My Most Used Shadow Palettes

If there is one thing a girl loves it’s eyeshadow. I can swoon over shades sometimes, literally scream with pure joy when I swatch a new shade on the back of my hand, it might sound OTT to some but I know some of you can relate.

I have so many palettes in my collection that I even have some that I haven’t even used yet, but I do have some in my collection that I get constant use out of.

I’ve picked 5 palettes out of my collection that I use on a regular basis to show you all.

First up is my Urban Decay Naked 3 palette. I go through phases of using this one but the pink tones can really change up a smoky eye. Most of my palettes and single shadows are brown or grey toned so it’s nice to mix it up a little. You can do so many looks with this palette from a light girly pink day time look to a dark purple smoky eye. These shadows have great staying power, really pigmented and have hardly any fall out on application, which are all thumbs up for me. I got this palette as a Christmas present but you can get it for €46 in Debenhams, do shop around though because I’m sure I’ve seen it cheaper. If you don’t want to spend that kind of money on a palette Makeup Revolution and Crown Brush do really good dupes for a fraction of the price.

Next up is my MAC palette, my friends sister works for MAC and was over in their Pro Store in London so I gave her an idea of the colours I wanted and this is what I got. I use the browns and the reds mostly on a daily basis as well as the Shroom as a highlight and the black shadow Carbon for when I’m adding a bit of smoke to a look. The other colours I use for going out looks. I’ve had this palette for a good 2-3 years now and I haven’t really made too much of a dent in it even though I use it nearly every week. The colours are so pigmented that I don’t need to dig my brushes in like I would with other shadows. I need to make up another palette soon though as there are loads of other shades that I want to get my hands on.

My YSL Couture Variation Eye Palette Nude palette was a total splurge but when I swatched the colours on my hand I was in pigmentation heaven and knew I had to have it. The palette costs €58. When I got it I knew I couldn’t just let it sit in my drawer so I’ve made sure I use it regularly and have used it for work on many occasions. Even though it’s on the pricier side I don’t mind throwing it into my bad. It’s so petite and handbag friendly that I can pop it into my makeup bag without it taking up any space at all. There are some great matte and shimmer shades in this palette and what I really loved about it was the brush that came with it. I never use the brushes that come with palettes but they put just as much effort into the brush as they did with the shadows.

Onto more affordable palettes now and this one is finally on shelves in Boots. The Maybelline The Nudes palette is a really great affordable palette that you all need to go get your hands on. I bought mine last September in the states for $9.99, with the exchange rate at the time I think it worked out at 6 or 7 euro. It’s slightly pricier in Boots at €14.99 but I really think it’s worth it. The palette comes with 12 shadows and the ability to give a brown, bronze or black smoky eye. There are so many looks you can do with this palette. The colours are really good, some you have to work a little more than others but the staying power of them is excellent. I love this as an on the go palette, there has been more than a handful of times that I have just thrown this into my bag to do my makeup on the go.

Finally we have the Sleek I-Divine palettes. I have a few of these but I get most use out of the Au Natural palette. I brought this on holidays last September as I didn’t want to bring one of my more expensive palettes in case they got damaged or lost so I went with a cheaper option and was really surprised at how good it was. It has a great mix of mattes and metallics so I could get a lot of different looks out of it. You can get a bit of fall out with this palette so I usually do my eyes first with this one and then apply my foundation. The mattes can take some blending but the metallic colours are the reason I really love this palette, especially the bronze colour (hence the big dent in it). I think these used to be under €10.00 but Boots are selling them for €10.49.

What do you guys think of my favourites? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah xoxo

Urban Decay Perversion and Subversion Mascara Review

I have a bit of an addiction when it comes to mascaras and when a new one comes out I love to get my hands on it. I bought the new Perversion mascara from Urban Decay when it first came out back in September so I’ve had a good few months of testing this sucker out to see if it’s any good.

I bought mine in Sephora and it came with a mini Subversion mascara primer which came out at the same time as the Perversion mascara.

The Perversion mascara claims to give volume and extreme blackness as well as being super creamy. I would say it is very creamy, in fact it is still just as wet as when I bought it; it hasn’t dried up even a little which others would after a few months.

It is one of the blackest mascaras that I have tried before but in terms of volume I would say it’s average. I have a love for volume mascaras and there are a few budget friendly ones in my collection that can do the job just as good.

What saves it from being average mascara is combining it with the Subversion primer. The primer is white and strengthens your lashes. I haven’t noticed too much of a difference in terms of the quality of my lashes from before I started using it but it definitely helps extending the volume of the mascara and it holds the volume in place all day. I’ve tried the primer with other mascaras and it works the same with other brands too.

Even though it is a long wearing mascara it is really easy to come off, it also doesn’t smudge so it is bottom lash friendly too.

The more layers you pop on the longer your lashes will look. Even though it’s a thick brush it doesn’t clump your lashes and is very good at separating them.

The Perversion mascara probably won’t be a rebuy but I would consider buying the Subversion primer again.

You can get them at any Urban Decay counter, the Perversion mascara will set you back €21 and the Subversion primer is €18.

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah xoxo

Have I been Converted?? My New Nude Lip Love!

As you may know already I am a big fan of wines, burgundies, light reds, dark reds, basically all of the above. I love to have colour on my lips; they’re naturally a deep red anyway so it makes sense that I love a good red to enhance them. When it comes to nudes though I’ve never had the best of luck with them, they’ve never suited me and just made me look washed out so I’ve always tended to stay away from them. However this all changed recently when I was in the states. I had been to Sephora and bought one of their boxes with different samples of lipstick and as they had a few nudes in the box I thought I’d try them out and to my luck the colour suited me pretty perfectly!

In the box was Urban Decay and Buxom lippies, I wasn’t feeling the urban decay lipstick on its own but when paired with the Buxom Full On Lip Cream it really was a match made in heaven. What I didn’t know was that the gloss is plumping and while my lips don’t exactly need any plumping I did like the look it gave me. I then discovered that I had a Make Up For Ever Aqua Lip nude lip pencil in 3C, this made using the Urban Decay  Revolution lipstick in Nude on its own look that little bit better and because it’s a slightly more brownie nude it gives that Kylie Jenner type of lip. I’ve gotten so many compliments from people about this combination and I think I could actually be converted to loving nudes which I never thought I’d be able to say as a lover of a bit of red lippy.

I don’t think I will ever put my reds and pinks to the side but I like that I know can branch out and have a few more options now. There’s now a huge world of lipsticks out there for me to discover now which is possibly very dangerous for my bank account but sure YOLO!

Sephora Wishlist

Sephora won’t know what hit it when I touch down in Orlando! Every time I go to the states I have to go to Sephora, they just have so many brands of makeup and skincare that we can’t get in Ireland and in some cases not even in the UK. I’ve picked out some of the items that I can’t wait to get my hands on, I’m sure more will be going into the basket but for now these are the beauty products that will be definitely coming back to Dublin with me.

Sephora have their own brand of makeup as well as selling other brands. This Color Festival Blockbuster palette has 72 eyeshadows, 28 lip glosses, 8 blushes, 18 cream eyeliners and 4 2 in 1 cheek and lip creams all for the tidy sum of $49.50. It might seem expensive but for all you get it’s a bargain!

Sephora are great for their value packs, usually containing a mixture of travel, deluxe size and sometimes full size products from their own brand and high end lines. I have my eye on Glitz & Glam pack containing Stila, Smashbox, Benefit and Makeup Forever minis as well as some other brands. I think the value packs is where I’ll do the most damage.

I love my Anastasia Beverly Hills brow powder duo so I can’t wait to get my hands on the Brow Wizz, the Brow Gel and the Dipbrow Pomade. They are some of the best brow products and I’ll be stocking up on the brand as it’s much cheaper to buy it in Sephora then back in Dublin.

I don’t know if I need the Beauty Blender but what I do know is that I want it in my life. From what I’ve seen it makes foundation application that much easier and quicker.

I’ve heard such good things about the Kat Von Dee makeup especially the Lock It Foundation and concealer. They’re longwearing which is my favourite kind of foundation so I hopefully I can find the right shade for my skin tone.

I know you can get the Glam Glow muds much more easily in Dublin now but with the exchange rate it might be a bit cheaper in the states so I’ve been holding off getting it until now.

The Stila Magnificent Metal Foils are another item that I can get in Dublin but it costs €44.00 here and only $32.00 which with the exchange rate is only €25.00. I’ll probably only be getting one of these, €25.00 is still pretty expensive for just one eyeshadow.

Bite is a brand that’s been on my radar for a while from watching all the American YouTube bloggers. I’ll be getting the Agave Lip Mask and the Luminous Cream Duo Lipsticks. The mask helps rejuvenate your lips and can be used as an overnight treatment for them to keep them in tip top condition. The Duo lipsticks are only $12.00 and for that price I just can’t say no to that!

Marc Jacobs makeup is exclusively sold at Sephora and I can’t wait to get my hands on one of the eyeshadow palettes. As you can imagine it is an expensive brand but we all deserve a bit of glam in our lives.

Make Up For Ever have recently come out with a new line of shadows and from the reviews I’ve seen they are amazing. They’re called the Artist Shadows and can be bought in singles or you can make up a palette of your favourite colours.

There’s a few Urban Decay items that I have my eye on but I really want to try their new Perversion Mascara and you can buy a value pack in Sephora that includes the a deluxe sample of the Subversion Mascara primer.

 

Finally the Smashbox Full Exposure Travel Palette is a miniature of the Palette that was out last year. I’ll have to see what it’s like when I’m in the store because I thought the original Full Exposure palette seemed a bit chalky but the palette is only $22.00 so I think I can manage chalky for that price.

That concludes my Sephora wish list, I’m sure I’ll come back with so much more but for the moment these are the main things I’ll be buying.

Thanks for reading.

Love Sarah

Dupe Tuesday | Urban Decay Naked 3 Dupe

I’ve been so excited to write this post for you guys! I’ve never seen a more amazing dupe than this before!

Tonight I’m bringing you a dupe for the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette, coming from a new UK company Makeup Revolution the Iconic 3 palette will only set you back £4.00.

I have only discovered Makeup Revolution in the last 2 months, they are a new company that launched back in March and have been bringing out amazing makeup since. I ordered a few things from their site last month and among them was their Iconic 3 palette. When I got it I was so surprised that it was exactly like my Naked 3 palette.

Just look at these pictures, you can see how similar they are. Even though they aren’t named like the Naked palette the colours are positioned the same.  The payoff is really good for such an affordable product, with some of the colours working out even better than in the Naked palette. There is some fall out but you get the exact same with the urban decay shadows.

Makeup Revolution Iconic 3 Palette

The palette is slim and small enough that you can bring it travelling with you and for £4.00 if you smash it or lose it while away I don’t think I would be crying too much like I would if I did the same with one of my more expensive palettes and would be back on their site ordering another within days.

Urban Decay Naked 3

I put the left eye in all Makeup Revolution and the Right eye in Naked 3 and used strange, limit, trick, nooner, factory and mugshot to create the look below. Some of the colours weren’t as dark as naked palette so had to build them up to match the naked eye, but blending was very easy and the colours weren’t chalky at all which you would usually find in affordable makeup.

Iconic 3 (Left), Naked 3 (Right)

The Makeup Revolution Iconic 3 palette retails for £4.00 versus the Naked 3 palette which will set you back €44.00 (varys around the country) that’s a whopper saving on €40.00, just think about all the other makeup you could buy on the Makeup Revolution website with that!

As far as I’m aware you can only buy Makeup Revolution products on their website here, but as their only a new brand I’m sure we’ll start seeing them more widely available.

Thanks for reading this week’s Dupe Tuesday!

Love Sarah xoxo

Urban Decay Electric Palette Dupe

I’m always on the lookout for a bargain and I especially love finding a cheaper product that will give me the same effect as a more expensive brand.

A few weeks back Urban Decay launched their new Electric Palette, now it’s completely different to all any of the other palettes they have brought out. The colours are bright and bold and probably not everyone’s cup of tea but they are such a welcome to see bright colours especially with the summer finally starting to knock on our doors!

The palette contains 5 matte shades and 5 shimmers and comes with a double ended brush as well. Like most Urban Decay palettes the price does some damage to your purse with a cost of €45 (in Debenhams right now with 10% of).

But if you don’t want to fork over that much money, especially on a palette that has a lot of colours that you won’t necessarily use on an everyday basis then why try out Sleek I Divine palettes.

I Candy

Acid

Ultra Matte V1

These palettes range between €14.39 and 9.99 and you can’t really get better than that. They have 3 palettes – Ultra Matte V1, I Candy and the one that is most like the Urban Decay Palette the I Divine Acid.

They obviously won’t be as good quality as the Urban Decay palette but if you use the right tools then I think you’ll get nearly just as good a look as you would with the Electric Palette.

So if you want to get the look but not have to fork out scores of money then head over to Sleek and choose your favourite palette.

You can get them at www.sleek.com or try your local Boots, I know the only one boots in my area that does them is Boots Liffey Vally, I've tried other boots around South Dublin but you can't find them anywhere.

Urban Decay Smoked Palette Review

Morning All,

So if you've been following or reading my blog you'll know last week I had a "dilemma" about which palette to buy - Smashbox Full Exposure or Urban Decay Smoked. After much deliberation I chose the Urban Decay palette which I am so happy about. I bought it in House of Fraser as I had a gift card so it felt like I got it for free which is always a good feeling.

Firstly the packaging is amazing it's in a foamy zip up wallet which I've never really seen in any other palettes and will make it great if I ever need to go travelling or need to throw it in my bag. The box comes with a small Primer Potion, a 24/7 glide-on eyeliner pencil in Perversion and a little look book to help you create some step by step looks. As soon as I got home I just had to try it out!

Firstly I tested some swatches on my arm just to see what I was dealing with and to get a feel of the product. The colours come up so well, only a little was need to get the results in the photo above and there wasn't that much fall out. There are 6 metallic colours and 4 mattes, 2 of which are highlight colours (they don't come up that well in the pictures). 

So the first look I did using Loaded, Blackout and Asphalt as the main colours, it gave a dark and smoked green colour to my eyes. The only thing missing to complete the look where some lashes, which would have made it a real night time look.

(Look 1)

The second look I used Blackout, Backdoor, Rust and Asphalt, again this was a smokey look but a bit more wearable as it was mainly browns. I used the 24/7 glide-on eyeliner to create a winged look and put about 10 layers of the NYC Big Bold Volume Mascara so I didn't look like I was in desperate need of lashes.

(Look 2)

Overall I love this palette; it's very versatile and can give day and night looks. I think I will be mainly using this more for my night looks though (I did use it last Friday night but took so many snapchats I forgot to take any proper photos to show you guys :( ). I will give one warning, the 24/7 glide-on eyeliner literally stays on 24/7, I had to scrub my eyes to get it off and you really need to work quick with it as dries and that bad boy isn't budging once it does!

Oh and the lipstick in all the pictures is the Red P.S Beauty Love lipstick with the black lid from Pennys.

Thanks for reading,

Love Sarah xoxo