New to my MAC Palette | Coppering & Sumptuous Olive

Y'know, I am really enjoying this whole palette - building situation, and my DIY MAC collection is actually turning out to be a lot more adventurous than I had imagined.
I started off with fairly neutral shades, and have a nice selection of mattes, along with Star Violet and All That Glitters as beautiful lid shades.
However, one evening I got caught in a swatch- photo hole on Google, and I fell in love with these two shades; both a little more out there than my original selection. Copping and Sumptuous Olive are both beautifully pigmented and highly metallic, and I think are going to be so lovely for the summer months.
Coppering is a really warm burnt- orange copper with gold shimmer. It's very red-toned so may be quite tricky to wear, but I've given it a go a couple of times already and I think it's soo pretty.
Sumptuous Olive has really opened my eyes to the world of green eyeshadows; I just want loads more because this one is so beautiful. It's a yellow- toned olive- green with gold shimmer - really high- shine and would look beautiful on any eye colour.
So yeah, here are the new recruits, I'm v. excited about them. The only problem is, now I need a lovely warm, mid brown crease shade...

Thanks for reading :)
Lou

Easy eye look | Make up Revolution

Just a quick one today - to show you how I used this palette from Make up Revolution (Romantic Smoked) to do a really easy everyday look.


I started with the matte taupe in the middle of the palette, and applied it to my crease, with a wash of the third shimmery colour all over the lid - it's a really lovely almost - peach. I then added some of the bright white shimmer to the centre and inner corner of my lids and finished the look with the shimmery purple smudged along my lashline and pulled into a messy flick.


I have always really loved Make Up Revolution eyeshadows, I find that they wear really well and blend together nicely. This palette is a bit different with a few fun colours, but you can definitely use it to create such a simple look - just like this one.



If you haven't already, I would definitely recommend having a look at the shadow palettes from MuR - this one was only £4 and I've got so much use out of it!

Thanks for reading :)

Lou

Stila ~ In the Garden Palette | Review

Hello, you look nice.

I think I've been a bit slow on the scene for this one, but I have to say I'm really glad I picked this palette up.

I think this is the perfect collecting for someone like me, who loves a neutral look, but wants a cheeky dabble in some colours now and again, and this palette has a dash of blue, green and purple thrown in around the standard neutrals,

I apologise for the horrible swatches, but the light really wasn't doing the colours any favours, you'll  just have to believe me that they are one-swipe swatches and a really smooth texture.

The only change I would make to this palette is add a deeper matte shade or two- the only two completely matte colours are Chinois and Nectar, which are too light to deepen the crease with.

Apart from that, this is a really nice all- round palette, with nice everyday shades (Chinois,Nectar, Breeze, Bark, Sage), and the brighter shades (Honey, Freesia, Rossette, Juniper) for when you feel a touch adventurous.

Overall, I would recommend- lovely texture, good lasting power and I really like the selection of shades in here.

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

Stila In The Garden Palette

This is my first go with this palette, and I wanted to create something really wearable. Looking at the colour selection, it can come across a little bold: mossy greens and bright blues which might be bit outside your comfort zone. 

I think greens can definitely be wearable, especially at this time of year, and I really love this combination.

First of all, I washed Nectar in my crease just to create a little depth. There definitely wasn't a good selection of matte shades in this palette, which could be a downside for some people, but Nectar was just about dark enough to give the lid a little dimension.
I then went ahead and washed Breeze all over  the lid and Bark on the outer third and on the lower lash line. I added a hint of Chinois in the inner 1/4 and finished with a small dash of the liner which was included along the top lash line.

The shadows and the liner lasted so nicely all day, and I really love the soft day time look I managed to get from this palette.

I will hopefully manage to do a full swatch review on the whooole palette so you can see the beautifulness of it. I'm also really excited about using the blues... which look amaaazinggg...hang tight, coming soon!

Thanks for reading!
Lou xxx

Naked during the day | Eyes

When you think Naked Palette, you think amazing smoky evening eyes, or least a nice beach-y bronze look. I've been experimenting with the original Naked palette for a relaxed daytime look with a tiny bit of smoke, and this is my favourite so far.

I used Buck  in the crease, Sin over the main part of the lid and the browbone, and Naked  to blend the edges. The real star of the show is Darkhorse- which I used on the lower lash line and outer v to create a daytime smoky look.
This combo is perfect for during the day on Saturday. I'll tell you why. It's enough to look 'done' if you are going out for the day or just spending time with friends or family. But what makes it great is that it can be a great base for anything extra you might want to add in the evening. Nothing too shimmery or dark which would be hard to blend over, but just enough so that I could go back in 6 hours and really make it night-time appropriate. Or, leave the shadow, wack on some liner, lashes and a bold lip and you're good to go. Fabulous.

I used the Seventeen Va Va Voom mascara, and a tiny smudge of Blackout from the Naked2 palette along my top lash line. Like, a tiny amount.

Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading
Lou x

My current concealer cocktail

Who- ever said that one concealer could do it all was lying. Or they don't have the under-eye circles I have... OR they've found a magic make up product I have yet to stumble upon.

Anyway, I'm all about that layering life to make sure those bad boys stay hidden all day long. I can't say I'm 100% in love with all three of these, or that they're my holy grail concealers, or anything like that. But at the moment, it's working , and until I finish them, I'm not hugely bothered about hunting down some alternatives. If I ever need a hint more coverage, I pop a tiny dot of Collection Lasting Perfection right on the darkest part of my eye to really hit it where it hurts. (What?)

Feast your eyes on my eye. (Eye-eye Sir). My camera is fairly flattering, so the intensity of that eye bag just isn't showing up. Anyway, I've done a couple of photos to try to show you the concealer- layering process, and the finished result

So, first of all, I dab a little of the Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light Bisque into the purple-most bits of my undereye bags. Now, despite costing me almost 20£, I have found it hard to fall in love with this product. It's super SUPER creamy, making it hard to set, and not to crease the moment you apply it. But, it cancels out most of the purple-ness fairly well, which I suppose is it's number one purpose.

The next step is to layer a little of the Maybelline Anti - Age sponge concealer thing over top, just to cover the peachy-ness of the corrector. Side note: check out that blending job on my nose. Oh wow.

Lastly, I layer a healthy load of L'Oreal Lumi Concealer, which is basically a brightening pen. You can get loads of these, and I would recommend any that L'Oreal make as I've tried a good few. Loverly.

And that's it! Wack a little powder on just to set the concoction, and you're good to go. I would be happy to get this routine down to two steps, but the Maybelline concealer isn't a good colour match to my skin, and needs a bit of a pick me up.

Hope this was helpful!
Thanks for reading!
Lou x

3 New L'Oreal Products

Well, new to me. A good old Boots 3 for 2 deal on L'Oreal drew me in and made me make a cheeky purchase of a couple of single eyeshadows and one of their Colour Riche lipsticks.

The eyeshadows have had a fair amount of buzz around the blogosphere, and I can now see why. Whilst swatching in store, I had trouble picking two rather than ten. You can see from the crack in the right- hand shadow (Nude 201, Cafe Saint Germain), that these are buttery, buttery soft. In fact, I would say that half the pans on the shelf were at least cracked, if not completely crushed.

I'm not normally one to buy single shadows, but these swatched so well in store that I was totally convinced. The right hand shade is Cafe Saint Germain, as mentioned above, and the one on the left, more of a peachy, rose gold shade, is Lumiere 507 Pin Up Pink. I love them both, and I don't think this photo does the intense pigment justice. I hope these wear as well as they swatch!

The lipstick is part of the Colour Riche range too- Doutzen's Nude. It's a true, sheer baby pink, which is something I've been looking for recently. With nudes, I normally lean towards a more peach or purple base rather than straight- up pink, so I love this. It is very sheer, and so far I can say it doesn't stay on particularly long- but that's to be expected with such a creamy formula.

I'm excited about these new products and look forward to trying them out!
Thanks for reading!
Lou x

Collection Eyes Uncovered Nude Bronze Palette ~ Review and Swatches

I've already chatted about this palette a little bit on here, but I thought it deserved a separate post because it's so worth picking up. 

Let's just appreciate this amazing selection for a minute.

The only down side to this palette is that it's an entirely shimmery collection, so those of you who prefer your mattes might be disappointed. I love the shimmers, especially for the summer, its such a nice collection for a summer holiday!

These are one swipe swatches, so you can see how pigmented and shimmery they are. The light shade is really good, it just doesn't show up here because it's basically a creamy white...which is the colour of my skin.

My favourites are the second and fifth shades, which are very similar, but the second is a bit of a cooler tone whereas the fifth is warmer.

The only colour to not impress me so much is the golden shade, which is a little sheerer, but builds up really well.

This looks a lot lighter on camera than in person, but I basically did a wash of the palest colour, the golden in the centre and the fifth colour into the crease, just to create a soft daytime look. 

The shadows are so pigmented but easy to blend out so great to do both a day and a night look.

The shadows last really really well, each time I've worn them they make it through the entire day!

Overall, definitely pick this one up, it's such good value at £3.99 ( It was on offer at Boots for £2.99 the other week so I'm sure it will be again sometime), and the quality is amazing for the price.

This is the kind of palette I'd take away on holiday because of the cardboard packaging, and the lovely selection of shimmery bronzey shades. I will definitely be looking at the other two palettes...

Thanks for reading!

Lou x