Collection Little Mix All About The Eyes Palette review

I love me a good neutral eyeshadow palette. I have more than what's deemed normal and acceptable, but I can't get enough of them. I've had the Collection Little Mix All About The Eyes Palette for a good month or so now. I'd seen it doing the rounds on blogs but it wasn't until I walked into Superdrug and saw it for a mere £2.50 that I knew I needed it in my collection. 

The palette comes with six shades including Feather, Sunkissed, Golden Sand, Dazzling Brown, Cocoa Dream and Blackbird. It has everything you'd possibly need to create a beautiful smoky eye. The pigmentation is decent, and the quality is more than acceptable. For less than £3, you just can't complain. (P.S It's also available in Boots).

What do you think of the eyeshadow palette?

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Urban Decay Naked Basics 2

Today - a Sunday, I know. How strange! - the Naked Basics 2 palette arrived on my doorstep. I actually don't think this palette has been released in the UK yet (at least I can't find a link to it anywhere). I bought this palette from Cohorted. If you haven't heard of Cohorted it's basically a website that offers incredible discounts on wonderful products. The more people that buy the beauty product, the cheaper it becomes.

Cohorted were offering 30% off the RRP (£22) of the palette making it £15.40. I had a few loyalty points to spend so I ended up buying this palette for a mere £10.71. Safe to say, I'm a happy Jemma. The palette itself has been created to complement the Naked 2 palette, much like the Naked and Naked Basics palettes. I haven't had a chance to play with it properly yet but as with all Urban Decay shadows, they're beautiful quality. Especially for mattes.

The palette comes with six cool-toned shades. Five mattes and one satin to highlight:

Skimp - pale nude satin

Stark - nude-pink matte

Frisk - warm grey matte

Cover - muted warm-red matte

Primal - muted brown matte

Undone - deep, smoky brown matte

At first glance, the Basics palettes look incredibly dull and boring compared to their cousins, but to create a gorgeous eye look, they're a necessity. They're perfect for highlighting, contouring, adding depth and definition, eyelining and even for brows. My originally Naked Basics palette is very well loved and I can't wait to delve further into this one. I'll keep you updated and let you know how I get on with it - I'm guessing it'll end up in a favourites post soon.

Have you seen the Naked Basics 2 palette anywhere online in the UK yet? Did you manage to get your hands on one thanks to Cohorted?

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MAKE UP | MeMeMe Cosmetics and discount code

MeMeMe Cosmetics is a brand that despite hearing a lot about, I never delved far into it before. Well I did, when I was younger and still in school, but make up wasn't taken seriously by me then and I really had no idea what I was doing. If you haven't heard of the brand before it's influenced by Ancient Greek Mythology, The Renaissance and The Bohemian free spirit, meaning that the brand has its own unique identity. The packaging of every product is not only stunning, but extremely useful and compact too. I've been trying out a couple of their products for a while now and I've loved using them so much that I thought I'd let you know how I got on.

Eye Inspire Classic Trio Collection in Sultry Eyes* - £5.50

The moment I laid eyes on this trio, I fell in love. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore my nude palettes but sometimes they're way too bulky, especially if I'm going to be staying round a friends or at a hotel. This trio allows me to create a beautiful smoky eye with just three shades. The shimmering champagne is a beautiful highlight shade, the shimmering taupe is wonderful all over the lid, and the deep matte brown is perfect in the crease. The eyeshadows themselves are nicely pigmented, easily blendable and last all day long with a primer. If Sultry Eyes isn't your thing, MeMeMe offers four other different colour combinations including pinks, greens, blues and blacks.

Correct & Perfect Concealer Kit* - £6.99

I love concealer, I love how it can change an entire look, and this concealer kit has everything you need in one compact container. The concealer on top is nicely hydrating and perfect for under the eyes. I've tried it on blemishes but the coverage wasn't enough for me. However on the eyes, it brightens, hydrates and conceals beautifully. The lightweight mattifying powder ensures the concealer stays put all day long. It doesn't settle into any fine lines or highlight any dry patches; it simply disappears on the skin. The kit is wonderful for touch ups throughout the day and it always manages to find its way inside my handbag due to the perfect little mirror. The concealer kit comes in two shades.

If you're interested in trying out anything from the MeMeMe Cosmetics brand, then you can browse their website here. They have everything from skin care to brows, from nails to accessories. When you spend £40 you also receive a free Seventh Heaven Moisturising Face Base, worth £15. What's more, if you're a new customer then you can receive 10% off of your order by entering the code "WELCOME10" at the checkout. The code is valid until the 18th May 2014.

Have you tried anything from MeMeMe Cosmetics before? What products would you recommend?
*PR Sample

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MAKE UP | glo minerals Pretty in Pink

I am quite the fan of glo minerals as a brand, their lipsticks in particular. I have a few in my collection and they're the ones I tend to reach for. Sadly, I don't tend to read much about them on blogs, which is a shame because in terms of quality, their make up is second to none. The name says it all; they're a mineral make up brand meaning that their products are pretty much good for your skin. Their make up has been created by dermatologists too so you know you're getting added benefits. And when you've suffered with bad skin your entire life, this is a miracle. 

The brand set me a challenge to create a "pretty in pink" make up look using the products shown above. If you like my look, then please feel free to vote for it on their Facebook page. If not, it's worth going to check out the other blogger's fabulous looks anyway. Oh and a little incentive, if I win, I'll be given three glo mineral goody bags worth £100 to give away to you guys - not bad. (Just letting you know that the Facebook competition isn't live yet. When it is, I will be tweeting about it).

Anyway, onto how I created the look. When I first saw the Eyeshadow Trio in Ballerina* - £22, I was a bit nervous. You see, it's quite colourful and with my array of nude palettes you can tell that I'm not a "colour-on-eyes" person at all. But alas, I proceeded and I'm extremely happy with how the look turned out. I used the darker pink shade all over the eyes, the green in the crease and the lighter pink under my brow bone and my inner tear duct. It created the most beautiful smoky eye I think I've ever seen and the trio itself was a wonderful way for me to dabble into colour, without going too OTT.

Next up I used the Shimmer Brick in Gleam* - £27.50 which I instantly fell in love with. I'm a big blush fan and considering I use a lot of mattifying products on my base, I need blush and highlight to inject life and a glow back into my skin. This Shimmer Brick does exactly that. It comes with four colours - a champagne highlight, a beautiful Barbie pink blush, a deep rose-toned blush and a gold highlight. Oh it's perfection in every way. Easy to blend, last all day and nicely pigmented and glowing, you can create a multitude of looks with this one palette. It's one I'm most definitely taking on holiday with me. For this look I used the Barbie pink blush and the deep rose-toned blush on my cheeks and the champagne highlight on the tops of my cheekbones.

Finally, I finished the look off with the brand's Lipstick in Blush* - £15.00. As I said earlier, I really do love glo mineral's lipsticks. Despite being nicely pigmented and long lasting, they're instantly nourishing and hydrating and this beautiful nude finished the look off perfectly. It brought the make up together and complemented the smoky eyes nicely. Also for reference... my foundation is MaxFactor's FaceFinity, my powder is Rimmel's Stay Matte, my eyeliner is NYX The Curve*, my mascara is Green People's Volumising Mascara* and for my eyebrows I used Urban Decay's eyeshadow in Naked 2.

UPDATE: You can vote for me here.

What's your favourite way to experiment with colour? Have you tried anything from glo minerals before?
*PR Sample

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MAKE UP | Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette

Using White Chocolate, Champagne Truffle, Candied Violet, Black Forest Truffle and Hazelnut

If you follow me on Twitter then you'll probably know that I'm not the biggest fan of Urban Decay's Naked 3 palette. I didn't buy it instantly when it was first released (despite being extremely excited about it) and instead held off a couple of months. If I'm being 100% honest, I shouldn't have bought it. I didn't need it, I knew I didn't need it and now I have it, I don't use it. Ever. Although it is beautiful to look at and certainly looks stunning sat next to the first, second and Basics palettes. So it remains in my collection, looking pretty but untouched. But this post isn't about the Naked 3, it's about the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette.* Trust when I say that this palette is perfect. I even considered leaving this review at "it's perfect, buy it, you need it" but that wouldn't make me a very good blogger.

First of all, the packaging. It looks like a bar of chocolate. And that's not where the chocolate-similarities end. If you open this palette up, it smells like chocolate. Not the fake chocolate smell, but real chocolate. And everywhere I take this palette, I open it up and get my friends and family to have a whiff. Their faces are priceless as the smell is truly delicious. You may be thinking; why would I want a chocolate-scented product on my eyelids? Well, you probably don't. And luckily for you, the smell doesn't transfer but it's a nice little added extra that certainly takes this palette from being a 10/10 to an 11/10, if that's possible. 

Secondly the shades themselves. You have your highlighters, your crease colours, your eyeliners, your typical lids shades, your shimmers, your mattes, your "I'm-feeling-a-little-bit-daring-today" shades. Everything you could possibly want from a neutral palette you have right in front of your eyes. There are 16 shades (the two highlighters being double the size) and each of them has a chocolate-esque name; once again, an added extra that makes the palette that little bit more special. Glided Ganache, Black Forest Truffle, Triple Fudge, Salted Caramel, Marzipan, Strawberry Bon Bon, Candied Violet, Cherry Cordial... I could go on and list all 16. Aren't they adorable?!

Thirdly, the pigmentation and blendability of the shadows are second to none. I didn't swatch the shadows because quite frankly, Temptalia does a good enough job of it and I couldn't compete or do them justice (and my lighting is terrible at the minute - I hate this overcast weather). One swipe gives you an intense pigment and the shadows are extremely creamy and easy to blend, making that perfect smoky eye even easier to achieve. I didn't doubt the formula for one second as when it comes to eyeshadow palettes, no one does them as well as Too Faced do.

And finally, the price. At £45 it seems steep and it's more expensive than the Naked 3. However at Debenhams at the minute, you can get the palette for just £39.50 which works out at £2.46 per shadow. And when you look at the quality of the product you're getting, that's an absolute bargain. As you can probably tell, I'm absolutely addicted to this palette and it's the one I reach for daily. I brand it as the most perfect nude eyeshadow palette, ever and when I received it through the post, I almost rang my mother in tears - I was that excited. And if you're interested, you can buy your own here.

What are your thoughts on this palette? Have you tried any of Too Faced's offering before?
*PR Sample

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MAKE UP | KIKO Colour Fever Eyeshadow Palette in Unexpected Rosy Taupe

There's nothing I love more than a good old eyeshadow palette. It's hard to believe that four years ago, I didn't wear eyeshadow at all, isn't it?! Now it's my favourite thing to apply and the part of my make up routine that I most look forward to. You guys will know that as far as I'm concerned, KIKO doesn't disappoint. I've tried a lot of their products and I haven't found a dud yet. And the Colour Fever Eyeshadow Palette in Unexpected Rosy Taupe* certainly lives up to my expectations.

New to their limited edition Bad Girl collection - which has been inspired by icons of the contemporary rap music scene - the palette comes in four different colour combinations; Grey Night Blue (blue and dark brown eyes), Jungle Green Variations (light and dark brown eyes), Coral Burgundy (brown and green eyes) and Unexpected Rosy Taupe (for all eyes). These have been specially designed to enhance the natural eye colour. 

Each eyeshadow has been baked which ensures longevity and comes with stunning pigment. Easy to blend and silky to the touch, these eyeshadows are the perfect "going-out-out" colour and formula. Formula and packaging (which is high end, beautiful and practical) aside, these eyeshadows have become my "go-to" night out colours. They create a divine smoky eye and when used wet, the colour is even more intense. I use the top left colour all over my lid, the bottom right colour in my crease, the top right colour underneath my lash line and the bottom left colour to highlight - trust me when I say it's a perfect combination.

This palette is available here where it retails for £13.90 which makes each shadow come in at less than £3.50. I have a few more products from the collection and those reviews should be coming soon.

Have you tried anything from the new KIKO collection?
*PR Sample

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MAKE UP | Too Faced Joy To The Girls Christmas Gift Set [picture heavy]

L-R Cookie Dough, Cheers, Prancer

L-R Sugar Plum, Mulberry, Snow Angel

L-R Powdered Sugar, Too-Too, Yule Log

L-R Chesnut, Twinkle, Joy

L-R Spike The Punch, Chimney, Coal

LashGASM Mascara

'Cheers' all over the lid, 'Mulberry' in the crease, 'Prancer' underneath the lash line, 'Snow Angel' to highlight, LashGASM on the lashes

'Cheers' all over the lid, 'Mulberry' in the crease, 'Prancer' underneath the lash line, 'Snow Angel' to highlight, LashGASM on the lashes

  "Treat yourself to endless eye looks and create your new Christmas beauty tradition." - Jerrod Blandino

The moment I saw this palette, it was love at first sight. The Too Faced Joy To The Girls Christmas Gift Set* is filled with 15 highly pigmented matte and shimmer eyeshadows and full-sized LashGASM Mascara (which retails for £18 alone). With all of the hype and coverage surrounding the Naked 3 palette, it's inevitable that this palette will get overlooked but really, it shouldn't be because it's fabulous.

I'm a big fan of the packaging. Despite the fact that it's cardboard, it feels and looks exceptionally sturdy and without a doubt, pretty. As with the majority of Too Faced palettes, it comes with mini tutorials on how to use the eyeshadows which is a nice and useful extra, although I probably would've preferred a mirror. The lasting powder of these shadows is outstanding and when used with the Too Faced Shadow Insurance, they aren't budging throughout the day.

Each shadow has its own adorably festive name which for me, makes the palette even better. The shadows themselves are pigmented, buttery soft and easily wearable. With a range of neutrals and more vibrant colours, there's something for everyone and allows you to experiment with a pop of colour if needs be. The mascara is something that I was pleasantly surprised by as well - it really lengthens the lashes and separates them. The plastic brush is wonderful and combs through each lash ensuring even application.

You can buy this set here where it's currently on offer for £34.20 instead of the full RRP of £38.00. An absolute bargain as minus the mascara, each eyeshadows works out at just £1.30 each (£1.08 if you manage to get it for the offer price). 

Have you seen this palette before? Is it one that you'll be investing in?
*PR Sample

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MAKE UP | KIKO Dark Heroine Limited Edition Collection

Clockwise L-R Loud Night Bronzer in Supple Satin Honey, Latex Like Lipstick in Plastic Red, Colour Impact Eyeshadow Palette in Lounge Warm Tones, Twinkle Eye Pencil in Matita Occhi

Clockwise L-R Loud Night Bronzer in Supple Satin Honey, Latex Like Lipstick in Plastic Red, Colour Impact Eyeshadow Palette in Lounge Warm Tones, Twinkle Eye Pencil in Matita Occhi

Loud Night Bronzer in Supple Satin Honey

Colour Impact Eyeshadow Palette in Lounge Warm Tones

Latex Like Lipstick in Plastic Red

Twinkle Eye Pencil in Matita Occhi

Using the Colour Impact Eyeshadow Palette in Lounge Warm Tones and the Twinkle Eye Pencil in Matita Occhi 

Latex Like Lipstick in Plastic Red

Smoky eyes, red lips, contoured skin - Autumn make up really makes me happy and the new limited edition collection from KIKO is no exception. If you haven't realised it yet, I'm a massive fan of the brand. The affordable yet high quality products that rival more expensive brands makes it impossible not to fall in love with KIKO. And if you haven't managed to get your mitts on any of the other products that the brand offer, I highly recommend having a look at this collection which is a great introduction to the wonderful world of KIKO.

Loud Night Bronzer in Supple Satin Honey* - £14.90

This bronzer is everything that a bronzer should be. Housed in beautiful packaging with a huge mirror, it was love at first sight. I struggle with bronzer - I tend to end up looking more Oompa Loompa than Kim Kardashian when I apply it but this honey toned, natural looking bronzer is everything that I've been looking for. Nicely pigmented it blends into the skin like a dream and leaves it looking glowing and sunkissed. As it's semi-matte (it has a tiny bit of shimmer in the pink and cream raised areas) it can be used to contour the skin to give it a more defined look - lovely for evenings. The colour is perfect, the formula is perfect, the packaging is perfect and it's allowed me to fall in love with bronzing. The only problem is, it's limited edition. Gah. 

Colour Impact Eyeshadow Palette in Lounge Warm Tones* - £16.90

I love myself a good eyeshadow palette. It's rare that I find one that I love as much as my Urban Decay ones but this one definitely comes close. Cased in further beautiful packaging with a big mirror is three matte shades and three shimmery shades. The shimmery shades are stunning, easily blendable and pigmented but sadly, I do experience a lot of fall out when applying them. However due to the fact that they're gorgeous, I can live with that. The matte shades are the winners in the palette. Buttery soft to the touch these aren't like your typical matte shades as they're not chalky in the slightest. The colours in the palette are stunning and allow you to create the perfect smoky eye in numerous different ways. If you wet your brush before using these shadows, you get a more intense pigment too. The swatches above show the shadows when they're used dry.

Latex Like Lipstick in Plastic Red* - £7.50

If you read my blog often then you'll know that when it comes to lipstick, I'm a bit iffy. Recently, I've been embracing the lip crayon trend. Those nicely pigmented, smooth and gliding sticks of joy are without a doubt my faves and the majority of my lipsticks have been thrown aside. Except for this one. I'm a sucker for a red lip and as you can tell from the swatch, this isn't half a red lipstick! The swatch above shows the pigment in just one swipe - it's glossy, beautiful and doesn't bleed which is a big must when it comes to red lippy. This is divine and a pleasure to use. I'll be donning it tomorrow for my sister's graduation - eek! However after looking back at my shoddy application, I'll most definitely be using a lip brush. Damn my shaky hands!

Twinkle Eye Pencil in Matita Occhi* - £6.90

I've always been a black eyeliner addict. Ever since I can remember I've been smudging and drawing black lines around my eyes so much that I quickly dismissed this pencil. On first look, I saw that it was a browny, purpley, taupey colour and it wasn't something that I was interested in. But as soon as I applied this to my waterline I was converted. It's less harsh than black liner and looks gorgeous during the day. It defines the eyes nicely but in a subtle and beautiful way. The liner is the perfect mix of soft and hard and lasts a good five or six hours on the waterline before it starts to wear off. In the look above, I used this to add a bit of definition to my upper lash line and because the formula is so incredible, it looks lovely when I do that too. A good versatile pencil that's a stunning colour and a great price.

As you can probably tell by this post, I love this collection a lot. It's what I would call a perfect Autumn make up collection and if you're new or loyal to the brand, it's one I suggest you take a look at. You can view the rest of the collection here which includes eyeshadow pencils, a serum, highlighters and stick blushers. I reviewed the Laser Nail Lacquer from the collection here and next week, I'll be featuring the incredible Dark Heroine Face Brush from the collection which you may have seen me raving about on Twitter.

Have you tried anything from KIKO before? What do you think of this collection?
*PR Sample

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