A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

As promised earlier, here are some swatches from the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette. These have been swatched using a brush over primer.

Firstly a reminder of the shades in the pan.

Rollover the above image to reveal the shade names. Also check out some swatches on a darker skintone courtesy of VexInTheCity.

Come back this lunchtime for a quick comparison between the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette and the original Urban Decay Naked Palette where I share my thoughts on whether you really need this one in your collection or not.

*press sample

EDIT: The Naked 2 Palette will be released in the UK on 9th January 2012, priced at £36 and available from instore and online from Debenhams before rolling out to House of Fraser from February 6th.

Yes, the rumours are true and the worst-kept secret is finally out. Urban Decay are releasing a follow-up to the best-selling Naked Palette and Urban Decay’s Naked 2 Palette will be heading to the UK very soon.

Unlike its predecessor, the UD Naked2 palette* is housed in a tin – an instant packaging love as a more robust, portable alternative to the velvety-cardboard containing the original. Also worth mentioning is the mirror which stretches the length of the entire lid and the double-ended eyeshadow brush which offers both a laydown and blending option.

Swatches coming up later today…

* press sample

EDIT: The Naked 2 Palette will be released in the UK on 9th January 2012, priced at £36 and available from instore and online from Debenhams before rolling out to House of Fraser from February 6th.

I picked this Estee Lauder blush up recently from the lovely Perilously Pale‘s blog sale and fell immediately in love with it once it dropped through my letterbox.

As a very pink-skinned thing, I used to be scared of anything that was warmer toned.  I still struggle to wear peach tones on my eyes and lips, but as a hint of blush?  Peach tends to look the most natural against my skin and is my favourite for toning down the redness that already exists in that area.

Estee Lauder Peach Nuance is a gradiated blush that swirls together to create a very pretty flush.  I would assume this shade will suit most skin colours.  If you’re bothered enough, I’m sure you could be selective about applying the peach segment/pink segment individually but I just use the entire gradiant swirled as one.

The blush has a matte finish with a silky texture that applies evenly and blends effortlessly.  It builds pigmentation quickly on my pale skin but if you’re a heavy-handed type – you’d probably get on well with this as it’s hard to overdo with just a single swipe.

Priced at £24.00, the Estee Lauder Signature Silky Powder Blush range looks to have some very pretty shades that I have added to my ‘must go and obsess over at the counter’ list.  It’s a long list.

Do you favour pink cheeks or peachy cheeks?!

This, THIS is why I love being married.  Well, not just *this* but, mostly… this.  Can you guess what my lovely husband is making me?

Ooooooooh!!  It’s coming together!!

It looks a bit fiddly doesn’t it?  Glad I’m not the one making it.

Come back tomorrow to see it in all its glory!

Superdrug have been raising the beauty stakes lately.  First with their new beauty card, some great new brand exclusives and now a new range of affordable makeup brushes designed for the more makeup-savvy among us.

The Superdrug PRO Make Up Brush range contains eight new brushes in total.  Each brush is hand-crafted with 100% natural hair and as you’ve come to expect from Superdrug, all are BUAV approved (bunny friendly).

I have a few of the brushes from the new range and have been putting them to the test over the past week or so.  My feelings on each brush vary, so I thought I’d do a quick speed-review of each one.  Let’s get started…

PRO: 02 POWDER BRUSH is a fluffy, domed brush with a softness that belies its price tag.  I would have liked to see a little more weight to it and there is a tiny hint of scratchiness but nothing that would particularly bother me.  It grabs product well and disperses evenly across the face.  The fibres are dense but fairly loosely packed ensuring a light but buildable application.  I didn’t experience much shedding either or on my face, or when washing.  Good stuff.   £9.99

PRO: 11 EYE SHADOW BRUSH – WIDE is a nice tool for applying a wash of colour over the lids.  Again, it’s not the most densely packed brush which means that you’ll be able to build pigmentation with this effectively but it may end up frustrating you if you like to pack colour on quickly.  It also works well to blend harsh lines in a pinch, easily soft enough not to irritate the delicate skin around the eye area.  I have quite small lids and did end up wishing that it were a touch smaller.  £7.99

PRO: 13 EYE SHADOW BRUSH – ROUND isn’t one of my preferred brushes.  It’s nicely shaped with an excellent taper that really allows for some precision work but I just found this one a little too scratchy to use comfortably.  A real shame  because it has some nice resistance to the fibres that will allow you to get right into the corner of the eye and underneath the lashline with confidence that the head won’t splay.  £6.99

PRO: 14 SLANTED EYE LINER BRUSH makes for the 2nd disappointment in the set.  I simply find it too large and soft to give enough precision to line my eyes.  As I draw the brush across my eyelids, it tries to find its own path of least resistance, buckling under the weight of the drag.  Not great.  £5.99

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Overall, I think the range is a useful but not outstanding addition to the store.  It’s always nice to have more choices where budget brushes are concerned but none of the ones I’ve tried above hold a candle to my favourite ELF Studio brushes.

If you want to check these out for yourselves, you’ll be interested to learn that Superdrug are offering the entire collection at a special introductory price until 22nd November with prices starting from only £3.99 (concealer, lip) and ranging up to £8.49 for the most expensive (foundation, powder).

Have you tried the new Superdrug PRO Make Up Brushes yet?

* press sample

I’m slowly getting back into the swing of wearing bolder lipsticks and rapidly falling in love with my Kevyn Aucoin purchases whilst I’m at it!  Enchantaberry is a wearable berry shade that never looks overdone.  It’s perfect if you’re a little shy of vampy Autumn/Winter shades but would still like to experiment.

My favourite thing about these KA lipsticks though, is the formula.  They seem to somehow dry to a powder finish without being drying, at least for me – and I don’t have particularly amazing lips. I usually have to bring my Lanolips into nightly use when I bring out the red lipstick but not so with the Kevyn Aucoin lippies that I’ve been wearing recently.

Just like Dantique, which I featured previously, Enchantaberry appears to be darker in the tube than when applied.  It has a silky texture and can be blotted to a “just bitten” stain if you so wish.  I prefer to wear it full-on, it’s not too dark or vampy, as you can see…

Out of all the berries(!), I say this one has a raspberry edge, it’s another big thumbs up for a wearable red from makeup master Kevyn Aucoin.

Kevyn Aucoin Enchantaberry is currently available at a bargain price of £4.99 on eBay, alternatively you can purchase online from www.misebeauty.com, priced at £20.

This limited edition Living The Life in Laguna* palette from Stila landed on my desk the other day and once I peeked inside, I knew I had to make it the focus of my makeup that evening.  The darker shades are so rich and Autumnal, I was instantly sold.

The collectible palette is one of a series of five from the US brand.  It’s a little bigger than an iPhone and made of sturdy cardboard.  It contains a (slightly too small) mirror, four eye colours, a cheek colour and a highlighter.

All the eye shades included are shimmery and can be worn both wet or dry.  The cheek shades both contain a fairly subtle shimmer that makes them suitable for both day or evening wear.  I absolutely adore the bottom right shade (of the four eye ones) – a rich, chocolatey brown with copper shimmer, it’s exquisite for green eyes.

Each palette in the Beach Girl series comes with a helpful set of instructions on a possible method of application.  I followed Stila’s instructions to the letter for this palette which created the following look…

I adore this little palette, even more so when I checked the press information and discovered that the price is set at a mere £10.00 – bargain.  If you want some real bang for your buck in an easy-to-wear palette that provides not only a complete ‘look’ but also a range of shades you’ll mix and match time and time again, look no further.

Stila Living The Life in Laguna Beach Girl Palette is priced at £10.00 and available to buy online from BeautyBay.com

* press sample

I recently received a question from reader Fiona who asked…

Hi, I have hunted out this old post because I have a burning question and I thought you might be able to recommend something?

I use Dandelion, I am SO pale it’s great for me – natural, hard to overdo. However I don’t want the gold shimmer everyday. Is there another blusher that’s a similar colour / shade but matte-r, no shimmer? And if said blusher came in a creme (particularly stick) format I’d be even happier!

Any thoughts/recommendations welcome!

Off the top of my head, I’d say something like No7 Blush Tint in Blossom, though it might be a hint darker… I’m wearing it in this post.  For something a little more luxe, you could try Rouge Bunny Rouge’s Vermeer.

Cosmetics a la Carte also do some wonderful cream blush sticks, it’s definitely worth checking out the website for those.

I also asked on Twitter and got some brilliant recommendations:

“Jane Iredale in Clarity” (@lovelyislovely1)

“Maybelline ones, the mousse. Cannot recall the name” (@mucrazyinsanity)

“I think too faced used to do one called pretty in pink. it was a pale matte cream if I remember rightly, it’s a duo blush though so the shimmery half will be useless” (@GlitteryAllsort)

“the MUFE ones aren’t shimmery” (@eyeheartit)

“Nars Penny Lane?” (@chelseagirl2)

“Illamasqua all the way.. Zip into Beak Street store and you’ll fall In love… You’ll thank me after :-)))) x” (@ZoeWMUA)

“make up forever cream blush thats light pink. Stila has cream blushes” (@BeautyNYC)

“NARS Penny Lane came to mind, but that may be slightly on the dark side?? x” (@TheBeautySpark)

“To be honest I’d find a lipstick in that shade I wanted and use it as cream blush” (@vickinurse)

“penny lane nars, mac posie, sleek do a nice one x” (@gailnoble)

“NARS Penny Lane?” (@reductionista)

Thanks for chipping in everyone and I hope that helps Fiona? If anyone else has a suggestion, please share the wisdom!

My dislike for all things Midnight Cowboy is well-documented.  I don’t have a problem with the colours, au contraire (Rodney), I love the peach-champagne-y goodness that MC, MCRA and its coven of glitter-witches bring.  It’s just, well… a bit of a pain innit?

Now imagine an entire palette based around Midnight Cowboy and it’s equally glitter-tastic night-time shades…

Oh HAI Urban Decay Midnight Emergency Kit*!!  I need an emergency GLITTER cleanup!

The styling reminds me of those “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters you see in billions of guises everywhere nowadays but the silver wallet is hugely resilient to being thrown in the bottom of a bag.  It is a touch chunky considering the fairly slimline contents, I’ve sized it up against my Nintendo DS below…

…it’s very well protected and I can see the whole shebang lasting and lasting without so much as a scratch on it.

The contents of the Midnight Emergency Kit include:

 4 Eyeshadows (Midnight Cowboy, Midnight Sin, Midnight Rodeo and AC/DC)
 1 Lip Junkie Lipgloss (Midnight Cowboy)
 1  Travel-Sized Eyeshadow Brush

I’m not sure how many variants of Champagne a girl needs for a night-time look… something a little blacker wouldn’t have gone a-miss in this palette but I can’t deny that there are four very pretty shades included.

Here’s the rub.  All four will produce major fall out, either during application or after.  Eschew your beloved Urban Decay Primer Potion and use something like Fyrinnae’s Pixie Epoxy to get them to stay stuck well into the night and for the love of God, don’t do your foundation before applying these shades.  Make use of those two tips and you’ll be able to give yourself up to the glitter monster and save your curses for something else.

Pretty yes?

Also included in the kit is a rather lovely lipgloss that doesn’t do too much on it’s own but applied over lipstick, turns your lips from daytime chic to night-time party in an instant.  The Midnight Cowboy shade is a sheer, glittery champagne that looks beautful worn over the top of a neutral lippie to give a bit of oomph and added sexiness.

The final inclusion comes in the form of a travel-sized eyeshadow brush…

It does what it says on the tin and it does it well.  Urban Decay brushes are some of the most under-rated synthetic brushes around.

A couple of FOTDs showing the kit in action…

At £28, I think it leans fairly expensive for what it is and will only really appeal to glitter demons and those under the age of 22.  Of course, there are plenty who will fall into that bracket and I can see this making a spectacular Christmas gift for those who would appreciate it.

However, in the face of some of Urban Decay’s other recent offerings… it’s a thumbs down from me.

Urban Decay Midnight Emergency Kit is priced at £28 and available on counter now and online from House of Fraser, HQ Hair, Debenhams and BeautyBay.

* press sample

Last month saw the launch of a new highlighter from Benefit, a brand that have enjoyed great success in the past with their highlighting products that mimic how light and shadow play across the face.

Unlike liquid products like the brand’s previous highlighting options: Highbeam and Moonbeam, Watt’s Up! is a twist-up cream highlighting stick in the style of a NARS Multiple.

Packaged to be reminiscent of a light bulb, it’s cute, kitsch and all the things you’d expect from a brand like Benefit.  One end houses the product… the other, a sponge designed for blending.  Something, which in my opinion is a bit of a waste of time.

I find that the sponge does more to rub the product off than it does to blend it.  You’ll be fine just using your fingertips to get a smooth application though I do appreciate it’s existence as it could well come in handy in my makeup bag put to some other use!

On initial application, the product gives quite a warm champagne glow with a lot of reflection but once blended, it softens to a more natural, neutral hue that will flatter most skintones.  The cream has a lovely amount of slip and glides over my skin which ensures that it’s foundation friendly and blends seamlessly with whatever base I’ve already applied.

Once applied, it sets quite quickly to a powder finish and didn’t slide around on my normal/dry skin or slip during the day, oilier skins may struggle with this depending on how you usually fare with cream-to-powder formulas.

Once blended (the above photo shows unblended), I find the overall effect fairly subtle compared to some of the more pearlescent products that I’ve used in the past and I would happily wear this during both the day and for going out.

At £24.50, I think it’s quite pricey for what it is but I can’t actually find too much fault with the product – I would just like to see it about £6 cheaper.

Benefit Watt’s Up! is available to buy online or on counter from Benefit Cosmetics.

It’s been a while huh?  I’m thinking that the temperature has dropped enough now to kick-start the red lip series again…

I’m easing myself back into the season slowly though with this little number from makeup uber-God Kevyn Aucoin.

Kevyn Aucoin’s The Expert Lip Tint in Dantique is a proper grown-up red that oozes sophistication and I’m completely smitten with it.  The shade reminds me a little of my Burberry Lip Cover in Claret but while the Burberry is slightly more pink-berry toned, this one leans to a rosey/red-brown.  It’s a totally work-appropriate red if you live in fear of wearing your lips a little too loudly.

Genuinely moisturising on my lips and wears down evenly to a pretty stain, I can see myself hitting stump on this shade.

There are currently some Kevyn Aucoin lipsticks for sale on eBay at a very good price, I’m sure they’re old stock but I’ve bought a couple with no problems, otherwise – you can buy online priced at £20 each from MiseBeauty.com

Rituals Sunglow Cheek & Eye Glow in Peach is a multi-tasking palette filled with some truly lovely warm-toned shades that work well even on my cool skin tone.

The palette (which contains a generous 9g of product) is currently on sale on the Rituals website and reminds me of a more affordable version of something like Laura Mercier’s Shimmer Bloc or Bobbi Brown’s Shimmer Brick.

A total of five colours that harmonise well together to create some different eye-variations or if swirled gently with a large, fluffy brush will impart a warm glow to the cheeks.

My preferred way of using this is as an eye palette, it’s one of those no-nonsense palettes that does the hard work for you.  The shade placements are pretty obvious and the mineral formula means that these shades blend together effortlessly.

The high shimmer finish means that this won’t be to everyone’s tastes and when I use this on my cheeks, I use just the tiniest touch over the top of my blusher and edging my cheekbone rather than the apple of my cheek.  In other words, I use this more as a highlighter than a blusher.

I’ve got some swatches below and I’ll make this the feature of my next FOTD – it is quite Autumnal after all no?

A comparison with my other peachy shimmer palettes (Prescriptives The Illuminator, Rituals Sunglow Peach, Bobbi Brown Shimmer Block in Nectar)…

Of the three, the Rituals is the most genuinely multi-functional but also the softest-textured, meaning that it imparts a lot of product onto the brush and creates a little dust when working with it.  The Bobbi Brown is hard-textured and doesn’t work anywhere near as well as eyeshadow but is my preferred option for blush.  The Prescriptives?  Well, seeing as you can’t get it anymore… there’s not much point me going on about it!

Rituals Sunglow* also comes in a range of pinks and a bronze-toned version.  Currently on the Rituals website priced at £17.90

* press sample