New Make Up Geek Additions

 

*Prepare yourselves to hear me sing the praises of  MUG once again*

 

When it comes to single eyeshadows, I very rarely buy them; palettes are so much easier to carry around and travel with, and you know what? Single shadows can be pretty darn expensive. With the exception of a couple of MAC shadows (which I very highly rate by the way) and some NYX single pans (which I sadly don't rate as much), I stick to Make Up Geek and fill up my z-palette to get the best of both worlds.

 

Make Up Geek have two main variations of eyeshadow pan that I gravitate towards, the standard shadow and the foiled. Not long ago I splashed out and bought Grandstand (foiled) and it just changed the eyeshadow game for me, so I knew that I'd have to get back on Beauty Bay and order a couple more to review on my blog. The shades I picked out were Cocoa Bear, which I've heard nothing but good things about and have seen Jaclyn Hill use countless times, Cosmopolitan, and Shimma Shimma. 

 

 

 

Cocoa Bear is your typical warm, red-brown matte shade, and I don't own anything else like it in my collection. It ties together a warm toned eye look perfectly and the pigmentation is crazy. The formula of Makeup Geek shadows is so far away from chalky and almost feels buttery, which I think a lot of people would agree is the ideal formula for a shadow that you want to be able to blend into oblivion. With a lot of brands, the shimmery shades are brilliant but the matte shades often feel like an afterthought - not the case here!

 

Shimma shimma is such a pretty metallic champagne shade (and obviously a shimmer), which I picked up for the corners of my eyes and below my browbone to add some highlight. If you read my fall favourites post you'll know I'm all about the champagne shades right now, so it probably comes as no surprise that I would add this beauty to my basket.

 

Finally, Cosmopolitan is a shade that I've been eyeing up for absolutely ages, purely because I've never come across a shadow like it. Who doesn't adore a rose gold shimmer shade? I haven't been able to incorporate this into a look yet, but I know I'll get lots of use out of it in this run up to Christmas; the shadow has gold flecks running through it that just scream New Years Eve. 

 

Let me know if you want a full MUG collection - over the past few months I've accumulated quite a few new shades to add to my Z-palette.

 

MAC Nutcracker Sweet || Sweet Copper Face Compact

 

I have had this beauty sat in my 'to photograph' pile for weeks, and I can't actually believe that now I'll finally get to use it (the struggles of being a blogger, am I right?)

 

Usually, I don't get drawn in by limited edition collections; the hype has never hit me and to be honest, it often annoys me that the packaging of limited edition collections is different to the nice neat normal brand packaging. Like hello, why would I want my line of black MAC lipstick bullets to be broken up? But this time, MAC have completely nailed it with their festive line. The packaging of the Nutcracker Sweet Collection is to die for - the outside of the products look magical, and the inside appears to be no different.

 

If I was a little richer I'd have walked into MAC and done a complete Blair Waldorf and bought everything within sight, but sadly that obviously couldn't happen, so I picked up the 'Sweet Copper Face Compact', which I had set in my sights from the word go.

  

 

Within the face compact, and I think is possibly the factor that drew everyone to this item in the collection, is the Extra Dimension Skin Finish in the shade 'Whisper of Gilt', a gorgeous shimmery pale gold highlight that I believe was limited edition and a cult favourite in the past, re-released for this collection. This shade reminds me a lot of Mary-Lou, but for me the finish works a lot better with my skin and doesn't show any texture. As you can see from the swatch below, this is your perfect gold highlight that works well with a variety of skin tones; I thought this compact would be way too dark for me when I first saw it, but after trying it out I can see that the shades adapt to work with pale as well as dark skin tones.

 

The Extra Dimension Blush that you get in the compact is in the shade 'Pleasure Model', a copper toned blush that works beautifully with the highlight. I wouldn't usually go for such bold colours, but after trying this out I would definitely be inclined to try blush tones like this again. The compact shuts with a magnetic mechanism which I am completely on board with; it can be annoying when products are difficult to close, and its definitely handy for travelling with over the holiday season.

 

MAC have well and truly nailed it with these compacts - the Sweet Peach version also looks super pretty and is still available in some places, although the whole range is selling out as every second passes.  I paid £29 for this, which I think is a good deal considering the amount of product you get in the compact. Congrats to MAC for creating a stunning Christmas collection; its not every day that limited edition collections stand out of the crowd as well as this one does.

Pleasure Model, Whisper of Gilt

 

A Few 'Fall' Favourites

 

I hope you're having the loveliest Monday (as lovely as a Monday can be anyway.)

 



Technically I don't know if we're actually in 'fall' anymore, but there were definitely some products during the last few months that are worth a mention over here on ASD, since they repeatedly made their way into my routine. I've got myself into a pattern of switching up my make up bag at the start of every month to make sure I use some of the gems that I often forget about, so lets raise a glass to finding old favourites!

 

The only perfume I've been reaching for lately is Wonderstruck Enchanted by Taylor Swift, which I was given as a gift years ago. I'm not going to pretend to be a fragrance expert since I have no clue how to describe scents, but the notes of this are described as wild berries, pink poppies, white musk and vanilla. Her original perfume (Wonderstruck) had a younger vibe than this one, which is why I think that I'm appreciating it more as I get older and continue looking for that one scent to associate myself with. Most retailers have stopped selling this now which is such a shame, but I get mine from Amazon so there's definitely still a point to me raving about this. Also, major brownie points for the packaging on this - how beautiful can a perfume box be?

 

 

Another 'oldie but goodie' that I've constantly been reaching for is the original Naked Palette by Urban Decay, which I still maintain is the best of the bunch and is my go-to for a shimmery eye look. My favourite shades in the palette are 'Sidecar' and 'Buff', a shimmery pink and a chocolate brown, which I pair with 'Naked' for an everyday eye look to wear for university. I love palettes when it comes to eye shadow, so when I find one as good as this it takes a lot for me to put it down and start reaching for an alternative.

 

Also on the eye shadow train, I've been loving using champagne/gold shades to brighten up my eyelid. I find it extremely strange how our makeup preferences change as we get older (thank god that they do), because before this year I never wore eye shadow during the day and now I feel naked without it. The Stila Smudge Pot in 'Kitten' is a gorgeous champagne cream shadow that I swipe over my lids in about five seconds and consider myself good to go. These shadows stay all day, so although they're a bit of an investment I would 100% recommend them to you guys. As a gold cream shadow to mix it up a bit during the festive season, I've been loving the Topshop Cream Highlight in 'Gleam', which is actually a highlighter but is way too dark for my skin tone. It works wonders as an eye shadow base or on its own though, so not all is lost!

 

What have you been loving lately?



A Mini Selfridges Haul

 

So you know when you're super proud of yourself for sticking to a make-up spending ban that you decide to reward yourself by breaking it? We all know the feeling.

 

When I went to the Trafford centre last week I did the one thing I thought I would never actually do, which is buy a YSL lipstick. I honestly think that they have the prettiest packaging out there (with Too Faced Melted in a close second) and are basically a blogger's dream, but you know that £26 price tag is a bit of a turn off. I finally bit the bullet and splashed out on the shade 44 of the Rouge Volupte Shine range, a gorgeous nude shade with the perfect lipstick formula. Uncomfortable mattes are not the one, so a moisturising formula is definitely what I lean towards. I thought I'd feel buyers guilt for this one, but having it in my lipstick display is so satisfying that I can't help be anything but crazy in love.



 

 

Next on my wish list was a single eye shadow from MAC, because I've never actually tried the quality of them to test next to MUG. I completely had my eye on the shade 'Mythology', which is a beautiful sparkly pink that reminds me a lot of 'Sin' by Urban Decay, but sadly the Selfridges I was in didn't stock it, and being the make up hoarder that I am, I decided to just get a different shade instead. 'Woodwinked' is a shimmery brown that I am all over at the moment; I cannot believe its taken me this long to try shadows from MAC. It's the first eye shadow I've ever approached with the 'I'm going to fly solo and just whack this over my entire lid' attitude, and I'm loving how long it stays on the lid without creasing. Plus, its shimmery without being over glittery, which is always a bonus. 



 

 

Left to right: Woodwinked, 44.

 

November Lip Library

 

How on earth are we in November already? November is an odd month for lip colours, because the berry craze that is October has died down and we aren't quite ready to get on board with wearing Christmas reds every day of the month. Sticking with a slight berry theme and moving as gradually as I can into the December lib wardrobe, I think I've nailed it this month for the perfect four to keep you going in this weird transition period. You're welcome.

 

Starting off with an obvious pick since I always need a tinted balm on hand in my monthly make up bag is Lollitint by Benefit, which is a gorgeous berry pink shade that looks like a gloss but is much more comfortable. I have to say that the tinted balms by Benefit are probably up there with my favourite products that have a shade for every season (Posietint is perfect for summer and Benetint was born to be a winter lip).

 

Also on the Autumn trend is 'Plumful' by MAC, which is a beautiful berry lustre lipstick that is the ideal balance between a bold lip colour and something more subtle. I mentioned this in a recent post but its too fitting for November for me to not mention it again, and how could I not include MAC in a lip wardrobe?

 

 

'Blushed' by Revlon is one of my all time classic lipsticks that has been in my collection and that I've repurchased for years. Its so different to anything else that I own; a coppery metallic shade that stands out and has the staying power of a lipstick with a much higher price tag. I think Revlon do one of the best drugstore lipstick formulas, and there are several shimmery shades like this that are just the trick for a party look.

 

Finally, and definitely the one that I'll be wearing the most is 'Wine' by Jack Wills. I'm not sure if this is still stocked, but I was blown away by the quality of this lipstick. Its moisturising (kind of with the finish of MAC lustre) with high pigmentation and the best plum tone that I've found in a lip shade. After purchasing this I'm extremely intrigued as to what else beauty-wise this brand has to offer, considering I'm pretty sure I picked up this lipstick for under £5.

 

 

What's in your November lip library?