Urban Decay Naked Ultimate Basics Palette

There is no denying that Urban Decay are the queen of eyeshadow palettes! The quality and shade range is quite frankly unbeatable which makes those beautiful palettes well worth the splurge! Whenever a new palette is added to the range particularly amongst the cult ‘Naked’ series, my eyes pretty much pop out my head! That was indeed what happened when my eyes met with the newly launched Urban Decay Naked Ultimate Basics palette.

The ‘Basics’ range from Urban Decay is an all matte collection and one that I’ve previously not tried before. This time however they have launched an ‘Ultimate’ edition in a bigger palette with 12 shades. The palette is encased beautifully in gold square packaging that is pretty sturdy, in fact probably the most heaviest and sturdiest packaging from the Naked range! Inside, it has a large mirror which is of a great size and the usual double ended brush. The palette retails for £38.50 which is the standard price now for all the bigger Naked palettes which is pretty reasonable considering the amazing quality you can expect.

The palette contains 12 shades that are all matte (although I believe one shade is more ‘satin’) ranging from cool toned shades to warm tones. As you would expect from Urban Decay, the shades are beautifully pigmented and blend beautifully. Mattes can be tricky to master but as always Urban Decay get it spot on! The shade range is also beautiful with every possible matte shade you could need! Some of my favourite shades include those gorgeous stand out browns on the bottom row Extra Bitter, Faith and Lookout. In particular, the warm reddy brown tones of Extra Bitter is truly to die for! As a mauve plum lover, I also love the last three on the top row which are Tempted, Instinct and Lethal which are all so pretty and work wonderfully together! Although all in all I love all the shades as every shade is so wearable and it is great to have it in the one palette and in a reliable great formula!

(L to R) Bottom row, Top Row. (Apologies for poor swatch image, they were difficult to capture)

What do you think of this palette?

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High-end Products Worth The Splurge

I love a good splurge. I think we have all gathered that by now. As a lover of high-end and luxury beauty products I thought I would share some products that I believe to be worth the splurge. Spending your precious pennies on a beauty product can be risky business not knowing if it will perform to your expectations or not. So if you are somebody who doesn’t buy a lot of high end products or if you are hoping to make a little splurge soon then hopefully my picks can give you a little reassurance. Even if you are a luxury fiend then maybe my picks will also offer a little push to go splurge some more, sorry!

Urban Decay Naked Palette

I couldn’t not mention one of the most hyped up high end products! The Urban Decay Naked palettes are hugely popular and for good reason. Having built up my collection of them all, I can definitely say that they are truly worth the hype and the splurge. Whilst all of them may not be necessary, I think the original palette is a great all-rounder. Full of warm bronze-y neutral tones, its a palette for everyone. Whilst the shade range is great, the quality of the shadows is also incredible. Urban Decay have really nailed a great buttery long lasting eyeshadow formula that every beauty lover needs to try! My full review of this palette here.

Charlotte Tilbury Lipsticks

I love a good lipstick especially a luxurious one. It’s always nice to treat yo’ self to nice new lipstick and what better than the queen herself Charlotte Tilbury. Her makeup line is truly exquisite and her lipsticks are no exception. Both her matte and moisturising creamy lipstick range are incredibly impressive. The matte formula is one of the best matte formulas I’ve ever tried with a seriously comfortable application and finish. Perfect for people who aren’t particularly fond of the feeling of many matte lipsticks. Her K.I.S.S.I.N.G range is also really nice offering a moisturising formula that is pretty impressive in terms of longevity! They are pricey but so worth it in mu opinion! My favourites include Bitch Perfect and Lost Cherry.

Nars Sheer Glow Foundation

I always struggle with drugstore foundations and I truly believe that splurging on a base product is so worth it! High end foundations tend to offer a much better formula in terms of how it applies and also the lasting power which is very important in a foundation. My particular favourite is Nars Sheer Glow, a great all round base. It offers a satin buildable finish that doesn’t cling to dry patches or look cakey on the skin. It also has impressive longevity making it a great reliable foundation. Definitely one to try! My full review is here.

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed Highlighters 

Highlighters are just everything, right? For me, nothing quite beats the Becca formulation. Their highlighters are like no other. I have two of the pressed highlighters in Opal and Champagne Pop and my goodness are they beautiful! The give off a serious killer glow to the skin with incredible pigmentation. Although the creamy buttery texture is what makes these even more amazing. They glide on so beautifully on the skin without looking powdery or with chunks of glitter, just like smooth gold!

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer

Oh how I love a good primer. From what I’ve tried, I’ve never actually found a good drugstore primer that works and none that can beat my love for the Smashbox one. I feel like this primer is a bit of a love or a hate thing but what it achieves is so impressive. The texture is probably the thing that bothers most people out of preference but for me I quite like it. It doesn’t feel greasy or slippy on the skin and leaves a smoothing effect perfecting for starting makeup. The longevity powers it has though is what makes this. Paired under foundation it takes my makeup lasting hours longer than it would have without. It is basically magic!

Nars Creamy Concealer

Another incredibly hyped product but for good reason. This concealer is well worth the extra pennies. The thick but creamy formula works wonders on blemishes and spots offering full coverage that isn’t cakey or clingy. It also wears well throughout the day unlike many other concealers that get a little drying as the day goes on. Despite the thickness, I don’t find this drying at all although I personally don’t like the texture for under the eyes however on blemishes it is a dream! Full review here.

What are your favourite high end products?

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Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer vs Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer

If there is a question that most beauty lovers want to know, it is what is better; the Nars Radiant Creamy  Concealer or the Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer. I have been lucky enough to try both so I thought I would share my thoughts on what I think really is the better concealer. The Nars one has remained my ‘holy-grail’ concealer for a long time now for covering blemishes yet when I reached the near end of the product I was desperate to try the newly cult UD concealer. So after giving both a good try, here is my run-down on the two cult concealers…

PACKAGING 

Starting with the exterior and look of the actual concealers. They are both fairly similar and what you would expect, the usual concealer wand with a doe foot applicator. The Nars one is packaged within a square style tube with a matte black lid which can get messy with fingerprints but that doesn’t personally bother me. Whereas the UD one is in a cylinder style tube with a metallic lid and is slightly shorter than the Nars tube. The UD applicator is also a lot more sponge-y than the Nars one and it carries more product too. The only issue with the UD applicator is that if you pull it out the tube too quickly some of the product may splash out. The Nars concealer contains slightly more product with 6ml compared to UD having 5ml.

PRICE

In terms of the price, there is a clear winner. The Nars concealer retails for £22.50 and the UD concealer for £17.50. It is also quite easy to nab a little discount on these prices too if you use online retailers like Feel Unique and ASOS. Obviously with the UD concealer being much cheaper it does make it that little more attractive.

SHADE

Both concealers have a very decent shade range so there should be something for everyone. For the Nars concealer, I have the shade Vanilla which is Shade 2 which is the perfect match for me. Unfortunately, I don’t quite have the right shading when it comes to UD as I picked up the wrong shade! I have the shade Light Neutral which is just a bit too dark for me. I did stupidly order this one online instead of being colour matched so my fault there but I do find the UD range quite confusing to understand so I would definitely recommend going to a counter!

COVERAGE & FORMULA 

Both concealers are very similar but the formula differs a little. The Nars one has a very thick consistency which personally I find too heavy for under the eyes but it works a dream for covering large and hard to cover blemishes. I know that a lot of people have an issue with the consistency of the Nars one but personally I find it very creamy (as the name would suggest) and also not drying on the skin. The coverage of this one is also superb and what makes it my holy grail, it definitely excels in that department. On to the UD one, as the name for this one suggests it is pretty weightless. The consistency is a lot more lightweight and thinner which I am sure many people will prefer. Yet it still offers very decent coverage although I would probably say the Nars one just pips it to the post on that. The UD concealer also has a slight scent to it which personally doesn’t bother me but is something to take note of.

So overall, two very good performing concealers which both feel comfortable on the skin and still offer good coverage. The UD one has been slightly more difficult to test due to my shade being wrong but I still really like it and I will definitely be picking up the right shade in the future! I do prefer the Nars one for coverage but the price for the UD one makes it a lot more appealing and I wouldn’t be surprised if it replaced my coveted Nars one!

Are you a fan of these concealers?

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2015 Beauty Favourites: Eye & Lip Products

Now that you’ve seen my base and cheek favourites from the year of 2015, it is time to move on to the second and final half of my yearly beauty favourites. This time around I am talking about my favourite eye and lip products from 2015 and again a lot of these will be no surprise to you! So I am going to quit rambling and get on with it!

Eyeshadow

2015 was the year of eyeshadow for me. It was always the one product I neglected because I never really understood the difference it made and I never had much of an idea on how to apply it either. Although last year saw me finally pick up a few blending brushes and get blending to something that actually looked half decent. Now we have reached the end of 2015, I can’t even go without eyeshadow, it is my favourite thing to apply and I am truly obsessed with buying more eyeshadows.  After hearing so many rave reviews I just had to try out the By Terry Ombre Blackstars and I am so glad I did. These are just incredible. It took me a while to truly appreciate how good these are but they are seriously one of the best eyeshadow products I’ve ever used and the best eyeshadow sticks. I have the shades Misty Rock (which I spoke about here) and Bronze Moon which are two truly gorgeous and unique shades. The formula though makes these even more amazing, they are seriously creamy and glide on super smoothly and are super easy to blend. If that’s not enough, they last for ages too. So yeah, I quite like them!

In terms of palettes, 2015 was definitely the year I became a real life eyeshadow palette hoarder. I just love a good palette! Whilst there was a few I could have mentioned, there was two that really stole my heart this year and two I know will become long term favourites. First up, the Zoeva Cocoa Blend palette which I raved about here. This was such a surprise love for me as it was so super affordable yet such great quality. The colour range is just perfect and right up my street. I am still so impressed with this and it is definitely one that everyone needs to pick up.

The Urban Decay Naked palettes will always be mine and everyone else’s one true love. I am lucky enough to own all of them including the newbie Smoky palette although I truly fell for the second edition (review here) to the Naked lineup and I think I can call it my favourite of the four. The taupe shades are just so beautiful and are so versatile for everyday wear or an evening look. Of course the quality of Urban Decay eyeshadows are also just truly incredible!

Mascara and Brows

These next two products are probably quite obvious mentions if you are a regular reader of SBL. First up, my mascara pick has to be the Benefit They’re Real. I truly realised why this is such a cult product half way through the year after trying it out and then switching my choices up. I eventually came back to this and I just love it. It just adds oomph to my lashes and adds length and volume and paired with my Shu Uemura eyelash curlers it is dream come true lashes!

Another Benefit product came to the rescue in saving my brows. I picked up Benefit Gimme Brow (review here) during the year and it has just became my go-to for brows. It is so easy and convenient to simply swipe through your brows but it is still pretty buildable and really defines them. I’ve actually pretty much finished my tube of this which lasted so long (considering the size and cost is off putting!) so I will definitely be repurchasing this!

Lip Liner and Lipstick

Lip products will always be my one real love when it comes to beauty so I did have a little difficulty narrowing this down. 2015 was the year for lip liner and Mac’s liner options will always remain top for me. Their Soar lipliner became a staple in my collection and a cult product for many beauty enthusiasts. The gorgeous mauve plum-y nude shade is just the perfect undercoat to so many of my favourite lipsticks so is a no brainer really. The formula is great too and glides on smoothly to create a good base for lipstick.

Speaking of Mac, I will always have a love for a good Mac lipstick. I’ve enlarged my collection quite a bit over the year and grown a few favourites. I have a love for the mauve My lips but better kinda shades and Mac Mehr is the perfect fit. It is a little more intense than just a basic nude especially when combined with Soar but it is such a gorgeous and unique shade. The matte formula is also long wearing as you would expect but still comfortable without being drying. Another Mac fave was Mac Plumful which I picked up at the start of the Autumn season. This is my first in the Lustre finish but it is super comfortable and moisturising on the lips. The plum-y pink shade is also so gorgeous and different to anything I own.

Nars are one of my favourite makeup brands so it was no surprise I was going to love their matte lip pencils. I honestly think these are one of the best lip products around. They are so long lasting it is unreal but still feel comfortable to wear as well as coming in a collection of pretty shades. I have quite a few but I thought I would just mention two of my ultimate faves from the year. Whenever I need a red lip, I always go for Nars Cruella, probably my favourite ever red. It is quite a deep red but one you can rely on to stay put whilst you eat! The other shade was my Summer love, the unfortunately limited edition Iberico which is a gorgeous orange-y red. A shade that is totally unique to my collection and one I can’t wait to wear again come Summer time!

Last but not least, 2015 saw the discovery of Charlotte Tilbury. I finally took the plunge this year and picked up a couple of her gorgeously packaged products that soon developed into an addiction! I now have four of the Matte Revolution lipsticks and I can say they are truly worth the splurge! The matte formula is not what you would expect, they are seriously creamy and so comfortable to wear. As I said I have four shades from the line up but a couple of my faves are the truly gorgeous Lost Cherry; a beautiful bright coral red perfect for Summer (review here)and Miss Kensington; my perfect nude.

What was your favourite eye/lip products from 2015?

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Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette

When I first started getting into makeup, one of my first high end makeup products was the original Urban Decay Naked palette, a palette I still adore to this day. Since then, I have grown my little collection of Naked palettes to complete status well that was until a newbie arrived on the scene. Enter the Naked Smoky palette, the newest addition to the Naked range. Obviously I couldn’t let my collection down and had to purchase this. The palette is complete of dark and smoky shades all fit for the perfect smoky eye whether it be an everyday look or a full on night time smoky eye. Compared to the other Naked palettes, this is up there as one of my favourites and a palette I know I will get a lot of use out of.

First things first, we have to mention the gorgeous packaging. Without a doubt this is by far the best packaging of all the Naked palettes. The exterior packaging has a hard casing and feels pretty sturdy especially in comparison to the packaging of the original palette. The palette also features a magnetic closure making it easy to open and close as well as an improved top lid which makes the palette open further. The packaging design is also super beautiful, a grey and black smoked out pattern matching the smoky theme of the palette. Also, you can expect to find the usual decent sized mirror inside and also a double ended brush which is actually different to the brush included in the earlier palettes. I tend to stick with using my own brushes but it is nice to find a decent enough brush in a palette that doesn’t include spongy applicators!

I’ve heard a lot of people saying that the quality of this palette doesn’t live up to the other Naked palettes although I can’t really say that I agree. I find the quality of these eyeshadows superb as you would expect. The pigmentation is there, they are super blend-able and they are also pretty long wearing too! I never really found any application problems as the eyeshadows are all a dream to work with. In terms of the shades included in this palette, there is a mix of finishes. With 12 shadows in total, the palette is arranged by finish starting with four shimmers, four satins and four mattes. Rather than arranging the shades by colour I actually prefer the layout in this palette by finish. The shimmer shades are probably my favourites as they are all so gorgeous. A beautiful inner corner highlight followed by warmer toned bronze-y shades which then leads into a selection of cooler toned shades. Whilst I always tend to go for my usual warm shades of browns I have been really liking the cooler toned options in this palette. Despite the intimidation of the smoky eye, all these shades are super wearable which I love and they all don’t have to be reserved for a full blown smoky look. Following the cool toned options are some more smokier dark shades that work a treat at smoking things out a little for a more night time appropriate look. Finally the addition of two lighter toned matte shades which are perfect as a base shade or for highlighting the brow bone. Overall this is gorgeous palette and whilst the smoky eye look isn’t for everyone I do find that this palette offers a full collection of wearable shades that can work from day to night. Another big thumbs up to Urban Decay!

Check out my other Naked palette reviews:

Original Naked palette review

Naked 2 review

Naked 3 review 

Are you a fan of the Naked palettes?

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Monthly Roundup: September

A new season has finally begun. It’s ever so strange to think that Autumn is here. I am still trying to recall when Summer actually took place this year. Anyway enough of my seasonal ramblings it’s time to look back at my month of September. This month started as a slow burner and picked up halfway through with my hectic schedule coming back to haunt me. This month marked my return to uni to start my second year which is crazy and I have to say I am feeling so unprepared for the mountain of work that will be coming my way. This will be the first time I am at uni and have a job at the same time so this year will definitely be jam packed to say the least and I do apologize in advance if my blog does suffer as my spare time is pretty limited just now.

Whilst the thoughts of going back to uni was pretty depressing, I did get excited about the shopping that was about to commence. Let’s just say I think I will need to enforce myself on a spending ban for at least the next month. I picked up some pretty good deals on some things I had been lusting over for so long and I now have my hands on a couple of new palettes in my collection (that I will obviously share with you all soon!). Yup that is the UD Naked Smoky palette, I wasn’t going to let my Naked collection miss out on this one, was I!? I also picked up an exciting new purchase for my wardrobe in the terms of a new leather jacket. A leather jacket is a wardrobe staple and I wasn’t happy with my old one so I rightly so invested in a new one from Zara which I am obsessed with. Bring on the Autumn wardrobe! Can I come off that ‘Spending ban’ now…

I also finally discovered Cotton Candy grapes. Oh yes, you heard that right! I had been looking for these interestingly flavoured grapes for the past year and after a little trip to the supermarket my eyes clapped onto these with the feeling of success. They are as good as they sound and I am definitely needing to stock up now! You can obviously tell how exciting my life is that I have to mention the excitement of buying grapes. Yes. So in summary this month pretty much consisted of eating (grapes), shopping, working, going to uni and also recovering from a couple of sick days in between. Now let the excitement of Autumn and berry lips begin…

Catch up on September posts: A Charlotte Tilbury Haul, Nails Inc x Victoria Beckham, My Blogger Enabled Purchases, Clinique Melon Pop and My fave nude lip combo.

Are you looking forward to Autumn?

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April Favourites

I probably say this every month when it comes to monthly favourites… but where has the time gone! It’s crazy to think we are in May already *gasp*! Anyway on to some of the beauty bits I have been loving this month, if you read my blog regularly then you may find some of these a little predictable haha!

Benefit Majorette Blush – No surprise here really! After lusting over this blush for quite a while I finally picked it up and fell in love. Its a beautiful coral cream-to-power finish blush that just adds such a nice boost of colour to the cheeks, perfect for spring! You can see my full review on this beauty here.

Real Techniques Bold Metals Flat Contour Brush 301 – Quite the long name there! I picked this rose gold beauty up after Real Techniques launched their incredibly anticipated higher-end brush line. Compared to other RT brushes, this one was a little on the pricey side at £22 but its pretty damn beautiful. It’s the perfect contour brush, the brush is quite dense and really picks up product well and also distributes it well on the face. It’s hard to think how I ever contoured without this one!

Chanel Rouge Coco Cecile Lipstick – There was no escaping this one when it came to this month’s favourites. There is nothing more exciting than picking up a new lipstick (that sounds so tragic but ever so true!) especially a Chanel one. They are a must have in any beauty lover’s makeup bag! The newly reformulated range offer great pigmentation whilst also having a good level of hydration on the lips. The shade ‘Cecile’ is such a pretty neutral rosy pink that I have been loving paired with MAC Soar lip liner – dream duo right there! Check out my full review here.

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette – Do I even need to explain why this is a favourite. The UD Naked palettes are widely coveted and with good reason. I am pretty sure I mentioned this exact palette in a previous favourites post which pretty much sums up my love for it. I am sure you are all aware of the fantastic quality of the shadows so I will refrain from discussing that side of things. The colour range is just perfect. Its such a versatile palette, berry, pomegranate shades for Autumn and light rosy pastel pinks for Spring. I am having a bit of an obsession over light pinks and lilacs when it comes to eye-shadows and this palette has it covered. To stop myself writing a full essay on this one, you can simply check out my full review here.

Nivea Lip Butter Raspberry Rose – A lip balm/butter, not the most interesting product but hella good. The scent of this is incredibly dreamy, a raspberry scent which feels rather nostalgic some how, I am thinking some sort of candy but no idea? It is incredibly creamy and I like layering this on overnight for a full boost of hydration on the lips to keep them soft and moisturised. The great news here too is that its as cheap as chips and comes in other scents too including an ever popular blueberry, mmm!

Chanel Tenderly Nail Polish – Another post, another Chanel Tenderly mention. When will it stop, never! I finally buckled up the courage for a Chanel splurge on this beauty and so far no regrets (thank god!). This shade is just so my colour, a beautiful plum taupe-y colour that is just so versatile and looks ever so sophisticated. You can take a further look into my thoughts on this one here.

What have you been loving this month? 

 

 

 

Urban Decay Naked Illuminated: Aura

I hope you are all appreciating the Urban Decay love this month, I now have realised this is my 3rd Urban Decay related post lately, apologies if you are anti-Urban Decay (why anyone would be I don’t know!). Now if you have read my blog a lot you may know that I love anything sparkly and shimmery so when I seen this highlighter I knew it would be right up my street.

I finally got my hands on it in the Christmas sales after Feel Unique had an impressive deal on it making it just under £14 when it usually retails for £22, how good is that! So of course I had to buy it! I picked up the shade Aura which is a gold champagne toned shade although initially I always wanted the whiter shade however it was out of stock but looking at how gorgeous this is I don’t really mind. It comes in beautiful packaging in a small box featuring a mirror and a lower compartment with a small brush.

I don’t even need to tell you how incredibly pigmented this is, the swatch does the talking. I have been looking for a good pigmented highlighter and this beats what I could have ever imagined. I’m sure you can also see how shimmery this is so if you are not a fan of glitter this is sadly not for you. Being as shimmery as it is, its more suited to being worn for going out rather than daily wear. It creates such a beautiful glow on the cheekbones and is definitely one of the best highlighters I’ve ever tried. Urban Decay: You’ve done it again!

Have you tried the Urban Decay illuminated powder?