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!

NOTD: Mac Immortal Gold and Topshop Black Dynamite Crackle

Topshop Black Dynamite Crackle polish is an interesting one, it's matte back with gold sparkles without a topcoat. I preferred it with topcoat, I prefer shiny polishes. I applied it over Mac Immortal Gold nail polish and the combo looked really nice.

Formula was good on both, the crackle effect is actually really good. Sadly, that's where the positives ended. The mani chipped on me within 24 hours and in fact one nail completely peeled off. I don't know which polish to blame, but generally Mac polishes don't last very long on me.

Mac Immortal Gold was a limited edition, so it's not available anymore. Topshop Black Dynamite Crackle costs £6 and is a permanent shade.

See more pictures after the jump!

Want It! Bobbi Brown Lilac Rose Collection for Spring/Summer 2013

Aah, just how gorgeous is the promo picture for Bobbi Brown's upcoming Lilac Rose collection for spring/summer? My heart skipped a beat when I saw it.

I don't want much from it, but that Shimmer Brick is going to be mine. It is called Lilac Rose (obviously) and it will be a worthy part of my Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick collection. It's so pretty!  I also love the Lilac Sparkle Eyeshadow.

I don't know when it's going to launch, but when it is, I'll be first in line!

See more pictures after the jump!

NOTD: Barry M 344 Magnetic Gold Sparkle / Moon Dust

I'm still on the fence about magnetic polishes, even though I always get lots of complimentents when wearing them. I'd only owned 3 of them so far (one Nails Inc and 2 17 ones), and decided I wasn't going to get any more. I don't hate them but they can be quite fiddly. However, then I saw the recent shades Barry M had come out with and decided I had to try them out. I also like it that they come with different pattern magnets, so you can mix and match.

Magnetic Gold Sparkle (or as it's now been renamed Moon Dust) is an antique gold colour polish with gold sparkle. None of my other magnetic polishes had sparkle, so I thought this might look quite interesting. I didn't anticipate just how gorgeous it would look once I've put the magnet over it, in fact both my daughter and I exclaimed when we saw the result, it's truly striking.

You get silvery stripes as well as darker gold ones with sparkle, neither colour actually resembling the colour of the polish in the bottle. It's like two colours had been mixed together and then separated by the magnet. The effect is almost 3D, and it appears to move as I move my hand. I have had many compliments when wearing it, the beauty of these magnetic polishes is that they look like you've had your nails done whereas you can do them quite easily yourself.

I do find them a little fiddly to use, sometimes the design doesn't come out as sharp and sometimes I manage to touch the nail with the magnet. I also found that the stripes got a bit messed up when I applied the top coat, I don't know if maybe waiting a bit would've helped. Wear time wasn't that great, it started chipping on me within the first 24 hours. This isn't unusual, but not every polish chips on me on the first day, so I'm still not too happy about it.

I used two coats on most fingers, but some of them I had to redo several times, so I just kept applying extra layers. It dried fairly quickly and other than the top coat's brush leaving slight marks in the design, the polish was pretty easy to use.

Barry M magnetic polishes come in 5 shimmery shades and 4 non-shimmery ones, and they come with 5 different magnets (one each). They cost £4.99 each and you get 10 ml for your money. Of course there are usually deals on in either Superdrug or Boots, so keep an eye out!

See lots more pictures after the jump!

Sleek Make Up Sparkle 2 Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches

I have to say, I wasn't sure if I was going to pick this palette up because I don't ever use the 2010 edition Sparkle Palette. It has quite a fallout and the shades are just too glittery for everyday wear. But I have to say, this new version is actually really quite nice.

As usual, the palette contains 12 eyeshadows, which are mostly glittery, but there are a few metallic shades in there too. Although you can see a lot of glitter in the eyeshadows, it doesn't really translate onto the eyes which makes them much more wearable. I experienced a little fallout with some of the shades during application, but once I'd tidied up, there was no more and the glitter (what tiny little was actually on my eyes) didn't migrate at all.

There are two shades, Gold Ribbon and Tinsel that are also included in the previous Sparkle Palette, although it's only Tinsel that's the same, Gold Ribbon is actually quite a bit darker and less yellow than the 2010 version. All the eyeshadows are really smooth and well pigmented, and I have enjoyed creating many lovely looks with them. They stayed creaseless all day and didn't fade either.

Sleek Make Up palettes now retails for £7.99 (bit of a step up from £5.99 from 2 years ago), which is still pretty reasonable as the quality is actually very decent. You get 13.2 g of product for your money. It's limited edition, so get it while you can. Available from Superdrug and Sleek Make Up's website. They deliver internationally, although I have to admit I don't like it that they don't do any free UK delivery. Yes, I hate paying for delivery!

I will show you the looks I did with this palette tomorrow, but I didn't want to put them at the end of this post, there are a lot of pictures. I have really enjoyed using this palette and would definitely recommend it.

See more pictures after the jump!

Chantecaille Les Fetes Trio Review and Swatches

Chantecaille released a cute little palette for the holidays called Les Fetes and I have it here to show you. "The three festive shimmer shades will inspire anyone to celebrate the Holidays with glamour. Colours glide on seamlessly and adorn your lids with a joyful glow." - Space NK

The palette contains the following 3 shades:
Moonstone - a soft pearl with hints of gold and pink highlights
Diamond - a silvery slate infused with diamond-like sparkle
Pink Sapphire - an effervescent rose to brighten the eye

The trio is actually a great little palette, very nice for a smoky eye with shimmer, perfect for a night out. Moonstone is a beautiful highlighter colour with a pinky-gold sheen, Pink Sapphire is a lovely rosy pink with a slight sheen and Diamond is a dark grey with a sequin/sparkle/stardust formula, it's a very shiny, almost wet finish.

The eyeshadows were very nice and smooth, and nicely pigmented Moonstone and Pink Sapphire especially. I found Diamond had to be packed on a bit more, but once it was on, it lasted well. I had no creasing from any of them and the look stayed vibrant for hours.

The palette also comes with a double ended brush/applicator and the compact has a full mirror in the lid. It costs £65 from Space NK, I luckily managed to buy it from eBay for around £41. You get 5 g for your money which is not huge, but decent.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Givenchy Phenomen'eyes Paillettes Glitter Topcoat in Plum Sparkles

I wore this mascara top coat in my previous post, so I thought I'd show you in a bit more details. It's part of Givenchy's holiday offerings and comes in 3 shades: Plum Sparkles, Gold Sparkles and Black Sparkles.

Givenchy Phenomen'eyes Mascaras are one of my favourite ones, so I was hoping this topcoat would have the same qualities, but sadly, no. I tried wearing it on its own, but the formula is too runny/thin for that and it hardly made any differenc to my lashes. On top of another mascara it adds some very hardly noticeable sparkles, but no volume or length. The sparkles were just not obvious enough to justify paying £20 for a topcoat, so I'm quite disappointed with this product. I haven't tried the gold shade, maybe that's a bit more blingy, but this plum shade is certainly very subtle.

Otherwise, it has the same brilliant brush as the regular Phenomen'eyes mascaras and you get 7 g which is a good size for £20. I think I will just stick to my regular Phenomen'eyes mascaras, they have never disappointed me.

See more pictures after the jump!

FOTD: Bobbi Brown Black Ruby Sparkle Eye Palette

Following on from yesterday's review of Bobbi Brown's Black Ruby Sparkle Eye Palette, here's the look I created with all 4 eyeshadows. Let me know what you think in the comments.

To create this look I used the following products:

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Bobbi Brown Black Ruby Sparkle Eye Palette all 4 shades
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencil in Rockstar on lower lashline
Clinique Lash Power Mascara in Black Onyx
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:
Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector Daily All-in-one BB Cream in Light
Mac Truth & Light Magically Cool Liquid Powder
Bobbi Brown Illuminating Bronzing Powder in Maui on cheeks
Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Platinum Pink to highlight

Lips:
Mac Dazzle lipstick in Snazzy

See more pictures after the jump!

Bobbi Brown Black Ruby Sparkle Eye Palette Review and Swatches

After buying a lot of Bobbi Brown palettes last year, I swore I won't be tempted by any of them this time around, but since I love her Sparkle eyeshadows so much, I gave in and picked up this little beauty.

The Black Ruby Sparkle Eye Palette contains 4 sparkly, almost cream like eyeshadows in the following shades (left to right, top to bottom): Pink Rose, Crushed Silver, Black Ruby and Onyx. The eyeshadows, as the name suggests, are very sparkly, but it's not chunky glitter at all, just very very sparkly shimmer. They apply slightly sheer, but they're buildable and there isn't much fall-out from them despite all the shimmer. There's some during application, but I didn't experience any after that for a good 10-12 hours, but then that's usually the time when my make up starts to melt off my face anyway. There certainly wasn't any shimmer on my face, lips, etc. I used Urban Decay Primer Potion on my lids as a base and there was absolutely no creasing even after 10-12 hours of wear.

For £34 you get 8 g worth of eyeshadow which is reasonable I think, especially considering that Bobbi Brown single eyeshadows cost £15.50 each and they're only slightly bigger than the ones in the palette at 2.8 g. You also get a teeny tiny eyeshadow brush with the palette, but in all fairness, it's so tiny, I can't really be bothered to use it. There is also a mirror in the lid of the palette.

I will post the FOTD I did with this palette tomorrow, so be sure to check back. For now, I'll leave you with lots of pictures and swatches.

Urban Decay Stardust Sparkling Lipgloss in Glitter Rock - Review and Swatches

Urban Decay has a new type of lipgloss out called Stardust and they're glittery, just like the eyeshadows of the same name. The glosses come in 3 shades, and today I have Glitter Rock to show you. It is basically a nice medium blue-pink colour with lots of sparkles. To me this is the prettiest of the 3, I have swatched the other two and this was also the one that gave the most colour.

Although glittery, this gloss is not at all gritty as the glitter is actually very fine, so the gloss is nice and smooth. It is non-sticky and has a minty scent which is so much better than the yucky burnt sugar smell the Pocket Rocket glosses had. I actually threw mine out because I just couldn't stand the smell (plus it wasn't that special, but anyway). It comes with a brush applicator which I really like, it distributes a good amount of gloss on your lips. The colour is quite sheer, but definitely noticable. Not the longest lasting ever, but lasts for a good couple of hours or so, and it's so pretty. The gloss retails for £14 and for that you get 5.5 ml.

All in all, if you like glittery lipglosses, then I would definitely recommend this one. I don't actually know if they are limited edition or not, sorry. Available from House of Fraser and BeautyBay.com.

See more pictures after the jump including arm and lip swatches!

Accessorize Diamond Sparkle Lipgloss Review and Swatches

Are you bored of my Accessorize reviews yet? Hope not, as I have some really lovely lipglosses to show you. I actually bought these when I first discovered Accessorize make up back in November 2010, and I'm ashamed to admit that I've only just started using them after my second haul a couple of weeks ago. I have so many other lipglosses, these just never got a look in. BUT I have now started using them and I have to say, I am very happy with them. So much so that I bought another shade just last week which I included at the bottom of this post as I took these photos before then.

Mysterious, Captivating, Crush, Forgiven, Diva

So these are called Diamond Sparkle Lipglosses basically because they are very sparkly. Some more than others, but all in all they all sparkly. Other than that they are creamy, non sticky, pigmented, pleasantly scented (similar to Mac liplasses, not sicky sweet and not plasticy as some other high street brands) and moderately long wearing. In the end of the day these are lipglosses and as they're not sticky, you shouldn't expect them to last through your lunch, but without eating they will last 2-3 hours on me which is think is fine for glosses. I got 5 shades initially (as above) and out of the 5 Forgiven, a lovely raspberry pink was the least sparkly. It's also a bit more sheer than the others, but that said I wore it on top of a medium pink Avon lipliner today and it came out amazingly pigmented. Very juicy, shiny, little bit sparkly, but nothing like some of the others. You will see from the swatches below that Mysterious and Captivating are the most sparkly of the bunch, but also Diva is pretty sparkly. However, you don't just get sparkles, you also get a fair amount of colour. You can expect some glitter migration as the lipgloss fades, which I guess may put some people off, so I'd recommend you go for the less sparkly shades. I love Crush, a gorgeous coral pink with medium amount of sparkles for example. I also got Bewitch (see at the bottom of the post) which is a very pigmented medium bubblegum pink colour with not too much glitter.

All in all I think these glosses are well worth checking out if you don't mind a bit (or lot) of glitter in your life. You get 3 ml for £4 and you can buy these from Superdrug or Accessorize.

See more pictures and swatches after the jump!

Stila Sparkle Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner Review and Swatches

Stila has recently released their version of waterproof liquid eyeliners which are basically identical to Make Up Forever's Aqua Liners (see my review here) and Mac's Superslick Liquid Eyeliners. The main difference between these are the colour selections and the price. But then again, even those are not big differences, because they are in a very similar price range from £13.50 (Stila) to £16.50 (MUFE). Some colours come very close, some are a bit more unique. For colour comparison I urge you to check out the brilliant Christine's post on Temptalia.

I purchased Bora Bora (turquoise), Rock Candy (brown), Royal (purple) and Flash (khaki).They are all sparkly and vibrant. My favourite is definitely Royal, it's such a beautiful purple. These eyeliners claim to be waterproof, smudge-proof and long wearing, all of which but waterproof I can vouch for. I don't know if they are indeed waterproof as I've not swam or showered in them, but once set, they don't come off with water very easily, you need a lot of rubbing and some kind of make up remover. They are easy to apply and set very quickly. I certainly recommend them. I got mine from BeautyBay and they cost £13.50 each.

See more photos and swatches after the jump!

Sleek Make Up Sparkle palette new for the party season

I'm a big fan of Sleek Make Up palettes, so when I heard that there was a new limited edition one being released for the party season, I jumped on it right away. This one is called Sparkle and it contains 12 gorgeous eyeshadows as usual. Most of them are sparkly, but they have also included a matte black (Noir) and 2 metallic shades (Gold Ribbon and Tinsel). The rest of the eyeshadows are very sparkly and there's a good mix of colours: plums, blues, purples, plus a gorgeous green and an outrageous bright pink are also included. This palette is certainly not for those who don't like colours, there isn't a nude shade in sight, but then Sleek palettes are usually packed with colours.

I really like it that Sleek have changed their packaging from the old style see-through plastic sleeve to prettier boxes. This palette has a blue outer box with lots of sparkles - very festive! Inside it's the usual black matter slimline palette with the words "Sleek Make Up" printed across it. Inside the palette you find a very useful mirror, a double ended sponge applicator (meh) and the eyeshadows. The names of the eyeshadows are printed on the plastic cover inside, which goes over the eyeshadows. I tend to throw these plastic covers away as they get in the way, so I guess it would be better if the shade names were printed on the back of the palette. But I personally don't care about the shade names that much anyway, so I don't mind.

The eyeshadows are very smooth and pigmented as usual. I swatched them on bare skin and they showed up fantastically. I would recommend using a base under them though as they do stain a bit, especially the darker shades. Plus I always use a base anyway, but that's just me. Not sure how easy it would be to create looks from this palette alone unless you're going for a very dark smoky eye and there isn't a highlighter shade included, but I'm sure we all own our own highlighters and other eyeshadows anyway. All in all I think this is another great palette from Sleek Make Up and if you want to pick it up, I'd urge you to do it asap as they won't be around for long. Available from Superdrug and online from Sleek Make Up (they deliver worldwide I believe) for £5.99.

See more pictures and swatches after the jump!

Benefit Prrrowl double ended mascara topcoat and lipgloss review

I'm not a huge fan of Benefit cosmetics for several reasons, including the fact that I often find their sales assistants a bit in your face and pushy, but I have come across a product lately that I really like, so I thought I'd show you. It's called Prrrowl and it's basically a double ended mascara topcoat and lipgloss duo. I bought it when I went shopping to Boots the other day and there were no sales assistants at the counter, so I could browse happily. What caught my eye first is the gorgeous teal-blue colour of the mascara topcoat. It is just so beautiful. The lipgloss is also pretty, although it probably suit someone with cooler skintone better especially as not only it's light pink, it also has blue shimmer to it. Good for a smokey eye though!

I love the packaging, it comes in a leopard-skin print box and it's really fun to look at. Inside the box you have a very generously sized double ended wand (very similar in shape to Guerlain's Le 2 Mascaras by the way). You get 7.5 g of mascara and 6.5 ml of lipgloss for £19.50 which is pretty good value for money. Both ends have very good applicators, the mascara wand is a really nice size and picks up just the right amount of product, and the lipgloss applicator is nicely curved on one side to make application easier. The lipgloss is non-sticky and has the same fruity scent as other Benefit glosses (not my favourite to be honest). The mascara topcoat (which could also be applied alone) is a beautiful peacock blue shade with lots of sparkles. Once it's applied it doesn't flake or smudge at all, and there's no glitter fallout either.

See more product pictures and swatches after the jump!

Bobbi Brown Sparkle Eyeshadows vs. Laura Mercier Sequin Eyeshadows

I ordered a couple of Bobbi Brown's Sparkle Eyeshadows and I just received my order this morning, so thought I'd review it straight away. And while I was taking photos I realised that these eyeshadows are actually quite similar to Laura Mercier's Sequin Eyeshadows (from her recent Mystique collection), so I thought I'd include those in this review as well. I bought Bobbi Brown's Sparkle Eyeshadows in Denim (from the Denim & Rose collection) and Black Velvet (from the new Black Velvet collection). Denim is a shimmering blue, Black Velvet is a glittering deepest plum - according to Bobbi Brown. Denim is pretty, but to me Black Velvet is amazing, it has these multicolour sparkles that are just gorgeous! Unfortunately the photos don't do it justice, my camera couldn't really pick up the sparkles in it. I did include a slightly blurred swatch photo that shows the sparkles a bit better.

Bobbi Brown Sparkle Eyeshadows Denim and Black Velvet

Denim

Black Velvet

Denim, Black Velvet

Denim, Black Velvet (click on image to see those sparkles properly!)

Read my review on Laura Mercier's Sequin Eyeshadows and see pictures after the jump!