 AU natural swatch 3 AU natural swatch 4

 

I’m definitely going to get a lot of use from Au Naturel and can’t recommend it enough if you’re looking for a natural palette at a reasonable price!

Have you tried out any Sleek palettes? I definitely think I might add a few more to the collection on the basis of this one!

Available for £7.99 from Boots.com.

Totally hellbent for going au naturel! 

– Gem

Make-up

MUA Starry Night Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches

November 22, 2013

MUA Starry Night Palette

MUA have a great range of eyeshadow palettes, but I always seem to have trouble with their matte shades. This gorgeous silver toned collection however is all shimmer finish, making every single shade a winner.

Starry Night has twelve shades in total, but as with all the older MUA lines they are not named (or even numbered – a big gripe of mine!).

As with all cheaper eyeshadows a primer is an absolute necessity, and for these swatches I’ve used the MUA Professional Primer for some brand continuity!

MUa starry night swatches 1

 

MUA starry night swatches 2

 

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MUA starry night swatch 4

There’s enough variation in this relativly colour restricted palette to create a number of looks, and with the right blending I reckon there are some amazing smoky silver looks coming my way.

 

Available for £4.00 from Superdrug.com

Totally hellbent for an all shimmer MUA palette!

– Gem

Make-up

MUA Luxe London Glitter Eye Palettes in Rock Chick and Diva

November 21, 2013

MUA Luxe Glitter eyes Rock Chick, Diva

My transition from occasional glitter lover to full on magpie seems to be reaching an all time climax and I nearly did myself some damage when I saw these little boxes of sparkle!

There are four palettes on offer, Rock Chick, Diva, Burlesque and Twilight, ranging from cool blues to fiery reds. I of course went for the two blue toned palettes Rock Chick and Diva and I’ve been pretty mesmerized with them since.

The glitter is suspended in a gel, which I thought would be poorly pigmented and difficult to build up, but actually it’s the complete opposite! Unfortunately all eight shades are liable to crease purely from the nature of the product, but I for one am happy to overlook this for the sake of such gorgeous colours!

MUA Luxe glitter applicator

The sponge applicator that comes with each palette is actually pretty good for applying the gel, with a thick and thin end for more precision.

 

MUA Luxe Glitter Eyes Diva

IMG_6720

Diva consists of a bright emerald green, a black/silver, a grey holo silver and a white holo silver.

MUA Luxe Glitter Eyes Rock Chick

MUA luxe glitter eye swatches Rock Chick

 

Rock Chick has a deep turquoise blue, a black/multi holo, a light blue and a pure silver.

If you’re a fan of warmer tones I suggest you go take a look at the other two palettes on offer, as they are just as gorgeous and will no doubt make their way into my possession soon!

Available for £4 from Superdrug.com

Totally hellbent for all things sparkly and shiny!

– Gem

 

Make-up

MUA Glamour Days Eyeshadow Palette Swatches & Review

October 26, 2013

MUA Glamour Days Palette

MUA Glamour Days Palette back and ingredients

MUA have a reputation for amazingly pigmented eyeshadows at unbelievably low prices. I already have three MUA palettes – Undressed, Glitter Ball and The Immaculate Collection, and I picked up Glamour Days and Starry Night in a recent haul.

I will be posting a review and swatch of Starry Night soon, and will add the older palettes too if requested!

Okay onto the lovely colours. Glamour Days has 12 different shades with a mix of matte and shimmer finishes. I personally find the MUA shimmers to be of a much higher quality, and this palette is no exception.

My biggest gripe with MUA is that a lot of their ranges don’t name the shades. A few of the newer products have started naming, so hopefully they will add this to older lines at some point too.

All photographs are in natural sunlight, except for the 7/8/9 which I used artificial light because the sun went behind a cloud for like…a very long time!

 

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The first three shades all have a gorgeous shimmer, and plenty of colour pay-off. Shade 1 looks to have golden hues in the pan, but swatched is a lovely silvery white that makes a perfect highlight for a dramatic look. Shade 2 is a sea green with a lot of shimmer, I can see myself using this one the most out of all the shades. Shade 3 is a pearly pinky-purple that has a lovely glimmer when the light hits it!

 

MUA Glamour Days swatches 2

 

Shade 4 is a pearl pink, and the faintest of all the shades. Shade 5 is a matte brown, and as you can see in the swatch applied very badly with blotches. Shade 6 is a very high pigment blue that was especially creamy.

 

MUA Glamour days swatches 4

 

Shade 7 is a shimmery almost Cadbury’s purple, and very complementary to Shade 8 – a shimmery pink. Shade 9 is a bright metallic gold that will be great for the inner eyes or as a main shade for wearing with my most disgusting fabulous Manowar T-shirt.

 

MUA Glamour Days swatches 3

 

Shade 10 is a matte black that was just a bit too grey for my like. Good for adding some definition to a look if you only wanted to carry one palette around but not dark and pigmented enough for standalone wear. Shade 11 is a rose gold shimmer that looks very easy to wear, and finally Shade 12 is a more muted gold shimmer.

 

There’s a good mix of colours and finishes here, and as long as you apply them over a good primer they don’t crease too much. I found there was hardly any fallout when applied, but lots when picking the product up on my brush.

The packaging is simple and the clear plastic top is handy for picking up the right palette in a hurry but I find MUA palettes scratch and smear easily and I don’t imagine it would take too much to damage them. As with most palettes it comes with a double ended sponge applicator, and as usual I throw it aside and use brushes or my fingers!

For only £4.00 though, I doubt you will find eyeshadows of this quality anywhere else (but if you do – let me in on it!)

Available from Superdrug for £4.00 (Currently 3 for 2)

Totally hellbent for a whole lot of glamorous shimmer (and the odd matte too!)

– Gem

 

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