Illamasqua Once review and FOTD

By now I'm sure you've seen Illamasqua's Once collection.  It's one of their tamer collections, which to be honest disappoints me a little.  I'd have loved to have seen a couple more 'out there' products mixed in to the collection.  I only picked up two items - Melange nail polish and Bibelot Vintage Metallix.

From the moment I saw Melange nail polish I knew that I had to have it.  It's the only item from the collection that really jumped out at me, and I have to say that I love it just as much as I'd hoped.  It's a lovely medium teal with gold shimmer running through it.  The website says it's a matte finish but I don't really think it is (it photographs more matte than it looks in real life).  I've have to try putting a matte top coat on it soon.

It applied easily and was opaque in two coats.  I've managed to go 24 hours so far without chipping it, which is fairly impressive for me.  If there is just one thing you're going to splash out on, make it this!

I also decided to pick up a Vintage Metallix, their new cream-gel eyeshadow.  I opted for Bibelot which is described as 'vintage green', which is pretty accurate.  It has the gold-bronze shimmer running through it, as is really pretty.

Application however, was interesting.  I found that the best way to apply this is in thin layers, buffing it out with a tapered blending brush.  Usually I'd apply a cream shadow with a synthetic flat shader brush, but I found that applied the colour unevenly to begin with.  I did one or two layers with my finger, blending it out, then patted some more onto the lid with the flat shader brush, again making sure to blend out.  Fortunately the shimmer doesn't disappear when blended out, although I did get some fall out.  I love the way it looks, but it was quite a lengthy learning process.

For a cream shadow it does wear well.  Usually cream shadows crease like mad on me within the first hour, even with a primer.  I did apply Bibelot on top of my Nars eyeshadow base, but even so I have been pleasantly surprised at how it wears.  There was a little fading in the crease area at around the two hour mark, but I've hit 7 hours now and there isn't much difference.  Not sure I'll be picking up the other two though.

I paired it with Illamasqua's Naked Rose blush (also part of this collection) and MUFE's Lab Shine Gloss in Shimmering Beige.  Liner is Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in Scorch.

Revolution eyeshadow and blush palettes review

My lovely boyfriend took me shopping the other day for a couple of makeup bits.  I picked an NYX Xtreme Lip Cream that I'd been wanting to try, and a couple of new nail varnishes.  In Superdrug I spotted a new display of a brand I hadn't heard of before; Revolution.  They didn't have any testers out, but the prices were s good that I just had to try them!

The first thing I'll note about these palettes is they were both sealed.  One of the reasons I dislike buying drug store makeup (particularly from my local Superdrug) is that a lot of it has been opened and played with.  No worries with that here, the boxes were wrapped in plastic, the cardboard boxes taped closed, and then the palettes within the cardboard were wrapped in plastic too!

The palettes look nice, sleek black plastic with simple gold lettering.  They're weighty, making them feel more expensive.  The plastic does show finger prints really easily though.

They had so many eyeshadow palettes, but in the end I opted for Eyes Like Angels, a 32 pan palette.  The eyeshadows are on the smaller size, but I have so many eyeshadows that I rarely finish a pan.  There's a good mix of colours and neutrals .

The palette is a mix of frosts and satins, with some nearly matte shades.  As with most shadows, the frosts have better colour pay off than the matte shadows.  They're nicely pigmented, soft, and easy to blend.  I am blown away by the quality for the price!  I'm sure I'll be picking up more of the palettes soon.  

Black Stars, Green Dream, Peach Cream, Orchid

Sophisticated Pink, Dream, Pink Glow, Peacock Dream

Silver Star, Emerald Night, Lilac Shimmer, Purpled!

Cream, Pink!, Lilac Frost, Award

Pearl Necklace, Night Stars, Blue Sheen, Pink Frosted

Moss, Molton Chocolate, Choc!, Green Stars

Green Envy, Copper Dream, Bold Purple, White Light

Orange!, Aqua Dream, Truffle, Silver Dream

 I also picked up the Sugar and Spice blush and contour palette.  This palette is pink shades, and despite it's name, doesn't really have any contour shades.  There are 6 satin finish blushes, one frosted highlighter, and one frosted blush.

Like the eyeshadows, the blushes are soft, pigmented, and easy to blend out.  I'm in love with the highlighter.  I've been after a pink powder highlighter for quite some time (think powder version of Benefit's High Beam).  I'm tempted to pink up their baked highlighter in Pink Lights soon.

Overall I'm really impressed by Revolution's offerings, and I'm sure I'll be spending some of my pay check next month on a couple more items.  You can pick up the eyeshadow palette for £8, and the blush palette for £6 from Superdrug.  Their website also ships internationally!

I'll be putting up swatches of the lip cream and nail polishes tomorrow.

My holiday haul

I can never go to France and not pop into Sephora while I'm there.  I didn't go too mad.  I had to pick up another Aqua Brow, as it's my go to brow product.  I'd heard great things about Sephora's Cream Lip Stains, and as I'm a sucker for anything sparkly I picked up a glittery pink eyeshadow, and another MUFE Lab Shine lip gloss.  I also popped into Yves Rocher for their Coconut eau de toilette .

I don't have an awful lot to say about the eyeshadow!  It's a proper girly pink, and it's soft, pigmented, and blendable.  The tester in store seemed to have more glitter than this one though.  I'm hoping it's more glittery further down.

This picture shows off the sparkle in the eyeshadow and lip gloss!

I chose Lab Shine gloss in Shimmering Beige and I'm in need of good nude lip products.  It's a pinked beige with golden shimmer.  It goes on fairly sheer, and I'm sure it'll look great with a smokey eye.  Lab Shine glosses smell really sweet, which I quite like.  They're tasteless, which means I don't have the desire to lick it all off as soon as I put it on!  They're non-sticky too.

After reading a few reviews I went in knowing that I wanted to get one of Sephora's Cream Lip Stains, and after much deliberation and swatching, I chose Strawberry Kissed.  The name is spot on as it's a bright pinked-red, just like fresh strawberries.  It goes on opaque in one swipe and dries down to a matte finish quickly.  Once it dries it feels like you're not wearing anything at all on your lips.  Staying power is amazing.  Once dry is totally transfer proof.  No leaving marks on glasses!  It holds up through a meal well, providing it's not oily food (oil removes pretty much all makeup).  I'm so impressed with the formula that I wish I could get my hands on more colours right now!  I've been on the hunt for years for a good transfer proof red lipstick for my kit for brides, and this is perfect.  I seriously recommend trying these out for yourself!

Shiro cosmetics haul part 2

For the first part of my review, and how my ordering experience was, check out part one here.

I have both the new and old shades from the Legends collection.  The older shades, which I'll mark, are still up for sale on the site under 'discontinued'. Availability is guaranteed through Feb.  I'm hoping that Deku will be available for the first couple of days in March, as if I do another order for colour of the month I want to pick up a full size version.

Like the Randomly Generated shadows I swatched yesterday, many of these shadows have a more complex shimmer to them than my camera picks up.

 Farore's Wind, Hero of Ages, Rupee (discontinued), Kokiri Emerald, Shield-eater (discontinued), Triforce

 Nayru's Love, Majora's Mask, Zora Sapphire, Ocarina (discontinued), Dark Sacrifice (discontinued)

 Death by Cucco (discontinued), Angry Cuccos, Din's Fire, Destiny's Princess, Zelda (discontinued)

 Octorok (discontinued), Kooloo-Limpah!, Deku (discontinued), Boomerang (discontinued), Small Key (discontinued), Smashing Pots

 Skull Kid, Epona, Master Sword, Temple of Time (discontinued), Victory Road (discontinued), Twilight Realm (discontinued)

 Hearts (discontinued), Heart Piece, Goron Ruby, Ganondorf

 Kaepora Gaebora, A Terrible Fate

 When The Trush Knocks (The Hobbit), Farewell Wherever You Fare (The Hobbit), War of Five Armies (The Hobbit), You Know Nothing (The Seven Kingdoms)

The second gloss I ordered was an opaque gloss using Ganondorf  pigment.  I was expecting a deep brown-red (I know, I know, another dark red?).  When it arrived I was pretty disappointed to find that it was just dark brown.  Very little red in it at all.  But I put it on, and actually didn't hate it!  It's definitely not like anything else I have in my collection.

Like the Moon Prism Power gloss, it's quite a dry, powdery gloss, and the glossiness wears off after an hour or so.  I decided to try it on top of a red lipstick (Dior Diorling), and it's stunning.  An absolutely perfect dark red shade.  The fact that it drys down only makes me like it more, as I don't have to worry so much about smudging it.  The only problem is that if you need to top your lip colour off, you have to take the whole lot off and start again, otherwise you'll just end up with the brown gloss.  I wouldn't wear it out for a meal because of that, but I'll definitely be wearing it the next time I go out for drinks with friends!  

Shiro Cosmetics haul part 1

I am not a loose eyeshadow fan.  But the immense geekery of the collections at Shiro Cosmetics drew me in, and I decided to put aside my dislike of loose shadows and order some.  Or should I say, order lots.  Sample sizes are so cheap that I decided to order the full Legends (Zelda) and Randomly Generated (Minecraft) collections.  I then threw into my basket a full size Nic Cage Raking Leaves on a Brisk October Afternoon (how could I not?), a full size We're up all night to get Loki, and a full size Cake from the Randomly Generated collection.  I got the full size Cake even though it was included in the sample collection I purchased as it comes in a special Minecraft pot, and it looked like a great highlight colour that I'd get a lot of use out of (that was the practical reason that I used to justify my purchase anyway!).

A couple of days after placing my order, Caitlin announced on the Facebook page that the Legends collection would be getting a re-vamp, with some shades disappearing, and some new ones being added.  So, of course, I needed those new shades too.  I messaged Caitlin and she said that she was happy to combine both orders into one package.  So I bought more.  As well as all the new Legends shades, I also picked up I Guess You're Okay from the LE Derps collection, and two custom lip glosses using Moon Prism Powder and Ganondorf.

The site said to allow up to two weeks for shipping, and mine shipped just before the two week mark.  The order took just over a week to get to me in the UK, which I thought was really good!  Caitlin also through in a few samples from other collections, and couple of chocolates, which awesome.

I'll be breaking the swatches into two sets.  Today I've just managed to get the Legends collection and the full size shadows done.  My order had over 50 shadows!  As with all loose shadows, you'll get the best effect either foiling them, or applying them over a base.  I've swatched mine over NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk.  Many of these shades have beautiful, complex, shimmery, duo-chromes that my camera hasn't manged to do justice.

 The full Legends collection

 What's That Smelt?, You Dropped Your Rod, Diggy Diggy Hole, Getting Wood, Full of Craft

 Cake, That'ssss A Nice House, Punch Punch Pork, Steve O' Lantern, What's This Lever Do?

It's Mossy!, Steve., Diamonds, I'll Move That For You, Are You Shear You Wanna Enchant That?

 Full sized jars.  All but Cake come with sifters.

Nic Cage Raking Leaves on a Brisk October Afternoon, We're Up All Night To Get Loki, I Guess You're Ok, and Cake

Nic Cage Raking Leaves on a Brisk October Afternoon, We're Up All Night To Get Loki, I Guess You're Ok

The Nic Cage shadow looks so pants in that swatch.  It's a little sheer, but builds easily, and is a warm deep brown with gold and red shimmer.  I Guess You're Ok has bright green shimmer that really catches the light.  I've made a quick gif so that you can see how amazing they are in sunlight.  The one on the end is Cake, which I'm so glad I got a full size of.  It's white gold with a pink duo-chrome.  It looks amazing as a highlight, not too over the top either!

I got a custom made Moon Prism Powder lip gloss too, although I forgot to take a pic of just the tube.  It's a super pretty gloss, that's pinky-cream with lots of pale green shimmer.  I got this gloss as medium opacity, which means it'll work well for wearing on it's own, and layering.  The green shift it in really reminds me of MAC's Lollipop Lovin', which older MAC fans will know was really popular.  I'll have to try layering it over a pink-coral lipstick.  The gloss wears down after an hour or so, but the colour sticks around on lips for about 5 hours.  The texture of the gloss was quite dry and powdery, which I actually liked, as I'm not a fan of sticky glosses.  It was comfortable to wear, and wasn't drying, even after the gloss had gone.

And finally, here's a super quick look I did with a few of the colours.  I've started using Urban Decay's new loose powder,  applied with the large brush from the Real Techniques Duo Fibre set, and it photographs amazingly!

Face
YSL Touche Eclat foundation BR10
Illamasqua Skin Base Lift concealer White and Light 1
Urban Decay Naked Skin Ultra Definition Loose Finishing Powder Light
Illamasqua Rumour blush
MAC Alpha Girl beauty powder blush

Eyes
NARS smudge proof eyeshadow base
NYX jumbo pencil in Milk
Shiro Diamonds, What's That Smelt?, I'll Move That For You, and Cake
Collection 2000 Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liner in Teal
Urban Decay 24/7 pencils in Delinquent and Ether 
Lancome Hypnose Star mascara
Sleek brow set in Light

Lips
Shiro Moon Prism Powder medium gloss