Disney Villains Designer Collection Palette.

Hey everyone!

Today I'm bringing you a review of a beautiful themed palette I received as a christmas present last year.

Now some might feel that since it's exclusively Disney,it must be for kids,right? Well,they'd be wrong! Just because it features bright colours or is branded Disney doesn't mean it's just for children,in the same way that MUA's £1 lipsticks aren't for kids just cause they're cheap.

When I first heard of this palette,I scoured the net for reviews on it,but unfortunately could find none due to the hype over MAC's Villains Collection at the time,but I'm so glad I could receive it to try out.

The packaging is nice and simple.A slim,cardboard,magnetic palette with six pans and an elegant,black floral pattern on the exterior and interior of the product.It features a small clear plastic panel so you can see the eyeshadows without having to open the palette which is convenient if you've got a million different palettes on your shelf!

Left to Right : 

Cruella De Vil,Evil Queen,Maleficent,Mother Gothel,Queen of Hearts,Ursula.

I'm not going to lie,I was somewhat disappointed by the allocation of colours to each individual Disney Villain.

I'll elaborate - 

Cruella De Vil and the Queen of Hearts for example are both usually represented by vivid bright reds.I understand the need to put gold in this palette and can see how the gold works with the QofH (Regal,royal kind of theme going on?) but I feel like it would have been more suited to the character.Ursula's colour was also slightly confusing and I feel like more blue/purple-toned silver may have complimented the character.

Having said all of this,I'm not complaining about the colours they HAVE given us.It's a lovely palette with some incredibly pigmented shades.I especially love Mother Gothel's colour and Evil Queen.Each colour swatches beautifully and all are opaque excluding Cruella De Vil which is a little sheer for my liking but also has chunky glitter.All of these colours are shimmery so if you're in it for mattes,this won't be for you.

The shadows are very smooth and buttery and appear vibrant on the lids.They're amazingly blendable but can crease without a primer,so I'd definitely recommend one with this palette.

The palette comes with a very nice,soft black eye pencil too.It isn't completely charcoal but works well as a smudging liner.You don't need much of this to create a mildly smokey effect.The pencil slots into the palette so it's pretty travel friendly too.

Overall,I love this palette a lot.The colour selection is nice and I like that they chose to include a pencil (it isn't one of those crappy eyeliners either!).The palette is great for evening looks and despite being distributed by Disney, does not feel sub-par to a lot of higher end eyeshadows.

x ~ x

{Strictly Swatches} Topshop Lipstick - The Damned.

A deep berry red with notes of purple.Great opacity and very smooth in application.

The Damned swatch.

x ~ x

Fifty Shades of Foundation - What was I thinking?!

So guys,I had a bit of a blast from the past when I started rifling through my (shamefully large) foundation box.I found some smart matches and some horrid ones too..one most mentionable was the very first foundation I started using.This was from around 2 years ago,at the beginning of my makeup adventure!

Pictured from left to right : Collection 2000 Perfect Finish in Biscuit,Dainty Doll Liquid Foundation in 02 and NARS Sheer Glow in Siberia.

The second two are obviously more appropriate matches and I use these now.Siberia is the lightest foundation I own.However,I still cannot believe I walked out of the house wearing the Collection 2000 on my actual face.

Jeez was I colour blind to start off with! Information on colour matching wasn't exactly offered up on a plate either but I feel that even in the short space of two years,more help is being provided to avoid those awful orange faces.We can't always stop it when testing out new products but we can spread the good word on those which truly work. 

Power to the beauty community! 

x ~ x

{Strictly Swatches} Topshop Highlighter - Sunbeam.

 Bright,shimmering gold highlighter with heavy pigment.Great for skin with olive or warmer undertones.Can be used on body,face and as an eyeshadow.

Hightlighter packaging from Topshop.

Swatched without base/primer.

x ~ x

Affordable Drugstore Makeup Starter Kit - Face Category.

Hello beautiful people.

A couple of days ago I was venturing through the hallowed halls that are Superdrug and Boots during my little retail therapy trip and I happened upon a scene.I overheard (*listened in on,I'm a nosy bugger.*) a group of young-ish teens talking about their makeup experiences..what they were keen to try,what they were unsure on in the cosmetic world and what they thought of certain products.It got me thinking.

With no prior product knowledge,literally building from the ground up,what would I reccommend to these girls,given the chance?

What sort of mini-kit would I compile to give to them in order for them to start their own makeup adventure?

Mostly focusing on teens,I knew it had to be drugstore.It makes sense for these products to be useful and cost-effective,no point giving them something which doesn't work either.Equally,quality is an investment a lot of the time.I also wanted these products and tools to be multi-functional and able to be used diversely.

So without further ado,let us on to the products,things that can be used specifically for the face!

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For the category of Face:

BB Cream or Foundation

BB creams are really useful if you're a teen just beginning in the cosmetic world.A BB cream will smooth out your skin and correct any off-set tones and pigments whilst letting it breathe! The coverage is minimal on most western BB Creams,shade range is also usually limited to 3 or 4.This probably wouldn't be suitable for anyone with extremely oily or spot-prone skin (Like mine.) Foundations,however,are much more suited towards those who would prefer a heavier coverage.They are generally thicker in consistency.There are varying levels of coverage in different foundations and many shade ranges.

There's a multitude of different kinds out there! For BB Cream and Foundation,check out my top two recommendations. :

Left : Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream in Light - £5.00

Right :  Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in Shade 51 - £9.99

Maybelline's BB Cream serves it's purpose really well with tone correcting particles and the Healthy Mix Foundation is great for a flawless yet skin-like texture with tons of coverage.

Concealer

If you're lucky enough to have great skin already,you could very well skip this step! Unfortunately though,many of us aren't blessed with the epidermis of angels.Let me be the first to tell you that this is completely normal for the age.Despite the annoyance,concealer can help to cover any stray spots with a flesh-toned cream or liquid.Some concealers will offer a host of benefits,such as calming ingredients,blemish treatments and sometimes even built in highlighter!

For Concealer,check out my reccommendation :

Maybelline Dream Lumitouch Highlighting Concealer in Porcelain - £4.99

This is a great concealer for major blemishes AND highlighting.It isn't too bright either so it won't light up the problem areas that you're trying to hide.If you're worried about looking shiny with this,dust a little powder over the blemished (concealed) areas and add a little swipe of product to the cheekbones for a lit-within look! This is also really good for dark undereyes.

Powder

Powder,for me personally,is an essential part of any makeup kit.If you have oily skin then this is the perfect thing for you! Even so,it really does top off and polish any face routine.There are coloured and transparent powders which can be used for even more coverage than foundation alone will offer or just applied for oil control.

My absolute favourite powder of all time has to be :

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in Transparent 001 - £3.99

 Even for a clear powder it offers amazing,natural coverage.It's true to claim,lasting all day and minimizing the *appearance* of pores on the skin (pores cannot actually be shrunken,don't let any skin products tell you that they can!).On top of the benefits of powder,this one is super freakin' cheap.

Blush

Blush is one of the most simple makeup products.I'm sure some of us recall delving into our Mother's and Grandmother's makeup stash,grabby hands at the ready for the brightest shade we could find! Although we didn't quite get the desired results it was always fun and it always brought lots of life and colour to young cheeks.The youth factor is most commonly why we use it.

Lately I've really been enjoying :

The Natural Collection Single Blush in Pink Cloud - £1.99

As a younger teenager,I'm pretty sure (Unless you're so inclined and are addicted to dark shades like me.) a blunt purple blush isn't particularly enticing.The Natural Collection blush singles are extremely affordable and work really well to add a soft flush.The smoothness of these little gems is something to be noted.

Face Brushes

Brushes are your tools of the trade.A good brush set can easily see you through your secondary/high school days so long as you take care of them.Face brushes can also make life a lot easier and less messy in the morning,sparing your fingers so that you don't end up eating toast buttered with foundation.


For great brushes,I sincerely reccommend : 

Real Techniques Core Collection - £21.99

Set contains a Powder Brush,Fluffy Brush (Can be used for concealer) and a Foundation Brush.

Brushes are something which I don't scrimp on.Good brushes make for great makeup,even if the makeup is cheap as chips.For this section,if you're a little skint on allowance,you may want to consider asking for this set as a Birthday or Christmas present.These are extremely good quality and also happen to be synthetic,so they won't soak up all of your foundation like a sponge.Just to top it all off,they're made with pretty coloured handles!

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I hope you found this informative and enjoyable! Stay tuned to see more in this affordable drugstore starter kit.

You can keep up to date with this blog via Bloglovin' by clicking the button in the sidebar! It's really easy to make an account.

Have an amazing day.

x ~ x

Sleek I-Divine : Candy Collection Eyeshadow Palette

Hello all!

I passed the Sleek stand in my local Superdrug about a week ago and lo-and-behold,a new display! I had no prior knowledge that this was even a thing.

Apparently neither did anyone else since there were loads of palettes and products left.After a quick swatcheroo,I snapped mine up without hesitation.Boy am I glad I did!

So here are the photos of the palette itself plus a small breakdown:

The packaging is the same as all Sleek's I-Divine palettes.Plain,black,smooth plastic with a large,handy mirror in the top and a snap-shut clasp.It also comes with a black dual ended foam applicator.

Nothing particularly different about the packaging on a whole,apart from the small printed words on the front - "Candy Collection : I-Candy" 

Top row - Left to Right : Strawberry Sherbet,Bon Bon,Parma Violet,Apple Sour,Pear Drop,Flump.

Bottom row - Left to Right : Liquorice,Blue Fizzle,Aniseed,Bubblegum,Mint Cream,Cream Soda.

All swatched without a primer.

I enjoy that they incorporated a mixture of matte and bright shimmers.Primarily the mattes are dark with the exception of Bubblegum and Strawberry Sherbet (Bright blue & Florescent pink).With the theme of Candy,  some extremely vibrant pinks are to be expected.Topping off the whole palette with a white shimmer and a matte black was a great move by Sleek.

The shadows are fairly soft,very pigmented and great in opacity.I love the creative names,combined with the great colour range.As with all of the Sleek palettes,I still wish that they'd print the shadow names on the palette itself,instead of having it printed on some transparent plastic,sat inside of the palette.

These palettes are always great value (They all stay the same price even when limited edition!) and I love the theme they've chosen.Overall a lovely palette worthy of any makeup junkie.

Picked up your Candy Collection I-Divine palette yet?

x ~ x

I Have Returned!

Ahhhh!
Hello beautiful people!

I know it's been bloody ages and I'm a bad blogger indeed but I wanted to write this post to jump-start myself into the routine again.

First off, I'd like to thank you for your patience if you were waiting on videos/blogposts..I may or may not have taken an extra week off to re-energize from Italy.I think I need a second holiday to get over it all!

Secondly,I shall be resuming normal programming this Thursday,so happy days are to be had.I'm torn between video ideas - June Empties,Jewellery,Clothing & Makeup Hauls,Midna's Makeup Tutorial (Legend o/Zelda series) etc.Let me know if you've any requests or ideas.I'm open to suggestion.

Also,Italy was incredible.So that's a thing now.

To finish,I'll leave you with this breathtaking image of me,looking like a top-notch tourist,standing in front of St.Peter's Basillica in the Vatican City,Rome.

(I meant that the Basillica is breathtaking,not me,you numpty. ;) )

Love you all! See ya soon.

x ~ x