Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadows Review and Swatches

When I heard about Urban Decay releasing some new, very sparkly eyeshadows, I of course had to check them out. They came out in 7 shades and I picked up 4 (for now?). I got Glitter Rock, Intergalactic, Stargazer and Zodiac.

This is the description on the Debenhams website: "Urban Decay launches Moondust Eyeshadow, a dazzling innovation in eyeshadow with a super-refined and incredibly sophisticated feel. Forget EVERYTHING you know about glitter eyeshadow. Moondust is like NO OTHER shadow. There's not a speck of chunky "teen glitter" be found in these babies. Microfine bits of iridescent sparkle collide with intense, dreamy hues and lush 3-D metallics - for an effect that's out of this world. And while some traditional sparkly shadows tend to look cheap, Moondust has a really luxe, upscale vibe and a gorgeous, diamond-like effect." These are definitely very sparkly. They are also pretty pigmented, so you actually get a lot of colour as well as a lot of sparkle. Initially they reminded me of the Stardust eyeshadows, but these are a lot more intense, both in colour and also in sparkle.

These eyeshadows are not only very sparkly, but they're also duochrome, some more than others, in particular Stargazer which has a gorgeous green duochrome to it. Zodiac is my favourite of the 4, it is amazingly intense and is full of green, blue and gold sparkles. I found Glitter Rock and Intergalactic quite similar on the eyes, although they swatched more differently, but Stargazer and Zodiac gave a great contrasting look.

Urban Decay recommends you apply these using your fingers, I swatched them with my fingers, but I prefer applying eyeshadows on my eyes with brushes for precision. These eyeshadows can be used dry or wet for more intensity. I haven't tried them wet yet. As for glitter fallout, there was surprisingly little, I mostly only had some during application and blending. Once I cleaned it up, I didn't notice much glitter fallout. I would say that if you didn't like glitter, you'd probably wouldn't want to go anywhere near these anyway since they are so sparkly. But they definitely didn't spread all over my face. I didn't notice any creasing either (I used them over Too Faced Shadows Insurance) and they looked vibrant all through the day. 

These eyeshadows come in the usual round Urban Decay eyeshadow compacts and by the looks of them can probably be depotted and put into their new palettes (which I don't like one bit, but anyway). You get 1.5 g of product for £14. Urban Decay is stocked in Debenhams and House of Fraser, and they are currently on sale at BeautyBay (£12.46 each), although Zodiac isn't in stock.


See more pictures including swatches and a look I did using Stargazer and Zodiac after the jump!

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in Periwinkle - Review and Swatches

I feel really bad now reviewing this eyeliner because I've just looked on the Stila website and it's sold out now, and I believe this was a limited edition. But I've taken the pictures, so I might as well write up the review, right?

This shade was part of the Stila spring collection, but it's basically the same product as the other Smudge Sticks I have reviewed before (click here for my review). The shade is called Periwinkle and that's exactly what it is, a periwinkle blue shade (it is more purple in real life, but my camera refuses to pick up purples properly). This one isn't shimmery/glittery like some of the other shades, so that may be a plus for those who don't like glittery eyeliners. I don't mind either way and it's a gorgeous colour, so I'm happy.

It has the same lovely, soft, easy to apply formula and it's long lasting, although I've never tested whether it's actually waterproof. It comes in the same twist up pen as the other Smudge Sticks and you still only get 0.28 g for £13.

As I said, this is a limited edition shade, but I have just checked an it's still in stock on the BeautyBay website and you may be able to find it from other retailers too. It's a lovely, springlike colour, so well worth picking up.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

ArtDeco Spring Collection Haul, Review and Swatches

This pretty magnetic palette is part of ArtDeco's spring collection and as I love butterflies, I of course had to snap it up. I also bought 4 of their duochrome eyeshadows to go with it and a pretty duochrome nail polish.

The palette takes either 4 eyeshadow singles or a blush and an eyeshadow, and I decided to get 4 of the new shades of eyeshadows. Of course you can buy it without refills and you also don't have to get the palette if you just want the eyeshadows, but I figured they would look lovely together.

I got 255 Aero Spring Green, 267 Fresh Water, 285 Lilac Passion and 297A Rosy Heart Throb. These are new shades for the spring, but I don't know if they are also limited edition or permanent. As I said, these are said to be duochrome eyeshadows, but with the exception of Rosy Heart Throb, I can't really see the duochrome in them. Rosy Heart Throb has a gold duochrome to it which is very pretty. The eyeshadows are very soft, a bit powdery and they are rather sheer as well. They give a very soft effect and look very springlike,but if you are looking for something more dramatic, more pigmented, then these are not for you. They did last well though and didn't crease at all, but due to their softness it was easy to overblend them, so you need to be careful when applying and blending.

Considering the price of the made up palette (£32.25) this is not as cheap as you'd think and for the amount of product you get (3.2 g) it's not the best value. I also found it a bit odd that the packaging of the palette shows an applicator, but you don't get one with it, which I probably wouldn't use, but for the price they really should've thrown in a measly applicator. 

I also bought Ceramic Nail Laquer 245 Iridescent Butterfly Wings which is a pretty blue with purple and teal duochrome. It seems very sheer, but I haven't tried it yet, so can't really comment.

The palette costs £10.25, the single eyeshadows are £5.50 (for 0.8 g) and the nail polish costs £9.50 (for 6 ml). I bought mine from BeautyBay, but Debenhams should be stocking the collection soon too.

See more pictures including swatches and a look I did with the eyeshadows after the jump!

ArtDeco Dita Von Teese Golden Vintage Eyelights and Blusher

This post is purely to show you these beautiful products I've got from the ArtDeco Dita Von Teese Golden Vintage collection. Since they are still available from Debenhams, I'm not actually being mean teasing you with something pretty that you can't have.

I got the Golden Vintage Blusher and Golden Vintage Eyelights. As you can see they are ridiculously pretty and me being crazy, of course I haven't actually swatched or used them. So there's no review today other than "look how pretty they are".

They both cost £25 and both are 10 g which is way bigger than you would need of blush or eyeshadows. They come in gorgeous gold boxes and gold compacts, everything about them is just gorgeous. What's not to like, eh?

ArtDeco products are available from Debenhams and BeautyBay (although the latter doesn't have the Golden Vintage collection).

See more pictures after the jump! 

ArtDeco Dita Von Teese Illuminating Baked Powder Review and Swatches

I wasn't going to get this, I swear. I have plenty enough highlighters, I did not need another one. I certainly wasn't going to get this for £30. But then I saw it, swatched it, realised I had £15 on my Debenhams Beauty Reward Card and there was a 10% off event, and somehow this little beauty came home with me.

I have to admit, I don't know much about Dita Von Teese, other than that she always looks glamorous and gorgeous. I also didn't own many Art Deco products (until now), in fact I think I only had 2 or 3 eyeshadow palettes I've never used (they were too pretty). Until recently this brand wasn't easy to come by in the UK, but since Debenhams and BeautyBay started stocking it, I've been paying a lot more attention.

Hopefully you have seen my review of the Glam Deluxe Collection (if not, click here to read it), and there's even more gorgeousness to come, but for now, check out this beautiful highlighter. This is what Mac Lightscapade MSF should've looked like when it was re-released last year (?). The powder is a blend of beige, pink, blue, orange, yellow and mixed together you get a very fine slightly shimmery pastel highlighter. The effect is very similar to Lightscapade, but the powder is even prettier to look at. It also comes in a shiny black compact with a mirror in the lid, something Mac MSFs lack.

The powder is so soft and finely milled, but not powdery, it melts into your skin like butter. You get a whopping 15 g which should last a few lifetimes for £30, although currently you get 10% off at Debenhams. I believe this is a limited edition product, but unlike Mac MSFs, ArtDece seemed to have made plenty as it has been around for a few weeks now and is still in stock. It's really lovely and actually it's not that expensive considering its size, so pick it up while you can!

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

ArtDeco Glam Deluxe Collection Review and Swatches

Once again apologies for the erratic posting, but I've spent the last couple of days Christmas shopping and rushing around. I'm slowly getting there, but to be honest, it'll take a few more days for me to catch up.

Anyway, let's get on with this. I have 6 eyeshadows and a blush from ArtDeco's Glam Deluxe collection to show you. The eyeshadows are another variation on the cream/powder formula, like Mac Extra Dimension eyeshadows and Estee Lauder gelee powder eyeshadows. The blush isn't the same formula, it's a powder blush, but it comes with a similarly pretty design.

Overall, the eyeshadows aren't as pigmented as I expected (except for Glam Bronzed Fabric and Glam Blissful Taupe), they are quite sheer. The formula is similar to the Mac and Estee Lauder eyeshadows, it feels quite creamy, but it's definitely powder. The blush I was a bit disappointed in as I thought it was the same formula as the Mac Extra Dimension Skinfinishes, but it's just a regular powder blush. It's actually a bit too powdery for my liking, although it is a nice, natural colour with just a hint of shimmer.

As I said above, other than the bronze and taupe eyeshadows the others are a bit sheer and rather similar as you'll see in the swatches below. The white shade has a slight shimmer to it, the others are mostly just metallic. The formula's good, they didn't crease or fade on me for 12+ hours (I wore them over primer).

The eyeshadows cost £16.50 each and you get 2.5 g. The blush is £21.50 for 10 g. I'm not completely bowled over by them, but the bronze and taupe eyeshadows are definitely worth having. Available from Debenhams and Beauty Bay. Debenhams currently have a 15% off offer going (until Sunday).

See lots more pictures, including swatches and a couple of looks I did with the products, after the jump!

Too Faced Perfect Eyes Waterproof Eyeliner in Perfect Peacock Review and Swatches

Too Faced has been releasing some really nice products lately (including the gorgeous Return of Sexy palette which I will be reviewing shortly). I picked up this gorgeous teal eyeliner during a recent visit to the one and only Boots that sells Too Faced products near me (one of the Debenhams nearby has a tiny Too Faced stand, but the brand isn't available online anymore, so I'm guessing they're also not stocking new products).

Too Faced Perfect Eyes eyeliners are said to be waterproof, budgeproof and smudgeproof and they promise an 8-hour-long wear. Perfect Peacock is a medium dark teal with very fine pearl. It's not really shimmery, but there is a very tiny bit of pearl in it. On the eyes it looks more matte than shimmery for sure. The eyeliner is very creamy and glides on easily without tugging, however it does set quickly and stays put once on. On the waterline I didn't get 8 hours out of it, but it worked much better on my lashline. It did smudge a bit, but it was still definitely there 8 hours later. I really like this eyeliner, it's very creamy, but pretty long lasting as well, removal wasn't a problem and Perfect Peacock is a really lovely colour.

The pencil is double ended, it comes with a slanted smudger at the other end. I have not used this as I don't normally smudge my eyeliner, so can't comment on it. You get 1.2 g for £14.50 which is similar to the Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencils. In the UK these come in 6 colours, but the Too Faced website shows 9 shades. You can buy Too Faced from Boots, Beauty Bay and Lookfantastic in the UK.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

NOTD: Orly Synchro Nail Polish

I love duochrome nail polish and was really excited about Synchro nail polish from Orly's Electronica collection. It's a very unique shade, looks amazing in the bottle and the duochromeness also transfers onto the nails. It looks pink with blue flashes (the blue especially shows up well with flash), but also it has orangey-red tones to it at certain angles. A little hard to capture it properly, but you get the idea.

Taken with flash

The formula was a little runny and it needed 3 coats to achieve the colour you see. It wasn't very easy to apply and as you can see the brushstrokes are very visible on my nails. It also didn't dry very quickly, and it started chipping within the first 24 hours and by 48 hours I had some big chips. I always have to add that practically everything chips on me within 48 hours (I think one or two brands have lasted maybe 60 hours without chipping, but that's the exception). It's a very unique colour though, so if you don't mind a few flaws, you might like this.

You get a whopping 18 ml for £7.50 (BeautyBay) or for quite a bit less on eBay from the US. Not sure if anyone needs that much, but there's also a set of 4 mini polishes available from BeautyBay for £12.95 if you prefer.

See more pictures after the jump!

NOTD: Orly Sugar Plum

This is the third and last shade I was sent for review and to me out of the three this is possibly the least interesting. (If you missed them, here are the reviews for the other two: Gorgeous and Rock Candy.) There's nothing wrong with it, but it's just nothing special. It's a frosty pink shade with shimmer, although it is very pretty. This is also a permanent shade.

Taken with flash

Formula-wise it was fine, runny enough to apply easily and it dried pretty quickly. I did 3 coats to achieve full opacity, but I think 2 would be fine if you're in a hurry. Wasn't overly long-lasting, chipped on day 2 as so many other polishes do on me.

You get a whopping 18 ml for your money and in the UK it costs £7.50 from BeautyBay or you can buy it from eBay for even a bit less (I've seen it for under £6 including shipping).

See more pictures after the jump!

NOTD: Orly Rock Candy

Here's another Orly nail polish I was sent for review, this shade is called Rock Candy. This is an iridescent sheer blue polish with a shimmer finish. It's not just blue, it flashes pink and purple depending how the light hits it. Very pretty.

Taken without flash in direct sunlight

This is actually very much the kind of nail polish I used to wear years ago before I learned about all the amazing brands and colours, so I guess for me this would not be one I'd choose nowadays, but it is certainly lovely and very office friendly and would look lovely even on a bride. As I said this polish is pretty sheer, so it took 3 layers to build up and even then it wasn't opaque, but with this kind of colour I don't think you need that anyway.

A lovely formula, a bit runny, but equally it dried really quickly, and it lasted pretty well by my standards, it wore for 2 days without much chipping.

You get a whopping 18 ml for your money and in the UK it costs £7.50 from BeautyBay or you can buy it from eBay for even a bit less (I've seen it for under £6 includign shipping).

See more pictures after the jump!