NYC Colour Instinct Palette - Dinner and a Show

NYC Colour Instinct Palette in Dinner and a Show
£2.49 Superdrug

Swatches

This eyeshadow quad (named Dinner and a Show) from NYC is part of the Colour Instinct range. It was purchased in a grab and buy situation from Superdrug a few weeks ago and cost me £2.49. Sadly it's not on the Superdrug website so I'm unsure if that was the permanent price or whether it was on offer. 

I grabbed this mainly because it was so cheap and as a lover of brown and nude shadows it never hurts to have back ups. A tiny amount of navy blue shadow is included in this palette which I think is a bit of an odd colour choice, blue and brown aren't exactly two colours I'd always put together! Instead I think they should have gone with a black or maybe even an olive green eyeshadow, anyway for £2.49 I guess you can't complain.

This palette contains four eyeshadows, due to how they are arranged (which looks very pretty) each eyeshadow differs in size. Having swatched them the colour pay off isn't outstanding....but then being so cheap I wouldn't expect it to be! I was pleasantly surprised with the two lightest shades which are shimmery and do have fairly good pigmentation. The two darker shades are both matte and whilst not amazingly pigmented, they are buildable. I don't think I'll get much wear out of the blue but the brown is a good shade - you can never have too many browns or neutrals!

The staying powder is ok, obviously it had mostly disappeared by the end of the day, but I didn't notice it wearing off quicker than any other eyeshadows I own.

I have never purchased anything from NYC before, it normally sits next to the Miss Sporty stand in what I refer to as the teen make up section of Superdrug. Eyeing the display I did spot a few little gems in the range and I have heard great things about the colour wheel blushers, so perhaps that will be the next purchase. Let me know in the comments if you've ever purchased anything from the NYC range.

L'Oreal Colour Infallible Eye Shadows

L'oreal Colour Infallible Eyeshadow, £6.99 each

'L’Oréal Paris unveils its latest eye shadow.Ultra-intense colour, 

up to 24 hour hold and velvety soft feel.'

These little pots have been doing the rounds recently, being a bit of a magpie for shiny things I picked a couple of them up myself. Normally retailing at £6.99 each, Boots and Superdrug have both currently got them on offer for £3.99 which makes them very purse friendly. My local stores don't stock a very good selection of colours but these two gold shades caught my eye.

The first shade Bronze Divine is a rich antique gold colour, I feel the deep gold tones would suit any eye colour but would look particularly beautiful on blue/green eyes.

The second shade is a lighter toned gold called Sahara Treasure, I like to sweep this one all over my eyelid for neutral sparkly eyes. Now onto the swatches:

Without flash

With flash

As you can see these are rich, heavily pigmented and ultra shimmery shadows. I would say they are more suited to night time wear, for me that are just that bit too sparkly for the day.

The packaging is good, the little pots are sleek and come with a black compactor tool so you can compress the eyeshadow meaning the product doesn't fly everywhere like other loose pigments *cough* Barry M *cough*.

The consistency of these shadows is pretty unique, they are actually loose powder yet have a really velvety, smooth and creamy texture, I find it is best to apply this product using fingers and then use a brush to blend out the colour.

These shadows have fantastic staying power and L'oreal states they last a whole 24 hours, whilst I haven't put that claim to the test I have been impressed with how long wearing they are. These shadows are also waterproof, so I'm thinking they could be the perfect eyeshadow for a night out: shimmery, heavily pigmented and hard wearing! For such a great price these are really worth trying out and I think L'oreal have come up with something pretty special here.

MUA Heaven and Earth Palette

MUA Heaven and Earth Palette £4.00, Superdrug

I have been meaning to write this post for a while, I promised it ages ago during my what's in my holiday make up kit post but never got round to it, so without further ado here is my take on the much loved MUA Heaven and Earth palette. Costing £4 the palette contains 12 natural shades and is the same size as the Sleek palettes. The colour selection is really beautiful, consisting of a variety of neutral colours, ranging from taupe, coffee to gold and plum shades.

The colours are highly pigmented, soft and blendable which makes them easy to use, best of all I find there is minimal fallout and the last all day with next to no creasing. There are no matte shades in this palette and all 12 shades have a shimmer running through them. I personally prefer shimmery shades as I find them a lot prettier and more wearable and I like the way they catch the light. I wish the shades had names but unfortunately they don't, so I have numbered them for the purpose of swatches.

(click pictures to enlarge)

I think 6, 8, 9 and 10 have to be my favourite shades. As you can see there is a decent range of colours here, ranging from highlighter shades to darker colours. I recently took this palette on holiday and it was all the eyeshadow I needed, the selection is fantastic and you can easily create tonnes of different looks from one palette. 

This is a beautiful neutral palette made up of good quality eyeshadows, for the price it really is a must have!

Barry M Dazzle Dust in Tan

Barry M Dazzle Dust in Tan 39 £4.50, Boots

I really do love the Barry M Dazzle Dust pots they come in a range of beautiful colours, are highly pigmented and for such a teeny tiny pot you get loads of product.

In general I tend to shy away from loose powders as I find them 'faffier' to apply compared to a regular packed eyeshadow - or maybe I'm just lazy? An open pot of loose powder has to be handled carefully, I learnt this the hard way when I dropped this very pot of powder all over my bed! Application of a Dazzle Dust can be a slightly messy affair as loose powder tends to create a tonne of fall out, this can be overcome with careful brush application and a tissue under the eye to pick up any excess shadow. 

The colours in the Barry M loose eyeshadow range are beautiful and come in a huge spectrum of bright, vivid and metallic colours, with such an affordable price tag I really should own a lot more than I do. I chose Tan as I'd previously heard it was a good dupe off Mac's All That Glitters (love a good drugstore dupe!) and the natural golden/bronze colour really appealed to me as neutral eyes are my favourite.

The colour itself is a warm, shimmery tan which I think would suit any eye colour and complexion but works particularly well on blue and green eyes. The shadow is very shimmery, I've included a swatch without flash and with flash so you can see how it catches the light. I think this shade is perfect for everyday wear due to its neutral tone.

Without flash

With flash

I was disappointed to find the product creased on my eyes....a lot more than I expected. I imagine this can be overcome by using a bit of Urban Decay Primer Potion, or any other decent eye primer before application. I also find that you have to be careful when using a make up brush to apply this product as the bristles pick up a lot of product, the trick is to blend well and apply with a light hand as the powder is very pigmented. 

Buying this product has reintroduced me into the world of loose eyeshadow and I'm definitely keen to go back and buy a few more colours. For such a cheap price and fantastic colour pay off the Dazzle Dusts are pretty nifty products and last ages, I'm yet to finish a pot.

Can I also just say Happy 5th November! Hope you're all enjoying some spectacular fireworks! x

No 7 Stay Perfect Eye Mousse

No 7 Stay Perfect Eye Mousse (Vanilla and Pewter), £9.00, Boots

I feel like I'm always buying new No 7 products because I categorically refuse to let one of their £5 vouchers go to waste. The dinky tubes above are 2 of the Stay Perfect Eye Mousses, Vanilla on the left and Pewter on the right, costing £9 each or £4 with a voucher. 

The tubes are a mere 5g each but the mousse is highly pigmented and you only need a tiny amount for each eye - a little goes a long way! 

Vanilla is a very light pinky colour which I like to use as a base colour, or occasionally to highlight my brow bone, the colour is very flattering and pretty. I bought Pewter as I was looking for a purse friendly alternative to Chanel Illusion D'Ombre in Illusoire (love the colour, hate the Chanel price tag), I don't think Pewter is an exact dupe (Illusoire seems more minky in colour) but it's a close enough match for me and is a gorgeous lilac, grey shade which I have been wearing pretty much non stop recently.

I am not a massive fan of the consistency of these products, they seem slightly too chalky to me, I feel Vanilla in particular sits strangely on the skin. Straight out of the tube the mousse is quite stiff however it does blend easily and softens up nicely, although application can be slightly patchy. I have tried using a brush to apply this product, however I find the brush bristles mainly just absorb the mousse so I'd say this product is best applied using your fingers.

The product lasts fairly well on me and the colour is still visible at the end of the day, however because it's a mousse I find it creases quite easily, using a primer might help stop the creasing. 

Overall, I love the colours of these mousses however I'm not completely sold on their consistency or staying power. I do like the slightly shimmery finish to these products and there are some other beautiful colours in the range, see here, Plum, Fudge and Khaki look lovely.

What's in My Holiday Bag? Part 2

When I'm on holiday I rarely wear make up during the day, so make up application is reserved mainly for night time. I hate to take expensive make up products on holiday as I worry about losing them or damaging them in transition, with so many quality drugstore products out there it's easy to build a great holiday make up collection. The products I am taking are (Clockwise from top):

Lypsyl tinted Cherry Blossom Lip Balm 4g £1.49, Boots: A very cheap product, I like the fact it is ever so slightly tinted, smells lovely and contains an SPF 15. To give you all the blurb it also contains Vitamin E, Aloe Vera and helps protect against UVA and UVB rays. On application it feels moisturising on my lips and even tastes nice, however you need to warm the product up slightly in your hand before applying otherwise it is very hard and waxy.

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Transparent £3.99, Superdrug: This is my everyday powder which I use to combat shine, you can tell how well loved it is from how little is left in the pan. I don't like to wear powdery products in warm countries as they don't look good on the skin, however I am taking this as I hate the look of a shiny t-zone!

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair £4.19, Boots: My favourite concealer, see my post on it here.

Revlon PhotoReady Foundation in Vanilla 30ml £12.99, Boots: My favourite light foundation, which is perfect for summer evenings. I like to mix a touch of this with moisturiser to make a DIY tinted moisturiser.

Benefit Gilded Tangerine Gold Highlighter Pencil £14.00, Benefit: A gorgeous gold creamy highlighter which I like to smudge under my eyes, I love gold eyes on holiday so this pencil is perfect.

Benefit High Beam, Sample Size Free with Glamour Magazine: A great highlighter for cheekbones, brow bones and the cupids bow.

No 7 Gel Liner in Black 4g £10.00, Boots: - This was part of No7 Spring 2011 collection, see my full review here. It's a great multifunctional liner which can be used on the eyelids and on the waterline, best of all it's waterproof so will hopefully stay put in humid conditions!

Bourjois Bronzing Powder Shade 51 16.5g £6.99, Superdrug: The much loved Bourjois Bronzing Powder in the lightest shade, see my review here. I'm hoping this will go someway to making me look tanned on holiday....wishful thinking!

Gosh Jumbo Lip Gloss Pencil 02 Flamenco Coral 2.8g Discontinued:  Sadly this lip gloss has been discontinued which is a shame as it's fab and I wish I'd bought more colours! This colour is a beautiful glossy coral and will be great to wear in the evenings.

Gosh Jumbo Lip Pencil 02 Flamenco Coral Swatch

Beauty UK Earth Child Palette £3.99, Superdrug: I have previously discussed the Earth Child Palette on my blog, see here for swatches. I am mainly taking this palette for the black eyeshadow however the other range of colours particularly the browns and greens will be lovely to use too. This palette is cheap enough to repurchase if it does get damaged.

MUA Heaven and Earth Palette £4, Superdrug: A very recent purchase, a full review of this palette will be coming soon! I couldn't resist taking this with me as the neutral colours are beautiful and it saves me lugging my Naked Palette half way around the word!

Max Factor Masterpiece Mascara in Black £8.99, Boots: My favourite mascara of all time! See here for more details. This is not the waterproof version so this will only be used during the evenings, I don't want to be sporting panda eyes by the pool.

Collection 2000 Clear Lash and Brow Mascara £2.99, Boots:  I purchased this instead of a black waterproof mascara, I'm hoping it will give my lashes some definition during the day with no worry of smudges and keep my brows groomed at night. I last bought this product 10 years ago so it will be nice to revisit it, plus clear mascara is a very handy thing to have in your make up collection.

Stay tuned for the third and final part of this series :)

Colour Blocking: Sleek Monaco Palette

'Inspired by the Mediterranean, this 12 shade palette is the perfect addition to your summer make-up. Choose from sunset oranges and browns, or breezy turquoise to highlight your holiday tan!'

I know this palette has been doing the rounds recently, I have seen it featured on various blogs for months and months. The latest palette from Sleek is the Monaco i-divine palette from the Mediterranean Collection priced at £7.00. Like all Sleek palettes it is pretty dinky in size and contains 12 highly pigmented eyeshadows.

In general I shy away from bright colours...I'm more of a nude or monochrome kind of gal! So when I first saw preview pics of this palette doing the rounds I couldn't have been less interested. Perhaps it was the over exposure but gradually over time I became more intrigued with the vibrant colours in this palette and started lusting over one shadow in particular, the beautiful, shimmery, lilac coloured Lotus blossom. By the time the release date for this collection rolled around I knew I had to have one.

Purchase I did and it has made a refreshing change to experiment with bright colours rather than the standard bronzes and golds. I won't bore you with too much detail, but as standard with the Sleek brand these eyeshadows are easy to apply - if slightly crumbly - highly pigmented with good colour pay off and fairly long lasting. This palette would be ideal for someone like me who is slightly apprehensive about wearing bold colours, it is very reasonably priced and therefore is a lot cheaper to use for experimenting rather than purchasing more expensive products from higher priced brands.

Onto the colours, which are in all fairness pretty beautiful: Bamboo and Sand Walker are two lovely nude colours which can be combined with the sunset hues of Washed Ashore, Moors Treasure and Sunset. Blue and turquoise shades are obviously present in this palette, in fact there are four altogether Summer Breeze, Aquamarine, Hummingbird and Midnight Garden and finally the three brightest shades are the green Kiwi Zest, lilac Lotus Flower and the vibrant pink Magenta. My favourite shadows are probably the three shimmery shades on the bottom row:- Kiwi Zest, Lotus Flower and Hummingbird - the shimmer is just gorgeous and whilst not particularly subtle everyday make up I find that if applied sparingly they look stunning on the eyelid as the shimmer catches the light. I also really love the warm orange colours mainly Sunset and Washed Ashore as they are the perfect contrast colour to my green eyes. 

This palette is a lovely splash of colour in my make up collection, Sleek have made an afforable collection of beautiful summer colours. I wasn't particularly interested in the pout polish or blusher from the Mediterranean collection, the Santorini blusher was just too bright for me, not too dissimilar in colour to Magenta from the eyeshadow palette. My only complaint would be that I liked the fact the Pan Tao blusher from the Avoir La Peche collection had a blossom design on the front so I am slightly disappointed Sleek missed the opportunity to decorate the front of this palette... minor detail I know, but I like pretty Sleek palettes!

I could imagine someone like Katy Perry wearing the colours featured in this palette, her new video for TGIF features loads of bright 80's colours, so I had to post it here....I love it so much!

Beauty UK Earth Child Palette

Beauty UK Palette No 4 £3.99 Superdrug

'Make a fresh statement everyday with our best selling 10 eye shadow combo palettes - as featured in Vogue.'

I fell in love with the khaki, earthy colours of this palette, my first purchase from the Beauty UK brand. For the very small sum of £3.99 you get 10 pigmented eyeshadows each approximately the size of a 5 pence piece. 

The packaging is functional, the clear top makes the shades easy to see at a glance and whilst it's not particularly flimsy I am hoping I don't break the plastic lid during one of my butterfinger moments - I do love to drop my make up on the floor! 

The palette is pretty dinky in size which makes it ultra portable - very handy when you consider the shades in this palette make it perfect day-to-night make up, I would probably take this palette with me if I was going out straight from work as it is the right size to chuck in your handbag.

Top Row

Bottom Row

The colours featured in this palette are gorgeous and compliment each other beautifully, the browns and creams are ideal for creating a neutral look, whereas the greys and black are perfect for a smoky eye. My favourite shades are the two grey/silver colours (second from left on top row, second from left on bottom row) which look stunning when worn together. 

Impressively, the eyeshadows featured in this palette last on my eyelids all day with minimal creasing, but what I am most impressed with is the lack of fallout (I always expect bad fallout with cheaper shadows!) when using this product I have only experienced the teeniest amount of fallout....which makes the hurried morning make up routine that bit easier.

The texture of these eyeshadows are lovely, they feel velvety and smooth and the majority of them have a beautiful shimmery finish which looks elegant when worn on the eye rather than a big glittery mess. The shadows are easy to apply, blend out nicely and the pigmentation is good - what more could you want for under £4? I am so impressed with this palette and am currently reaching for it everyday, for the price the quality is superb and I will definitely be checking out the other products in the Beauty UK range.

Topshop Sandstorm Collection

Sandstorm: Fall for sorbet tones and sun-bleached neons

I really rate make up by Topshop, even if it does lean towards the more expensive side of highstreet cosmetics. The Sandstorm collection, released in mid February combines bright neons with gritty metallics. I love dirty metallic colours, as they generally flatter my green eyes, I made sure to check out the collection in store and walked away with two items.

Tundra

My first purchase was the eyeshadow mousse in Tundra priced at £8.00. The colour is described as a khaki green, but i would describe it more as a dirty grey, it has a silvery-gold shimmer running through it and contains teeny tiny specs of glitter which catch the light beautifully - and I normally despise glitter! The mousse has a light consistency and is very easy to apply - I find fingers are best when using mousse. I was a bit disappointed with the colour pay off,  the product looks really pigmented in the pan, but turns shimmery and sheer on application, I find I really have to build the colour with this product. I was impressed that it lasted an entire day on my lids - and that's with no re application, it didn't crease either so full marks Topshop!

Equinox

My second purchase was the eyeshadow crayon in Equinox costing £8.50. I would describe the colour as a burnished gold, this is very pigmented and applies like a dream. The pencil is thin enough to use under the eyes and thick enough to apply the product to the lids. The consistency is creamy which makes it perfect for creating a smudgy metallic look, but once applied it stays put for a long time!

Zealous - I want!

The Topshop Sandstorm Collection has definitely brought out my inner magpie, I really love the grungy metallic colours in this collection. The other eyeshadow mousse in Glint looks gorgeous, but I just don't need another bronze eyeshadow. I am still debating the nail duo in Zealous £9.00, which doesn't seem to be available on the website, I tested it out in store and the gold colour is beautiful! 

Supermarket Sweep

Occasionally I decide to take spur of the moment, late night trips to Tesco...for no reason at all (obviously I lead a very thrilling life). Recently I pootled along to my nearest 24 hour store to stock up on some concealer, only to find the shutters on the make up counters locked - on a side note why do Supermarkets do this at night? Can make up only be sold during the day? Is it because more people steal make up at night? If so, what are all those very obvious security cameras attached to each make up counter doing? All that was left was a limited peg section housing All About Face and Barbara Daly cosmetics. These are two brands I have never really explored before, but have heard only good things about the Barbara Daly range so I thought it was worth a browse. 

First up the All About Face brand which is Tesco's affordable make up range. Everything in this line is £1.49 which is a pretty good price point, I purchased 3 eyeshadows:

From left: Baby Doll, Gold Shimmer, Meadow - all £1.49

These are three very pretty colours, however the pigmentation isn't amazing. Rather than a standard eyeshadow I would describe these as giving a wash of colour, a product I would use as a base or a highlighter rather than using alone. All three eyeshadows are shimmery, but Gold shimmer is the only metallic eyeshadow of the three, as a result it has a slightly different texture from the other two, and seems more crumbly which makes it a bit messier to apply.

All About Face eye pencil in Bronze £1.49

My next purchase was the All About Face eyeshadow in Bronze. The eye pencil also came in a silvery/grey colour, however I felt the bronze version would be more wearable. The colour comes out a beautiful metallic golden, bronze and I imagine it would look lovely on all skin tones. The pencil is pretty fat and you can twist the end to bring more product up....no sharpening required. I really love this eye pencil, it's very soft and easy to apply, the only downside is it isn't long lasting and disappears relatively quickly. It's a shame Tesco don't produce this pencil in more colours, I would like to have seen a shimmery baby pink, gold and a frosty white version. 

The final product I purchased was from the Barbara Daly range.

Barbara Daly Light & Easy Shimmering Highlight

The Barbara Daly range was pretty slim pickings but this highlighter caught my eye. It's a beautiful frosty shimmer which I have taken to using everyday on my cheekbones, just under the arch of my brow and on my Cupid's bow. The packaging is very simple and sleek, but the talcum powder like dispenser is slightly annoying. I would prefer for the product to be a loose powder, the dispenser means I have to shake some product onto the back of my hand to dip my powder brush into....slightly messy! 

I would like to check out more of the Barbara Daly range, unfortunately most of it was locked away at the time of visit, so I will have to go back when the make up counters are open. I would say both brands are worth a look, All About Face is cheap and cheerful and I would recommend the eye pencil, but more exciting high street brands can be found in Boots and Superdrug.