My Custom Anastasia Beverly Hills Eyeshadow Palette

Anastasia Beverly Hills single eyeshadows have been on my radar for the longest time but although most ABH products are available to buy from Cult Beauty and Beauty Bay, unless you wanted a customs charge, the eyeshadows were out of reach for those of us on this side of the Atlantic! That was until shortly before Christmas when the ABH website expanded to include a UK site with eyeshadows ripe for the picking! EDIT: also available (and usualy on offer!) now at Look Fantastic!

The Anastasia pre-made eyeshadow palettes don’t appeal to me (part from the Mario Dedivanovic one which wasn’t sold here!) as they have too many shades I wouldn’t use/are too warm toned (Modern Renaissance I’m looking at you) so I was in my element picking the shades I knew I would get use out of for my custom palette!

After much Google swatch stalking, I started adding to my basket even though I thought £10 was a bit much for a pan. That was until I got to 4 pans and saw the price drop to £30 and the bundle offer pop up - £30 for 4 pans plus an empty palette or £50 for 8 pans and a palette and you can clearly see which offer I went for – it was Christmas after all! 

Anyway, here is my run down of the shades I got and swatches! As far as I am aware, the entire single eyeshadow range comes in a variety of finishes – satin, velvet, shimmer, metallic ultra-matte, titanium and duo chrome and being a creature of habit I went for mostly matte shades! I also think this was my last big makeup purchase before my try not to buy started up but more on that next week!

Lace

The lightest and I’m sorry to say it - most disappointing shade from the ones I picked – Lace is a light beige with a satin finish (I think!) that just does not show up on my lid at all! I’m pale and this is extremely sheer on me no matter how much I pack on!

Sateen

A gorgeous shimmer champagne frost that is so soft and pigmented and doesn’t give any fall out.

Birkin

A warm beige mauve ultra-matte that definitely stands out as the warmest in this palette and is a gorgeous transition shade.

Chiffon

A warm brown with a metallic finish and almost khaki undertones, like Sateen it’s really smooth to apply and beautifully pigmented. 

l-r: Lace, Sateen, Birkin, Chiffon

Stone

An ultra-matte light ash grey neutral taupe that I like to put all over the lid.

Warm Taupe

An ultra-matte soft brown that is also in the Modern Renaissance palette and was one of the only shades I was drawn to! Another one that I either put all over the lid or position more towards my crease.

Ash Brown

An ultra-matte dark cool brown that I use in my outer V and can double up as an eyebrow shade for me.

Smoke

An ultra-matte charcoal brown I use as an eyeliner. 

l-r: Stone, Warm Taupe, Ash Brown, Smoke

All the shadows are high quality, pigmented and last well throughout the day (I use a primer). The palette that came in the bundle is such high quality too! It feels sturdy, has a clear lid and the magnets feel strong. I definitely think if you are interested in getting some ABH shadows, wait until you have 4 or 8 you want because it’s a much better deal than buying 1 or 2 at £10 each. I like the shadows and they have a huge range of shades but I definitely don’t think they are worth spending £10 each on! The bundle deal I got puts the shadows at £6.25 each not including the palette which is on a par with Makeup Geek now they have increased their prices and I think that’s where they sit for me although overall I do prefer the Kat Von D matte formula! 

 

In hindsight, I do wish I had picked up a few more shades that weren’t matte but saying that I use mattes daily so I probably wouldn’t be getting as much use out of the palette if I had!

So, that’s my 8 pan palette! Let me know if you ordered anything off the site or what your favourite shades are! The singles are also available on Look Fantastic here!

Danielle xx

If you want to keep up do date with my posts, don’t forget to follow me on 

Bloglovin | Instagram | Twitter

Smashbox Light it Up Christmas Sets – Lipsticks and Blush

Blush and lipstick are kinda my thing so when spotted these on Instagram I knew they would have to be mine! I love Smashbox eyeshadows and their contour powder but haven’t tried anything from their lipstick range or the blushes so these two sets are perfect to try the formula out or just add to your collection!

They have collaborated with California neon artist Meryl Pataky to bring these limited edition sets out and each is housed in a neon plastic container. I originally thought this was a drawer but it’s a container with a lid that's really hard wearing and bright and perfect for makeup storage! You can see the Neon packaging a little better in this Instagram photo!

Smashbox Light it Up: Lipstick and Mattifier Set £25

I actually first saw this while I was having my yearly flick though the Boots Christmas book and swiftly added it to my list then got it for my birthday a few weeks ago! I've wanted to try the Be Legendary lipsticks for ages now but a full size is £17.50 and I wasn’t completely sure what shade I wanted so this seemed like the perfect way to try the formula and a few different shades! I also think its great value – a full size lipstick is 3g but there are 6 minis in this set at 2.4g each as well as a Insta-Matte Lipstick Transformer. The 6 shades included are all in the cream formulation and the shades are Famous (a nude), Primrose (a perfect pinky nude daily type shade for me), Fig (a plum great for this time of year), Legendary (a bright red), Tabloid (a purple) and Inspiration (a bright pink).

Smashbox Be Legendary crema lipsticks in Famous, Fig and Primrose

I’ve only tried half of the shades as the last three I mentioned aren’t shades I go for normally and I might actually just sell them but I’m really enjoying the three I have been wearing, especially Primrose! I have found that these creams aren’t as long lasting as say the Charlotte Tilbury KISSING lipsticks which is a little disappointing as the full size are still quite a high price point but overall I do really like them. They feel very moisturising and give a good amount of pigment. Plus the addition of the Insta-Matte Lipstick Transformer to put over the top giving you a velvety matte finish is a nice touch although the matte does still transfer a little!

Smashbox Light it Up: LA Lights Blush Mega Palette £39

I tried and I tried to resist this palette but when a 15% off email fell into my inbox I gave in and boy am I glad I did! First off, I love the matte black plastic packaging with the red edging and the huge mirror inside. The closure is not the most secure – it’s not magnetic and doesn’t snap but I still think it would be safe enough to travel with. Inside are 9 pans of blush, bronzer and highlight – 6 mattes and 3 shimmers. The top row sticks to coral shades and the second row covers berry shades then down the way are the rich shades, true shades and the right hand side of the palette is the highlight side.

I have been using this nonstop since I got it and I love it! Matte blushes are my favourite so they have been in constant rotation. The palette is classed as a blush, contour and highlight palette and I think Rich Bronze is just a tad warm to straight up contour with but it’s lovely to warm up the face. As usual, I haven’t used the highlighters much but they are very subtle and would do great as a bush topper if you wanted something on top of the matte blush!

All the blushes have the perfect amount of pigmentation and are easy to build up and they last all day on my skin. I think this palette is exclusive to the Smashbox website as it’s not on Boots and like I said they always have great offers on if you did want to treat yourself!

Overall, I think these are two perfect gift sets for anyone looking to expand or add to their lipstick or blush collection and I’m so happy to have them in my own collection! Have you tried anything from Smashbox before? What makeup sets have you got your eye on this Christmas?

Danielle xx

Bloglovin | Instagram | Twitter

Face Off

Anyone else have a thing for do it all face palettes? Here are two new ones to my collection and a rundown of my thoughts on them!

Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look in a Palette (£49)

I finally caved and bought my first Charlotte Tilbury products about a month ago after seeing this palette online. I had held off buying any CT products up until now because the prices are extortionate but I love palettes like this as they give you the chance to try a few products from the brand in one go so I bit the bullet and ordered it! First things first this, the palette is small, smaller than it looks! It is split into different steps so steps 1, 2 and 3 are for brightening, enhancing and smoking out the eye, step 4 is for bronzing, steps 5 and 6 are for a swish and pop of blush and step 7 is highlight.

 I have to say that I am disappointed by the eyeshadows – they barely show up on my fair skin and the first two aren’t different enough in colour for me. They are super finely milled though, blend well and don’t crease – you just can’t see much of a contrast between the shades!

As well as this, the blushes are not as pigmented as I would like them to be and the size of the pans is disappointing – they are the same size as the eyeshadow pans and I would have preferred smaller eyeshadow pans if there was a way to make the blush pans bigger. Again the formula feels lovely and they do always say it’s easier to add than take away which is definitely something to stick to when it comes to blush!

Onto the positives - I LOVE the bronzer and highlighter. Way more than I thought I would! These are meant to be the same shades as the infamous Bronze and Glow which I don’t have to compare but I do know that I absolutely love this combo! I’ve been using the bronzer under my cheekbone to contour as well as over the high points on my face for a bit of an all over colour and it’s so subtle but noticeable if that makes sense? It looks very warm toned in the swatch but on my face it looks so natural, I love it!

I’ve then been using my Morphe fan brush to very lightly highlight my cheekbones and I love the effect, super subtle as I use a light hand but I’m sure you could go heavy handed and still look amazing!

This is more than I would usually spend on a palette this size considering pan size but the quality of the products is lovely. I do wish there was more variation in the eyeshadow shades though and this palette might not be an option for those with darker skin as you do have to build up quite a lot of product to see a result but it does hit the natural beauty term it’s aiming for on the head.

I ummed and ahhed for weeks before splurging and it is limited edition so not available at the minute but who knows, it could make a reappearance in the future – and hopefully with some new darker shades!

Stila Perfect Me, Perfect Hue in Light/Medium (£28)

Unlike the CT palette, this is one that does come with different shade variations! The one I have is Light/Medium and you might have seen it featured in my last wishlist post. I wasn’t actually planning on buying it, however, Cult Beauty had a GWP (I’m a sucker for offers and the last 2 have been amazing!) so even though basically everything I needed wanted was out of stock I still found my basket full and this was in it!

Now I’m not a massive fan of the Stila products I have tried in the past – the lip glazes and In the Light palette being massive disappointments for me - but when I saw these Perfect Me/Perfect Hue palettes I got heart eye emoji’s.

l-r: Artistic (base), Dazzling (highlight), Ambitious (lid), Spontaneous (crease), Mischievous (liner)

Five eyeshadows and 2 blushers for £28 seemed like a decent price point and once I had a swatch I could feel the quality! The shadows are silky soft with good pigmentation although again I wish there was more of a mid-tone shade option instead of two very light shades. The shimmer colour (Ambitious) is not as warm toned/orange in real life as the swatch and I don’t normally wear shimmer during the day but this is nice and subtle and quite golden.

l-r: Charming, Angelic

Again, this palette is smaller than I was expecting and the packaging was plastic so it feels a bit cheap, I was expecting it to be metal for some reason, I think because of the colour of the casing, but I can’t fault the formulation! The blushers are lovely and pigmented too and I love that they are both matte shades.

Overall, I really like both palettes for different reasons but I find that with the Charlotte Tilbury palette, I am reaching for mainly the bronzer and highlighter and passing on the eyeshadows in particular. The Stila palette is much more affordable and I love the fact they have thought through a range that caters to more than one skin tone.

So those are the two newest face palettes to my collection, have you tried either? What did you think?

Danielle xx

Bloglovin | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest

Wishlist Purchases #2

After last week’s third wishlist post I thought I would do a little update on the things I’ve bought from the first two I did! You can find those posts here and here!

MAC lipstick

I finally bought a MAC lipstick just before Christmas in the shade Plumful and I really like it. This is a lustre formulation and I apply it straight from the bullet then rub it into my lips so it stains them more. I don’t find that I need to use a lip liner with this as bleeding is not an issue and it’s nicely hydrating and long lasting! I don’t think I’ll ever have as big a collection of MAC as some people because I feel like I’m always expecting more from them then left a little disappointed when it doesn’t live up the hype I’ve created for myself! I would like to try more lipsticks though and though I’m not a fan of matte lipsticks as my lips are so dry I have been eyeing up Mehr, thoughts?

MAC Studio Fix Powder

For me this was a huge waste of money! I honestly don’t know how to use it, I bought it as more of a setting powder to add a little more coverage and got the shade NW20 which is what I got matched to in the Studio Fix Fluid years ago. This just makes my makeup look patchy, cakey and does not stop shine at all. I honestly think I’ve only tried it about twice so this is a hugely biased review but if anyone has any tips on how to get the best out of this powder please let me know!

Too Faced Chocolate Bon Bons Palette

My mum very kindly bought me this a few months back and it is quite possibly the cutest, girliest piece of makeup I own! I feel like I do abandon a lot of my eyeshadow palettes for my Makeup Geek collection especially when it comes to the shimmer shades so I haven’t got as much use out of this as I should have! I love using the mattes in the palette for a really subtle daytime look and Bordeaux is one of my favourite shades, I’m loving burgundy shades in my crease at the minute! Too Faced has one of my favourite eyeshadow formulations but I would say that I maybe prefer the shade range in my Natural Eyes palette as I do use every shade in that palette whereas some shades in this one obviously get no love from me (pinks I’m looking at you!)

l-r: Love Hangover, Your Love is King, Justify my Love

Too Faced Love Flush Blushes

I got three of these in a mini set at Christmas and I am obsessed with them! Love Hangover and Justify my Love are definitely my favourites and although the minis I have are absolutely tiny they fit my blush brush perfectly and I can’t see myself hitting pan anytime soon! They are just the right amount of pigmentation and I find them really long-lasting on my combination skin! I still really want the Love Flush palette but I think it’s gone forever L

l-r: Love Hangover, Your Love is King, Justify my Love

Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat in Pillow Talk

I got this a few weeks ago along with the CT Instant Look in a Palette (let me know if you want a post about that too!) and I have to say I am really liking it! £16 is way more than what I would usually pay for a lipliner but it’s such a gorgeous natural colour just a touch darker than my lip shade that matches about 70% of my lipsticks and helps them last longer! It’s soft, I don’t have to pull on my lips to get the colour moving and although it was expensive I know I will get so much use out of it! I was under the impression it was a dupe for Rimmel’s Eastend Snob but as you can see in the swatch Eastend Snob on the left is a lot pinker than Pillow Talk!

l-r: Rimmel East End Snob, Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk

Makeup Geek eyeshadow pan in Latte

I checked BeautyBay daily for months for this as I was forever out of stock only to finally get my hands on it and be a little disappointed! If you read my blog you will know I am a fan of cool toned brown eyeshadows. Although I knew this was warmer than my usual shades it’s just a little too much on the warm side for me to love! However, like all Makeup Geek eyeshadows its super pigmented and easily blendable and if you like warm tones you are in for a treat! It’s been a bit abandoned by me and I’ve changed around my small Z palette a little since this post on my neutral palette of dreams (see swatches here too!) but I think I will get more use out of it this summer when I am a bit more tan and it doesn’t look so stark on my pale skin! 

You might also like my first wishlist purchases post! Let me know what you’ve been buying recently or are lusting after!

  

Danielle xx

Bloglovin | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest

Two Limited Edition palettes/possible gift ideas!

Hi everyone, I have two recent additions to my makeup collection to share with you today that came about as a result of me treating myself after landing a new job and a birthday present from my mum!

The first one I got was the NARS One Shocking Moment palette and not having a huge amount of their face products apart from an older palette I bought in a blog sale, I thought I would treat myself to this one which is exclusive to Space NK in the UK!

l-r Paloma, Laguna, Robotic, Blasphemy, Luster, Dolce Vita

I was expecting this to be dearer but at £45 I decided to take the plunge and try it out and I’m so glad I did. I haven’t used Laguna much as I don’t bronze my face for the daytime but I love the Paloma contour duo (and the fact it has a matte highlight!) and it actually reminds me a little of the SEVENTEEN contour kit with the SEVENTEEN coming off a tad warmer when I swatched them, anyone else? The blushers are gorgeous, from left to right we have Robotic, Blasphemy, Luster and Dolce Vita which are all good sized pans and have lovely pigmentation. As I don’t have any single pan NARS blushers I can’t tell if there are any differences in pigmentation but I know sometimes people mention that the quality isn’t the same.

Next up we have the Balm’s In the Balm of Your Hand palette featuring some of their most loved cheek eye and lip products! I’m a huge fan of the Balm, especially their blushers Frat Boy and Down Boy so when I started to see pictures of this palette floating about I knew it would be top of my wish list!

l-r Hot Mama, Instain in Argyle, Cabana Boy, Bahama Mama

The only duplicate I have in the palette is the Bahama Mama bronzer which I really like and also use for contouring! I’m loving Hot Mama and the Instain blush especially but need to find a softer brush to use with Cabana Boy as it’s so pigmented I put a little too much on and had to spend a little extra time blending it out! 

l-r Mia Moore, Caramel

I was more impressed than I expected to be with the lip products, I thought they would be sticky and hard to apply smoothly and it was only when I put How About them Apples in Caramel on my lips with my finger that I was won over by the gorgeous colour, easy application, no stickiness and comfortable feel! I haven’t tried it on my cheeks yet and probably won’t bother as I’m not a huge fan of cream blushers!

l-r Insane Jane, Mischevious Marissa, Sexy, Lead Zeppelin, Mary Lou Manizer

I’m enjoying using the much hyped Mary Lou Manizer (I don’t highlight often so a full size would be wasted on me) and with a light hand it’s easy to add a subtle sheen to my face.  The eyeshadows Sexy and Lead Zeppelin are unlike anything I have in my collection at the minute and although not normally shades I would go for on a day to day basis, the pigmentation is amazing and I can’t wait to wear them over Christmas! Mischievous Marissa is a lovely warm toned shimmer shade and Insane Jane is another shade that is more in my comfort zone.

I got my palette from Cloud10 beauty a few weeks ago (then gave it to my mum to wrap up for my birthday!). It was my first time ordering from the site but they had a 15% off offer on, great samples and the delivery was super quick! I've also seen it on asos.com for a lot cheaper but it’s out of stock at the minute and Debenhams have it too!

Overall, I’m super happy with both palettes and will get loads of wear out of them! They are definitely great for beauty lovers or for people wanting to try a few different things from a brand! Have you tried either of these palettes or anything from NARS or The Balm?

P.S. Sorry about the horrific state of my tan in these photos! I took these pictures just before I scrubbed it off!

Danielle xx