EOTD using Lancome's 'Pop N' Copper' palette

LANCOME - palette 4 ombres Éclat lissante tenue divine

'Pop N' Copper'

 

This palette was Limited Edition & I recently purchased this in one of Lancome's in-store Sale trays. What drew me to the palette was the bright shimmery copper shade that'll really make the eyes pop, and the fact it has a dark brown to achieve a smokey eye.

Colour pay-off is great and the texture is buttery smooth.

A very handy small, sleek palette to carry around in your everyday makeup bag.

Laura Mercier Lingerie Collection - Eye & Cheek Palette

Another palette... I'm obsessed :-/

But this is such a sleek, classy, beautiful & most of all useful palette to own that I couldn't not (It's Limited Edition so get this while you can!)...

The palette contains 6 Eye Colours: Luster Eye Colour in Buff Pearl and African Violet, Sateen Eye Colour in Tawny Apricot, Matte Eye Colour in Rich Cocoa, Pale Pink and Black Plum,

& 2 Second Skin Cheek Colours in Rose Desire and Fresh Peach.

Pigmentation is good, unlike some of LM's past palettes which were a big disappointment for colour pay-off.

There's not really an eye-shadow in it that I wouldn't use, apart from maybe African Violet as certain purples can just make me look like I've been punched in the eye. And the blushers are gorgeous I'm sure you'll agree x

Free 17 Peep Show Eyeshadow Palette

...With the purchase of 17's Peep Show mascara (introductory price £5.29, usually £6.29)

This palette is ALOT better than I originally thought/expected - the colours are highly pigmented & you need just the tiniest amount so it'll last a fair while. (Currently skint but if I wasn't I'd definitely purchase the mascara again just for a backup of this palette before they stop the offer!)

Top left is a slightly matte ashy-brown, top right is a matte charcoal black, bottom left is a shimmery pink (great for opening up the eyes) & bottom right is a shimmery paler beige.

I've found myself reaching for this every morning because practically all the colours I'd need for an everyday smokey-eye are in there, so it saves me a lot of time in the morning as I don't need to rummage through my collection for individual shades. 

The mascara is pretty good. It's an intense black (which I like), which you need quite a few coats off to get a volumised look but it does the job - it separates & lengthens, and to be honest I tried this on one eye & Dior's Iconic on the other - & there wasn't much difference. Wearing this mascara I also got a few comments during the day on how long my lashes looked. So for £5.29 for this, AND the palette, it's a complete bargain & thumbs up from me.

17 is sold at Boots stores.

TOPSHOP Smokey Eyes Quad in 'Tawny'

I believe this is a relatively new product to the Topshop range as I usually mooch around there & check out the makeup stand & hadn't noticed this before - I bought this on a bit of whim really because I was feeling pretty low & wanted a pick-me-up haha - & I'm glad I did as it is now one of my favourite eye makeup palettes that I own. And it's a bargain at £10 for the quality of the shadows & staying power.

The swatches shown don't show off the product very well...they look a lot better on the eyes. 

I noticed on the website there is also a new palette called 'Smouldering' which feature more plum, autumnal shades.

All shades are useful for a day-time look to evening, so for me it's money well spent :-)

MUA Professional: Heaven & Earth Palette

 

After seeing a blog post raving about this Mua nude palette, & then discovering it in my local Superdrug - I had to give it a go :)

Just from swatching the shades, I can tell these are highly pigmented & super soft. I don't think there's any colours included that I would change, however it would have been great to see a charcoal/black included.

At £4 this is an absolute bargain and I would recommend this palette to anyone who loves neutral shades similar to that of the Urban Decay palette. (I'm even tempted to say I prefer this! As the price is, like I said, a bargain)

 Swatches:

EDIT: I had a massive allergic reaction to this! So I've sadly had to give it away to someone with less sensitive skin than me :( shame, as I would've used this palette more or less everyday. Anyone else had a reaction from this?!

Recent purchases

It's been a long while since I've posted anything, but it's been one hell of a busy time lately - working fulltime alongside sorting out University applications with references etc, and fitting in seeing friends whenever possible.

Anyway I'll cut straight to some recent purchases I've made:

Shu Uemura Mini Eyelash Curlers & Slant Tweezers

 

I was impressed with the way Shu Uemura personalised the delivery - they included a letter (my name handwritten) thanking me for my order - and included a free mini sample of one of their Cleansing Oils, all wrapped up in complimentary tissue paper.

 

Mini Eyelash Curler £17.50 - I'd heard a great deal of good reviews about these, and decided to give the mini version a try. These are ideal for precision - they allow you to reach eyelashes that may have been more difficult to curl with the normal-sized version. It "includes rounded firm silicone rubber to curl gently while providing a protective, stay-put edge for improved safety". The size is perfect for travelling - I'd recommend these over the normal-sized version as not only are these cheaper, I'd say they're better due to precision. 

 

Slant Tweezers £19.00 - Now, I've been using these every day since I bought them (I have to for that price.) ...But I'm disappointed to say that for me, they haven't lived up to their expectations. I'd read many reviews claming these were "the best!", and the website claims these are "professional tweezers with a precision tip for accuracy in hair removal". I don't know if I'm just downright using them wrong (though I'm sure everyone uses tweezers in a very similar way?!), but they take more than a couple of tries before they actually remove the damned piece of eyebrow hair! These may be perfect for you but I would say that I'm sure there are cheaper, better alternatives out there.

Dolce & Gabbana 'The One' perfume set

 

One of my absolute favourites - the smell is divine, slightly more ideal for going out, but is gorgeous to wear in the day nonetheless. I'd avoided buying this for so long due to its price, but when I saw this box-set in the House of Fraser sale, retailing at around £32, I couldn't resist. I'd worked hard over Christmas & New Year so this was my treat to myself! I love the free cosmetic bag, but I've avoided the Body Lotion as I usually break out from perfumed moisturisers :(

Fiorelli Honolulu Cross-Body Bag

 My new favourite bag - this was in the Debenhams 30% off Sale. It's just the right size for stashing my everyday essentials in, and the fact you can wear it over your body saves it putting all the weight on one arm. It's leather so should last a long while too. I also recently purchased a black Fiorelli purse - it's beauuutiful

Elizabeth Arden Color Intrique [Limited Edition] Eyeshadow Quad - Sueded Brown

Browsing the HOF Sale (there seems to be a pattern developing here...), I came across the Elizabeth Arden Sale, where I purchased a Limited Edition Eyeshadow quad, with all the shades necessary for a wintery smokey-eye. The shadow has great pigmentation, with a silky feel to it. The packaging is quite 'quirky' and makes a nice change to Arden's usual product packaging. This comes complete with a handy mirror located inside, and 2 small applicatior brushes.

The Mineral Bronzer in Deep has become my daily bronzer. The pigmentation of this is amazing - you need the tiniest amount (don't make the same mistake as my first attempt - dabbing my brush in and plonking it on my face resulting in looking very muddy/dirty haha). To use, you twist the product very slightly - you don't even need to turn it much to churn out the necessary amount. It comes with its own mirror & applicator brush - but I find this too small, so am sticking with my Liz Earle brush to apply my blusher & bronzer. Would definitely recommend this - catch this whilst it's in the Sale if you can. It's great value for money as this is a product that will last you for months.

No.7 Mini Beautifier Kit

This was a gift from my eldest sister for Christmas. The eye-shadow shades are gorgeous and perfectly pigmented. This comes complete with a handy-sized mirror, a mini mascara, lipgloss, mini shimmer & 2 applicator brushes. Perfect for travelling! You can catch this in the Boots current sale for £5.

It's allllll in the eyes

A few pics I've dug out of some different shades I've experimented with (poor quality due to my very old camera back then!)

- Shades of silver progressing to black. Touch of aqua blue in the inner corners. Finished with a flick of liquid eyeliner and lashings of black mascara to open up the eyes. Eyeliner was used to line the inner eyelid and I lined black eyeshadow underneath.

- Neutral shades

I used a vibrant purple shade on the inner eyelid to compliment & bring out the green of my eye.

Tips for shades to suit your eye colour:

FOR BLUE EYES

1. taupe, gray, violet, purple, deep blue (a darker shade than your eye color makes your eyes really blue), black (mix it with bright blue for a smoky effect)

2. silver, turquoise, fuschia (brightens any shade of blue)

GREEN or HAZEL EYES

1. brown, apricot, purple, plum, deep khaki or forest green

2. gold, glowing, lime-green, really light green, bright purple

BROWN EYES

1. copper, bronze, champagne (soft pink with a touch of apricot), brown (for a doe-eyed look), beige, and khaki-green (lighter shades add highlight)

2. tangerine, royal blue, hot pink, lime-green (the contrast adds punch to brown)