Makeup | Lorac PRO Palette Review

I mentioned in my try not to buy haul on Monday that I would have a full review of the Lorac PRO palette today so here it is! I know these have been done to death but I can’t help myself, I absolutely love it and I want to talk about it!  

I have wanted this palette for years – I used to see it all the time on Youtube and blogs with The Anna Edit and Estee Lalonde being my main enablers. I always remember how much trouble Estee had getting this palette because it was always out of stock so when my friend was in America on holiday recently and asked if there was anything I wanted back I said this palette and told her not to go out of her way to find an ULTA. She found one though with a fully stocked Lorac stand and I could not be happier!

This palette had become my go to and I haven’t put it down in the three weeks I’ve had it! The packaging is super slim line and matte black and is definitely looking a little grubby already but I couldn’t care less! Inside are 16 beautifully pigmented neural eyeshadows with 8 mattes along the top row and 8 shimmers (1 sparkle to be precise) along the bottom.

The mattes do have a bit of fallout and you only need to lightly dip your eye brush in to get amazing payoff! If I’m going for a matte eye I love using Light Pink to set my eye as its really brightening then I usually go for Taupe or Mauve through the crease and I’ll build up my outer corner with Sable and Espresso before using Cream in my inner corner and halfway across my lid and then I'll use Black to line my upper lid.

If I’m doing something a little more special, I’ll use basically the same combination but instead of Cream, I’ll pop Pewter or Light Bronze over my lid. I will pluck up the courage to try out Garnet one of these days too! As usual my swatches do no justice to how pigmented and smooth these eyeshadows really are! 

With the palette also came a mini Behind the Scenes eye primer which I have been enjoying using. It dries matte quickly and brightens up my eyelid but I do find oils start to peak through during the day. I have oily lids and most primers start to fail on me after half a day’s wear so I don’t hold that against it. It’s fine for daytime use but I still something like the NARS one if I’m going out as it lasts a little longer.

Overall, if you can’t already tell, I am in love with this palette and it has very quickly climbed to the top of my favourite palette list! The quality of the shadows is amazing and though I probably would have liked to have seen another mid toned matte brown on the top row instead of the stark white I really don’t have anything bad to say about it at all! I feel like this is what I wanted the Smashbox Full Exposure palette to be but the bottom row shimmers in that palette are awful and I never reach for it even though I love the mattes. The mattes in the Lorac palette remind me of the Kat Von D Shade and Light eye palette which I also love but I do think the Lorac is more versatile as it has the shimmers too! 10 out of 10! 

What do you think of this palette? What’s on you eyeshadow palette wishlist?

Danielle xx

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The Makeup Geek Neutral Palette of Dreams

I have a little update post on my now finished small Z palette of Makeup Geek eyeshadows! You can read my first post on the original shadows I ordered here! Since then I've become a little obsessed reading everyone’s collection posts and looking up swatches online! If you’ve read my blog before you’ll maybe know I like a neutral brown eyeshadow (understatement of the century.) So, it’s no surprise that what we have here are eight shadows of varying degrees of brown neutralness and one creamy shimmer colour!

The first four shades I picked up were Taupe Notch, Barcelona Beach, Mocha and Homecoming followed quickly by Hipster then Shimma Shimma, Pretentious and Bada Bing. Latte was the elusive last shade that I could not get my hands on as it was always out of stock. This of course made me want it even more and now I have it it’s my least favourite shade! Just a touch too warm toned for me unfortunately but I am trying to embrace warmer colours so it does still get used!

Top - Shimma Shimma, Hipster, Taupe Notch, Middle - Homecoming, Pretentious, Barcelona Beach, Bottom - Latte, Mocha, Bada Bing

My most used shades are definitely Barcelona Beach or Hipster all over the lid with Mocha in the crease for during the day then Bada Bing on my lash line and Shimma Shimma as an inner corner highlight and lightly on my brow bone. I love having the other shimmer colours as options for a smokier eye but don’t tend to wear them on a day to day basis.

Sorry these photos are all different sizes, editing is not my strong point and PicMonkey is so slow for me! 

l-r - Shimma Shimma, Hipster, Taupe Notch

Make up Geek describes these as:
Shimma Shimma – metallic champagne

Hipster - dark sand and light taupe tan with a slight shimmer

Taupe Notch - taupe (with shimmer)

l-r - Homecoming, Pretentious, Barcelona Beach

Homecoming – medium brown with gold shimmer

Pretentious – metallic bronze

Barcelona Beach – medium sand shade with a matte finish

l-r - Latte, Mocha, Bada Bing

Latte – matte medium brown

Mocha – deep matte brown

Bada Bing – deep brown with flecks of gold

I've also just got my hands on a few of the foiled eyeshadows and oh my god they are so pigmented and buttery! I love how they fit in the Z palette and can be easily moved about depending on what you want to take with you if you are travelling. To make it perfect it should really have a black shade but I have so many already I decided against ordering one just for the sake of having a ‘complete’ palette.

The quality of these eyeshadows is right up there with my Urban Decay and Too Faced which are my favourites! I’m so glad Beauty Bay stock these as well as the contour shades and the blushes which I also have a couple of! Have you got any shade recommendations for me?

Danielle xx

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Beauty Bay Haul #2 Makeup Geek and Z Palette

Hi everyone! Happy New Year! I have had the loveliest couple of weeks off work and I hope you had too! The week before Christmas I did a sneaky order from Beauty Bay and treated myself to these guys! Like everyone else it seems I jumped on the Makeup Geek bandwagon and bought myself a few shades to see what the fuss is about and boy am I glad I did! I also invested in a mini Z palette to house them in and these are a match made in heaven!

Being the neutral lover that I am, I went for some brown shades in a mixture of matte and shimmer finishes including Homecoming –a medium brown shimmer with gold, Taupe Notch – a shimmery taupe shade, Barcelona Beach – a medium brown matte shade and Mocha -  a deep matte brown shade. Each pan is £4.95 from Beauty Bay and they fit perfectly into the Z palette with a satisfying magnetic click!

This palette is perfect for travelling with and I loved having it with me a few days ago when I was in Amsterdam! I used the two matte shades for during the day with Barcelona Beach all over the lid and Mocha in the crease then at night I either used Homecoming or Taupe Notch all over the lid with Mocha again in the crease! I also took the Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 palette with me so used that for highlight and liner!

l-r top row: Homecoming, Taupe Notch, Barcelona Beach, Mocha

All four shades are beautifully pigmented and some of the best payoff I’ve ever got from swatches for blog photos! They blend so easily and it won’t be long before I fill the rest of this palette up with more from the brand! I actually went to order a few more but one that I wanted was out of stock and I know Beauty Bay sold out really quickly when they first started stocking them but they seem to have a good selection back in stock now!

l-r: Homecoming, Taupe Notch, Barcelona Beach, Mocha

The small Z palette which was £8.95 also comes with magnetic stickers for any eye shadow pans that may not stick by themselves! I actually regret not getting a bigger Z palette now as I have a few depotted Benefit eye shadows that I have in a cheap plastic palette from eBay which I glued in so I might get another one at some point and re depot! It doesn’t bother me that it doesn’t have a mirror on the inside as I like to use a big mirror anyway but if there was one thing I would change it, would be that the palette didn’t swing back on its hinge when opened as it sometimes closes by itself when I’m in the middle of applying the eye shadows!  

As I have hooded eyes and am blessed with oily lids I find no eye shadow lasts all day on me however these wore away evenly and didn’t transfer but if you have any eye shadow primer recommendations I’m all ears! I currently switch between Too Faced Shadow Insurance and Benefit Stay All Day and love the consistency of both but they’re not long lasting enough for me! I’m thinking of trying the NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base next but would love to hear your suggestions!

Just a quick word on Beauty Bay too as I see so much negative press on their Twitter page but I order from them all the time and have never had a problem! I ordered this (along with a Zoeva eye brush set) late at night on the 21^st and it was here on the 23^rd and they also do great samples when you spend over a certain amount! Everything’s always been packaged well and dispatched quickly so I would really recommend them!

Have you tried Makeup Geek shadows before? Any neutral recommendations for me?

  

Danielle xx

Boots and Superdrug Haul #2 June 2015

Oops I did it again…I sometimes think I should have called this blog Danielle’s Beauty Hauls because of the amount I buy but anyhoo here’s what I picked up last week when Boots had their infamous 3 for 2 on Maybelline, 2 for £10 on Revlon and spend £15 on Bourjois and get a free gift!

Maybelline The Nudes palette

I swatched this in store and thought the pigmentation was amazing for a highstreet palette. While I still think the pigmentation is brilliant the lasting power of these shadows is not there for me! I always use either Too Faced Shadow Insurance or Benefit Stay don’t Stray as a primer and compared to the lasting power of something like Urban Decay eye shadows these don’t last a full day! Great if you are starting out with eye shadows though!

Maybelline Master Sculpt in 02 Medium/Dark

I jumped on board the bandwagon with this one, I had seen it all over blogs and wanted some of the action for myself! I originally ordered the Light/Medium shade then swatched instore before picking up my delivery and exchanged for the darker one. The light is a little more warm toned and orange in colour than I first though while the Medium/Dark is more cool toned and brown! I didn’t get on with this the first few times I tried it, I thought it wasn’t picking up enough colour so I changed brushes and its working a lot better for me now! To be honest I never really highlight my face so I haven’t used the highlighter section of this yet but I like the contour now!

Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24 Hour Leather Effect in Creamy Beige

I thought this would be a great base for eye shadows and that it would be lighter in colour than it is. I’ve only used it once and used it on its own but found it to be very warm toned with a red/orange undertone which I didn’t like! If you have a better way of using this please let me know!

Bourjois 12 hour Aqua Blush in 01 Inge-nude

I loved the concept and texture of these however it does not show up on my face! Like at all, and believe me I have tried, it also smells of yoghurt! I've been using it with a Real Techniques stippling brush so I might try again with my fingers to see if than makes a difference! Maybe it’s the shade I have!

Bourjois Brow Beauty Touch Eye Illuminating Pencil

I thought this would be great for quickly highlighting under the brow bone but the pencil is so hard I can get hardly any payoff! Really disappointed with this!

Bourjois Free Gift including a Kabuki brush, Colourboost lip crayon in Peach on the Beach and Maxi Delight bronzer

This is a really great free gift, everything is full size, Peach in the beach is lovely and bright and perfect for Summer and while I haven’t tried the bronzer on my face yet it will look lovely with a tan because of the golden shimmer in it!

Revlon Ultra HD Lipstick in Rose

I've been meaning to pick up one of these for ages and finally settled on the colour Rose which is a lovely moisturising pink colour that’s not too in your face! All the reviews I read said the packaging of these was awful and so easy to ruin the lipstick when putting the cap back on and I have to agree, I took a chunk out of it the other day but otherwise it’s a great colour and I want to pick up a few more! Bit of a weird smell though!

Revlon ColourBurst Matte Balm in Elusive

Speaking of in your face colours this is just that! Although it says its matte I find it to be very hydrating and it doesn’t cling to any dry patches on my lips but this colour is a lot more noticeable on the lips than Rose!

MUA Lipstick in the shade Juicy

I saw a FOTD a few weeks ago (I can’t remember who’s sorry :()and I loved the lip colour so called into Superdrug and couldn’t say no the this £1 lipstick! It’s really pigmented and seems to go on quite thick so I like to put some on my lips then even it out with my finger for a more natural finish!

So that’s my latest Boots Haul, hope you enjoyed! If you want to see my last Boots Haul which is also the first post I ever did then click here!

Let me know what you’ve bought recently so I can add to my ever growing list :)

P.S. I just edited this to make the pictures bigger so hopefully you can see them better! I think the writing in the sidebar is over a few of them but I will work on that another day haha! Thanks to Sam @ Beautydetour for explaining how to do it :) 

Nyx and Wet n Wild Haul

I went a little mad. A lot mad. I had actually only got half of this then went back for more that's why there's a dirty great fingerprint in the bronzer/blushers! A spending ban is long overdue. Anyway here's what I got!

Nyx Bronzer and Blusher combo in BBC02 Ibiza and BBC03 Marbella

In a perfect world I would have bought one with a matte blusher and matte bronzer but they didn’t have one like that hence why I bought two! I’ll use the shimmery blush and bronzer more in the summer but matte shades are my favourite!

Nyx powder blush in PB01 Mocha

I have one of these blushers and I LOVE it, it’s in the shade Dusty Rose which is a bit lighter than this and both are matte! It gives a lovely flush of colour to the face and is pigmented but not too pigmented!

Nyx Round Lipstick in 628 Tea Rose

This is fast becoming my new favourite lipstick; it gives a lovely pink colour to the lips, is nicely pigmented and lasts a decent amount of time without touch ups!

Nyx Eye and Eyebrow Pencil in Black Brown

I haven’t tried this in my brows but it’s nice and soft for using to line my eyes and a nice dark brown colour.

Coloricon Brow and Eye Liner in Bark Brown

Again I haven’t tried this in my brows but it’s pigmented and doesn’t drag when I line my upper eyelid! It also has a long pencil/handle which I find good for controlling where you put the liner!

Wet n Wild MegaLast Lip Colour in Just Peachy, Rose-bud and Mauve Outta Here

I love the colours of these lipsticks and they are so pigmented on the lips too! However they are really drying and even after using a lip scrub they show up any dry skin on the lips! I’ve taken to putting a light layer on then go over this with a clear lip balm like Carmex to give a little extra moisture and gloss!

Wet n Wild Comfort Zone

This palette is so pigmented and so cheap! I hope you can see that from the swatches I’ve done! 

I would have loved for there to be a few matte shades to use through the crease but I can’t complain too much as the quality of the shadows is amazing!

The bottom right shade is so different to anything else I own, it’s quite duo chrome!

MegaLast Salon Nail Colour in Through the Grapevine

Nice bright colour that lasts ages on my toenails and gives a really high shine finish! It’s also opaque in one layer and has a handy wide brush that coats the nails quickly!

I have a few other bits and pieces from both these brands that I’ve had for longer so if you’d like to see what else I have let me know :)

What’s your favourite Nyx or Wet n Wild product or what would you most like to try from the brands?