Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Palette

If there is one makeup product that I am obsessed with and will continue purchasing, aside from lipstick, is eyeshadow palettes. And there is one particular palette that I have not put down since I received it. It might not be a shock to you that I have fallen in love with the new Anastasia Beverley Hills Modern Renaissance Palette. It is a favourite amongst bloggers and youtubers alike, but that's not what influenced my purchase in the slightest. It caught my eye on ABH snapchat and as fast as you can say 123 I added it to the top of my wishlist, and my wishlist at the moment is seriously long.

The Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Palette contains a total of 14 warm shades, with a mix of matte and shimmers, but mainly mattes. I am a warm eyeshadow lover and so I was seriously excited to see a pop of pinks and oranges within the palette as I don't own any like them. I couldn't choose a favourite shade as I pretty much love them all, which is very rare for me to find in an eyeshadow palette. I always seem to be reaching for the same shades though. I like to apply burnt orange and realgar through the crease, love letter in the inner lid and outer v, with primavera in the centre, creating a halo effect. Then combining realgar and love letter on the lower lash line with tempera in the inner corners. It looks seriously beautiful. I have had so many comments on my eye makeup when doing this particular eye look. You can create endless looks with the palette, from a nice nude daytime look to a bright night time look. It's so versatile.

Every single shade is so buttery and creamy with a seriously good punch of pigmentation. Now that's saying a lot as some matte eyeshadows tend to go crumbly and patchy, although I have to admit you can get quite a bit of fall out so I always do my eye makeup first. They blend out easily without going sheer and losing their colour too, which some eyeshadows can do. They are such high quality. I can't fault them.

Top to Bottom; Realgar, Warm Taupe, Venetian Red, Red Ochre, Primavera, Burnt Orange, Raw Sienna, Cyprus Umber, Love Letter, Antique Bronze, Buon Fresco, Vermeer, Golden Ochre, Tempera

The packaging is visually stunning too and compares to the likes of the original Urban Decay Naked Palette. It's cardboard with the most soft, lilac suede exterior, with the words 'Modern Renaissance' and rose gold ABH signage. Inside the palette, as with most of the ABH palettes boasts a dual ended brush, which is surprisingly good quality, and a mirror, although I don't tend to use it.

It is quite the investment retailing at £41($42) but I personally think it's worth it. The eyeshadows are top notch and almost too gorgeous to use. It is super popular at the moment that I can't find a UK site that has it in stock but you can join the waitlist at Cult Beauty here or purchase directly from ABH here where it is actually in stock.

Have you tried the Modern Renaissance Palette?

Maybelline Color Show Jelly Tints Nail Polish

I have quite the collection of nail polish but I have to admit I rarely ever get my nails done, both professionally or at home. I am completely useless when it comes to painting my own nails but when I do paint my nails I always stick to my Barry M polishes due to their longevity and vast shade range. However I was introduced to the Maybelline Color Show Jelly Tints Nail Polish a while ago, and they're unlike any polishes I own.

They are described as 'neon translucent shades that pop', which they most definitely do. There are 4 shades within the Color Show Jelly Tints range, all of which I have in my posession. The shades are Grape Fruity, a light coral, which does in fact resemble the colour of a grapefruit, Edgy Tangy, a bright orange, Berry Merry, a bright purple and finally, my favourite, Fuchsianista, a beautiful raspberry.

The shade range is rather small but I love the shades amongst it, although I would've preferred it if there was more variety as the shades are mainly pinks. I would've liked to see either a bright blue or green in the mix. 

L-R; Grape Fruity, Edgy Tangy, Berry Merry, Fuchsianista

The finish of the jelly tints are what makes the nail polishes different from the norm, you can apply just one coat for a sheer look or build it up to more of an opaque finish. I personally prefer a more opaque finish. The picture above really doesn't do them any justice as to how fab they look.

They are £3.99 each from Boots here. They are very affordable, and Boots even currentrly has an offer on, Buy 1 get 2nd half price, so you can save more of your pennies. 

Have you tried the Maybelline Color Show Jelly Tints Nail Polish?

 

*Post Contains PR Samples- Please read my full disclaimer here

Sleek Matte Me Lip Creams Review and Swatches

You have probably noticed that liquid lipsticks are my thing right now. I've become completely obsessed with them and I have grown quite a collection of them too, from the likes of Jeffree Star, Maybelline and Anastasia Beverly Hills. Neither one of these brands have failed me thus far. 

Since the beginning of the year there has been a lot of hype surrounding the Sleek Matte Me Lip Creams, but I never really understood what the hype was about, until now. Not so long ago a Sleek counter arrived at my local Boots, and although I was super excited, I just knew it would be bad news for my bank account. Dang it! I ended up picking a few products up, including 6 of the Sleek Matte Me Lip Creams. What can I say? I couldn't help myself, plus they were on offer at the time. I believe they were buy 1 get 1 half price, or something along those lines. Not too bad eh?

The Matte Me Lip Creams come packaged within a clear rectangular tube with a matte black lid with the Sleek lettering. I love that it's clear so you are able to see the shade inside. It makes it a helluva lot easier to choose the right shade without having to look at the name at the bottom. Within the tube is a small doe foot applicator which makes it so easy to get a neat outline and finish on my lips. 

Anyway, as I mentioned before, I have 6 shades to show you. There are a mix of brights and nudes; Fandango Purple, Birthday Suit, Velvet Slipper, Petal, Rioja Red and Shabby Chic.

Fandango Purple is a bright purple, and definitely not one for the faint hearted. When I first wore it I was a little self conscious but I have grown to love it. Birthday Suit is your typical Kylie Jenner shade, a beautiful medium toned brown nude. It's one of my faves. Velvet Slipper is a muted deep plum, it's surprisingly wearable but it isn't my chosen shade to wear this summer. I will be saving it for this A/W. Petal is the lightest shade in the Matte Me range, a light baby pink. It's absolutely beautiful but comes across a little pale on my skintone. Rioja Red is another one of my faves, a bright red that is definitely not for the shy person. I rarely wear red lipstick but when I do, it will be either this or the Maybelline Vidid Matte Liquid Lipstick in Rebel Red. Lastly is the shade Shabby Chic, my favourite of them all, a muted mauvey-pink. It's so wearable and has been said to be a dupe for the Kylie Lip Kit in KoKo K, but I couldn't possibly comment on that as I don't own a lip kit.

The formula of the lip creams are light and smooth, they easily glide onto my lips with ease and feel ever so comfortable. They apply wet onto the lips but within a minute it dries down to a matte finish. One thing I did learn though is that the darker shades, particularly 'Fandango Purple', needed to be builded up more than the lighter shades, which actually made no sense to me. It applied slightly patchy and darker in places, a bit strange but that particular shade is to die for.

L-R; Velvet Slipper, Petal, Birthday Suit, Shabby Chic, Fandango Purple, Rioja Red

However, I do prep my lips beforehand so I can remove all dead skin before applying as they may appear to sink into the 'lines' of your lips. I use my Lush Lip Scrub and a light balm before applying the lip cream.

You can purchase the Sleek Matte Me Lip Creams here at Boots for £4.99 each. How inexpensive is that? They definitely won't break the bank. 

Have you tried the Sleek Matte Me Lip Creams?

Lancome Juicy Shakers Review and Swatches

I have been meaning to write this post up for a while now but I am only just getting to it now. A few months ago I received a very exciting package with a new release(not so new now, oops!). Within that package was the innovative Lancome Juicy Shakers. I have never tried any products from Lancome before so I was super excited to try them out.

The Lancome Juicy Shakers are a pigment infuse bi-phased lip oil(essentially a tinted lip gloss with nourishing oils). The packaging I have to say is extremely cute, like mini cocktail shakers. Within the tube is a wide cushion sponge applicator. It is unlike any applicator I have used before. It's soft and comfortable on the lips which I like. The colour range is rather incredible too with 14 shades to choose from, and that's just in the UK alone. Internationally there are 20 shades. I have two of them to show you, Walk the Lime and Great-Fruit. Walk the Lime is a lovely coral-red shade which has a distinctive lime scent and Great-Fruit is a light peach with an orange scent(from what I can tell).

To apply, you simply shake the Juicy Shaker to mix the pigment and oil together. The texture is really moisturising and glides onto the lips with ease. The pigmentation is quite sheer which you'd expect from a tinted lip oil, but it is buildable. The more that you shake, the more pigment you'll get out of it. Unfortunately that doesn't mean every shade though, especially Great-Fruit as it's such a light shade which is a shame. I would expect the more darker shades to have much more pigment within it. The finish is beautiful though, they make my lips look so natural, shiny and glossy which I love, without that sticky feeling we all know and hate, urgh.

Left; Walk the Lime  Right; Great-Fruit

  I have to say, I feel the lasting power let them down. You'd have to reapply numerous times throughout the day, especially after eating and drinking but I don't find that as much of a problem as they are so smooth and comfortable on the lips. 

You can purchase the Lancome Juicy Shakers here from Boots at £18 each. It does seem a little expensive for what is essentially a tinted lip gloss/oil but I believe the formula itself is worth investing in. 

Have you tried the Lancome Juicy Shakers?

*Post Contains PR Samples- Please read my full disclaimer here

My First Colourpop Haul With Swatches

I have been meaning to try Colourpop for a while now but I never knew how to get it shipped into the UK as beforehand they had only shipped to certain countries. They have since started shipping internationally(yaas!) but when I placed my order I actually used a shipping service called My Mallbox. You may be thinking what the heck is that? Well I'm seriously no good at explaining this but it's a site where you are given a US address(basically a PO box) which you can then use as your address on various US sites. Your order is then shipped to said US address and shipped directly to you. I told you, I'm no good at explaining. Just check it out here for yourself to learn more.

Anyway, I pretty much got a little excited when visiting the Colourpop site and so I wanted to show you what I bought in a Colourpop Haul. I already had a wishlist so I knew what I had in mind to buy. I didn't want to do a mini shopping spree but I didn't want to go over the top either so I picked up 8 products in total.

The first things that I had on my wishlist were their liquid lipsticks. There are different formulas to choose from but I really wanted to try a few from the Ultra Satin and Ultra Matte ranges. I managed to pick up 2 different shades from each, and strangely enough they are all nudes. What can I say? I am loving my nude lipsticks at the moment. I chose the shades 'Midi' and 'Trap' from the Ultra Matte range and the shades 'Echo Park' and 'Magic Wand' from the Ultra Satin range too. They were only $6(£4.49) each which is breathtakingly good. For that price I have an excuse to buy more.

 I also wanted to try one of their lippie stix as I have heard nothing but good things about them. I chose the shade 'Cami', a muted mauvey shade, in a Matte X finish. It actually looks quite alike to MAC Brave(my fave!), except it's a little darker in tone. The Lippie Stix are $5(£3.75) each which is even better than the liquid lipsticks. I think I may have to look into more of the shades.

 I also decided to took a look through their Super Shock Eyeshadows. The eyeshadow range is seriously incredible, and a little overwhelming. I found it difficult to choose from them, but I finally decided on 2 shades, 'Weenie', a rose gold with pink shimmer, and 'Nillionaire', a warm bronze with gold shimmer. They look so unlike any other shades that I have. I've already tried the shade Weenie and it looks seriously beautiful, you can easily use it as an all over the lid colour or with a smokey eye. The Super Shock Eyeshadows are also $5 each too.

Top to Bottom; Echo Park, Magic Wand, Cami, Trap, Midi, Lunch Money, Nillionaire, Weenie

And finally, I wanted to go for either a blush or highlighter. In the end I decided to go for a highlighter. Now this was even more difficult to choose from than the eyeshadows. I am super fussy when it comes to highlighter. I am not one for subtlety at all. I love a strong highlight. I must have been googling swatches for a while but in the end I decided on the shade 'Lunch Money', a soft light gold with a golden duochrome finish. I have tried it just the once so far using my beloved RT Setting Brush, which I don't believe was the best way to apply it as the colour payoff was terrible. I am going to give it a go applying it with my fingers like suggested and see if that makes a difference. The highlighter was surprisingly the most expensive of all the products that I bought at $8(£5.99). 

Overall I am so happy with what I bought and I most definitely cannot fault their prices. Shipping through My Mallbox actually was cheaper for me than shipping through the Colourpop site too as I had no custom charges. I had such a good experience using My Mallbox and would highly recommend them. I will most definitely be making another Colourpop order again in the future. 

Have you tried Colourpop before? What are your favourite products?

Contouring with the Maybelline Master Contour V Shape Duo Sticks

As of late I have found myself becoming completely obsessed with contouring. It's not a step that I tend to miss within my makeup routine anymore since the craze started within the beauty industry. It makes such a difference to my complexion, and my confidence too. Contouring not only sculpts and cuts my cheekbones to an inch of their lives, but adds a little warmth to my face too, which my somewhat pale skin craves. I have always used my Benefit Hoola Bronzer or Sleek Contour Kit for contouring but since I was introduced to the Maybelline Master Contour V Shape Duo Sticks they have been pushed to the back of my makeup drawers.

The *Maybelline Master Contour V Shape Duo Sticks are effectively a 2 in 1 cream contour stick which features both a highlighter and contour shade, which makes the perfect travelling companion. They are available in two different shades, Light and Medium, which I have. The 'Light' contour stick is literally perfect for those with fair/pale skin tones. The contour itself is an ashy-taupey brown, with the highlighter being a nice milky shade. As for the 'Medium' contour stick, the highlighter has a slight yellow undertone, and the contour is a medium brown.

I tend to use the contour near my hairline, under the cheekbones and along the jawline. Then I apply the highlighter end to my under eyes, down the nose, in the centre of the forehead and under the contour near my cheekbones to make the contour look more defined. You really need to be careful though when applying it straight from the 'bullet' as things tend to go awry with both shades combining together, so it's always best to apply sideways to avoid them getting mixed together.

L-R; Medium Highlighter and Contour, Light Highlighter and Contour

The formula is of course a cream consistency but dries down to a matte finish once blended in. It is instructed that you blend in with fingers but I actually quite enjoy using my Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge to do this. It blends in so easily, leaving a lovely natural finish to the face. I feel like I have finally converted to cream contour. 

You can purchase the Maybelline Master Contour Duo Sticks here for £6.99. Reasonably priced, huh? 

Have you tried the Maybelline Master Contour V Shape Duo Sticks? What are your favourite contouring products? I'd love to know

*Post Contains PR Samples- Please read my full disclaimer here

The Perfect Bronzer for Pale Skin | Soap and Glory Solar Powder

Soooo, the last couple of weeks have been a huge rollercoaster ride and I've been awol again. I'm not going to share the gory details but I finally feel like I have everything back in order again, and things have slightly changed, for the best though. I am now engaged to my wonderful partner Josh, and I have recently become a full time mum too. I am hoping that I will be more active here on the blog since I will have more free time. Fingers crossed. 

With that aside, I wanted to talk about my favourite time of the year, Summer(except Christmas of course). Summer is all about a nice bronzed, glowy base for me. A strong contour, bronzed skin and a highlight that you could see from space. Seriously, highlight is my thing but bronzer is a whole different ball game. Being a pale girl it can be difficult to find the right bronzer. I have my fair share of bronzers in my stash but they're mostly verging on the 'orangey' side which is clearly not what is suitable for my skintone. 
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Bronzer can seriously change the way I look, it adds some warmth to my somewhat pale complexion and makes me feel so much more confident. I have searched far and wide(possibly exaggerating a little) to find the most perfect bronzer for my pale skin, and now I feel like I have met my match, and the best thing is that it's from the drugstore too. That was definitely good news for my bank card(*breaths a sigh of relief*)

 I am talking about the Soap and Glory Solar Powder. I have had it on my wishlist for a while but somehow only just got round to trying it. I believe that the Solar Powder was previously cardboard packaging but has since been upgraded to a much more handy, plastic compact which I much prefer, with a lovely sized mirror. The bronzer is embossed with little stars and the logo 'S&G, which has a slight pink glitter spray over the top which disappears after first use. 

 The Soap and Glory Solar Powder is a two toned bronzer, with the left shade being darker with a matte finish, and the right shade being light, but with a slight shimmer to it. I like to either use the darker bronzer as a contour shade, or mix them both together. Either way they look absolutely stunning but when swirled together it gives off a stunning natural glow to the skin. The formula itself is beautiful and buttery, and it blends so easily too. It is not overly pigmented either which I actually find to be a good thing as you can't overdo it, which is ideal for those with pale skin tones.
Swatch; both shades swirled together

 The Soap and Glory Solar Powder is priced at £11(currently 3 for 2 in Boots) which may seem a little pricey but I'd say Soap and Glory is on the higher end of the drugstore, if that makes sense. You can purchase it here from Boots.

Have you found the perfect bronzer for pale skin? I'd love to know yours. Have you tried the Soap and Glory Solar Powder?