Mac Pro Longwear Paint Pots Review and Swatches

Mac has released 8 "new" Pro Longwear Paint Pots this month, although only 2 of them are actually new shades, the other 6 are repromoted or even from the permanent line. I only bought the two new shades: Frozen Violet and Antique Diamond, because I already owned the other 6. Although mine are the original, "just" Paint Pots, I believe the formula hasn't been changed, they've just been renamed to Pro Longwear Paint Pots.

So I thought I might as well do a quick post on them and show you all the swatches. For once, these are actually NOT limited edition, so you can take your time to purchase the ones you like. Yay!

We have here Let's Skate from Glitter & Ice (2011), Chilled On Ice, Vintage Selection, Let Me Pop and Dangerous Cuvee from Cham-Pale (2010), Frozen Violet and Antique Diamond (new) and Blackground (permanent). All of them are glittery and/or frosty to some extent, some more than others. They are quite sheer, perfect for a quick wash of colour. I often use paint pots when I don't have time to do a complex eye look, just swipe one colour on my lids and maybe another one to highlight and that's it. These paint pots are brilliantly long lasting and they don't crease all day long (not even without primer underneath). Once they dry, they're not going anywhere. They are also very good as eyeshadow bases.

As you can see, most of the old paint pots are still in good condition, but my Let Me Pop has shrivelled up somewhat. I don't know why, I stored it just like I store the others (upside down with the lid tightly closed) and it's the same age as the other 3 Cham-Pale ones. It still works, it's not too dry, but I suspect it may not have too much life in it left. Oh well, at least I can repurchase it now it's permanent. Actually Let Me Pop isn't one of my favourites, it's a bit chunky and hard to get even. My favourites are definitely Vintage Selection and Dangerous Cuvee, but I also really like Antique Diamond.

Mac Pro Longwear Paint Pots cost £14.50 and you get 5 g of product for your money. It's nice to have some new shades added to the permanent line, but I would still like to see some bright colours like purple, blue, teal and green.

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

Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr Eyeshadow 50 Edgy Emerald Review and Swatches

When Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr Eyeshadows arrived in the UK there was a lot of excitement around them and also some disappointment. It seems the UK was only allowed 7 shades for some reason and we didn't get this gorgeous green. So I once again did a search on eBay and a week later I received this loveliness.

I didn't actually pick up any of the shades available in the UK mostly because they were either boring or colours that I'd already owned from other brands (Rimmel, MUFE, etc.), so Edgy Emerald is my first and only one so far. It is basically a cream eyeshadow that works either on its own or as a base. I have not worn it on its own yet, but used it as a base under Mac Shimmermint and Smutty Green mineralize eyeshadows and it was really great: made the colours on top pop and also helped the eyeshadows adhere on better. It stayed creaseless for a good 15 hours (until I washed it off) and the eyeshadows on top hardly faded. Brilliant.

You get 4 gramms which is similar to the Rimmel mousse eyeshadows and in the UK these eyeshadows cost £4.99. Edgy Emerald is a lovely slightly bluey green shade. It applies a bit lighter than it looks in the pan, but it can be built up. The eyeshadow blends really easily and sets pretty quickly. Once it's set, it will stay on unless you rub it very hard (which you should do anyway). I really like this one and I really wish we had some more interesting shades in the UK. I think these eyeshadows are very comparable to the MUFE Aqua Cream eyeshadows for the fraction of the price, so it would be great to have the same colours available from Maybelline too.

Anyway, long story short, I love this. Will post the FOTD with Mac Shimmermint and Smutty Green soon. In the meantime, see more pictures, including swatches after the jump!

Topshop Crayons in Sun Shower and Ramble - Review and Swatches

I popped into Topshop the other day and picked up a couple of their eyeshadow crayons in shades Sun Shower (gold) and Ramble (chocolate brown with gold flecks). I'd already owned two of these (reviewed here) and really liked them, so I thought I'd check out some new shades.

These eyeshadow crayons are really nice and soft, glide on very easily and can be blended out nicely. They stay on all day without creasing (I used UDPP under them) and both shades are just gorgeous. I adore the gold sparkles in the chocolate brown shade. They are 1.64 g, cost £7.50 each and are available from Topshop. There's one more shade (Whisper) I'm contemplating getting, but they never have testers of it (don't you hate that?) and ideally I would like to test it before I buy.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Kiko Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow and Colour Sphere Eyeshadow Review and Swatches

I'm sorry this review is really overdue, I actually bought these Kiko products back in October (remember my October London Haul video?). But then better late than never, eh?

I got these products from the Kiko store in Westfield. Kiko is an Italian brand I believe and they have two stores in the UK (in both Westfields) and also a website* where you can order all their products from. The prices are pretty good and so is the quality of their products. I got two Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadows and one Colour Sphere Eyeshadow.

The Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadows are similar to Mac shadesticks (only better) and Topshop eyeshadow crayons. I got them in Lilac (15) and Nile Green (09). They are both creamy, well pigmented, soft, go on smooth and even. They dry down pretty quickly, so there isn't much creasing, but admittedly if worn alone they do crease a tiny bit. Not much, not enough for me to care, but just wanted to point it out. The Colour Sphere Eyeshadow is basically a baked eyeshadow, I got it in Sparkling Cobalt Green (27) which is a dark blue/green with lots of sparkles. You can wear it wet which makes it more intense. I also tried it over Nile Green Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadows and it makes the colour really pop (you can see swatches below). 

The Long Lasting Eyeshadows cost £6.90 each and the Colour Sphere Eyeshadows cost £5.90. As I said above you can buy these from the Kiko website as well as their stores in Westfield. *If you decide to order from the website, be sure to register your details first as you get 15 days free shipping that way! Otherwise it costs £5.90 if your order is less than £49.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

2011's Favourite Products: Part 1 - Eyes

As 2011 is drawing to a close, I decided to do a series of posts about my favourite beauty products of the year. To be honest though, I do find it quite difficult to do posts like this, because a year is a pretty long period and I often find if I think of my favourites of a certain period, the latest favourites will most likely be included rather than the ones I was crazy about 6 months ago. But I will try to be as objective as possible. I'm not doing detailed reviews on everything since I have actually reviewed a lot of these products, so I will just link them back to the posts if they've already been reviewed.

First up are base products. My favourites are in no particular order: Barbara Daly (for Tesco) Even Smoother Eye Base, Mac Paint Pots and Rimmel Colour Mousse 8hr eyeshadows. Click on the links for the reviews. The only one of these three that I haven't reviewed yet are the Mac Paint Pots. I don't know why, I've just never got around to doing it. I actually own a lot of them, having bought 10 with the last 2 Mac collections and also the permanent ones, or older limited edition ones that I'd already owned. They can be used as primers as they don't crease at all or just on their own for a subtle (or in some cases not so subtle) colour. My only problem with them is that my older ones are beginning to dry out, even though I keep them upside down and sealed properly. They are the most expensive of the bunch at £13.50 for 5 g.

Keep reading to find out what other eye products made it into my favourites this year!

Topshop Sandstorm Make Up Collection Haul

On a recent shopping trip I wondered into Topshop and had a look at their make up (I don't actually like Topshop clothes, must be the only only person in the country who doesn't, but anyway) and ended up coming away with a few things. I am actually pretty impressed by everything I bought, so I thought I'd show them to you.

I believe these products are from the Sandstorm collection which isn't their latest, and I can't actually find everything on their website, but hopefully some of this is still available, should you be interested. I bough a baked eyeshadow duo called Solar Cell, an eyeshadow mousse in Tundra, and two eyeshadow crayons in Zephyr and Equinox. They cost between £8 and £8.50 each, so not too bad. My favourites are the eyeshadow crayons, they are really soft and smooth, and make very good bases. Of course you can wear them on their own if you wish. I did wear Equinox alone (over UDPP) in this picture and it held out fine all day. In fact one of these products creased on me all day, all of them were applied over UDPP and I wore Zephyr as a base for some loose powders (which I will tell you about later). The eyeshadow duo I loved so much when I swatched in the shop with my fingers, but swatched with a brush I felt quite disappointed, however, I was happy to see that applied over primer on my lids I could achieve the same intensity I did with my fingers. It did wear well though and didn't crease at all, and maybe it could benefit even more from being worn wet, I haven't tried that yet.

So there you go, that's my mini Topshop make up haul. Do you own any Topshop make up? Let me know in the comments!

See lots of pictures after the jump!

Back To The Bases

In the light of Mac's new Flighty collection I've decided to check out what cream eyeshadows and coloured eyeshadow bases I own and created this video. Enjoy!