Sunkissed Products & November Empties!

First of all, thanks sooo much for all your kind words about me starting YouTube. It was pretty scary but I'm gonna keep it up because the support has been amazing! You can check out my first video here and I now have a new video out, my November Empties:

 

 

But on to the main point of this post!

 

I am a huuuge lover of golds and shimmers with my makeup, and tend to stick to my favourite shades in the Urban Decay Naked and Naked 2 palettes. I also fake tan fairly regularly, I just love to have a tan. So when Sunkissed contacted me to see if I wanted to create a party look with some of their products, I was pretty excited! They're cruelty free, of course. :)

 

This is what I received:

 

A palette with 10 eyeshadows, two bronzer/blushers, three lip colours, a mascara and some brushes.

 

The eyeshadows are lovely! They are shimmery and pigmented and the colours blend so nicely together. There are two kind of colour schemes - golds and pinks, which are both favourites of mine!

 

Left - without flash, right - with flash

 

Top photos are with flash, bottom without. No shades have names.

 

I'm not a huuuge fan of lip colours in a palette, the three colours in the set are all pretty, but quite sheer and I don't like having to use a lip brush.

 

Left with natural light, right with flash

 

 I have to say I also really dislike the mascara, it does nothing for me!!
 

The highlighter is a bit of a surprise, it looks very pale but actually swatches darker. I'd be a bit reluctant to use too much of the bronzer and highlighter as my face would probably look like a disco ball, they're very shimmery!

 

Left with natural light, right with flash.

So the bottom 'highlighter' is actually more of a bronzer too. The large separate bronzer is a lot more appropriate for an all over sweep!

 

They were also kind enough to send a fake tan mousse, which is great!! It is quite yellow toned, which is prefect for me, and blends well and dries quickly! The best part is the SMELL! It actually smells really good, which is so rare for a fake tan. The only downside is it's not very dark, I think I'd have to apply a few layers to get the desired shade.

 

I messed about with the make up to create these simple looks:

 

 Gold shades ('scuse the brows, growing them out. =p)

 

 Top is gold shades, bottom is pink shades.

 

Full face. :)

 

What do you think? You can purchase Sunkissed products in or online HERE.

 

Do you still use fake tan in the winter? Have you tried Sunkissed products? Have you subscribed to my YouTube channel?? =p

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

120 Shade Eyeshadow Palette

Hey guys! :)

I was recently sent an eyeshadow palette by BeautyStore4U - I know, kind of random, I don't usually go for more obscure brands. However, since I changed to cruelty free I'm always on the look out for new animal friendly makeup. This brand promises to be cruelty free and the site stocks Coastal Scents which I've never tried but have heard good things about.

Also, I'm a bit dull when it comes to eye make up. I LOVE eye make up, but I swear by my Naked palettes. The only colour I ever use is when I feel like being a bit different and use my Stila Beach Palette (reviewed here). So when I saw the look of this palette, I thought maybe I should be a bit daring and try some colours!

Yup, there's 120 colours! Amazing! They fold into the flat packed box but you need to take one side out and sit it on top of the other to fit. BeautyStore4U have told me that although the box is plain black right now, it will have the logo on it shortly.

Some of the colours are veeeery similar to each other, but there are just so many to choose from. There are pinks/purples, blues/greens, yellow/oranges and neutrals.

The eyeshadows are made of natural mineral oils and there are a mix of both shimmery and matte shades.The quality of shades varies - some are well pigmented, whereas others hardly produced any colour at all. Here are a few quick looks I created:

(sorry for the blur in this one - I was tired by this point haha!)

Lamely enough, I actually like the neutral colour look the best haha! You can kind of see in some of the non-flash photos where there isn't as good pigmentation. I'd say in real life, the colours are somewhere between the flash and non-flash results.

In all, I'd say if you're looking for a cruelty free palette with a large variety of bright colours, this is great value. 120 colours!! Not always great pigmentation but sleek and light and nice to have if you ever feel like a more daring look! :)

This palette is available from their website here for £12.95 with free postage within the UK. You can also use the discount code THECOSMETICSKITTEN to get 10% off - yay! Alternatively, you can get it from Amazon here (currently out of stock).

 

Do you ever experiment with brighter eye colours? Do you like palettes with a huge number of shades?

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

 

This product was sent to me free of charge for review consideration. My views are not affected by this in any way and are still 100% honest.

My Current Face Favourites :)

Today I'm going to show you my current daily face! I love to know what make up people use regularly, because although a lot of us buy the new or highly rated products, sometimes we just have our favourites we go back to again and again.

All pictures are taken of the products in their current, loved, state! =p

Currently, for my base I'm using either Kiko BB Cream (which I purchased in the Kiko store in Westfields, London) or Jemma Kidd Light as Air. I use the BB when I have fake tan on as it blends better.

I have reviewed JK Light as Air here.

I'm not 100% sold on either base, still looking for my favourite!

My current concealer is Collection (previously Collection 2000)'s Lasting Perfection. It is SUCH a bargain and does match coverage to high end concealers I've tried. I'm still looking for my HG under-eye concealer though!

I use Nars Orgasm for my blush for day to day wear, blusher is the make up product I like the least - I never seem to apply it perfectly and it annoys me cause I know Orgasm is so good!

I swatched Orgasm here.

On my eyes, I am currently using ELF Prime & Seal Primer, which I love, and then a combination of colours from my Urban Decay Naked and Naked2 Palettes.

I reviewed the ELF Primer here and have compared Naked and Naked2 here.

I'm enjoying ELF's primer, it's super cheap and is like a crayon so it's so easy to use. You can buy it here, but it's quite often out of stock! I also love love LOVE my Naked Palettes, I never use anything else (I know, how exciting).

I also use Urban Decay 24/7 liquid eyeliner - although I am desperately looking for alternative (animal friendly obv)!! And my new AMAZING mascara is 17 Cosmetics Peep Show. Seriously, I usually use high end mascara but was sent this and now it's my daily go-to!

I ranted about my UD eyeliner here and raved about my 17 mascara here.

I apply all my make up with Sigma brushes:

I have reviewed them here, here and here.

They need a wash hahaha.

And that's my face!

You can see that the products I use I have genuinely reviewed positively and keep using over and over.

Do you use any of these products? Do you have any base or eyeliner recommendations for me? What do you think of my daily favourites?

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

MUA-mazing? :)

I know, I know, MUA has been around for ages and has long been a favourite of beauty bloggers. There's so many things that I've read about and wanted, but I've not got any particularly large MUA stands near me so they don't have any of the things I've lusted after.

Until, dun dun duuuun! I discovered a big stand in the Superdrug in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow. I managed to pick up the Heaven & Earth Palette (even though I have two Nakeds and a Naked2) and also the Primer and 3-in-1 Contour Pen.

I'm sure you've all heard the comparisons between Naked and Heaven & Earth so I won't go into that, but I do know the shades are similarly gorgeous colours and very pigmented. I'm not doing swatches, as I'm going to keep this for part of a wee giveaway I think. But it's preeeetty.

I was actually looking for the eye primer, but couldn't see it, so face primer it is. This is something I've been researching into a lot recently. I currently use 17 Photo Flawless Primer but it's a tiny tiny tube and has nearly run out, so I was looking for a new primer. I had my eye on either Smashbox Photofinish or Stila One Step, but this little MUA one will hopefully do for now!

It was much more liquidy than I expected, and doesn't leave that delicious velvety finish that my previous primer did. However, it absorbed well and left my skin feeling smooth and soft. I've not had a chance to test longevity yet, but I'm hopeful as MUA products all seem good value for money.

The 3-in-1 eXtreme Contour Eye Pen I picked up because I have a new obssession with eyeliner. I'll be doing a post on this more indepth, so I'll leave you now just with a little swatch:

As you can see, the shape of the nib allows you to control the thickness of the line, which is pretty cool. Unfortunately it's not very pigmented so these lines have been gone over twice. It also seemed to smudge quite easily, but that was on my hand. I'll try it on my eyes and let you know!

MUA Heaven & Earth Palette (£4), Primer (£4) and 3-in-1 eXtreme Contour Eye Pen (£1.50) all available instore at Superdrug or online here or here.

What do you think of my very first MUA products? Did I pick well? What else should I try?

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥