A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

If, like me, you’ve been searching for clever ways to recession-proof your makeup bag without compromising too much on the quality, I’ve got a treat in store for you today.

Nestled along the “this is not just any eyeshadow, this is M&S eyeshadow” (no, they’re never getting away from that slogan) lurks a rather stunning, richly pigmented, smooth-applying taupe.

You know that I’m kinda crazy for my taupes and my purples.  If the world fell off its axis tomorrow and all other shades whizzed off into outer space, I wouldn’t give a shiny shit and neither should you.  Because, at the risk of sounding a little controversial here… taupes and purples suit EVERYONE.  You just need to find the right ones.

Despite what the box says, this ain’t no “gunmetal”, there’s too much dusty moth-brown goodness in there for this to be a simple gunmetal *scoffs*.  Why, this is a full-on grown-up, grenache-drinking, interest only mortgage-paying taupe.  And not only that, but it’s a rather nice one lacking in both the kind of uber-metallic sheeniness that crepes at forty paces, and chunky sparkle.

It comes complete with a mirror, and most shockingly… a not-too-useless eyeshadow applicator that actually makes a really decent job at smudging the powder along the lashlines if you just use the tip.

For your meagre monies, you get a generous amount (no weight listed) of BUAV (bunny) approved product.  And for those who find this important… it looks easily depottable also.  I doooo like a neat, square pan!

Interestingly, they also sell a “taupe”… don’t get them confused… that one’s a wimpy, slightly-sandy looking incarnation. Pff.

M&S Autograph Pure Colour Mono Eyeshadow in Gunmetal* is priced at £6.00, available instore and online at marksandspencer.com

* press sample

When you’ve got a good thing going, the wise among us know to keep running with it.

Which is exactly what Clinique are doing with this whole Chubby Stick thing.  First came their Chubby Sticks for Lips, consumers couldn’t get enough of the balmy formula in the convenient-to-use stumpy pencil.  However, some complained (cough) that the finish was too sheer, so Clinique created Chubby Stick Intense, and thus… I was happy.

Roll forward a few more months and the brand have taken their original idea and pimped it to the max.  Lo and behold, we have Chubby Stick Shadow Tint for Eyes*.  I’m fully expecting a chubby foundation next week.

There are currently 12 shades available and I received samples of a couple of the shades a little while ago.  Lots o’ Latte and Whopping Willow are two fairly neutral-toned cream shadows from the range but interestingly, Whopping Willow has a small amount of glitter running through the cream which is difficult to notice just by looking at the stick – a pretty and welcome addition, mostly because it’s kinda grown-up and subtle.

The twist-up crayons are easy to use and glide across the eyelids without any drag.  The colour is sheer but extremely buildable… a few swipes will build-up complete coverage over the eye.  The formula is easily blendable with just a finger, you don’t need a brush to apply these, making them perfect holiday-accompaniments or perhaps ideal for the desk drawer at work?

I had problems with both of these shades creasing on me within a couple of hours.  I suppose that such a creamy formula that applies so beautifully has to have a negative somewhere and on me, longevity is where it’s at.  This isn’t a complete disaster as I did find that a slick of primer underneath worked wonders to increase wear-time to a completely respectable seven-or-so hours.

I’ve included a swatch of both shades below, you should be able to pick out the sparkle in Whopping Willow, isn’t it pretty?  I don’t usually like greens… infact, I hate them… but this one is a little bit special.

Have you tried any of the new shades and are you a fan?

Clinique’s Chubby Sticks for Eyes are priced at £16.00 each and available to buy on counter or online at clinique.co.uk

* press sample

Wanna see some pretty swatches?  OF COURSE YOU DO.

The Body Shop have updated their colour collection with an impressively inclusive range of eyeshadows.  Their new Colour Crush Eyeshadow promises intensely pigmented, pearlescent or matt eyeshadow (dependant on colour) with a silky-soft texture .

I’m a huge fan of the “old” Body Shop eyeshadow range but have always disliked their “baked” (domed) eyeshadow releases.  The brand used to do some amazing taupes in the old silver-potted range and I was rather disappointed to see that this new incarnation of colour is rather lacking in that department.  I was pretty confident that the texture would still be as tasty as it always was (and it is) but I’m gonna need to see MOAR shades before I get super-excited over this new range I’m afraid!

Anyway, let’s get on with some swatches shall we?

All of the above shadows fall into their “pearlescent” finish, and each one is pretty well-pigmented, you wouldn’t need more instant payoff from an eyeshadow.  I can’t comment on the matte range as I haven’t tried.

Golden Girl is a must-have, not only because it makes a great lid-brightener for a neutral eye regardless of your colouring, but it’s also a pretty awesome NARS Albatross dupe for those on a budget.  Multi-functional eyeshadow FTW no?

I’ve worn a few of these over the past couple of weeks and my only caveat is that you do need to wear them with a primer.  The silky-texture is very forgiving on dry/mature eyelids but without primer, they migrate into the crease quite quickly.  The flipside to this is that you’d be hard-pressed to find easier blending from a high-street eyeshadow.

The Body Shop Colour Crush Eyeshadows are priced at £7.00 each and available instore and online at www.thebodyshop.co.uk

* press sample

I remember the first time I visited the Bare Escentuals store in Covent Garden. It hadn’t been open very long and at the time, I think I referred to it as “the candy shop”.  You see, for a makeup lover, there’s something about being surrounded by so many mini pots of jewel-toned pigments that makes it quite easy to lose your sense of decorum.  I emerged from the store, so completely covered in swatches, it looked like I’d had my own private Holi festival.

Obviously, pigments and powders is where it all started with Bare Escentuals and when the brand announced a range of pressed-powder products, I was excited for the convenience that this brings, but also wary that the same kind of vibrancy and pigment quality wouldn’t, nay perhaps couldn’t translate itself so well from the confines of a pressed pan.

Well, I worried needlessly.

My first experience of the new(ish) BareMinerals READY Eyeshadows comes in the form of one of their quads: A List*.  On paper, it’s got my name written all over it, I’m a sucker for a purple-toned palette.  I’d heard about the “incredible” texture of the new READY eyeshadows and I had the highest of expectations as a result.

First thing to note about this particular eyeshadow quad is indeed, the texture which is truly buttery.  You can tell that this product comes from a brand who know their way around a pigment or two because the powders are so softly textured, they feel almost creamy.  There’s a hint of roughness to the purple shade (Swanky) but you have to expect that from the glitter particles.

You’d expect a buttery-textured eyeshadow would blend with ease, and in my opinion, they do.  Infact, above all else, I’d put weight on this being their best selling-point.  It’s not always easy to blend smooth gradients from shadow to shadow, getting that perfectly refined edge to soften to the point of invisibility is a well-honed skill, and anything that makes lighter work of it is a marvel.  On this score, the BareMinerals READY Eyeshadow Quad in A List, is, a marvel.

Where I think some of these palettes could do with a little work is with their combination of colours.  I feel that A List doesn’t quite give me the eye palette that I want to work with.  The highlighting shade (Icebreaker) is very pale, very shimmery, and very…. highlighter-y.  Unfortunately, I feel that the next shade up in the quad, the pink (Fashionably Late), is also playing the same role… albeit in a more vibrant way.

For definition, I need a solid crease colour, and unless I go black, my only option is the glittery Swanky.  The jump between Fashionably Late (on the lid) and Swanky (in the crease) is quite large and on my skintone at least, the palette is not quite there in terms of shade combining.  I would have liked to have seen these pink/violet hues without both extreme ends of the spectrum (white/black) incorporated in the 4-pan palette.  Perhaps something like The Dream Sequence is closer to what I’m looking for.

I had one other, minor, issue with the palette.  In the photo below, I’ve highlighted where one of the pans is raised above the level of the palette.  It’s not quite enough to cause any problems with the closure mechanism but… and perhaps I’m being a touch fussy… it’s not something I expect from a £29 (on counter) eyeshadow palette.  It looks untidy but is hopefully a one-off.  Really not interesting in a sponge-tipped applicator when I’m paying nearly £30 either.

These grumbles aside, I really can’t fault the colour payoff and texture of the included shades.  Black Tie Optional makes a great liner close to the lashline, or smoked out at the edges to deepen and intensify the overall look.  Both Icebreaker and Fashionably Late offer something a little more frosty but both will work as highlighters, although FL is a little saturated to blend too high up the browbone.  Swanky is a really nice purple that’s blue-enough not to deliver the bruised/consumptive look, the added sparkle is a nice touch.

BareMinerals READY Eyeshadow Quad in A List is available to buy online from beautybay.com, priced at a very reasonable £23.49

* press sample

** come back later today for a FOTD with the above palette

Do you know what I can’t get enough of? Glitter. I know, I know… it’s not Christmas anymore and I’m not telling you anything new but seriously, I am rebelling against my 30s like you wouldn’t believe and in the classiest way possible (if I do say so myself!)

I may be a little too old to rock glitter eyeliner, I’ve never been one for glitter lashes and my rapidly-dilating pores are in danger of swallowing any glitter that comes in contact with them but you can still enjoy a subtle glitter infusion without creating a “wrong season!” scene.

All you need is some cosmetic-grade glitter, my favourites are by Victorian Disco Cosmetics (Tac Nuke is lush) and your favourite cream eyeshadow. Create your base look, it doesn’t need to be complicated, I often only do one shade across the lid and blended up into the crease. Once you’re happy with how that looks (don’t give it too much time to set), take a synthetic flat brush (like a concealer brush) and pat some of the glitter over the top. Not too much, you don’t want solid glitter, just enough to catch the light as you turn your head.

I much prefer this to using shimmery shadows (think Sleek/MUA) which I’m starting to discover can look quite ageing now that I’m on the other side of 30. This way, I get the best of both worlds!

Don’t give up on glitter ladies, it makes the world a better place.

Well known for their bold colours, high pigmentation and shimmering shadows, Urban Decay have gone for a softer look this time around with the limited edition Feminine Palette*. If you’ve already read my review on The Fun Palette, you’ll be familliar with the zipped-up case that doubles up as a little clutch bag should you wish to mix makeup and fashion in this way. The packaging is cute as hell, with a metallic purple outer featuring a delicate lace design.

Just as with the other palettes in this limited edition range, the housing is sturdy enough to cope with general wear and tear from daily use. It’s a great portable option for a pared-down selection of eyeshadows. The palette contains six shades that lean towards the softer tones in the spectrum, they’re slightly greyed in comparison to some of Urban Decay’s bolder colours making them a great choice for this style of palette.

All six shades are shimmery and smooth-textured, I could do with a matte in there (as a personal preference) but have been enjoying using these as soft lid shades, more as a wash than building them up to any kind of intensity. Though, as you can appreciate (being from UD), these will build up to full pigmentation very easily if required. Both AC/DC and Hijack in particular employ some extra depth with some pretty irridescence that adds some real sparkle without adding any glitter. I imagine that these two shades in particular would look amazing over a sticky black base for a high-voltage look.

Those of us who have been around a while will remember Urban Decay’s previous Feminine Palette which was released a couple of years ago. While this (re)incarnation contains different actual shades, the feel is very similar with the inclusion of a teal and a purple among the staple neutrals. If you missed out last time, this is definitely worth a look. The palette also comes complete with a lipgloss in Wallflower – a creamy neutral that keeps everything looking pared down and soft.

For a quick demonstration, I recreated a simple look that I’ve been wearing with this palette. I played up to its name and went for a really sheer, see-through interpretation… for which, I needed no primer. I used the shades more as a wash of colour, and find that they blend easily together without muddying. In the image below, I’m wearing Bordello on the lid, AC/DC on the lower lashline, and Hijack along the crease. I skipped lining my upper lashline but took the mascara right into the roots instead to ensure that I gave my lashes as much depth as possible.

Urban Decay The Feminine Palette is priced at £25 and avaialble for a limited time from BeautyBay.com, Debenhams (£22.50 at the time of writing), and House of Fraser.

* press sample

Urban Decay have released three palettes, in the clutch-style format you might remember from The Midnight Emergency Kit.  The three palettes each contain six eyeshadows and a complementing mini Lip Junkie lip gloss.

The palettes are well-constructed and tote-worthy enough to be able to throw them in your handbag in advance of a night out.  Don’t tend to reapply your eyeshadow halfway through an evening, me neither… so did you know that you can remove the platform on which the eyeshadows sit and transform the packaging into a proper evening clutch?  Yeah!

The Fun palette is my favourite from the new trio on looks alone (I’ll be showing you the others soon)… I mean, turquoise glitter encrusted packaging?  It’s flippin’ gorgeous.

Enough about the clutch, it’s clear I’m smitten… how about the actual contents?

Urban Decay’s The Fun Palette claims to offer shades that are perfect for those who like to experiment with colour.  I like colour, and I like experimenting with it… but I don’t tend to actually leave the house in huge amounts of colour, mostly because I’m a big wimp.  Let’s take a look at them…

Of the six shades included, only one of them is a brand new shade… meaning that if you’re Urban Decay’s #1 fan, you may already have these shades at your disposal from within other palettes.  The shades included are:

Maui Wowie – Metallic golden beige with silver glitter
Deep End* – Bright teal shimmer
Sellout – Pinky champagne
Fishnet – Bright pink with purple shift
Stray Dog – Cool metallic ash brown
Freakshow – Deep royal purple pearl

* new shade (not new shade, Bicky recognised it from the 15th Anniversary palette)

The fact is that there’s enough neutrality going on here to suit scaredy cats like me (sellout, maui wowie and stray dog make a beautiful natural eye on their own) whilst injecting enough colour to tempt me into showing a little bravery on occasion.

Swatched with no primer.

And a quick FOTD using Fishnet on the lids, Freakshow dragged outward from the corners, Deep End as an accent under the eye, and Sellout as a highlighter.  I’m also wearing the Lip Junkie lipgloss included, which is Midnight Cowboy, a sheer nude sparkle.  It’s very sticky and not my cup of tea at all.

Urban Decay’s The Fun Palette is a sweet offering from the brand that is sure to tempt many new UD-ites into occasionally swapping out their beloved Naked Palettes for something a little brighter.  For old-skool UD junkies, there may not be enough here to warrant another purchase, but it’s a good reminder of the brand’s founding ethos towards colour and expermentation.

The Fun Palette is priced at £25 (€ 34) and available from Debenhams and House of Fraser stores or online at debenhams.com, houseoffraser.com and beautybay.com.

* press sample

Sorry ladies, I got taup-ally happy with my Yves Rocher ordering didn’t I?  This is the last one… I promise (until the next time).

You’ll be pleased to hear that this one was also the cheapest, and I didn’t have much hopes for it… but I think it’s my favourite!

#71 Gris Taupe is a densely pigmented shade with a satin finish.  So many times, cheaper powder eyeshadows lack any creaminess and feel gritty or hard to the touch.  This one has all the textural qualities you’d expect from a product twice the price.  Packaging is horrible though, this one’s definitely a depotter, though I do like a neat square pan in a depotted palatte, so it’s all good!

You can see in the swatch photo that the taupe definitely leans to the grey and is fairly neutral in tone, the silver highlight is very pretty and gives a nice ethereal sheen to the eye area once applied. Longevity is average, and I prefer to apply this one with my finger for a gentler effect as it is quite deep in pigment otherwise.

Yves Rocher Taupe Gris is priced at £8 on a buy-one-get-one-free offer (YR seem to change their prices more often than I change my knickers).

You can buy Taupe Gris online here.

Sorry if I’m on a bit of an Yves Rocher bore train at the minute but I’m slowly working through the order I made last month and included in my naughtiness were a few taupe eyeshadows that had caught my eye in Prague.  This is one of them…

Taupe Bruyere is in their range of single eyeshadows and has a soft sheen, gentle (but not too sheer) pigment and for a powder… a nice, creamy texture wearing well throughout the day.  If you’re looking to see if you’ve already got something simillar in your collection (of course you have), I’d pitch it as closest to a slightly-more-violet version of NARS Lhasa or a less glittery (much less) version of Chanel Illusoire.  I can’t find an exact dupe in the bits that I’ve already unpacked.

Yves Rocher Taupe Bruyere is available to buy online, priced at £12.00 – the price fluctuates in the sales though and I paid half that only a few weeks ago…

Want it?

I don’t have quite the owl fascination that I know many people share but I can’t fail to appreciate a pretty design when I see one and this owl-inspired eyeshadow set is sure to get many of you hooting (groan – sorry).

The eyeshadow palette from the M&S Limited Collection features five neutral shades, and one flash of bold colour in the form of a jewel-toned blue.  All shades are shimmery, but is it a case of style over content when it comes to usability and value for money?  Or should you be owl over it before it flies from the shelves? (sorry, SORRY!)

The packaging is lovely, a substantial cardboard design reminiscent of many popular palettes featuring some extremely cute owl motifs on the front.  There’s no obvious mention of M&S as a brand, the packaging alludes simply to the Limited Collection rather than the shop where you buy your comfiest knickers.

Under the lid sits a generous, distortion-free mirror and six eyeshadow pans, each featuring a cut-out owl design.  These cutouts prove to be a little tricky when it comes to accessing the eyeshadow and I imagine that the sharp edges will begin to look fairly worn shortly after the initial use.  The palette comes complete with a sponge applicator… an actual brush wouldn’t have gone amiss when you have six shades to work from.

The textures are quite hard and sadly, I achieved little to no pigment from the top left shade, which on paper, was easily my favourite.  Taupe anyone?  The other shades deliver better results, some only marginally.  Swatches coming right up…

As previously stated, the top left shade is no bueno – don’t buy the palette because you think you’ve fallen in love with a new pretty taupe, you’ll be disappointed.  The remaining two shades on the top row are also a bit of a let-down.  They’re patchy and unpigmented for such strong colours (the swatch shows two swipes for each) – workable, but they make you graft to get a result.

The bottom row, however, tells a different tale.  All three shadows sitting across the lower half of the palette are quite delightful.  Rich in colour, smooth to apply and softly shimmering without any chunks of glitter.  The highlighter on the bottom right in particular is a very pretty warm champagne which will open up the eye area beautifully.

Ultimately?  Unless you absolutely must have it because you’re batshit crazy about owls, you don’t need this palette.  The shades are infinitely dupable in better formulas on the high street and because of the underwhelming performance of those top three shades, it just doesn’t offer value for money.

If you are a bit of an owl-obsessive, who cares what the shadows are like because let’s face it – you’re probably just going to stroke the box anyway.

M&S Limited Collection Shadow is available to buy instore and online at M&S, priced at £7.50

* press sample

I’m very slowly building up steam and finally have more than just my fish-eye lens in situ at the new place, time for some swatches!  Clarins have released an entire rainbow of new mineral (pressed) eyeshadows that are designed to be used both wet and dry.  I was sent a selection to take a look at and they’re classically Clarins, both in appearance and in application.

I’ll go through the shades, one by one.

White Sparkle (01) makes for a great tear duct highlighter, it has that sheer luminosity thing going on without too much of a metallic edge.  I can see this shade also working very well to introduce a bit of sparkle as a layering shadow. Like all of the shades I’ve tried, it’s sheer but build-able and of course, can be applied with a wet brush to create a more intense effect.

Auburn (07) is a warm-toned brown with a light shimmer.  Some skin-tones may struggle with the red hues in this shade but if you’ve got green eyes and pale skin, you’re onto a winner with this one!  Used wet, it also makes for a pretty variation on your usual eyeliner.

Aubergine (12) was a slight disappointment, I found this satin shade applied with more patchiness than I’d like and also had a harder texture in the pan than the others.  Nevertheless, a very pretty shade for brown-eyed girls in particular.

Platinum (14) is a steel grey with a hint of sparkle, there’s a slight colour shift in there that reminds me more of something that you’d find in one of my violet-toned taupes than a silver/grey!  It’s a pretty shade that’s deceptively complex when compared to how it looks in the pan.

Vibrant Violet (16) is the classic violet satin with a distinctive blue flash – this was another which felt slightly more firmly-textured but still imparted an impressive streak of colour to my lids.

As with all Clarins’ releases, the packaging is satisfyingly luxurious and touchable.  The large mirror is generous and actually pretty usable in a real-life situation.  Formulas were a little variable in the batch that I swatched but were, as you’d expect, generally sheer but build-able.  This is something that I’ve come to appreciate Clarins do very well – gone are the days that I want instant and deep pigmentation (unless it’s a black!), these are all infinitely layer-able but ultimately won’t disappoint you when it comes to colour payoff either.  If your heart does desire va-va-voom style pigmentation, you could apply these with a wet brush – or go seek out a Sleek counter.

Longevity was good, I don’t apply an eye primer every morning nowadays (pure laziness) and these easily stayed put for the working day, around 7/8 hours before fading – there was no slidey migration into the socket crease at all.

The new range of Clarins Mineral Eyeshadows are available to purchase in a total of 16 shades, available now on counter or online, priced at £16 each.  Alternatively, head to the lovely Escentual.com who are always more than competitive on the Clarins range, where you’ll find them priced at an extremely palatable £12.80 a-piece.

* press sample

… I’ve never depotted before.  Which is basically the beauty blogger equivalent of a whore admitting that she’s never actually done it before.  Not that I’m calling beauty bloggers whores.

Wait, where was I?

Well, it was Saturday night and I had about 20 minutes before I was supposed to be in bed, which obviously made it the ideal time to get out a bunch of eyeshadows, light a candle and kiss goodbye to a perfectly good cuticle pusher.

So the above Z-Palette is now made up of a mixture of depots and pressed pigments.  I didn’t sacrifice any of my expensive shadows in the making of this… the whole exercise is an attempt to make me use more of the shades that I’ve been neglecting.  There’s a right old hotch-potch in there – you may recognise some MUA, Art Deco, MAC, The Body Shop, Mary Quant, Maybelline, and NYX.  The ones with bumpy texture are my pressed pigments (mostly The She Space, Shiro Cosmetics and Victorian Disco).

All in all, it didn’t go too badly. I gouged a couple (and quickly re-pressed), dented the pans on more than a couple (what’s a few dinks between friends?) and shattered one (didn’t like it much anyway).  Am I game to do the same for my more cherished eyeshadows?  Am I naff.

Do you depot?  Always or just sometimes?