Urban Decay Ammo Palette

When people think of Urban Decay, their much talked about Naked Palettes come to mind, I know that's what pops into my head. I do think we (myself included) tend to forget that the brand have so many more palettes on offer. One that is definitely a winner for me is Urban Decay's Ammo Palette* which was relaunched a few months ago in all new packaging and reformulated shadows. They also made room for a mini eyeshadow brush and a travel size Eyeshadow Primer Potion is included in the mix too. I remember having the original palette back when I was 16, I bought it as a treat after I got my first ever job in Penneys (Primark). It was way before I started blogging and I can remember it being my prized makeup possession. I wasn't as good at applying makeup back then as I am now so let's just say I probably came out with some questionable looks using this palette. I for one love the new packaging, first off it has a big purple design on it and we all know that's my favourite colour. Secondly the old velvet style packaging used to get dirty so quickly with makeup fingerprints while the new one would be easily wiped clean.

I love this palette, it would be ideal for travelling as it contains a fair share of neutrals and fun vibrant shades. It's a bit smaller than my hand, so it would fit into a makeup bag easily which is always a plus. Of course like with all Urban Decay palettes there are a few cross over shades, but I do think this would be the perfect addition to anyones makeup collection, as there is a good selection of shades in it. I can see myself using every shade in this palette, at first I thought I'd steer clear of 'Shattered', however after using this palette for  a while this shade is great along the lower lashline for a pretty Summer look. I'm glad that 'Sin' is included in this palette too, I use this shade in so many ways as all over lid colour, on my brow bone and in the inner corner. It's just one of those versatile shades that you're always going to use. All the shadows in this palette are extremely pigmented as you can see from the swatches below. The only one I had some trouble with was 'Polyester Bride', that took some work as it is kind of on the gritty side. My favourite combination at the moment is 'Chopper' all over the lid with 'Last Call' blended into the crease. It's such an easy simple eye look for everyday I love it! One thing to bare in mind is that all these shadows are shimmery and contain glitter so if you don't like either this may not be for you. It doesn't really bother me as I actually always do my eye makeup before applying my foundation, so I can always just wipe it away.

I don't think you can go wrong with this palette, there's shadows for different occasions throughout the Summer, e.g Holidays, Festivals, etc. aswell as neutral shadows that would be perfect for everyday. All these shadows are available to buy individually but it works out way better value to go for the palette as the price for this comes in at €29 (€5 less than two single eyeshadows). I personally find it takes me for ages to finish one single eyeshadow so the Ammo Palette is perfect for me.

What's your favourite Urban Decay palette? Is the Ammo Palette up your street?

Laura<3

A Few New Bits from Rimmel

With a lot of budget brands bringing out a assortment of new products over the coming month, there's certainly going to something for everyone. One brand that has caught my eye is none other than Rimmel. All the products from their range never cease to impress me. When I was in Boots yesterday I spotted a couple of new products on their stand and I prompted snatched them all up. From past experience their stock usually goes out fast so I didn't want to miss out. I left Boots with three products in total, their Exaggerate Undercover Shadow Primer (€6.59) and two ScandalEyes Eye Shadow Sticks (€5.95). With the latter I decided to go for two neutral shades that I knew I'd get good use out of. I know there was two other options on the stand, a black and a blue shade but I wasn't too keen on either. I wonder will anymore colours be released.

I haven't used the Exaggerate Undercover Shadow Primer yet so I can't comment on how good it is yet. I always use eyeshadow primers just so my eye makeup stays on that little bit longer. I hate nothing more than seeing my eyeshadow crease as I think it just looks messy. I'll keep you posted on this one. On the otherhand I've used the ScandalEyes Shadow Pencils this morning and I love them. The shades I picked up are 002 Bulletproof Beige (as the name would suggest a nice beige) and 003 Bag Girl Bronze (a shimmery chocolate brown). With a soft buttery texture these blend beautifully into the skin and they are amazingly pigmented which you'll be able to see in the swatches. This morning for my work makeup I applied Stila's Smudge Pot in Kitten as a base all over the lid ,on top I used Bulletproof Beige with Bad Girl Bronze in the crease. This is such a quick and easy natural eye look which you know I love. This is also perfect for those early mornings where you want to get your makeup done fast. I only had one small problem with these eyeshadow pencils, when I went to use them this morning there were almost impossible to open. It felt. It felt like the lid was suctioned to the pencil or something. I just thought that was something I'd tell you guys just in case you have the same issue if you buy one. A couple of the eyeshadow pencils at the stand in my Boots were already broken, some shoppers may of been a bit over zealous in getting the product open. Just be warned as you don't want to break one of these before you start using them.

Rimmel have brought out quite a few products all in the one go, us beauty bloggers will be spolied for choice. There's a lot of talk about the new Apocolips and after seeing many reviews with gorgeous swatches I can't wait to check them out. I don't get paid til Friday so hopefully there not sold out by then, I already have my eye on a couple of shades. I have a feeling the three products I mentioned above may of been overlooked as the Apocolips seems to be what everyone is talking about at the moment.I also seen a Rimmel Match Perfection foundation in compact form. I'm not too sure how new this is but I really want to get one myself, I adore the original liquid foundation it's great.

Has anything from Rimmel caught your eye?

Laura<3

MUA The Artiste Collection Palette

Lately I've found myself reaching for my MUA palettes even more, in particular the Heaven & Earth and Undressed palettes. Both contain gorgeous everyday neutral shadows which is definitely my eye look of choice on a regular basis. The new Artiste Collection palette* is something different to their previous palettes. Inside not only do you get six marbled eyeshadows, there is also two blushers, a bronzer and a nice little highlighter too.

The MUA Artiste palette is the same size as their previous palettes, just a little bit thicker. When I first seen this online I was intrigued to see what it was like. After your foundation, powder, liner and mascara, you'd get everything in this multi-use palette to achieve an everyday makeup look. The eyeshadow pans are huge so it will be easy to get a brush in there, while the blushes/bronzer/highlighter are smaller so it will be hard to get a standard brush in there. I found the Real Techniques Contour brush the perfect size to get into the bronzer and highlighter, it's picks up the colour really well too. All the shades (bar the shadow on the far left) are really well pigmented which MUA are well known for with their range of palette. My favourite shadows in the palette are Mocha, Chocolate and Cookie as they make up a really nice everyday natural eye look. I don't think I'll ever steer clear of neutral shades as they work really well for me. The blue shadow is the only one I can't see myself using from the palette too much. I may pull it out over the Summer, I think it would be real under my lower lash line to add something different to my makeup look. Everything in the palette (excluding the bronzer) has shimmer in it. I love shimmery eyeshadows so this doesn't bother me at all. After buying the Urban Decay Naked Basics palette at the end of last year, I've been using that alot too. I'd love to see MUA come out with a matte palette, I think it's something alot of their fans (including me!) would be interested in.

For £6 you can't go wrong with this palette. MUA have definitely done it again and brought out a lovely product for such amazing value. The Heaven & Earth and Undressed palettes still remain my favourites from the brand but the Artiste palette has some lovely shadows in it too. I can see myself  getting alot of use out of it. If your not familiar with the brand they also have regular offers running on their website, some of them are really good so there worth watching out for. After they reach a certain number of "likes" on their Facebook page they unveil a new one. There next big milestone is 50,000 likes which is huge and when that's reached they'll be giving 50% off everything on their website plus free shipping. That's definitely not an offer I'd want to miss. If you haven't tried their Heaven & Earth or Undressed palette yet, there wouldn't be a better time to treat yourself to them. If you don't own any neutral palettes yourself, both these palettes would be ideal for you. I use mine pretty much everyday, I've hit pan on a couple of the shadows so I may have to buy replacements the next time I'm in Manchester.

Are you a fan of MUA? What's your favourite product?

Laura<3

Miners Cosmetics Tin o' Tints

Being quite a lip balm obsessive I love finding new ones to try. None have come close to hitting my much loved Korres lip butters or Nuxe Reve de Miel lip balm off their pedestal as of yet. It could only be time before this happens as brands are always coming out with new offerings. When these little gems arrived at my door I fell in love with them.

 Tin o' Tints* from Miners Cosmetics are moisturising lipbalms that I couldn't wait to try out. With a good selection of six wearable shades (Cherry, Vanilla, Pink Grapefruit, Mango, Watermelon, CocoaBean) to choose from there certainly is something for everybody. The packaging is what caught my eye at first, I love the designs on each tin. They show the flavour of the lip balm in writing and also in little cute illustrations. I was drawn towards Mango (my favourite)at first and it smells heavenly. Just like the fruit, I love the scent and its the one out of the five that I reach for the most. Being a tint don't expect too much from these on the lips, they give a small hint of colour which is to be expected. The darker shades like Cherry, Watermelon and Mango are more visible than the clear Vanilla and Cocoa Bean. The latter still smell amazing and for £2.99 you can't really go wrong with these at all. In the above picture I'm wearing my favourite shade Mango on my lips. The lighting wasn't the best when I was taking this particular picture so it is a tad bit lighter on the lips in person. In the lipbalm stakes, they don't beat my favourites from Nuxe and Korres. Don't get me wrong they do leave my lips nice and soft, but I find Nuxe and Korres lip products to be more nourishing which I need during the Winter months. I always have one of the Tin o' Tints in my makeup bag though as there great if you want to add a hint of colour to your lips on the go. I think one of these would make a nice stocking filler coming up to Christmas or if you wanted to add something small to a gift you already bought someone. Miners Cosmetics have quite a range of gorgeous products on their website so it's certainly worth checking it out.

What do you think of the Tint o' Tints? Have you tried them?

Laura<3

Urban Decay's Build Your Own Palette

Urban Decay are forever releasing new palettes that I instantly fall in love with it. The latest is their first ever build your own palette. All their current eyeshadows have been reformulated and repackaged to fit in with this new release. When I first heard about this palette I added it to my wishlist. Luckily my lovely boyfriend bought it for me on a recent shopping trip. Of course I couldn't wait to go home and play around with it. The palette itself comes with an exclusive eyeshadow, Walk of Shame and a travel sized Good Karma eyeshadow brush. I love Walk of Shame, I've been using it all over the lid lately with No7's Truffle in the crease. Both make a gorgeous everyday eye look which is easy peasy.

From the outside, the packaging is similar to Naked 2 in the sense that it's metallic but that's where the similarities end. I love the fun design on the the palette, I definitely wouldn't be embarrassed to pull this out of my bag. It's alot wider that the Naked palette as it has room for six full sized eyeshadows. Alot of brands have come out with their own spins on custom palettes but Urban Decay's offering is one of my favourites. The new packaging means you have a place to put eyeshadows when you want to switch them around. The palettes I own already don't give me the option to do that. I don't know about you but for me, leaving an eyeshadow pan on my dresser means a) it's going get broken or b) it's going to go walk abouts. Not that it was easy for me to take the pan out of the new packaging. I'm not going to lie it took me a while to work out how to do it right. I decided to buy another eyeshadow to go in the palette as I felt Walk of Shame was a bit lonely by itself. I went for Bordello which is a mauvey pink shade. I don't know about this one it looks really nice swatched but I haven't been giving it enough love lately.

Price wise, this palette is a lot more expensive than other Urban Decay palettes. It cost €17.00 for the palette, the brush and the exclusive eyeshadow. Each eyeshadow after that is €17.50, if you were to fill up a palette it would set you back €104.50. Shocking, I know seeing as their famous Naked Palettes retail for around the €40 mark. I couldn't see anyone (myself included) fill up this palette in one go. I would rather purchase an eyeshadow or two each month to pop in. For convenience only, I'd almost prefer to bring this palette on holidays with me as I can select what eyeshadows I want and it's just the perfect size. It also has a huge mirror which isn't a deal breaker for me but it's always handy to have.

Will you be forking out on this palette or sticking to the Naked Palette?

Laura<3

My Inglot Eyeshadow Palettes

My blog posts have been far and between lately as I'm still in the process of getting my laptop fixed. I brought it to a laptop shop that told me everything would have to be wiped to fix it, so annoyingly, I have to backup everything. I have no idea how to do this, so it will be quite a while before I send it away to be mended. In this post I thought I'd show you my Inglot eyeshadow palettes. I've been using them quite a bit lately.

As you can see I have three in total, the round eyeshadow palette was my first purchase from the brand. The second shadow from the left I use occasionally as an all over the lid colour but not alot. The two other palettes have shades that I use pretty much all the time, I bet you can guess the shadow I love the most.Yes it's the brown sparkly shadow that I've hit pan on, I use this in the crease all the time and it blends so easily. You may have spotted it in one of my monthly favourites posts too. The palette containing this shadow is also my favourite palette out the three I own. All the shades are very wearable, I love the purples for nights out while the top shade (Pearl 397) is gorgeous all over the lid and a fantastic brow highlight.

Pearl 397, Pearl 452, D.S. 465, D.S.493, D.S. 491

Matte 378, Pearl 434, Pearl 420, Pearl 421, AMC Shine 12

Matte 390, Pearl 402, AMC Shine 37, AMC Shine 42, AMC 53

Another thing I love about the square palettes is the packaging. I can see whats inside each one if I was in a hurry looking for a particular shade. I wouldn't be scared of putting these in my bag either as they are magnetic and sturdy. The only thing they don't have is a mirror which isn't something that would put me off them at all. I know some people find it hard to take the shadows out of the square palettes, but I just use the magnet from the lid and they come off with no problems. I heard Inglot sell a magnet thing to remove the shadows, it's not really essential in my opinion.

 I'm considering purchasing a new Inglot palette soon maybe a 10 pan one as they're so affordable and the qualities amazing. All their eyeshadows are so pigmented, I think they could give some MAC ones a run for their money. I do own a MAC eyeshadow palette but I'd be more inclined to purchase other one of these as they aren't as expensive and there quicker to fill. Size wise your getting a 2.7g  eyeshadow with Inglot while MAC's are 1.5g. All three Inglot palette from what I can remember are around the €20 mark which is a bargain, don't you think? One thing about these shadows that is constantly mentioned are the names (numbers). Have you seen the amount of Inglot eyeshadows there is, like hundreds so it's understandable why they don't do names. Alot of the eyeshadows tend to look alike also so this is probably why they do numbers instead.

If your starting a makeup artist course or want your own eyeshadow palette, I'd certainly recommend investing in one of these. It's easy to choose eyeshadows you want on the counter as they are colour coordinated together which makes for much easier shopping, for me anyway.

What's your favourite products from Inglot? Have you tried their eyeshadows?

Laura<3

Korres Lip Butters

At the moment I really enjoy using Korres lip butters. I get horribly dry lips pretty much all the time, I blame the air conditioning in work. I'm always looking for new lip products that keep my lips moisturised aswell as looking nice. Korres lip butters tick both boxes as they are super hydrating and come in numerous different shades, seven to be exact. I own two of them, Pomegranate* and Plum.

 Both are shades I love, one is a gorgeous coral/red whilst the other is almost a dark berry in my opinion. I think these will be great during the Summer months as a change from lipsticks as they do give a great colour payoff. My favourite lip butter out of the two I own is Pomegranate, for someone  like me who doesn't rock the bright lip too well this is a perfect choice. I added in a picture below so you could see it in action.

For people who don't like lip butters in pots, these are also available in tubes which feature somewhat similar shades. In regards to the tubes, I'm not how sure good the colour pay off is with them but if there anything like these they'll be good. I already have my eye on another lip butter from the range, Jasmine that looks beautiful. It's a pinky nude shade which I usually tend to go for but understandably it's not for everyone. At €8.50, these sound quite expensive but I've had mine for ages and as you can see I still have lots to use up. In Dublin, there aren't too many shops that sell Korres products, two come to mind Harvey Nichols and House of Fraser. If you are looking for a new lip product for your makeup bag, I'd highly recommend them.

Have you tried Korres Lip Butters?

Laura<3

*PR Sample

NOTD - Nicole By OPI My Lifesaver & Make U Smile

This post is a bit delayed but I thought better late than never. I attended an event on Tuesday (post soon) were they showcased alot of lovely new products that are going to hit the shelves soon. Nicole by OPI was one of the brands I was excited about seeing, all their polishes looked beautiful. I'm going to try and pick up a few soon if I can get my hands on them I can see them flying out of the shops.

At the event I got my nails done with two polishes from Nicole By OPI's Justin Bieber Collection. I cringe to say this but I do like Justin Bieber just a little. I saw him in concert nearly three years ago, when he was somewhat of nobody (to me anyway) supporting Taylor Swift. Crazy to seeing how big he is now, the man has his own line of polishes.

My Lifesaver is a gorgeous turquoise perfect for Spring, while Make U Smile is a topcoat with huge chunks of glitter. When I saw it I fell in love it's so lovely.

Aren't they so pretty together? I think they were made for each other.  I have got so many compliments on my nails in work the past two days. Everyone really liked them. I haven't taken this polish off yet and to be honest I don't really need to. This nail polish wears really well and hasn't chipped at all, even after two full days of work which is great.

What Nicole By OPI polishes have you tried?

Laura<3

New products from Catrice....

I love Catrice. I know that's a very stronge statement to make but this budget brand is amazing. All the products I've tried bar one or two have been such great quality. Every month they release Limited Edition collections which always get snapped up in my local store. When I went in to have a look at their latest collection, unfortunately it hadn't launched yet. Of course a few new products caught my eye. Everything that I got came to about €16, you can't get any better than that.

Applied Dry

Applied Wet

Vanilla Sky Ride, Lunch at Tiffany's, Charly's Chocolate Factory

Here are Catrice's beautiful Intensif'Eye Wet & Dry shadows. They are completely new to the brand, I bought three that I could see myself using. They remind me alot of MAC's Mineralize eyeshadows, certainly a cheaper alternative that's worth having a look at. As the name says, you can use the eyeshadows wet or dry. So far I've only applied them dry and I love them. As you can see from the swatches, they are very pigmented shadows. I've been using a primer before I apply them as they do tend to crease without one. All three shadows are glittery, so be warned there can be fallout and if you don't like shimmer these probably aren't for you. My favourite shade from the bunch is Lunch at Tiffany's (love the quirky shade names), it's a really nice all over the lid colour.

I've tried two other Catrice mascaras in the past and I wasn't a fan of them. I found the formula too wet and it left my lashes clumpy. This mascara was different. I've long thin lashes and this makes them really thick. Today in work, people were asking me all day if I was wearing false lashes. No, it was this! As you can see this isn't a particularly long brush but it's very large. It's wide at the bottom and narrow at the top (perfect for my tiny inner lashes). When I take the brush out of the tube, I do find it covered in too much product but this is easily removed. Once on the eyes, it didn't flake at all. I took this picture after a full day at work so this mascara holds a curl. I hate getting a mess of mascara under my eyes, especially when I work in retail everyone seems notice. The only thing that I don't particularly like is the smell, it's too strong for my liking. Seriously it reminds me of marzipan (the stuff you put on Christmas cakes), not the nicest smell at all.

What Catrice products have you tried?

Laura<3

Mac Viva Glam Nicki

When I first saw the Viva Glam Nicki lipstick on MAC's website, I wasn't too sure about it. I'm not one for bright and bold shades so I couldn't see this one suiting me at all.  I was even more surprised when at my local MAC counter I ended up leaving with Viva Glam Nicki, which in my opinion was very brave of me. The makeup artist applied it on my lips instore, using Ricky's Lip Conditioner over the lipstick and a pro longwear lip liner (In Anticipation). I ended up buying these products too. All the money from the sales of Viva Glam Nicki & Ricky's Lip Conditioner go to the MAC Aids Fund, it feels good to be giving to charity at the same time.

After spending nearly €50 on these three products, it pains me to say I won't be wearing them that much. At the counter, I thought this was the best lipstick ever and I had to have it, but now I have my doubts. I'm getting use to the bright shade but it's just not a lipstick I can see myself rocking on a daily basis. It's just way too 'out there' for me, maybe I'll change my mind in a while, who knows! On the other hand, I can see myself use Ricky's Lip Conditioner alot. I own their tinted lip conditioner Petting Pink and it's so moisturising. It has a permanent place in my makeup bag. I know some people don't like lip products in pots (I'm not one of them), so I think most people will be happy that this is in a tube.

Here is the lipstick in action...

I don't think my camera really captures how vibrant this lipstick really is.

Have you tried Viva Glam Nicki??


Laura<3

My MAC Lipstick Collection Part 1

Twenty?! That's how many MAC lipsticks I have. Even though I got most from bringing empties Back To Mac, I'm still in shock. I'm a lipstick girl which you can probably tell by the amount I have. If I had to choose between lipgloss and lipstick it would certainly be the latter, I have hardly any lipglosses. Don't get me wrong I like how they look on but they just aren't for me at all. I find that I have to apply them way more than lipstick and there too sticky. I don't have a favourite finish, if I like the colour I'll probably end up buying it.

I'm in love with MAC lipsticks. They just have such an amazing range of shades and finishes. I've made some bad lipstick purchases which you will see throughout. I don't have a favourite finish, if I like the colour I'll probably end up buying it. I've decided to break down my collection into three seperate posts cause I do have alot and I don't want to bore you too much with my rambles. This post is going to contain all my lustre lipsticks!

Lustre - Glossy & Demi-sheer

I'm a big fan of sheer lipsticks so it makes sense that I have eight of these. They could quite possibly be my favourite finish. I also find lustre lipsticks mositurising which is great as I have dry lips.

Naturally Eccentric

Buying this lipstick was a mistake on my part. When the Surf, Baby Collection came out I was all for getting this lipstick, I seriously should have left it in the shop. When applied it looks like concealer, it erases my lips completely which was definitely not the look I was going for at all. I've never actually used this lipstick once since I bought it so it was such a waste of money.

Lush Amber
A limited edition from the Semi Precious collection, I'm not too sure on this one. When I bought it I thought I would have worn it alot more than I actually did. It's a peachy brown shade that almost doesn't show up on my lips at times. I'm going to try to put this in my makeup bag more so I get more use out of it.

Marquise D'

Another limited edition lipstick, Marquise D' was launched with the Wonder Woman collection. First up I love the packaging, my favourite in a while. A perfect pinky nude shade for everyday. I bought one of these for my sister too because I love it so much myself. This is my favourite lustre lipstick so I'm trying to make it last. If you know any good dupes for Marquise D' let me know!


Quiet Please
If Marquise D' is my favourite, Quiet Please has to be my runner up. It's a nice pale pink shade, again great for everyday. As you can see I've used up quite alot of it already. I can see myself repurchasing this one.

Hug Me
I read in a magazine that this was a favourite of Molly from The Saturday. When my boyfriend was in Manchester last year he bought this for me in the airport. A sophisicated dark nude I can see why some people may like this. I wore it alot at first but now not so much.

Patisserie
This is a dark horse lipstick, I'm surprised I haven't read much about it as it's such a beautiful shade. When I was getting my makeup done at MAC, they used Patisserie and I fell in love with it. This lipstick is not written about enough, if you haven't tried it swatch it the next time your at a MAC counter.

Viva Glam Gaga
This is my first Viva Glam lipstick. My Mom and Dad gave me a MAC Christmas set that contained both Gaga lipsticks. When Viva Glam Gaga was first launched I contemplated getting it for an age before deciding not to. After seeing it featured in so many Youtube videos and blog posts I regretted that decision. I was so delighted I got this for Christmas. For someone like me who doesn't particularly like really bright colours I think this is great.

Syrup
I bought Syrup after it was used on me at an event. The makeup artist mixed this and Lickable together to create a unique shade. I was planning on buying both lipsticks the next time I was at MAC, but Lickable was brighter than I expected. We all know how scared I am of pulling off a bright lip. On the other hand, Syrup is a dark pink shade which I wouldn't usually go for, but it actually looks really beautiful. On my lips the shade looks vaguely similar to Korres Plum lip butter  in my opinion. The latter being that tiny bit darker.

Top Row - Naturally Eccentric, Lush Amber, Marquise D', Quiet Please
Bottom Row - Hug Me, Patisserie, Viva Glam Gaga, Syrup

As you can see from the swatches, I like to wear a neutral lip. When Lush Amber and Quiet Please   look identical, you could say they were the same lipstick.

Do you own any of the above Lustre lipsticks? What's your favourite?

Laura<3