Chanel Illusion D'Ombre #96 Utopia Review and Swatches

So as I've promised, I have a review of one of the new Chanel Illusion D'Ombres. This one is Utopia, a slightly frosty dusky purple shade.

I really like Chanel Illusion D'Ombres, they are one of my go-to eyeshadows when I only have time for a quick sweep of colour on the lids. They go on smoothly and blend very easily. I tend to use them over primer (Too Faced Shadow Insurance is my favourite) and they stay without creasing all day.

The eyeshadows come with a small angled brush for application, but generally I think any dense brush is fine for that purpose and mine tend to sit untouched. They would be good for using the eyeshadows as liner though.

They don't come cheap at £25 for 4 g, but they do go a long way and I'm happy to report that none of my older ones are showing signs of drying out, so they are a good long-term investment.

There are 3 new shades in the Chanel summer collection and I have New Moon as well to show you at a later date.

For now, see more pictures of Utopia, including swatches, after the jump!

Want It! L'Ete Papillon de Chanel Collection Summer 2013

Another summer collection that's caught my eye is the upcoming Chanel collection, L'Ete Papillon de Chanel. I love butterflies, so anything with them in their pictures is usually a winner for me. The first ever Guerlain collection I bought from was the Midnight Butterfly collection (holiday 2008).

This collection is rather unusual, it features a lot of coloured mascaras, cream eyeshadow sticks and several bright nail polishes. I think it's a brilliant summer collection, I love blue, teal and green for summer, as well as coral and yellow. I'm not entirely sure if I'll get many things from this collection, it all depends on the quality of the cream eyeshadow sticks, but the blue and teal nail polishes will definitely come home with me.

Here are the details of the collection:

• Inimitable Waterproof Mascara 
• Black
• Zest 
• Limelight
• Aqua Blue 
• Blue Note
• Le Vernis 
• Lilis 
• Azure 
• Bel-Argus
• Levres Scintillantes 
• Zephyr 
• Envolee 
• Eden
• Rouge Coco Shine 
• Idylle 
• Pygmalion
• Stylo Eyeshadow 
• Moon River 
• Cool Gold 
• Pink Lagoon 
• Jade Shore 
• Blue Ray 
• Black Stream
• Stylo Yeux Waterproof in True Blue

See lots more pictures after the jump!

Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr Eyeshadow 85 Light in Purple / Liquid Light Review and Swatches

Maybelline has released a few new shades of their very popular Color Tattoo eyeshadows and I picked up 85 Light in Purple (or according to the display in my local Boots, Liquid Light). It's a really interesting colour, a greyish purpley blue with a pink duochrome to it.

The formula is the same fantastic long lasting, non-creasing, easy to work with gel-cream formula that we know and love. I used it over my trusty Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer and it stayed put for over 12 hours. It would also make a nice base, but I haven't done that as with a colour this lovely, I prefer to use it alone.

The colour is very similar to Mac Industrial pearlglide, in fact that's the eyeliner I have used with it for a quick, but rather striking look. The pictures don't show the pink duochrome very well, but it's there and depending on which angle you're looking it's pretty strong, making the shadow look more purple than blue.

I really like this product and absolutely adore the shade. At £4.99 for 4 g (with a 3 for 2 offer in Boots currently) it's well worth buying.

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

My Recent Kiko Haul, Review and Swatches

I wasn't sure if I wanted to do this post due to my bad experience when ordering from Kiko a while ago (if you don't know what I'm talking about, read this post, but basically their customer services based in Italy were a pile of cr@p), however, to be fair to Kiko, despite their non-existing customer service their products are actually very good and the staff in their Westfield store have only ever been helpful and nice. I still won't be ordering from their website, but it's worth checking out their store if you're near one.

On a recent trip to Westfield London I picked up four of their water eyeshadows, one long lasting stick eyeshadow and two nail polishes. The nail polishes were in the sale, I believe they are from the holiday collection which I never saw because I stupidly forgot to pop into the Kiko store when I was in London in December, and one of them is even holographic (I believe there were four of them in the collection)! The water eyeshadows are permanent and the long lasting stick eyeshadow is limited edition (although there are also some permanent shades in different packaging).

I haven't tried the nail polishes yet, so I won't be reviewing them in this post. I have tried other Kiko nail polishes and they were fine, but they come in lots of different finishes and colours. I got shades 402 and 404. Kiko nail polishes cost £4.90 for 11 ml, but I think I paid £2 each for the ones I got in the sale.

I have reviewed the long lasting stick eyeshadows (permanent line) before, if you want to read my review, it's here. The new limited edition shade I bought is 31 Hypnotic Iris Blue which is a bright blue with purple duochrome. It gave me a very hard time as my camera just couldn't pick up the beautiful duochrome, so I had to use my phone to capture the true colour (as a result I have to I apologise for the bad picture quality). It's such a beautiful, vibrant colour though, I had many compliments while wearing it. I used it over Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer and it lasted very well without fading or creasing. It was easy to blend out and stayed put without smudging. The product come in a twist up pen like many other cream eyeshadows. Long lasting stick eyeshadows cost £6.90 and you get 1.64 g product.

The water eyeshadows are basically wet and dry eyeshadows with an excellent texture and colour payoff. They come in 32 shades and I chose 4 of them: 212 Emerald Green, 221 Cyclamen, 225 Indigo Blue and 224 Lavender. The latter was also a troublesome shade, it has a gorgeous purple duochrome to it and of course that didn't show up properly either (cue bad quality phone camera photos). The eyeshadows are a little bit like the gelee powder shadows Estee Lauder and Mac have come out with, very smooth, easy to blend, almost creamy, but with the non-creasing advantage of powder shadows. They are quite shimmery and a bit metallic, but not glittery at all. I wore them on top of Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer and they lasted all day without creasing or fading and with no fallout. I seriously love them, they are gorgeous. They come in mirrored black compacts and have a design that resembles ripples on water. The water eyeshadows cost £8.90 each and you get 3 g for your money.

See more pictures including swatches and looks I did with these products after the jump!

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 Gel-Cream Eyeshadow in 65 Pink Gold

I've been meaning to review this eyeshadow for ages, but only just got around to taking pictures, swatching it and wearing it. I hate not having time for my hobby.

Anyway, the good news is, the review is a positive one. I really like this eyeshadow, it performs very well. I wore it today for a run, had shower and washed my hair and it was still there on my eyelids, not creasing at all, although the edges did fade a tiny bit (which is fair enough). I tried it out with and without primer (Too Faced Shadow Insurance) and it performed very well both ways. In fact it's still looking good 12 hours later.

I find the name Pink Gold a bit misleading, because it's not gold in the slightest, it's more of a muted rosy pink. Actually I wasn't sure if I needed this colour because I thought I'd already owned cream eyeshadows that were very similar. I was kind of right, it is pretty close to Mac Fresco Rose paint pot (discontinued), although Pink Gold has more of a sheen/shine. It is definitely more metallic and possibly a bit lighter. I also compared it to Rimmel Colour Mousse in 06 Get Fresh which is a lot more metallic and a bit lighter. I may have other cream shadows Pink Gold close to, but these were the ones that came to mind. Incidentally it's nothing like Mac Feminine Edge fluidline which is so frosty and sparkly, it cannot possibly compare to this.

So while I didn't exactly need this eyeshadow, it's a nice one to have. I like cream eyeshadows, I use them on days when I have little time to do my make up as a quick sweep on the lids is enough. Pink Gold actually needed a bit of building up, but it didn't take long and it didn't cake, was still very smooth to blend. It did dry down very quickly and when I swatched it on my arm, I needed make up remover to get it off, simply rubbing it didn't make it budge. (Or having a shower for that matter.)

Maybelline Color Tattoo eyeshadows cost £4.99 and you get 4 g (although it doesn't actually say on the packaging, but I have one of the US colours and that one says 4 g, so I'm assuming this is the same). There's currently a buy 1 get 1 half price offer on make up in Boots. It's a great price (considering that Mac paint pots for example cost £14.50 and you only get 1 g more), and finally there are 8 shades available in the UK (still not enough though if you ask me).

Have you tried these eyeshadows yet? Let me know what you think in the comments!

See more pictures after the jump!

Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Silk Eyeshadow #07 Review and Swatches

After falling in love with Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Silk Eyeshadows #27 and #28 I decided to order #07 as well, a beautiful rosy pink shade. I know a lot of people don't like wearing pink eyeshadows, but I find they go very well with my dark brown eyes and my colouring and I had been really wanting to get this shade as it's so pretty.

The formula is once again really lovely, buttery smooth, yet very long lasting and creaseproof. I wore this on top of my Too Faced Eyeshadow Insurance primer and it lasted all day without fading or creasing. I find this shade so easy to wear, on days when I don't have much time, just sweep it onto my eyelids, pair it with black eyeliner and mascara and hey presto!

I won't go on about how fantastic these eyeshadows are, for more details please read this post, but I do think that these are well worth their price (£26 for 4 g) and if you can afford them, check them out. For a cheaper alternative I would wholeheartedly recommend the L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadows as they are comparable and probably easier to get hold of anyway.

Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill Silk Eyeshadows are available from House of Fraser, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Bentalls and maybe Harrods too, but I'm not sure about that one.

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

Chanel Blue Illusion Collection - Illusion D'Ombre Review and Swatches and FOTD

I really like Chanel Illusion D'Ombres and one of the colours I was missing from the existing line was blue, so I was very excited when I found out about the exclusive Blue Illusion collection. It is/was an exclusive to Chanel Boutiques, Harrods and Selfridges, but luckily a kind friend picked them up for me, so I didn't have to resort to paying over £5 for postage costs.

Destination, Apparition

There are two Illusion D'Ombres in the collection, Destination, a light silver-blue colour and Apparition, a blackened blue. Destination has some shimmer in it, Apparition less so. I really like Destination, it's a very pretty colour, but I'm not bowled over by Apparition. It looks rather dull and was quite hard to blend, plus it smudged and partly disappeared by the evening. Destination lasted better, but it also faded significantly. I tried Apparition as a liner and that worked better for me.

All in all, these are not my favourites out of the Illusion D'Ombres I own (which is now 6 I believe). They are nice, but not that nice. At £23 each (for 4 g) I feel I didn't get very good value for my money.

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

Mac Electric Cool Eyeshadows Review and Swatches

Earlier this month Mac has launched a new collection of 12 cream eyeshadows called Electric Cool. I wasn't sure whether I wanted any of them because they were rumoured to be the reformulated Big Bounce eyeshadows, but thankfully they aren't. I ended up picking up 4 of them: Fashion Circuit, Brilliantly Lit, Superwatt, Electroplate.

These little pots of eyeshadows are actually very impressive. They feel very creamy, but they dry down pretty quickly and stay put without any creasing for 10+ hours (I always wear them over a primer). They are brilliant on days when I only have time for a quick wash of eyeshadow. I wouldn't compare them to the Armani Eyes To Kill, Chanel Illusion D'Ombre or L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadows because their textures are different, but I guess they're in the same family. The Electric Cool eyeshadows I've bought have lots of shimmer and are quite frosty, except Brilliantly Lit which is more satiny.

Colourwise the available shades aren't very unique, I'm pretty sure all of them can be easily dupeable. I have found that Fashion Circuit for example is extremely close to Endless Sea L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadow. The L'Oreal shadow is more frosty and at certain angles blueer, but on my eyes they are practically the same. Fashion Circuit is a gorgeous colour though and well worth picking up if you don't own anything similar yet. Brilliantly Lit is a bit more unique, you don't often get cream shadows in yellowy lime green shade.

Mac Electric Cool eyeshadows cost £14.50, and you get 2.1g product in a screw top black plastic container. They are limited edition, but most shades are still available, so if you're interested, take a look at your nearest Mac counter.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Chanel Illusion D'Ombre Eyeshadows in Vision and Abstraction and FOTD

One of my favourite Chanel products is Illusion D'Ombre and I was really pleased that there were two new shades of them coming out with Les Expressions de Chanel collection. I haven't actually seen these in any shop or online in the UK, I ordered mine from Sephora in France when they sent me yet another 20% off code.

Illusion D'Ombres are one of the best cream eyeshadows I own, they feel like jelly, they're quite springy, but also very easy to apply and blend. I often just use my fingers as it's easier, but they come with a little angled brust that you can also use to apply them. They work very well as eyeliners too.They don't crease and stay vibrant all day long.

The shades I got are Vision and Abstraction. Vision is sparkly yellow gold and Abstraction is pinky-coral with pink and gold shimmers. They are both very pretty, Abstraction is more subtle, but Vision is also a very wearable shade. In my swatches I managed to swatch Vision rather heavily, but it can be blended out for a more sheer finish. I have included some pictures of me wearing them at the bottom of the post, they looked really lovely on.

Each little pot contains 4 g of eyeshadow and in the UK they cost £23 (although as I said I have not seen these shades yet). So yes, they're not cheap, but they are really good, and these are such pretty shades too. Let me know what you think in the comments!

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

Dior 1 Couleur Eye Gloss Eyeshadow #750 Sunset Review and Swatches

I wasn't as overwhelmed by Dior's summer collection as I thought I would be, so other than a couple of bronzing powders I onyly bought one of the Eye Gloss cream eyeshadows. I picked up the shade Sunset which is a warm pink with gold shimmers.

I have only tried it over a primer and it stayed all day without creasing. It's not waterproof, but I don't need my eye make up to be waterproof anyway, other than mascara occasionally. It's easy to blend and dries quickly, and it's such a pretty colour, I really like it. I use it on days when I don't have much time to apply make up, it's quick and easy. It comes with a sponge applicator which I use to apply with onto my eyelids and then blend the edges with my finger.

You get 6 ml which is a good size, and these Eye Glosses cost £20. They come in 4 colours, but as they're limited edition, all of them might not be available anymore.

See more pictures including swatches 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!

L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows Review and Swatches Part 2

This isn't so much a detailed review because I have already reviewed these eyeshadows before (click here to read my review), but I wanted to post the swatches of these two shades I picked up after the initial four, because I liked those so much. In this post I'd like to show you Permanent Kaki (Khaki, no?) and Sahara Treasure.

Permanent Kaki is an olive green/khaki colour and Sahara Treasure is a golden sand colour (darker and not as yellow as Goldmine). Both are gorgeous colours and the texture of these is the same as the other 4 I've reviewed already. I apply them over primer (UDPP or Too Faced) and they stay on all day without creasing. They are a really good option for me when I only have 5 minutes to do my make up.

I'd love to get these in more colours, but I'm not that keen on the other ones available (I think there are 12 in the UK), so I'll just stick with the 6 I have. Have you got any favourite shades? Let me know in the comments!

See more pictures 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!

L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows Review and Swatches

Having heard lots of good and some bad about these eyeshadows, I decide to check them out for myself. I was browsing in Superdrug and noticed that they were on offer (£3.99 down from £6.99), so I picked up four of them.

I like my Armani Eyes To Kill eyeshadows as well as Chanel Illusion D'Ombre eyeshadows, but let's face it, they are very expensive. Who would say no to a cheaper alternative, especially if they were just as good. But are they? I'm happy to report that these L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadows are really good. They are nice and creamy, but not too creamy, so while they apply and blend easily, they also dry down quite quickly, so they don't crease on my eyelids. Okay, that's not 100% true, I did wear Goldmine the other day without a primer underneath and it did crease a tiny bit after about 8-9 hours of wear, but do you know what, that's good enough for me. I wore Flashback Silver and Purple Obsession over my beloved Barbara Daly eyeshadow base and they did not crease at all.

So yes, I do think these are a very good alternative the more expensive eyeshadows, and they come in really nice colours too. The colours are very rich and well pigmented, so pretty in the sunlight (see the swatches at the bottom of the post!). Out of the four I like Bronze Divine most, but Goldmine is also beautiful. I wore it with Stila Curacao (bright blue) liquid eyeliner on the top lashline and it looked gorgeous. I have since picked up another two shades, I will try to review them too.

As I said before, these are on offer from Boots and Superdrug at £3.99 instead of £6.99! Available in 12 shades, most of them shimmery, but there seem to be some without any shimmer too.

Do you own any of these? Let me know in the comments!

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Chanel Illusion D'Ombre Eyeshadows in Illusiore and Emerveille and FOTD

While I'm waiting for my eyelid to recover (dry patch is going away nicely), I managed to dig out these old photos I did back in October but never got around to putting up in a review. It's actually quite fitting as well, following yesterday's post on my Chanel eyeshadow stash. These cream/gel shadows came out last autumn and I have reviewed 2 other shades, so for more info please check out this post.

The shades I have here are Illusiore, a purple-grey/taupe, and Emerveille, a light peach colour. Both are really pretty with fine shimmer, well pigmented, smooth and long lasting. Emerveille is the perfect 5 minute make up solution, paired up with a brown or black eyeliner and lots of black mascara. I included some pictures of me wearing Emerveille, so be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post. I used them with and without primer and they held on perfectly, didn't even crease when worn without primer, so they would also make a good base themselves. They cost £22.50 each and you get 4 g, so they're not cheap, but you really only need a little bit in one go. 

I would happily recommend these to everyone, and I hope the rumours of Chanel bringing out more colours are true as these are really fantastic.

See more pictures including swatches and a look I did with Emerveille 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!

Mac Metal-X Cream Eyeshadows Review and Swatches

Despite hearing bad reviews about these and saying I won't buy them, once I swatched these eyeshadows at the Mac counter I decided to pick up a few anyway. I can't explain why, just that the colours looked pretty and that was enough to suck me in.

Palladium, Fusion Gold, Cyber

I got Palladium, Fusion Gold and Cyber, and I have to say, that despite the bad reviews I'm actually quite happy with these. They seem quite dry for cream shadows, they are certainly not as creamy as I thought they'd be. As a result actually, they are very hard to apply with a brush, so I just use my fingers to apply and blend them. I used them over two different bases (Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin and Too Faced Eye Shadows Insurance Policy) and I have to admit, they still creased. But I didn't think they were that bad, I mean yes, it's not great that they crease, but there was really only a faint line, not a massive big area on my lid. And since my eyes are quite hooded and I don't walk around with my eyes closed, I think the creasing is not at all noticable. I suspect it would be worse with the darker colours, but these light ones are fine.

My favourite ones of the bunch are Fusion Gold and Cyber, I love the pinky gold shade of Fusion Gold and the silver glitter in Cyber. Thankfully there wasn't any glitter fallout from it, and it is so pretty. Palladium is a nice highlighting shade. I have not tried these with powder shadows layered over them, not sure if that would help with the creasing, but I didn't buy them as bases, so it doesn't greatly matter.

Mac Metal-X Cream Eyeshadows cost £15.50 each and they are 2.4 g, so the larger pan size. They seem to have sold surprisingly well considering their bad reputation because Debenhams only has a few shades available, although on the Mac webiste only Vintage Coin is showing as sold out. Debenhams did have a long running 10% off beauty sale, so maybe that's why they've sold more of them. Anyway, while I don't think these are that great, I don't hate them and I don't see why some bloggers say they're so awful.

Have you tried these eyeshadows yet? What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

See more pictures after the jump!

Chanel Illusion D'Ombre Eyeshadows in Mirifique and Epatant

Like a lot of others, I couldn't resist picking up a few shades from Chanels newcream/gel eyeshadows, Illusion D'Ombre. I bought Mirifique (black) and Epatant (grey-taupe-green). They both lived up to my expectations and I'm pretty happy with them. (So much so that I have since ordered Illusoir and Emerveille, will review them soon too.)

Mirifique is a deep black with tiny silver glitter, it's very pigmented and goes on really smooth. Epatant is a lot lighter, but it's not at all sheer, and it also has some lovely shimmer. It's quite metallic, but not overly so. I find Epatant a very easy to wear everyday shadow, you can just apply it, blend a bit around the edges and go. Mirifique was harder work as you really need to blend out the edges for it not to look too harsh, also it is pretty dark for a daytime look. I ended up applying Mac White pigment to the inner corner to lighten it a bit (I will post a FOTD soon). However, I think it would make an excellent eyeliner and a base for a smoky eye. As for the application, every pot comes with a small slanted brush that works really well for applying these eyeshadows. Because it's slanted, it would work for applying them as eyeliner too.

They are £22.50 each, so not cheap, but you only need a tiny bit, so they should last a long time. Staying power is excellent for these, I used them over Urban Decay Primer Potion and they lasted the whole day without any creasing, and with Epatant, no powder shadow to set it at all. (I did have Mac White pigment over some of Mirifique as previously mentioned.)

Have you tried these eyeshadows yet? Are you planning to? Do you like them? Let me know in the comments.

See lots of pictures including swatches after the jump!

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!