A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

When I was in London earlier in the month I headed over to the huge Westfield to throw myself on the makeup.

I was itching to check out the Inglot store that I remembered hearing about on some forums when Westfield first opened.  And here it is! (please excuse the mobile phone pics)

Check out the range of eyeshadows:

and nail polishes:

Not forgetting the lipsticks…

It’s like an explosion in a Skittles factory no?

Beautiful!

Anyway… after that colour overload, I proceeded to choose myself a trio of eyeshadows to fill a small Pro Freedom Palette.  I went for the safe option (I know, boring!)

But aren’t they beautiful?

They’re ultra pigmented… incredibly smooth and I’ve embarked on a full-on love affair with them.

I can’t remember exactly how much I paid (argh! – can anyone help me out?)  I think it was around £14 for all 3 inc. the palette.

It’s called the Freedom System and you choose which shades you want the SA to put in.

The way I understood it is this…

You can choose from a Large Pro Palette (which hold the square shaped shadows, blushes and face powders – you can see the square shadows in my picture above).

or

You can choose from a Small Pro Palette which will hold the smaller eyeshadows (like mine), lipsticks and concealers etc…

Once you’ve chosen small or large… you can choose how many pans you want the palette to hold (I’m not sure of all the available choices).

You can also purchase items individually if you wish.

Hope that makes sense?!

The small shadows (to my eye) are the same size as MAC 26mm pans, but you get 1.8g of product in each pan compared to MAC’s 1.5g.

The range of colours is mind boggling, each with different finishes… I love me a bit of shimmer though!

I also bought a couple of lipsticks and will be back shortly with a post on those.

Have you tried Inglot? What say you?

Since reading this post from BritishBeautyBlogger, my heart has been beating nineteen to the dozen and a few hours later, shows no signs of slowing down.

Check out what Urban Decay has in store for us this March (US Release: 28th December – lucky so and so’s)…

Introducing, The Urban Decay Alice In Wonderland Palette.  Timed to coincide with the new Tim Burton film of the same name.

Do we recognise any of those 16 re-named colours?  I’m completely in love with it, but wonder just how many of those shades I already own…

There’s only 2000 set to be released in the UK, so it’s gonna be a challenge to nab one.

What are your thoughts? Will you be getting one?

This has been on my wishlist for a while (dunno why, I still haven’t used the one I have in Milk yet)…

Anyway… I’m gonna try this out along the waterline to brighten my eyes.  It doesn’t feel quite so creamy as the one I have in white (Milk) which can only be a good thing to increase staying power.

It’s still very pale but has a bit of irridescence and lacks the starkness of Milk.

Will let you know how I get on!

So, you’ve seen the FOTD but not the palette… I got that ordering all arse about face didn’t I?  Although, you couldn’t actually see the shadows in the FOTD anywayyyy… but I digress…

Here she is!

I’m not a fan of these silly velvet pouches… I dunno why, but to me… they cheapen the product.  Makes me think of a tacky ornament that you pick up in the pound shop at Christmas for an Aunty that you don’t like very much.  Yeah, I don’t know how the hell I got from Dior to pound shop tat in one fell swoop either.

The casing on the other hand is pure luxe.  Love that midnight blue… just beautiful!

It’s a very cool toned palette, which suits me perfectly!  I’m loving the combination of totally wearable shades… gawjus!

As you can see from the swatches… this is one heavily pigmented palette.  The shade difference between the silvery taupes are perfect and the purple is a fabulous nod to the festive season.  The finishes are all metallic/shimmer and blend like buttah.

The palette is LE but there was still plenty of stock in the Boots I bought this from last week.  I paid £36 (well, I didn’t ‘cos I used my Advantage Card… but, I woulda done if…. oh you know what I mean!).

Do you like? Is it a bit cool toned for you?

Here’s that FOTD I promised showing the GOSH Smoky Eyes Palette I was sent.

Remember the one?

No, sorry not that one… I meant this one…

*alright, stop bitching about their crap stock imagery already*

Anyway, I was semi pleased that it wasn’t hugely pigmented as I find the Sleek MakeUP Graphite palette so hard to work with.  Although I was unsure if I would get much payoff from that light grey (2nd from right) at all…

And I was right! (which makes a change).

I do really like this for a non-overpowering smoky eye.  It feels more grown up, more genteel and sophisticated than the Sleek Graphite Palette.  Unfortunately, I got nothing from that pale grey shade at all.  I applied it in the crease and blended upwards but you just wouldn’t be able to tell.

I hereby class this a “nearly” palette… “nearly” good, but no cigar.

STOP PRESS!: Check out Janice’s review on the Eye Transformer too, her photographs demonstrate the whole ‘smoky eye thing’ better than mine and really give a good idea of what I was trying to explain (lamely!).

http://seekforbeauty.blogspot.com/2009/08/review-elf-studio-eye-transformer.html

The new (to the UK) ELF Eye Transformer is another product that was lurking at the bottom of my goody bag from a recent E.L.F event I attended.  It’s an unusual product, I’ve only ever seen one other like it and I think that it fits in very nicely with the rest of the E.L.F Studio lineup.

It has one main function.  Applied over a dark coloured eyeshadow base, it will have the effect on transforming the base into a new and wonderful shimmering iridescent shade.

Make sense?

Let’s look more closely…

Oh there you go, it says what it does on the back of the box… and for bonus points it gets straight to the point.  Unlike me.

Packaging is identical to the Shimmer Palette, it’s good stuff… solid and sleek.

There are four powder shades: Green, Orange, Pink and Blue.

The powders are quite dusty and I’d recommend giving your brush a quick shake or blow before applying the powder ontop of your base.

First, I laid down 4 black base swatches.  I used a black eye shadow from one of my Sleek Palettes, then I layered each Eye Transformer powder over the base…

Let’s see them in action…

As you can see, from left to right… the powders create green, bronze, purple and blue hues when layered ontop of black bases.  Very pretty and much more interesting than plain old black!

This by itself is pretty cool, but I’ve discovered an even better use for them!

I’m rubbish at true smoky eyes, I look like a panda, I find it hard to blend very strong colours.  It’s a shame then that smokey eyes are *everywhere* at the moment.  Hell, Sleek and GOSH have even brought out palettes in celebration…

Let me demonstrate my crapness…

That’s my best effort!  It’s harrrrrrrrrd!

The variations between the black in the crease and the grey on the lid are obvious to me… I just can’t get a smooth blend when I use black, which is why I usually shy away from the shade, favouring greys and browns for crease colours.

However, let’s go over the whole lot with the blue shade from the Eye Transformer Palette…

What do you think?

It’s not *so* visible in the photo as it was in person, but adding the Eye Transformer shade seems to bring the other shades in harmony with one another.

My blending isn’t the best, and I should have definitely gone over that outer edge with my blending brush.  But focusing on the actual lid, don’t the colours seem to flow better?  Am I imagining things?

Anyway, all I can say is…

The ELF Eye Transformer is not the best quality product in the world… the powders are pretty chalky and dusty.

Having said that, I’m a sucker for novelty products like this and usually a little disappointed when I try them.  But I’m really enjoying using this combined with the Sleek Graphite palette.  They simply work as they’re supposed to, opening up many more opportunities for colour.

What are your thoughts?  Have you tried the ELF Eye Transformer Palette? Want to?

PURE are a brand I know very little about although I’ve spied the mostly black packaging a few times whilst browsing in Boots.

The first products I noticed by the brand were the Kajal sticks, and I was tempted!  But to be honest, as an unknown quantity… I was loathe to part with any money ’till I’d read a bit more about the brand.

Well, of course that never happened… there’s simply too much makeup in the world worthy of spending my hard-earned cash on and something else equally tempting must have slipped into my line of vision and any thoughts of PURE were promptly dropped.

That is, until I was browsing the Debenhams website last week.

PURE was on sale (at 50% off the RRP) and I saw some eyeshadow duos that I liked the look of…

Pretty!

The packaging is sleek, compact and functional… it’s solidly built and nice to use.

I bought: Freedom, Nude Gold and Havana. (L-R)  I paid £4.25 each.

Nude Gold and Havana look somewhat simillar no?

Clockwise from TopLeft – Freedom, Nude Gold, Havana.

Nude Gold looks a little washed out in my swatch, but it’s equally as vibrant as Havana and Freedom.

I’m really pleased with my purchases, the shadows are smooth, well pigmented and contain a beautiful amount of shimmer without being too sparkly.

They last well without a base and blend easily.  There’s not much more you’d want is there?

My only disappointment is the shade selection, I think I’ve already bought all the ones I’d be interested in bar one – the others look pretty samey or just plain odd.

I’ll be much more willing to try the rest of the brand now though!

Are you a PURE fan?  What have you tried?  What do you want to try?

I was very excited to see the promo image for this latest GOSH collection which has been out for a little while now.

The eyeshadow palette in particular caught my eye:

*sigh* Such beautiful taupes…

Unfortunately for me, the stock image looks nothing like the product.  Way to go Mr. GOSH product photographer/retoucher.

This is what the palette really looks like:

Black to White… hey, where did my lovely taupes go?

I can’t really bitch too much – I was sent this by the nice people at GOSH.

Well I can bitch, ‘cos that’s what I do when I don’t like something… so yeah… where the hell was I?

Oh yes, it’s often helpful if the promo images reflect the actual product, don’t you think?

Let’s have a look at the packaging and see if the palette can redeem itself.

Oooh, a tutorial.  I’m a sucker for these and always happy to receive some inspiration and direction!

This is really nice, sturdy casing… good job!

2 eyeshadow applicators and a big mirror… all good stuff.

How about the actual shadows themselves?

Disappointing really…

They feel chalky and they’re simillar to Sleek shadows in as much as they’re quite soft and crumbly.  Shadow dust will fly everywhere when picking up the colour with a brush.

That’s where the Sleek comparison ends.  Unlike Sleek these give very little payoff in terms of colour.  Wanna see?

That third grey from the left is a real bastard to get much out of. *swipe, swipe, swipe*.

Having said that… hand on my heart, I don’t mind at all in this instance.  I usually err on the side of heavy-handedness when it comes to applying eye shadows and with a palette of this nature, my looks usually end up all black and not much else.

The Sleek Graphite palette is a real bugger for this as it’s *so* pigmented I generally look like I have a pair of black eyes after using it.  This, on the other hand gives me the chance to build up the colour and stop short of Panda.

However, for most… I’m sure that this lack of pigmentation is not a good thing.  And if it were a palette of different shades, I’d most likely agree with you.

One more thing I will say though, is that it does state that you can use these eyeshadows wet… I shall give it a go and be back with a FOTD, you never know… it could be amazing – eternal optimist that I am!

I’ve heard great things about the nail polishes from this collection.  In general, I find GOSH Nail polishes to be *awesome* but I’m still dipping my big toe into the world of glitter polishes and don’t need another black so didn’t pick either of these up.

The Gosh Bright n’ Black Collection is available to buy from Superdrug and the eyeshadow palette is priced at £8.99

How have you been finding the collection?  Have you tried any other GOSH eyeshadows?

This week feels like it’s dragging… and it’s only Tuesday!!  Let’s have a quick Eye of the Day for a few minutes distraction…

Eyes:

Inner Corner: B Never Too Busy… – B Delight
Lid: BarryM – #88 Winter Berry
Crease: E.L.F Mineral Eyeshadow – Royal
Outer V: NYX Ultra Pearl Mania – Charcoal
Mascara: Rimmel Sexy Curves – Black
Eyeliner (1st Layer): MAC Fluidline – Silverstroke
Eyeliner (2nd Layer): eBay Infinity Liner – Black

Don’t know if it’s the ‘right’ thing to do, but I love layering my eyeliner like this.  I’m a total eyeliner fiend and have so many, it’s surely the only way I’ll ever get through them all!

Seriously, it’s a great way to wear a pop of bright colour along the lashline, without commiting yourself to making a statement with it.  I often wear gold and blue eyeliners in this way.

Ok, that distraction worked for about 40seconds… hurry up Hump Day!

Heather over at The She Space/About Face Cosmetics had a blowout sale in honour of turning the big 4-0! (Happy Birthday!)

How could I not take advantage with full size eyeshadow pigments reduced down to $2.50 each?

I went for mainly wintery shades that work well on my cool skin:

Aren’t they beautiful?

Stand out shades are: Female Soldiers…, Inspired Meltdown, Anybody Seen Erin, Touched By Truth.

Those 4 blow me away by how achingly beautiful and unique they are.

Driven by Instinct was described as a “smoky purple shimmer” but unfortunately, it just looks blue on my skin.  A lovely shade nonetheless, but blues don’t really suit me.

Shipping time from The She Space is *always* slowwww.  I ordered on 20th October and it took very nearly a full month to arrive.

Are you into your pigments?  I’m hoping to press these when my pans arrive from Hong Kong – I don’t know how they’ll turn out, but I’ll share my method and results!

The She Space Holiday sale has now kicked in and full size pigments are reduced to $3.50 each from $4.50.

Have a great Monday xx

Screw my schedule, let’s have some eye candy!

The shadows are huge!  So although it’s expensive… you do get a lot of product for your money.

Here’s some individual shots of each pan…

Finally, check out the rich pigmentation in some skin swatches…

I am completely in love with this palette and would happily go so far as to say that it’s my favourite thing I’ve bought all year!  Which is quite an accolade considering it’s mid-November…

Ohhh Bourjois, my favourite high street brand.  It’s impossible to pronounce your name without doing a pouty french expression, it just doesn’t seem right.

I’ve been a big fan of Bourjois’ “little round pots” for years and was beyond excited to see Bourjois’ tweet about this Limited Edition collection of vintage Parisien styled packaging.

Absolute Violet Baked Eyeshadow

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This is quite an image intensive post, to see the other images, please click this link…