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.

BARGAIN Stila Beach Palette Review :)

I know, I know, I know - you can buy Stila for the pound shop now. And that is an amazing bargain!! But it sells out fast and is usually shades & stuff no one is buying any more. TK Maxx also do great prices for Stila, I have bought a few pieces there.

However - for a full price, limited edition palette, I think the £10 I paid is awesome. I bought one of the Beach Palettes from Escentual.com in my haul you can see here. I put my swatches there but I'll show you the pics again in case you feel too lazy to look back haha!

It was the Limited Edition Beach Palette in Living it Up in Laguna, which I bought here.

Eyeshadows clockwise from top left: Sand Dollar, Sunset, Bonfire, Cove

Blusher: Seashell

Bronzer: Pacific Coast Highway

First impressions of the palette are still what great value it is. A single Stila eyeshadow sets you back about £13, and in this palette you get four co-ordinating colours plus a blush and a bronzer. Even without the face colours, the eyeshadows would be £2.50 each - serious bargain.

The palette itself is pretty flimsy, it's super cute but made of cardboard so not overly sturdy, and there's no magnetic (or otherwise) clasp to shut it. It includes a mirror and a little guide on how to use the colours. Again, for the price, I'm happy.

Top pic, l-r: Sand Dollar, Sunset, Cove, Bonfire

Bottom pic, l-r: Seashell, Pacific Coast Highway

I chose this palette as I am a total UD Naked addict and felt like a wee change, and I know pinks and purples are good for green eyes. There are other palettes you can choose from for the same price.

The colours work really well together, they are pigmented and go on softly and true to colour (although not true to the colour shown on the back of the palette - don't know what that's about). The guide on how to use the eye colours is not how I would ordinarily use them, as the shade Sunset is a very strong pink, and blending the mauvey Cove on the lash line doesn't seem to work, poor Cove gets lost. But there's lots of opportunities to play about with these colours.

The blush/bronzer are not as great, they are quite pale and almost chalky. The blush, Seashell, is almost purple toned, and I certainly wouldn't be dusting the bronzer all over my face as it's too pinky! But they maybe would suit girls even paler than me haha!

Here's me trying out the look, using the guidelines exactly:

Eyeliner: Collection Gel Liner

Mascara: 17 Peep Show

Eyebrows: Christian Eyebrows in Taupe

Annoyingly, the colours are actually a lot more vivid in real life, they look more neutral here. But the lighting just now is awful, so dark inside! We don't have the lovely London sun. :(

I do think these colours make my eyes appear greener, although it's not as obvious in the photos! 

And here's with a full face of make up...

(Right pic with flash)

Bronzer: Sleek Contour Kit

Blusher: NARS Orgasm

Lips: Dior Addict High Shine in 664 Pink Protege

What do you think? Do you like Stila make up? Do you try colours other than neautrals? Would you 'innvest' in one of these bargain palettes?

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

New Favourite Mascara - Bargain!! :)

I am on a constant quest for the best mascara ever. I have quite long, naturally curly eyelashes but I only have about three of them haha. So I look for a thickening mascara, which obviously still adds a bit of length, too much tho and I look like I have spiders legs on my eyelids - not a good look.

I've tried all the 'favourites' - Lancome Hypnose, Dior Diorshow, Benefit BadGal - I liked them all but I didn't LOVE them. I currently use Urban Decay Super Curl which was a surprise hit for me as I got it as a wee trial size thrown in when I bought some other UD goodies. It gives me a nice, natural look for day-to-day wear.

Here are my natural eyelashes:

Top pics are without any makeup, bottom pics are with all other eye makeup.

So although I was pretty happy with my current mascara, I always crave a bit more!!

And More! Magazine provided this. :) I am part of the More! Beauty Hot 100, where we give suggestions/feedback to the magazine about products, are given the opportunity to contribute to the magazine, win goodie bags (like I won HERE!) and also test and review new products. They recently sent us 17 Peep Show to try and I was quite sceptical, as I tend to go for high end mascara.

How cute is the packaging??

I actually really like this mascara!! What do you think?

It goes on nice and evenly, with no clumping, even after a few coats. I wore it for a full day and had no smudging either. Although I was sent this mascara to trial, you can buy it in Boots or online for £6.29.

Have you ever tried 17 mascaras? What's your favourite mascara ever?

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥